Alexander Barnes sent an update for The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising

WE’RE ONLY 4 PRE-ORDERS AWAY!!! :D :D :D

Here is the concept art for our characters "Cade" and "Torque". They were both Lambda operatives stationed aboard the evil United Planets of Earth ship - Enigma.
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    Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, Priced to move!
    So I realize I’m doing this all backward, by submitting something to the "promote your works" forum AFTER it’s been funded. But hey, if you’ve been on the fence about These Are My Friends on Politics but have visions of post-Election Day stocking stuffers or some other gift-giving occasion dancing in your head, you now can get it for a more impulse buy-friendly price. 

    Everyone who is reading this and backed the book already: THANK YOU. An appreciative reader update is on the way and it will be written just for you.
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      Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, Deus Hex Machina
      No sorries, just let me clean up this random moisture that's accumulate in my eyes somehow...

      Honestly I was just talking with my husband about how I think I've stalled on all the possible channels for funding on this project.  I've reached out to the last 20 prospects on my list and will keep pinging until I get a definitive answer, but all we can come up with is posting fliers in libraries, but that's more of a passive shot in the dark.  I was just saying to him this might be my funding limit -- 43 copies.  I mean that's more than Shadow of the Owl got, so that's a success in itself.

      I tried to leverage a massive facebook group I'm in called Mamageeks, but they must have seen through my proxy self-promotion through a friend because there was no response, like at all to the post.  These wre the people that bout like 400 copies of SotO the first weekend, but that might have been because they were free and I was complaining about how my mother wouldn't read the book so they were jumping to my defense.

      I did post on reddit, but self-promotion has never been successful in my book (or for my book even): https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/3vqqam/check_in_selfpromotion_and_off_topic_discussion/cxzwe0s

      I thought of using a Twitch stream -- I did this during my last day of nanowrimo and although the quality of the writing suffered a bit since I had an audience, it was kinda fun to stream and write at the same time.

      But ultimately all these avenues are passive.  The person who I wish I could emulate in terms of preorder strategies is @Jamison Stone .  He managed to reach out into the community and pull hundreds of preorders in just days.  It's a real shame that this contest ends mid January, because I have a table at Chattacon where I could have sold preorders, but that's the last week in January.  

      @A.C. Weston Your page keeps coming up because Art really wants to collaborate on the graphic novel with you. He asks me like daily about this hehe that's how excited he is about the idea.  

      Mylanta, I'm just so darn HONORED that you all think this much of the book! 
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      People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Deus Hex Machina

        Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, Deus Hex Machina
        @Amanda Orneck If it's helpful, I find people do too much at home (online) promotion. If someone wishes to emulate my success, they should be focusing on getting out the door and physically in front of the people they want to buy their book--then you have to actually pitch and sell it to these people. This, however, takes a very specific personality and type of presence. You also need to find the correct physical forum to promote/sell your book. 

        Selling a book in person that does not physically exist yet is a VERY tricky business. Despite this, unless you already have a previously established online network which is receptive to a call to action, getting out there in a receptive location and pitching person to person seems to be the best way to get pre-orders.

        I will be honest with you though, the personal effort required to do this is astronomical and I do not believe most people fully understand what it is takes to be successful with this method. If you have questions please PM or directly link me @Jamison Stone Good luck!!!
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          Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, What music do you listen to when writing?
          This is going to sound very corny, but the motion picture soundtrack from Pride & Prejudice (2005) is perfect for me. Also Aram Khachaturian, if you like classical Russian. 
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoLUMURunQ
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            Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, Co-Authorship on Inkshares
            Just adding my voice to the excited buzz about this feature.  For those of us fielding graphic novel projects co-authorship would be amazingly helpful.
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              Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, Co-Authorship on Inkshares
              Hello Inkshares Authors and Readers! 

              I have a question for Inkshares and the Inkshares community about co-authorship and how it’s represented/integrated into the Inkshares site. 

