Hello you beautiful souls, contributors to the greater good, staunch supporters of a steadfast creative with a penchant to pain your ass with electronic communications and social media cajolery. We’ve hit a milestone. Over the Weekend, Under The Rug has passed the 200 mark(206 at the time of this note). Thank you! Thank You! Thank You! 

Also, we’ve got media coverage; the first of many to come. Under The Rug has gone international baby! Please come back to click the Outlook Publishing link after you finish reading this email.

June 2017 Outlook Publishing - https://issuu.com/outlookpublishing/docs/africa-outlook-issue-50/12

Now, some of you have gone above and beyond in getting your friends and family to also pre-order copies of my satirical/psychological, debut novel. I’m tremendously grateful for your willingness to reach out on my behalf. Once again, I’d like to ask you all to please reach out, to dig into your Rolodex; ask a friend, family member, or co-worker to pre-order their copies today. It would really help give us a big boost toward the finish line. Just think, if you all get just one person to pre-order a copy of Under The Rug, we double our total. One footnote: those who have pre-ordered copies already are still able to purchase more if you want to. Some people have inquired, and the answer is YES!

There are 3 options to pre-order:

Option 1 - E-book $10

Option 2 - Paperback(includes a free E-book as well) $20

Option 3 - Super Reader, which includes your name in the back of the book(you’ll be famous;-). You can order anywhere from 3 to 10. This option also includes a free E-book. *NOTE - Each one counts toward my goal. For example: if you pre-order 10 copies of the Super Reader, it counts as 10 toward my goal.

Thank you all for your support. I can’t do it without you. Below is the link you can send to your friends, family members, plumbers, pediatricians, psychiatrists, other tennis coaches, hairstylists, Uber drivers, gardeners, aestheticians, reading groups, massage therapists, personal trainers, fund-raisers, baristas...well, you get the picture. Thanks for reading. 

Pre-order Under the Rug at https://www.inkshares.com/books/under-the-rug

Your humble author,

Todd Wonkka  

Hello you beautiful souls, contributors to the greater good, staunch supporters of a steadfast creative with a penchant to pain your ass with electronic communications and social media cajolery. We’ve hit a milestone. Over the Weekend, Under The Rug has passed the 200 mark(206 at the time of this note). Thank you! Thank You! Thank You! 

Also, we’ve got media coverage; the first of many to come. Under The Rug has gone international baby! Please come back to click the Outlook Publishing link after you finish reading this email.

June 2017 Outlook Publishing - https://issuu.com/outlookpublishing/docs/africa-outlook-issue-50/12

Now, some of you have gone above and beyond in getting your friends and family to also pre-order copies of my satirical/psychological, debut novel. I’m tremendously grateful for your willingness to reach out on my behalf. Once again, I’d like to ask you all to please reach out, to dig into your Rolodex; ask a friend, family member, or co-worker to pre-order their copies today. It would really help give us a big boost toward the finish line. Just think, if you all get just one person to pre-order a copy of Under The Rug, we double our total. One footnote: those who have pre-ordered copies already are still able to purchase more if you want to. Some people have inquired, and the answer is YES!

There are 3 options to pre-order:

Option 1 - E-book $10

Option 2 - Paperback(includes a free E-book as well) $20

Option 3 - Super Reader, which includes your name in the back of the book(you’ll be famous;-). You can order anywhere from 3 to 10. This option also includes a free E-book. *NOTE - Each one counts toward my goal. For example: if you pre-order 10 copies of the Super Reader, it counts as 10 toward my goal.

Thank you all for your support. I can’t do it without you. Below is the link you can send to your friends, family members, plumbers, pediatricians, psychiatrists, other tennis coaches, hairstylists, Uber drivers, gardeners, aestheticians, reading groups, massage therapists, personal trainers, fund-raisers, baristas...well, you get the picture. Thanks for reading. 

