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Howdy, Folks. It’s been six weeks since I announced the success of the campaign for Bane of All Things and I finally have an update to share. 

The next step in the process is the Editorial Letter. This will be an exhaustive evaluation of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses in all dimensions – character, plot, pacing, tone and all that subtle stuff that most readers probably don’t want to know too much about because it’s kind of like pulling back the curtain on the Wizard in Oz. But damn, doesn’t a story sing when the author gets it right. 

I found out yesterday that my Editorial Letter will be coming in mid-August. Once I have this in hand, the revision process will begin in earnest.

Not that I have been sitting on my hands in the meantime. On the suggestion of Inkshares CEO Adam Gomolin, I have been digesting two classic works on the craft of writing that I hadn’t yet added to my reference library, John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction and Madison Smartt Bell’s Narrative Design. Taking the time to reflect on the current draft of BoAT will reading through these has given me some ideas for tweaks and refinements. I have until mid-July to make those changes and resubmit the manuscript to Inkshares so that only the latest best version goes under scrutiny for that Editorial Letter. This will certainly keep my nose to the grindstone!

Those giveaways and prizes I promised

Now I must apologize for being slow with those campaign mementos and prizes I had promised – the signed posters and canvas prints. I have started getting those out, so if you were a prize winner for a canvas, or a supporter who qualifies for a signed poster(s) for having pre-ordered multiple copies of BoAT, rest assured they will soon be on their way. If you live in the Ottawa area and I haven’t asked for your home mailing address, it’s because I plan to either mail to your workplace or drop by and deliver in person.

Other great Inkshares projects you may want to check out

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to a few fellow Inkshares authors currently in funding:

Ricky Ruzin has only nine days left on the campaign for Showtime! and is hoping that getting past the 400-pre-order mark will be enough to earn a publication offer from Inkshares as I did. Showtime! Is a spooky tale about the boob tube described as “America’s Got Talent meets Timeless with a dash of Carrie.”

Jacqui Castle is already a published Inkshares author and has launched her campaign for the second book in her series, The Seclusion. This is one of those cautionary tales about a dystopian future under a total surveillance state that’s looking all too likely these days.

And then there is Allison Basile’s The Little Book of Bad Intentions, described as Jane Austen meets The War of the Roses, in which an aging playboy races against the clock to murder his ruthless trophy wife—before Alzheimer’s sets in, and he can’t remember where he’s stashed the body.

And, again, thanks much!

Once again, my deepest thanks to each and every one of you for making all this possible. 

Cheers

Leo

Hey, y’all. Quick update. I got another proof back, but it was full of formatting errors for the quotation marks on certain bits of dialogue. I am going through, quote by quote, and marking them for correction. I hope to turn it around, today. Amazingly, this sort of fine-tooth combing seems to take as much, if not more, time than writing a book. Excelsior.

I bet you are thinking, "Damn, that was the fastest 20 days ever..."  No, dear patron... you have not experienced a time anomaly. Saran has not climbed out of the pages of her book to shift us two weeks forward... Inkshares is releasing your digital ebooks for download. That’s right. If you preordered 3 years ago, you are getting The Living God... today. 

Print books will be mailed out in the next week or so. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear word of when they hit the mail. 

Please remember to review on Goodreads and Amazon. Every review, even just marking the stars, helps. The goal is to get 60 reviews from backers! Can we do it? Can 60 of you review The Living God? I hope so. I’ve got faith in you. 

We are so close to the publication date! Soon the book will be in your hands! FINALLY! This is super exciting and I cannot wait for you to get it. This brings me to an important part of this process...

If you have moved within the last 3 years, please login to Inkshares.com using the email address you used to pre-order the book and update your address. How do you do that? 

Login to Inkshares.com. Click the righthand corner photo/icon. Select "Shipping Address" from the dropdown menu. Make sure the one they have on file is correct and if it isn’t, please update it. Save and you are SET! 

I cannot thank you all enough for sticking around on this journey with me. It has been a whirlwind, dramatic, emotional, and crazy ride. Thank you for your patience, your encouragement, and your faith in me. I literally could not have done any of this without you all. 

Hey, everyone. It’s May. I know ... yet more time has passed. This book has been an arduous labor, and the years since I brought it to this platform have been some of the most tumultuous of my life. Still, I’ve been diligent despite what’s been happening. I’ve not been idle. I’ve been devoted to shaping the most worthwhile version of the novel with which (as I mentioned previously) both Inkshares and I (and—most importantly—you) can be satisfied. I can’t thank Inkshares enough, particularly Avalon Radys, for their patience and determination. And, if you’ve not forgotten completely about this work, I thank you, too, for your patience. Job’s (rhymes with "globe") got nothing on you all.

The "final" proof (as anyone who’s ever worked on versions of anything will know, the word "final" when it comes to proofs is a bit of a cruel mockery of the work that still needs to be done) was delivered the day I arrived in the Pacific NW last week. It was tough to look it over and be on vacation, since it consisted of spending time with a friend whom I’d not seen in six years, and his new family. Since the sudden death of my best friend in 2017, I’ve made it a point to take the big trips to see those whom I wish that I could see more often, no matter how far away they are. Living one’s life can sometimes be the biggest obstacle toward "getting things done." But I chipped away at the proof and, this morning, I sent it back to the publisher.