              First off I have been really loving the updates to the Inkshares online platform, including these forums! Thanks so much @Thad @Jeremy Thomas Inkshares is looking/feeling really great and the new additions have deeply enhanced the online experience! In that vein of improvement, I offer the following observation and question:

              So far, (and please correct me if I am wrong) I seems that only one Inkshares account can be the "author" of a book project, but as we know many books have two or more authors. While RUNE OF THE APPRENTICE only has one author (me!) I have co-written another book which am very excited to begin funding on Inkshares in the next month or so. (I will spare you the details because promoting that book is not the purpose of this post.)

              The briefest of backgrounds:

              This book is a memoir of another’s life and we therefore want him to be the "primary" face of the book project here on Inkshares, with me listed as co-author. To serve this end, we will be hosting the book under his name and Inkshares account, but also very much would like my account to be officially associated with the project here within the integrated Inkshares site. Currently, I have 553 followers on Inkshares and feel that it would best serve everyone involved to have all of my books (co-authored and otherwise) to be officially associated with my meta account.

              It seems that due to the current framework of the Inkshares site, this is not directly possible and we will have to have this new book hosted under my co-author’s account solely, with the only connection that I am a co-author shown in the "About" section, again, without any official connection felt through the interconnected Inkshares site. Is this correct, or am I mistaken? 

              Current workarounds:

              It seems that there are several ways other authors have dealt with this co-author disconnection:

              Some people have created a joint account like: 
              @Nick Scott and Noa Gavin , @Adam Greven and Matt Deller , @S.T. Ranscht and Robert P. Beus , @Jesse and Sylvia Medlong , @Abigail Burton and Autumn Gass , @Julian Green and Finn Mcrae , @David Michael Slater-author and Andy Catling-illustrator  etc.

              While others have their book listed under a solo author’s account like @Paul Inman and Patrick Ryerson (can’t link him because I can’t find his account), @Alexander Barnes and Christopher Preiman (Again, cant link because I can’t find account.) @Richard Saunders and Mykle Walsh. I’m sure there are others here I am missing--I know of at least two, but can’t remember their names. 

              And others who have a brand associated with their book like @HERB , @Papercuts J.P. and @Little Fiction | Big Truths 

              The plot thickens:

              For me, one of the most exciting aspects of Inkshares is the interconnection of the community felt and performed through the meta Inkshares website. It saddens me that this new project will miss out, in part, on one of the most innovative aspects of publishing with Inkshares--the online interconnection and social community of our growing user base. While co-authored books are certainly a minority here, I feel that as Inkshares attracts new authors, there will be more and more experiencing a similar disconnection between their co-authored works. 

              Also, I can attest to the many relationships I have made with other authors because of Inkshares, and I would be VERY surprised if we did not start to see some very exciting collaborative projects (short story anthologies and full on book authorship) created by Inkshares authors begin to pop up in the near future. I already know of one by @Richard Saunders and feel that this is an arena where an official, fully integrated co-author function on the Inkshares site would really help push the needle in funding and continuing to strengthening our community. @Richard Heinz  @John Robin @JF Dubeau @Jim McDoniel @Brian Guthrie @G. Derek Adams @Richard Saunders @Andrew J. Ainsworth @Joseph Asphahani @Paul Inman @Dave Barrett  @Zachary Tyler Linville @Craig Munro  @Joseph Terzieva @Tal Klein @Matthew Isaac Sobin @A.C. Weston @Amanda Orneck @Tom Merritt @Janna Grace  @Vincent Lim are a few who come to mind who might be interested in collaboration :)

              My suggestion and question:

              To solve this problem, I’d love to see a way where multiple accounts can be listed as an author so that there is continuity across the online system. Whether it be for co-authored books, short story anthologies, or even co-authored articles or journals, I feel it would greatly assist our community.

              What are other’s thoughts on this? Please chime in, I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks, both on the "official Inkshares team" and users (authors/readers!)

              TL;DR
              Should Inkshares have an integrated co-author function for book projects? 

              I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Thanks!

