Thank you all, we have made our goal! I am so grateful and excited to have this book released. I will update as the book comes together, new cover art, editing, etc. And of course you may keep ordering if you haven’t already, there is no cap on the number of orders before publishing.
I will continue to release my screenwriting tips, one will follow this update shortly. Hopefully they inspire many of you to pick up your own pens and create something for yourself. It is truly gratifying to one’s voice with the world.
Again, thank you very much.
Pat
Hello readers!
I’m emerging from my writing cave ever so briefly to present you with something very fun! Last month, I was contacted by a Mr. Devon Oakander, a talented acting school graduate who took a liking to the adventures of Dax Harrison. Devon asked if there were any plans for an audiobook version of Dax, and if so, could he submit a recording to audition as narrator?
Needless to say, I was completely humbled. I would LOVE to hear Dax narrated in all his ridiculous glory. As I have been focusing on completing and publishing the print manuscript, I have yet to research the ins and outs of audiobook publishing. If it ends up being feasible, then yes, there will be news on this front at an undetermined point down the road.
In the meantime, you can CLICK HERE to listen to Devon’s terrific reading of the book’s prologue! I believe he matched the over-the-top opening scene quite well with an old Hollywood radio quality in his voice. But don’t take my word for it. Go give it a listen!
....Okay, did you listen? Good stuff, right? He even managed to pronounce "Carteagan" in a much fancier fashion than I originally meant. Haha. Feel free to share the link around and get some more readers on the Dax bandwagon!
As always, my thanks again to each and everyone of you. I hope you find my humble little adventure book to be worth the wait. The writing continues. I even decided to use a bunch of vacation time off work through the second half of February. I want to be laser focused with as little distractions as possible. Wish me luck!
-Tony
Monthly Update time! Short and simple. As the next Nerdist contest fires up into it’s first weekend, I can peel back the veil of what happens as your book enters production. Here are some dates I have:
2/5 – Editorial letter with comments due to AU
2/15 – Author revisions due to dev editor
3/5 – Line edited MS due to author
3/12 – Author revisions due to dev editor
3/15 – Clean dev edit due
4/19 – CEMS due for author review
5/3 – Author review of CEMS due
5/10 – Clean CEMS due to Proofer
5/26 – Proofread due
6/7 – Author review of Proof due
7/12 – Format proof due
7/19 – Format proof review due
7/22 – Interior digital proof due
7/29 – Interior digital proof approved
8/11 – Mechanicals (final files to printer)
8/25 – Ebook files due for review
8/31 – Ebook changed due from AU
1/10/2017 – Pub date
See that Pub Date?! It feels so far away, but that’s a lot of neat stuff I get to do leading up to it. Now, this is just on the side of the written word. Here are some more dates that go into this:
3/7 – R1 cover concepts due
3/21 – R1 feedback due
4/4 – R2 covers due
4/18 – R2 feedback due
5/2 – R3 covers due
5/16 – Final front cover approved
5/23 – