He and I game a lot together, but in the past we have only been able to watch previous Internationals on Twitch so we are stoked to be able to go in person this year! I’m already hard at work on my cosplay, too! I dropped a huge hint in my last update (OK, not a hint, I totally gave it away) but over on my blog I’m going to be doing a complete costume construction run down as the date approaches, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, feel free to hit me up for a game of DOTA! Friend me on Steam, my Friend ID is 65253934 and here is a direct link to my Steam profile. For those wondering my MMR is 3.5k and I have 3,050 hrs on record. Yeah, I’m addicted...

For those of you who do not know how amazingly awesome DOTA, the International, or Major League Gaming is, last year there was a CROWDFUNDED Prize Pool of $18,429,613. Just let that sink in for a second... Yeah, pretty wild. I will end this update with the below picture to put professional DOTA into perspective for non-gamer folks! 

Happy reading, gaming, and doing all the other awesome stuff that inspires you! Also, for those new followers who have not checked out my book (gasp!) take a look at the Prologue (it’s pretty amazing) and then snag a pre-order. For only $8.99 You will not be disappointed! Enjoy!

In case you missed it...Women Like Us’ journey to publish is progressing nicely. Take a look:

ISBN: 9781942645108 

Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN): 2016935239 

Format: Paperback Retail Price: $14.99 

And this: 

Copyedit due to Author for review: 4/22 Author return reviewed copyedit to GFP: 5/6

Remember if you haven’t liked the Women Like Us page on Facebook, here’s the link!

https://www.facebook.com/womenlikeusnovel/

And if anybody has any good marketing ideas, please feel free to chime in.

Thanks!

JP

Hey everyone!

I figured it was time for a #tbt that highlights the inspiration for Welcome to Deadland!

In honor of the Grand Opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hollywood, here’s an image from the morning of the Grand Opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Orlando (or the OG Wizarding World) in which I teach Al Roker about Screaming Yo-Yos

I tried to find the actual clip, but apparently the internet doesn’t last forever. The years I spent working here ignited the spark in my mind that evolved into Deadland, and goes to show the power that one (or seven) books can have in the world. 

In Welcome to Deadland news, I have submitted my approval of the copy edits back to Girl Friday Productions and received a preview of the "pour," or what the pages of the book will look like in print. Not too much longer before the manuscript is sent to the printer!

There’s a new contest taking place right now! I encourage everyone to go check it out by entering or supporting authors currently campaigning for an amazing opportunity. And feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!

Thank you all for your support!

-Zac

You can find me on Twitter or Welcome to Deadland’s Facebook page

LAUNCH PARTY PICTURESSSS!!!!

Happy Friday, Space Crew!

BACKER PRIZES.

Now that I’ve gotten you to open this email I’ll delay a little and talk about how fabulous I’m feeling. It’s Friday, and I’m slowly caffeinating myself back to life after an uber fun podcast experience last night with the guys over at the SciFi Geeks Club (watch for episode 94)!

Also, we’re only about 30 orders away from publication, guys. Of course I’m aiming higher than that, but we’ve got this in the bag!

Still...Without Further Ado, the Prizes!

I hope you like loading images because this newsletter has a million. We’ve got tiered prizes the whole Crew can enjoy, as well as contributor-specific prizes. I’ve been bubbling with excitement since these were distant concepts. Now they’re starting to exist in real life so it’s time to share them with you!

Crew-Wide Prizes:

At 300 Orders!
I will release The Traveller’s Cup THEME SONG. Some of you may know that I also dabble in music. And every good space opera needs a soundtrack. It will be an MP3 available for download by all backers.

At 500 Orders!
I will release a digital edition of The Traveller’s Cup Companion Guide. This is a guide that I’ve been putting together that’s full of things like sketches, maps, and history, to give you background you might not pick up on in as much detail in the novel. It’ll be available for all backers.
 

At 750 Orders (FULLY FUNDED)!
I will record a full audiobook experience of The Traveller’s Cup which will include a score based on the theme song. When it’s complete (TBD) this will be available to backers for free, and for sale after the funding period. 

Now for individual prizes!

The Next 10 Orders:

• Have a minor character named after you (or a name of your choosing)
  
• 5-pack of digitally painted The Traveller’s Cup bookmarks!