              Jamison Stone
              author of RUNE OF THE APPRENTICE and Inkshares fanboy

              P.S.
              Huge thanks to everyone else on the Inkshares team for making this place so special! Truly happy to be an author here, and that is because of all of your hard work and dedication! Thanks @Adam Gomolin @Angela Melamud @Matt Kaye @Avalon Marissa Radys @Elena Stofle @Larry Levitsky 
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                Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, What music do you listen to when writing?
                Hi, everybody!

                Title of the thread asks it pretty straightforward.

                I’ve been jamming to the same ambient nature-noise, sci-fi space music, and weird sweeping orchestral whatever-stuff for the past month or more while writing every night, and I’m in need of something new!

                I find these things on youtube - typically full albums or curated playlists. I literally just search for ’sci fi fantasy writing music’ or something and wind up listening to Stellardrone’s collection - all ambient tracks.

                Thing is, the other day, I was ’in the zone’ one moment, writing out a pretty snappy line of dialogue, and then I just fell right out of the zone as I suddenly became aware that I’d heard the current track that was playing before, and then I got sidetracked by the thought of how I wished I could find something else, and then I spent a few minutes finding something else, and then ultimately to my dismay I discovered I’d completely forgotten whatever the heck that character was supposed to say... Frustrating!

                So what do you listen to when you’re writing?

                Also, if you’re going to respond and got some good stuff, please indicate the genre of your work? For my own part, I’m in need of something that gets the creative fantasy-sci-fi juices flowing.

                (I’m assuming we’re keeping it in the realm of ambient, atmospheric, instrumental also.... Who can possibly concentrate on stringing words together when there are lyrics pumped into your head?)
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                  Alexander Barnes liked the forum thread, How I got to 250 orders in 10 days
                  So I’ve gotten a ton of messages about how I got The Punch Escrow to "Quill" in 10 days. Hopefully this is useful to some of you. I think it basically boils down to: Treat it like a job. It’s your job to get your book sold. If you believe in what you’ve got, if you think you know the audience you wrote it for will love it, then invest your time, energy, and money in your project.

                  1. Get lucky. Luck is something you need to succeed. Luck is something you can actually control. If you don’t believe me, do the research. Having a lucky attitude makes a huge difference. 

                  2. Move quickly! I learned this through a couple decades in marketing. When it comes to contests, creating a distance between you and anyone behind you pays back huge dividends. Once you’ve established yourself as the frontrunner, you gain the benefit of being perceived as the favored incumbent. It pays to burn through all of your promotional energy early. If you manage to grasp first place, trust me, you will find a second wind. If you don’t, then you’ll have a pretty good perspective of your likelihood of winning and you can make the call on how much energy to reinvest based on that analysis.

                  3. I steadfastly followed the advice given by previous Inkshares contests winners. I hustled really really hard and harassed everyone I knew through multiple channels: Texts, twitter, FB, WhatsApp, Snapchat, even LinkedIn. I would say personal contacts accounted for over 50% of the pre-ordered books. I injected a sense of urgency by explaining the contest, the timeline, and the ask: "I’m in a contest to publish my first book. If sci fi is your thing, you’re going to love it. Especially if you like hard sci fi, like The Martian. I need to get 250 pre-orders to get it published. Please click here to pre-order it."

                  4. Engage engage engage!  Every single time someone bought my book I acknowledge and thank them. It makes them feel good and it encourages them to engage back with you and help promote the project. They’re part of the team now.

                  5. Get to know your fellow authors. Inkshares is an AMAZING community of readers and authors. I have yet to have a negative interaction with anyone here. I’ve joined three Syndicates and have interacted with countless authors. Everyone here has something valuable to pass on to you. It’s worth listening.

                  6. Promote and Invest! Remember when I said treat your book like your job? Well, you should also treat is like an investment. There’s a flywheel effect when people see you investing in your own work. It makes them feel like you really believe in it. I’ve been creating a ton of world-building content, videos, as well as taking advantage of every interview opportunity, promoted tweets, Facebook boosts, and such. If publishing this book is your dream, invest in making your dream come true. 

                  So, these are the six steps I followed. Hopefully it’s useful to you. If you have more specific questions about those or the book itself, I’m at your service.


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