Pre-order Under the Rug at https://www.inkshares.com/books/under-the-rug

Your humble author,

Todd Wonkka  

I am humbled and flabbergasted by the show of support I continue to receive for Mission 51! Thank you all so very much! After the first two weeks of the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest, we are still in 1st place! More followers are following. Pre-orderers are pre-ordering. I am very grateful! :-)

I was especially floored when I took a look at the list of "Notable Readers" in the sidebar of the Discussion section of the Mission 51 project page. This is a list of successful Inkshares authors I greatly admire and I am honored to have their support! These are The Cool Kids of Inkshares! I encourage you to click on their names and support their work.

There are four more weeks to go in the contest. I am actively reaching out to everyone I know to ask them to join The Cool Kids Club, and that includes Mission 51 followers who are still on the sidelines. So if you haven’t yet placed your pre-order, perhaps Ned Stark can convince you...

"One must first purchase a Mission 51 pre-order!"

LOL. Again, thank you all very much for your kind support! I am blessed and grateful!

Peace and love!

(and join the club!)

Ferd 👽

Greetings, Adventurers! 

 At a little over a week into our campaign, we’re starting off with 14 preorders. Despite having to start over, I feel that this is an excellent beginning. We have a long way to go, but I’m putting my feelers out and talking to as many people as possible about this book. 

 In order to reach our 750 preorders goal, I’ve done the math and come up with 50 preorders a week. That seems like a pretty doable goal. That’s just 7 preorders a day. Even if we’re starting at a slight deficit, we can definitely make that up. An ad for Mushroom and Anchovy will be appearing in this year’s Animaritime booklet, for instance, and some cards and bookmarks will be going out there as well. 

 Once we’re 1/3 of the way through the campaign—approx. 33 days in--I’m going to kick off a contest for those who have preordered ONLY, with a prize to be announced! It will run until the second third is up. Then I’m going to do another one! Be sure to preorder before then so you’re eligible to enter. 

 Hey also, you know what helps sell books? Being able to tell people what the book is about. (Hey... I’m new here). Here’s the synopsis I posted up on the book’s page the other day. Please share it with anyone who may be interested! 

 Patricia “Anchovy” Finnigan was just about ready to give up on being a professional adventurer with the Panzerotti Group, but the thrill of being the first to discover the Lost Jewels of Tu’ji’qutani was too strong. Prestige, treasure, a cursed cave? It ticked off every box on Anchovy’s list of requirements for an exciting job. 

Then she met Mushroom. A former secret service member with a twisty moustache, just enough risk-taking to make him interesting, and a flair for always looking put together, Mushroom was Anchovy’s adventuring match. 

 When a fellow agent is murdered, the fun stops, and the real work begins. Mushroom and Anchovy must learn to work together if they’re going to find treasure AND solve murders. Especially since anything can happen in a cursed cave…

 Spanning three separate stories, Mushroom and Anchovy is an adventure in every sense, and follows these two professionals as they work in a chaotic steampunk world where magic is untamed and time travel is just a train ride away. 

 I also mentioned before that the reason we had cancelled and re-started the campaign was for the contest. We’re currently in 5th place in that contest, and 3rd place isn’t far away. If we reach the top 3, Mushroom and Anchovy will be given the full publishing treatment. So please, if you haven’t preordered yet, this is a great time to do so! And if you can convince a friend or two to follow the project, that would also be incredibly helpful. 

 As a final note, I will be giving a LIVE reading of chapter 1 over on my Facebook page this Wednesday night at 8:30 PM AST. I will also be hosting a Q&A during that time, so please feel free to bring any of your burning questions to be answered. It will be archived after for those who have to miss it, but I hope to see some of you there! 

 I’ll be back on Friday with your final update before the weekend. 

