This is the best update of them all!

WE DID IT!!!

With the help of you who are receiving this email (the “follower” list,) we finished the contest in the top three and have won the publishing prize! That is the dream of every writer, to be published. I have ONLY YOU to thank for that. There are many excellent writers who never have this opportunity. The difference here was YOU!

Here are the numbers: Mission 51 has an awesome number of “Followers” on Inkshares: 419. Most of you helped with a pre-order. Mission 51 would not be getting published like this without those pre-orders! Pre-orders is what Inkshares uses to determine who merits publication. It can’t be done on Inkshares without your vote of confidence and crowdfunding support! - Many followers helped with public exposure and awareness by simply “liking,” and “sharing,” and “commenting” on the Inkshares site, facebook, twitter, and instagram. Even without purchasing a pre-order, drumming up support for Mission 51 like that was enormously helpful. The level of interest and enthusiasm for Mission 51 was phenomenal! I will point out proof of that in just a bit.

Of the 419 Followers, 246 of you purchased a pre-order. Wow!!! That’s the number that counted for the contest. That’s the number that was top three out more than 180 submissions.

Those 246 fabulous supporters purchased a total of 267 copies, as some people purchased multiple copies of the book. That’s the crowdfunding Inkshares is looking for to: 1. prove the project is worth it, and 2. provide funds so they can at least start the expensive process of pre-production and production.

Those 267 copies broke down like this: 63% ordered ebooks, and 37% ordered physical books. That amounts to over $3,600 worth of crowdfunding support!!! That’s HUGE!!! Inkshares will use all of that and more to provide world-class editing, layout, production, marketing, and distribution services. I will update you all later on the timeframe of this exhaustive and comprehensive process. 

So the Mission 51 project page on Inkshares suddenly changed at 3:00 AM EDT this morning as the contest ended. The part that said “Funding” now says “In Production.” I am so very, very happy and proud about that! The green funding bar has disappeared. But I’m happy that most of the content is still visible. 

There is now one new little badge which appeared under the title and description on the Mission 51 project page. It says, “#18 Community Interest in Science Fiction.” I am blown away by that!!! There are many Science Fiction projects on Inkshares. To be ranked as #18 in Community Interest is unbelievable! That’s the proof about "interest and enthusiasm" I was alluding to!

I am starting to receive emails from Inkshares about my next steps. I have a number of things to learn and to decide, as you might imagine. As I know more, I will continue to keep you all informed through this medium. I ask for your patience as Inkshares navigates Mission 51 through their pre-production process. The goal is to eventually have a professionally polished product in your hands as soon as humanly possible. It won’t be as soon as anyone of us would like, but I will do my part to make it happen as soon as possible. I’ll keep you informed.

Again, THANK YOU! From the bottom, middle, and top of my heart, THANK YOU!!!

Peace!

Ferd 👽

Greetings Supporters of Crow’s Gambit,

The Nerdist Contest is only a few hours away from ending. I’m sorry to say we will not be finishing in the top 3. With 123 unique orders we are securely in 5th place. However, don’t feel bad. This is still a great accomplishment. There are some strong books in the top ten and according to Inkshares there were over 180 submissions.

I cannot express my gratitude for all the support the story has received. Orders were placed by strangers, co-workers, high school friends, local supporters, and even several of the top ten authors in the contest. I thank you all.

The journey is not done for Crow’s Gambit. While winning the contest would have been GREAT there is another option. I can still try to sell enough Pre-Orders to secure publishing. A full publishing deal would require 750 Pre-Orders…that is a bunch and probably outside my time available at this point. So I have decided to try for the Quill level that requires 250 Pre-Orders. This deal would not get the book onto physical store shelves and would only involve light editing…but the story would get published and that’s a start.

This means we now shift to Plan B and spend the next couple months trying to sell more copies. With 136 copies already sold we only need 114 to get to the Quill level. There are two things to remember in this:

• While the contest was focused on unique Pre-Orders, Quill is focused purely on number of orders. If everyone who has already purchased a copy bought one more tonight we would be at Quill.
• The pledge to support the Le Sueur Public Library remains. If the book gets published $1 of the proceeds from every copy will be donated to the library.

So stay with me. Keep spreading the word to your friends. Updates will come a little less frequently but hopefully will include more interesting tidbits.

PT

This will be the last update I post before the contest ends.

Proteus remains in fourth place. We’ve been absolutely tenacious in keeping up with the top three. We’ve more than doubled our overall orders over the course of this week, and I have it on good authority that we’ve scared the pants off the competition. We are the charging bull. They are fleeing us.

They’re still probably going to win, but at least we’ve given them a really, really good chase.

It’s not impossible to win from where we stand. The last day of my Tantalus Depths campaign I brought in something like 80 pre-orders, so I know that’s a thing that can happen. But I’m also not going to sweat it if we don’t. The top three books have earned their spots, and I won’t be sorry to see any of them win. In any case, I’m already looking forward past the end of this contest. I didn’t get as far as I’ve gotten by not thinking several steps ahead.

Win or lose, I’m enormously grateful for all of you. You really came through in a big way, and I’m proud to have friends and supporters as loyal and enthusiastic as you are.

A few more hours remain in this contest. We might win, we might lose, but either way, let’s make them work for it.

Just a quick note today to let you all know about a contest that is taking place over at Inkshares. If you are a fan of science fiction, you might want to scoot over and check it out.

It is called the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest, and there are currently 182 submissions that are competing for the top three positions. The prize? A full-fledged publishing contract, sans having to campaign to 750 preorders. For those of you who were along for the ride with me and The Walls are Closing In, you have an idea of what a big deal this is.

Today marks the very end of the contest - it wraps up at midnight tonight. I would like to draw your attention to one book in particular - Mission 51.

Author Ferd Crotte was a very early supporter of The Walls are Closing In, and I would be remiss if I didn’t do everything in my power to help him come out in the TOP 3. Right now he is holding on to 3rd place, but the competition in the top 4 is fierce.

Check out the contest, and consider throwing your support to one of the top contenders. If you referred someone to The Walls are Closing In at some point during the campaign, using a link from the website, then you may have some credits on your account to use.

Mission 51

After a tragic, fifty light-year voyage, sole survivor Mat crash lands on a beautiful, sometimes hostile alien world ... the planet Earth! Mission 51 is an immigrant story that is out of this world!

https://www.inkshares.com/books/mission-51

In other news, I have been in contact with the authors who met their publishing goal ahead of me, and many of them are starting the production process. It looks like The Walls are Closing In is moving up the queue and only has one or two books ahead of it that have not started production. I hope to be assigned a developmental editor soon, and along with that assignment should come an estimated release date. My best guess is still late spring/early summer 2018.

I have been racking my brain trying to think of something interactive to do with my marvelous followers here in the interim. And.... I think I have come up with a fun idea that will involve sneak peeks into the story and amusing prizes. Stay tuned!

-Jacqui

Guys...this is it.

There’s only one day left in the Nerdist contest, and we are STILL in fourth place, despite seeing some absolutely remarkable support the past few days. Our competition is simply seeing as much success as we are, if not more. We were able to close the gap between our position and third place down to just twelve pre-orders...right now it’s climbed back up to 17 and still rising.

Remember: third place is as good as first for this contest. All three get the same prize: that coveted full publication deal. If we place in fourth, though...nothing. I could campaign the hard way and gather 750 pre-orders like I did for Tantalus Depths. But I won’t. I can’t. The last campaign was the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do by far, and I do not have the energy, stamina, or resources to do it again. My physical and mental health probably would not allow for it. Not any time soon. I knew that from the start when I entered the contest: I either make it, or I don’t.

It’s all or nothing, folks. I want to tell this story, but if we can’t place in the top three, it’s going back on the shelf indefinitely. You’ll get refunded, but the book won’t see the light of day for who knows how long.

So I’m appealing to you all one more time: if anything in Proteus seems interesting to you, please support it with a pre-order. If you already have, please get a friend or loved one to do the same. Remember, referrals will get you a commissioned art piece if you want it! Win or lose, I’ll honor that promise.

Thank you all, for everything you’ve done for this campaign so far.

Now cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for your support over the last month. I am still sitting firmly in 8th place in the Nerdist contest, which, as you know, is out of the running. Mutants: Uprising will not be published through this contest - and you know what? That’s okay.

The story is in no way DEAD - it still exists and will be published at some point. However, you will be refunded your money for this campaign after the contest ends. 

THANK YOU so much for following me on this journey! It means the world to me.

Jane-Holly

Hi everyone! Curio Citizen is still in 1st at 221 orders, so thank you SO much to everyone who has ordered today. HOWEVER, 2nd place is coming up fast! They are now at 212, and they have been steadily gaining orders for days. PLEASE, personally ask one person to pre-order in a private message, in person, or even an old school phone call. That is the best (and sometimes only) way to get someone to actually place a pre-order. I’m not asking you to make yourself or anyone feel uncomfortable, of course--you know your friends and family best--but I have found that many people I would have never expected to order gladly do when personally asked. I NEED help at this point. 4th place is also gaining orders fast, and though we have a good lead, that could change if I stop getting pre-orders today and tomorrow. I hate to ask more of you who have already done so much, but all of our hard work for weeks will be for nothing if I don’t stay in the top 3. 

Thank you again. I truly cannot thank you all enough.

The deadline is TOMORROW at midnight Pacific Time (that means 3am for all my east coast peeps). June 27th is the LAST DAY.

Click HERE to pre-order Curio Citizen.

Please direct friends to https://www.inkshares.com/books/curio-citizen

Here’s today’s look into Curio Citizen:

Hello, readers. Tomorrow is the final day of the Nerdist Sci-Fi contest. 1000 Faces has been sitting in 7th place, with the same number of readers, for a little while now. In fact, the whole leader-board from 6th place downward has been rather quiet.

To those of you who have preordered 1000 Faces, thank you for your support. It means a lot to me to know that you believed in the concept or in me (or both!) enough to put your hard-earned cash towards it. As it stands, time will run out for 1000 Faces crowdfunding campaign on June 30th. Some time after that, you’ll receive a refund. I still plan on completing 1000 Faces and getting it out to the world somehow. I’ll be in touch with you again once I know how.

While I have your attention, I’d love it if you could take a look at and consider supporting Mission 51 with a preorder:

https://www.inkshares.com/books/mission-51

It’s The X-Files meets The Immigrant, and readers are calling it one of the best sci-fi books they’ve ever read. 

~ Jenny