Recruitment Officers:
I’m talking about the folks who recommend this book. If you’re one of the Top 3 Recommenders on Inkshares, you’ll get:

• A printed and signed Companion Guide (pictured above)
• 5-pack of digitally painted The Traveller’s Cup bookmarks (pictured above)
• Uniquely commissioned The Traveller’s Cup Amber Vial and Light Key combo chain, created by easany on Etsy!
  

Fleet Commanders:
Either because you bought the giant pack of awesome or have otherwise contributed to $60+ worth of this book.

• A printed and signed Companion Guide (pictured above)
• 5-pack of digitally painted The Traveller’s Cup bookmarks (pictured above)
• Uniquely commissioned The Traveller’s Cup Amber Vial and Light Key combo chain (pictured above)
• A print edition of the 5-page comic that will see its digital release on Free Comic Book Day (here’s a rough preview sketch!)

I’ll spare you the doodle today since anyone viewing this on mobile will hate what I’ve done to their data plans. But I’m the most excited space captain in the world, and I hope you’re ready to push this book to publication with me!

Your Space-Crazed Space Captain from Space Canada,
-AC

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages...

...it’s crunch time.

In little less than two weeks we will be seeing the end of the ’A God in the Shed’ campaign. It’s great news as this sort of self-promotional effort does no good for my anxiety and self-worth but not as good when one notices we are still a little over 200 pre-orders away from our goal.

I’ve already gotten in touch with those of you who follow the book but haven’t ordered. Thanks for indulging me and double-thanks to those who have decided to pre-order as a result. If everyone who’s still on the fence like this pre-orders we’ll be funded in no time as there are over 300 of you.

For those of you who’ve already ordered, don’t think you’re off the hook. I know it’s asking a lot from someone who’s already benefiting from your support and generosity but I need your help just as much. Here’s what I want you to do:

1. Look at your friend list or around you. Find that person you know who loves a good horror story or is really passionate about crowdfunding or being part of the early crowd for cool projects. I know this is likely yourself but see what you can do.
2. Send them an email or if possible show them the project page in person. Tell them why YOU pre-ordered a copy and show them the parts of the project that hooked you. Share your passion.
3. Get them to pre-order. Don’t allow them to tell you they’ll do it later.
4. Have them use your reference code for the book so that you get credit for it (important so you can get more books and so that you’re counted for more entries in my raffle to win a bit part in the book).
5. Enjoy the glow of knowing you’ve done something for an aspiring writer and pat yourself on the back for being a patron of the arts.
6. Message me that you’ve done it. I want to do something special for my last minute ambassadors.

Thank you everyone for paying attention to this project and for the support you’ve shown. I have other treats planned over the next few days that I hope I have time to put together. I feel very strongly about showing my gratitude.

Regards,

JF

Greetings All,

We are quickly approaching 1500 copies of An Unattractive Vampire! Fifteen Hundred. One thousand plus five hundred. That’s about Fourteen hundred and fifty more than I ever thought I might sell. So...what’s a way that you...people who have mostly already bought and read/are reading An Unattractive Vampire do to help push us over that milestone...well, how about...

WRITE A REVIEW ON AMAZON

(because Hypnotoad wants you to.)

Seriously, I know I’ve harped on this a lot, but customer reviews are really important particularly for first time writers. So if you’ve read the book please, please, PLEASE go to Amazon and leave a review. And if its good, that’s a bonus.

Other news:

Did you know: I have a website. It’s true. I paid for it and everything. Anyway, I’ve started putting up a some blog posts about references and inspirations in/for An Unattractive Vampire. So if you’d like a little insight into how the sausage was made head on over there and look for the ugly mug of Kurt Barlow.

Next up...

The next book in the Sword and Laser Collection came out this week. Congrats to G. Derek Adams. If you’re in the mood for some high fantasy silliness, I recommend you check it out. 

Also this week marked the beginning of the latest Inkshares contest, this one hosted by Geek and Sundry (SQUUUUEEEEEE!). The theme: Hard Sci-Fi. (For the uninitiated, that’s science fiction where all the science is accurate, not science fiction that goes to the gym to get swole.) So head on over to the contest page and check out the next soon-to-be published novels. Or hey, better yet, throw your own hat into the ring. Come on...I know you want to.

Also also...I have some appearances coming up this month I’d like to promote.
On Saturday the 23rd I will be joining my Our Fair City cohorts at the Columbia Geek Culture Gala. We will be there from 2-3 talking about podcasting, audio drama, and very likely smashing some fruit. Also, I will be passing out postcards like a bleeper bleeper.

Then on Saturday the 30th I will be in ye olde Quad Cities (of hometown fame) at Barley and Rye doing a meet and greet/signing for backers. So if you are in or around the Quad City area...

(Not seen above...East Moline. That’s right, East Moline, you still don’t count.)

...on April 30th come by and get a book signed. I will sign any book you bring me, though I’d prefer if it was mine. We may even be giving out a few copies in exchange for donations for Children’s Therapy Center. So swing by, say hi, and do a third thing that kind of rhymes at Barley and Rye. (Ha...nailed it.)

Anyway, that’s all for now. Hopefully the next time I write a lengthy possibly annoying update it will be to announce WE DID IT! Until then, remember...
AMAZON!

Hey all,

"In the right light spiders are seductive, all those legs, some furry, soft. But they’re poor suitors, scuttling into darkness, taking me with them." 

I use  social media—Twitter & Facebook—less to promote my books than to exercise my writing muscles in  a gentle way, especially  when I’m  stuck" on a project.  I find Twitter particularly helpful for this, as the discipline required to convey a thought or emotion in 140 characters is great  for  learning to keep prose crisp and clean. (And accomplishing that in a post is sometimes just the confidence boost I need to  go back to work on a difficult passage in my book! ) Also, Twitter has strong real-time analytics that help me to see what "lands" with readers and what does not. I can immediately view the ratio of those who saw the tweet as it  passed by in their feed ("impressions") to those who clicked on it and actually read/thought about it, if briefly ("engagements")! 

Yesterday, I tweeted the headline that you see at the top of this Update. I built it into that 140 character tweet  from a random thought that occurred to me upon waking. 

Surprisingly (VERY SURPRISINGLY) the engagement ratio on that  tweet was  the highest on anything I’ve ever tweeted!!  That’s not to say more people saw it than any other (impressions). When I’ve been fortunate to have  someone with hundreds of thousands of followers  retweet something I tweeted  the # of impressions was sky-high. But for this little scrap of writing, the engagement ratio was >;;;;1, that is,  more people  engaged (or some engaged twice)  than were exposed to it!

If you are an author, an aspiring author or an avid reader and don’t already have one I encourage you to consider opening a twitter account.  I find it takes much less time than FB  to keep up with and is more valuable to me. (While you can "like" something  it’s more about you quickly  gaining information than about connecting  with the writer of a post).  If you prefer you can open your twitter  account  anonymously (without using your real name and without a photo). And there’s no need to post any  of your own tweets, yet you can still be active! I use Twitter in my "day job"  account  as my news source on politics, the economy and health care since many who tweet offer a link to an article;  following them provides  timely, concise  headlines and content on things I need to know about. 

Of course, if you’re "building a brand"  as a writer or in some other way you  will want to reveal your true identity to all when you tweet, as I do!  Speaking of which, if you are  on twitter now or if you join I would  greatly appreciate it if you would  consider following me @kcalvinHQ!   The number of followers  I have helps those who go to my account  know that I’m a "real author" and  (presumably) that I have something of interest (at least occasionally) to say! P.S. if you  follow someone  on twitter but don’t want to see their tweets in your feed, you can click on the gear icon above their name and "mute them"; they don’t know you’re doing it and  following them still helps them out!

 I’m at 190 followers now, I hope you can help me pass the 200 follower mark this week!  https://twitter.com/kcalvinHQ  

Thanks for everything, happy reading and writing!   Kris

KRIS CALVIN, Inkshares Author of ONE MURDER MORE 

"An irresistible political thriller...reminds me of House of Cards"—Robert Dugoni, critically-acclaimed Amazon #1 best-selling author   

"Crisp and Entertaining...Kris Calvin is a writer to watch" —John  Lescroart, author of 19 New York Times  best-selling mysteries and thrillers, millions sold worldwide!