 May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting, 

 K. M. Cooper

The Punch Escrow is hitting bookstores on July 25 — less than 2 months from today. I wanted to give you guys an update on where things stand based on the increasing number of inbound questions:

- Book Tour: We have one. I hope one of our stops is in your town. You can check out the list of places and dates here: https://www.facebook.com/thepunchescrow/posts/1951228528444487:0 (if you haven’t already, please give The Punch Escrow a "Like" on FB when you’re there)

- Cover Design: It’s done and I will share the full cover as soon as we approve the proofs from the printer. It’s lovely and iconic. I couldn’t be happier! This book will be a lot of fun to hold. We’ve been very picky about materials and inks.

- Pre-sales: Some of you may have gotten an email stating that you’ve "backed a winner!" - yes, I’m super thrilled we’re moving a lot of pre-order units. I’m very happy the book is picking up steam. I don’t know what else to say about that other than: THANK YOU! and maybe also WOOHOO!

- The movie: I can’t really say anything about the movie other than tell you that Lionsgate didn’t only option the book, they optioned The Punch Escrow’s entire world or, as I like to call it, "The Future." What this means is that if things go well, there will be many other stories to come through various mediums, not just film. I continue to have very productive meetings with the creative team at Lionsgate, and I believe "The Future" is in very good hands.

- Blurbs: Here are all the amazing blurbs we’ve gotten for the book so far. The reviews are also starting to come in to the book’s Goodreads page from advance readers and reviewers:

“I read a lot of books but haven’t enjoyed one as much as The Punch Escrow in a long time. I picked it up for a cross-country flight and didn’t put it down until we landed in New York. Tal Klein creates a plausibly real future that sucks you in. He powers his story with action, twists, and a dash of humor. Young actors will be lining up to play the lead character, and any director worth his salt would kill (or at least teleport) for a chance to adapt The Punch Escrow.”  —Andy Lewis, Book Editor, The Hollywood Reporter

“A compelling, approachable human narrative wrapped around a classic hard sci-fi nugget, The Punch Escrow dives into deep philosophical territory—the ethical limits of technology, and what it means to be human. Cinematically paced yet filled with smart asides, Klein pulls off the slick trick of giving readers plenty to think about in a suspenseful, entertaining package.” —Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica

“An alt-futuristic hard-science thriller with twists and turns you’ll never see coming. I couldn’t put it down.” —Felicia Day, author of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

“Klein transports us to a beautifully rendered near-future world. This is refreshingly original and immersive hard sci-fi. You’ll turn the last page and yearn for Joel Byram’s next chapter.”  —Ben Brock Johnson, host of Codebreaker podcast and Marketplace Tech

“A headlong ride through a future where ‘huge international corporate conspiracy’ is a box you check on a form and teleportation takes you anywhere—it just blows you to bits first.” —Quentin Hardy, Head of Editorial, Google Cloud (formerly Deputy Tech Editor for The New York Times)

"The Punch Escrow has a cool high concept and an action-packed story that will leave your head spinning." —Daniel H. Wilson, The New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse and Clockwork Dynasty

“If I lived in the world of The Punch Escrow, I’d teleport around the world shoving copies of Tal M. Klein’s thrilling, hilarious, and whip-smart debut into everyone’s hands. Save me the trip—buy this novel now.” —Duane Swierczynski, author of Revolver and the bestselling Level 26 series

“A fast-paced near-future sci-fi adventure peppered with exotic technology and cultural references ranging from Karma Chameleon to the Ship of Theseus, The Punch Escrow will have you rooting for its plucky, sarcastic hero as he bounces between religious fanatics, secret agents, corporate hacks, and megalomaniacs in a quest to get his life back. If you’ve ever wanted to get Scotty drunk and ask him some tough questions about how those transporters work exactly, The Punch Escrow is the book for you.” —Robert Kroese, author of The Big Sheep and its sequel, The Last Iota

“This book angered me to my core, because it’s based on an idea that should have occurred to me. The fact that Tal executed it so well, and made such a page-turner out of it, just adds insult to injury.” —Scott Meyer, author of the Magic 2.0 series

“Some writers take us to the future so we can question the effects that technology can have on humanity on a global and personal scale, along with the impact upon the social fabric. Others do it to take us on a wild ride made all the more fantastic by pushing the boundaries of what we can expect from the world of tomorrow. Tal M. Klein masterfully balances both and sets it all to the beat of an 80s soundtrack. An excellent piece of contemporary science fiction.” —J-F. Dubeau, author of A God in the Shed and The Life Engineered

Hello, readers.