It is my ardent hope that this will be the version that goes to print and the protracted story of this story will finally culminate in a physical book.

Howdy! I just got off the phone an hour ago with Adam Gomolin, CEO of Inkshares. 

He didn’t call to talk about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Inkshares will publish Bane of All Things.

I can’t say when yet. There is still much work to do. The Inkshares team and I are in wholehearted agreement that BoAT be the best version of itself that it can be before hitting bookstores. Debut novels face a tough battle to get noticed these days, what with Netflix, HBO and everything else on a 55-inch flat screen competing for people’s attention.

We don’t want to just publish a novel, but a novel with the best chance of success.

So, it will be back to school for me and BoAT for the next several months. I will get the paperwork tomorrow that will begin my “enrolment” in Inkshares’ Incubator Program. Consider it the literary version of the incubator that a tech startup would go into, with the nose-to-the-grindstone revising and editing that I expected would follow a successful campaign. 

I will keep you up to date as this moves along. Hopefully before too long, I can give you news about an actual publication date and when you can expect the copies you have pre-ordered.

For now, let me say once again, “Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”

It is not an exaggeration to say that this could not and would not have happened without the patience and support of each and everyone one of you. My deepest and sincerest thanks. I will be reaching out to everyone who ordered two or more copies individually for your mailing addresses to send those signed souvenir posters.

The reality of this might finally be starting to sink in :).

Cheers 

Leo

Hey, folks. I hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed dry, depending on where you are in relation to spring floods. A sincere thank you to everyone who has come on board since my last update on Friday.

Further to that update, here we are, with now only a day and a half left on the campaign. If I don’t hear from Inkshares this afternoon, I will be reaching out for tomorrow morning.

To help ease the nail-biting suspense in the meantime, why not go for an epic finish and aim for 500!

I have said before but can’t stress enough -- any and all last-minute support DOES matter to help swing a decision by Inkshares editors in my favour. Surely you have a friend or family member who appreciates the gift of a good (fantasy) read. Why not bump up your pre-order total with another copy for them as a gift?

Remember, there will be thank you gifts for everyone who has ordered two or more copies if this campaign succeeds. And if it doesn’t, you get a refund on all your pre-orders, no strings attached. Either way, I am making that donation to Autism Ontario on behalf of my son and nephews of one dollar for each pre-ordered copy.

Cheers

Leo

Well, here we are into a long weekend and Bane of All Things’fate remains undecided. That’s the way it often goes in the publishing world. Editors are busy folk. It’s usually the busiest who are the ones an author wants to work with most. 

Getting a novel published and levering that into a career is a long game that demands patience and persistence. In the meantime, here is Smokey and Snowbelle to wish you a Happy Easter, even if neither of them was willing to play along and stay in that basket this morning for the photo opp ;)

Enjoy your time with friends and family this weekend, however you chose to observe it.

I will just leave you with the usual thought – so long as the jury is still out on BoAT, additional pre-orders continue to matter to help influence the editors in our favour. We are at 425 now, let’s nudge that total a little higher!

Cheers

Leo

Good evening. Well, this coming week may be the one we have been waiting for -- I might hear from Inkshares with their assessment of Bane of All Things and whether it has made the grade for publication. Stay tuned with fingers crossed!

Whatever the outcome, know that each and every one of you have my deepest thanks and appreciation for all that you have done and the patience and support you have so graciously provided.

Bane of All Things is of course not the only title in funding on Inkshares. Another is Steve Hermanos’s baseball/time travel mash up Going, Going Gone!, in which a trio of over-pampered, modern-day baseball players are thrust back in time to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Today, Steve hit the 750 pre-order funding goal, which immediately put GGG! into the production pipeline for publication! It’s a huge accomplishment and a testament to his hard work. Steve is a baseball guy and well tapped into that community. He’s done an excellent job of mustering support from baseball fans and the results speak for themselves.

As I have said before, many titles are selected for publication by Inkshares without hitting that 750 pre-order target and I am hoping BoAT will be the next one.

Until the very last minute before I get that fateful email from an Inkshares editor, every additional pre-order does count to help swing the vote in my favour. So, if you have any inclination at all to order another copy (or your first copy) of BoAT, now is the time! Right now, before you go to sleep tonight!

Happy reading.

Cheers

Leo

Hey there, comrades. Today was to have been the day. While I need to relay to you that there is a delay, it’s not so disappointing (to me) because it bodes of us talking meticulous care to get everything right. Inkshares has been incredibly generous to me in the "final" steps and has allowed me latitude that I greatly appreciate. That freedom, however, came with the need for another diligent proofread, which is underway.

Langston Hughes asked what happens to a dream deferred, and while his inquiry is about something much more profound, what is happening with Disintegration is that it will become the best version of the book with which both I and Inkshares can be mutually satisfied. And with which we hope that you, after so long a wait, will also be pleased.

Thank you for your continued patience, or your failed memory of this protracted affair, whichever is more accurate. ;-) The word from Inkshares is that everything will finally culminate around this time next month, which just happens to be the week of my godmother’s and my sister’s, her son’s, and my ex’s birthdays (and also Billy Joel’s and Steve Yzerman’s, and the kid who used to live across the street from me. It’s a birthday bonanza). So, lots to celebrate.

Remember, the conflict within the book has been raging for 183 years. This little deferment? Just a drop in the bucket.