UPDATE #XO

I completed the draft! Woo hoo!

I passed the actual milestone about two weeks ago. I celebrated, quietly, and am only now making the update. Oops! I’m bad at social media, forgive me. It makes me a dinosaur, and ill-suited to take full advantage of the Inkshares platform.

So what now? Well, now I consolidate characters, tighten story beats, discard dead plot threads, strengthen language, yadda, yadda, yadda. In sum: more work.

However!

However I will finally start posting chapters that are near completion. Starting today. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and thanks again for sticking with me. It’s been a long haul, but the effort is paying off nicely (in my opinion). I hope you’ll agree. And if you don’t, I won’t quit my dayjob. 

Although given that my day job is copywriting, perhaps I should.

Best, Prescott

For those of you who have not yet received your refunds from either the first or the second Frost campaign here on Inkshares, please email them at hello@inkshares.com so that they can address the problem.

Thanks,
Chelsea

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

Okay!

So, around 92% of you want the slightly delayed autographed book, and that is what you shall get. On July 24th I will enter Inkshares’ office with a bunch of special pens and not leave until every pre-ordered signed book is numbered and autographed. For the few of you who wanted your books early but unautographed, I’ve discussed the matter with Inkshares and they asked that you simply pop them an email at: hello@inkshares.com and let them know that you pre-ordered a signed copy of The Punch Escrow, but you’d rather get an unsigned copy sooner.

More news soon! We’re almost at the finish line. We’ve crossed the 4,000 pre-orders threshold. Tell you what, if we break 5,000 by July 24, I’ll add something extra for all of you early backers.

More soon!

-Tal 

Just a quick update on Crow’s Gambit to let everyone know that the business cards are in. If you would like some to hand out to prospective readers please let me know!

I am still reeling with emotions after the crazy finish of the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest. It is gradually sinking in that Mission 51 will be a published book and I will be a published author! It feels surreal. I am grateful beyond words for all of you. Inkshares publishes books only with the pre-order "approval" of the crowd. Mission 51’s publication could only happen on Inkshares with the support of wonderful people like you! Thank you very, very much!

I am truly not quite back to myself yet. I feel off-balance in a good, exciting way. I know this is a transitional feeling. For the past year and a half, I have been focused on writing and preparing myself for exactly this sort of contest. Now I will shift my focus to the goal of editing and publication. It feels like a brand new day full of hope and promise!

Inkshares has sent me a detailed questionnaire to help them help me through the process of editing, cover design, and marketing. I am to hand it in with my manuscript. I informed them I want to review it one last time and tidy up some loose ends before they start their process. I will let you all know when I have delivered the manuscript to Inkshares. It won’t be long.

Meanwhile, Mission 51 is now considered an Inkshares "property." I have a page on their "Properties" section, which is available to third parties in the entertainment industry who may be interested in the story. That’s pretty exciting, too! I haven’t completely tweaked that page, but if you are interested in what I have so far, you can check it out here.

Once I turn in the manuscript, I will join a few other works that have merited publication on Inkshares and are waiting for them to focus their professional resources on editing, layout, cover design, marketing, production, and distribution. It’s a thorough process that will take some time, quite possibly a year. I hope to have a better handle on the timeline once I hand in the manuscript. I will always inform you as soon as I know anything relating to the production of Mission 51.

Again, thank you for this incredible opportunity. I literally could not have done it without you!

Peace!

~Ferd  👽

This is a short but very important update, so please take a moment to read it:

Because of some complications owing to particulars involving the unique glue required to bind the amazing foil cover we’ve designed for The Punch Escrow, I won’t be able to sign the books in time to get them to you before the July 25 publication date. So, I need to know if you guys would rather have the books early and unautographed or slightly late and autographed. By "slightly late" I mean I’ll be signing them on July 24th and Inkshares will ship them out that day, so you’ll still get your book on publication week, just not on publication day. But it’s up to you. And by "you" I mean the collective "yous." We’re going to make this democratic with a survey. You can fill out the survey here, and whatever the majority decides 24 hours from now will be the way we do things for everyone who pre-ordered the autographed books.

Here’s the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/ZBBDCQF

More news soon!

-Tal

Though it also means I can have a little bit of a break for a week or 2 while I wait, which will be nice. I need a break. - Me...5 months ago

Turns out my brain decided it needed quite the break.

The only real way to describe the last 5 months is that I haven’t really been...present. I’ve sort of just floated through 2017 so far and I can neither adequately explain the why or the how. None of it directly relates to the publishing of the book (other than delaying its submission) so I won’t go too much further into it. Suffice it to say, the ol’ brain box is a bit less floaty at the moment, so stuff is happening.

What stuff you may ask? Well, in the tradition of my people, here is a bullet point list of where things are at with the book: 

• The beta reading went well. I received rather positive feedback from everyone on the story and the characters. Also, everyone seemed to like the ending, which was a huge relief. 
• The book is more or less done at this point, I just need to go through and do a final pass over it to tidy up a few last things. 
• I still need to wrangle all the paperwork and extra stuff to go along with the manuscript when I submit it to Inkshares. 
• I also have a new (and likely final) cover. I’m quite fond of it. It even has a nice little spot for a cover quote, should I be lucky enough to get one.

So yeah, if I can keep everything in gear and on track, Ghosts will be submitted by the end of the month. After that, I’m assuming that there’ll be a bit of a wait since I’ll now be further down the queue than if I’d submitted earlier in the year, but it is what it is. 

I shall keep you all posted in the meantime.

I’d like for you all to meet my editor, Matt Harry. He has been amazing in the journey toward getting The Madness of Mr. Butler published. As I’ve said, it is a long process, but that process is all in the best interests of the story, and in your best interests as my readers, investors, and friends. This man is doing great things to help make Mr. Butler a great story. He is challenging me and pushing toward making the final product the absolute best it can be. He is behind the greatest successes at Inkshares, and Inkshares decided that my little book deserves the attention of an incredible editor. Please enjoy the blog entry and video regarding one of his recent releases, "A God in the Shed" by J.F. Dubeau, here: http://blog.inkshares.com/post/162717697220/it-all-comes-back-to-story

As for Mr. Butler, great things are happening, and I appreciate your patience as everything remains under construction. We are still looking at an early 2018 release date.

Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to email me at info@talltalestold.com

Why the new email address? Because I am running an internet thing called "Tall Tales Told" now. It’s a home for everything I’m writing and thinking. I’m featuring music, stories of both fiction and nonfiction, and illustrated poetry. Please take a moment and visit if you haven’t already. You can visit by clicking here.

Thanks again for your support and patience. 

Love always, 

Michael.