I’ve added a short excerpt to the project page for 1000 Faces, which will give you your first glimpse of the life of Kara Finch and the world of the near-future. Take a read, let me know what you think - you can even leave a review. 

In his The Story So Far round-up of the contest’s first week, Joey Angotti had this to say about 1000 Faces: 

 "1000 Faces is a horrifying and very realistic plot that really begs to ask the question: “Where are we going as a society?” Basically, the internet and all the information shared and carried online could potentially be exploited by hackers and terrorists - we’ve seen it happen before. Now take those situations and amplify by 1000(just seemed right to use this number) and there you go. Now you have a world wide(puns for days) epidemic that not only cause people to fear and back away from the internet, but also opens people’s eyes to the fact that “big brother is always watching.” It’s pretty scary and reminds me of when people were afraid that Microsoft was spying on them with the Xbox Kinect or when people put tape over the camera in their laptop to make sure no one is spying on them through that."  

Thanks, Joey ;) Yes, 1000 Faces is currently in 5th place - but the fight at the top of the contest leader board is getting more competitive every day.  

I’ll be adding more excerpts over the coming week.

~ Jenny

Hello, readers.

I’ve added a short excerpt to the project page for 1000 Faces, which will give you your first glimpse of the life of Kara Finch and the world of the near-future. Take a read, let me know what you think - you can even leave a review. 

In his The Story So Far round-up of the contest’s first week, Joey Angotti had this to say about 1000 Faces: 

 "1000 Faces is a horrifying and very realistic plot that really begs to ask the question: “Where are we going as a society?” Basically, the internet and all the information shared and carried online could potentially be exploited by hackers and terrorists - we’ve seen it happen before. Now take those situations and amplify by 1000(just seemed right to use this number) and there you go. Now you have a world wide(puns for days) epidemic that not only cause people to fear and back away from the internet, but also opens people’s eyes to the fact that “big brother is always watching.” It’s pretty scary and reminds me of when people were afraid that Microsoft was spying on them with the Xbox Kinect or when people put tape over the camera in their laptop to make sure no one is spying on them through that."  

Thanks, Joey ;) Yes, 1000 Faces is currently in 5th place - but the fight at the top of the contest leader board is getting more competitive every day.  

I’ll be adding more excerpts over the coming week.

~ Jenny

12 days into the contest, and we are still in the top three! It’s pretty important that we keep our momentum and stay up here on the top of the pile. More authors are entering the contest every day - in the Fantasy contest last year we had a late entry who blasted to the top of the leaderboard in a few hours, and then went on to win the whole thing with over 750 preorders. SO. If you’re thinking you want to preorder, please do it today.

And now, to the fun stuff. Here is a glimpse at one of the characters in Mutants: Uprising, and since it’s written in second person, today this is all about YOU.

You are Jane Meyers, known in League circles as Zombie. You discovered your mutant gene like many people do - the hard way. When your adrenaline surges your strength increases and your body becomes numb. You can take an obscene amount of damage and keep walking, as long as you can keep your adrenaline high. As soon as your heart rate drops, however, you fall into a coma which looks a lot like death, and you stay in that state while your body heals. You ran away from home as a teenager, and were mentored by a mutant named Deimos, who brought you with him when he became a leader in a Midwest cell of the League. After serving as his enforcer for years, Deimos recommended you to take charge of the fumbling Los Angeles cell. You’ve been there a few months, and have gathered a fairly solid group around you. Maybe being a leader isn’t so hard after all?

That’s it for now, I can’t wait to tell you about the other mutants who are in your group, but that will be another day!

Thank you for the support!
Jane-Holly
[PREORDER HERE]