I've been blown away by the local support in the last few days from the Buffalo area. While a lot of my focus has been on pushing my story to outside crowds, all the support back home has meant the world to me. Thank you Buffalo for all your support!
We are closing in on the end of the Inkshares contest! I've already hit my goal of breaking the big 1~00, but it would be fantastic to rally in the final, handful of days, and go even bigger! I'm currently slaving away on edits and re-writes, and hoping to have the first 10 chapters of the novel 100% edited, and done. Going forward, I will have a great many additions to the Inkshare page, including (and this is probably the most exciting part) a new bonus. I have been diligently working with various artists, and hope to have a collected book of 10-15 different pieces of highly-detailed art from The Children of the Forest universe.
Thank you all for your continued support!
It’s Friday! Time for an update.
What to tell you? We crossed 450 readers! We cleared 500 copies pre-ordered. We have 600 followers of the project. Those are some staggering numbers. I can’t convey to you in words how much it means to me that you all have taken the time to back this dream.
So, what’s left? There are 5 more days in the Nerdist Competition. We are currently in the top 5, thus eligible for the prize: a contract. We need to stay there. How do we do that? Keep finding friends! Keep spreading the word. It’s so easy to do and we all know that bringing new people to the project is the easiest sell: it’s free for them! So, just go find one person. Some of you have and some of you have multiple times. Amazing! Awesome! Stunning! Just a few words for all of you. Every one of you that has backed it. Not just those that have brought more. You’re all amazing.
I promised you more chapters in the PDF. I have not forgotten. My work schedule changed this week so I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to dedicate to things like that. I prioritize my family, my writing, and, for the time being, this project. I know, putting the PDF together is part of that. As a thanks for your continued patience, the next update will take you through chapter 30! That’s a ton of content to consume.
As a treat for you, here is a concept sketch done of a shell floating in that world. It's made from descriptions given us in the transcript and details Logwyn has revealed. The artist hopes to flesh it out in the coming days.
Also, I’ve made contact with Logwyn. A message is in the works. I hope to have it here and ready for you to see by Wednesday. We’ll see. Last word I received, their engineers had potentially come up with a way for us to talk back and forth. Considering the difficulties we’ve faced so far, I’m not holding my breath for that one.
Have a good weekend! And, everyone, go find one friend!
Chapter 8 updated and tweaked. Chapter 9+10 will hopefully be finished this weekend. I am 8 sales away from breaking 100-! Help me get there!
Writing and editing continue, and I can happily say that I'm finally finding a nice groove with balancing both aspects of the project. There are now less than 2 weeks, before the end of the Inkshares contest. I would be eternally grateful if any followers currently on the fence were to go ahead and hit the purchase button, and I would equally thankful to any attempts by current backers to draw more readers to the page. I'm working diligently to expand my presence on social media, but my time is limited.
I want to make an active push for The Children of the Forest to finish strong, and I really do believe I have a special story. I think it can make the top page, but it needs everyone's help! I will continue to post more chapters, and in return, all I ask is for the community to make every last person you know buy and support my novel! Thank you all for your feedback and help, its been instrumental in making my novel a better story.
Lastly, as I mentioned, I've expanded my social media presence considerably. Here are some links, which I'd suggest everyone join, as I will be posting updates, contests, and more on these pages following the completion of the competition!
https://tablo.io/byron-gillan/the-children-of-the-forest
https://twitter.com/ByronGWriterGuy
https://www.facebook.com/TheChildrenoftheForest?pnref=story
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/46833458-byron
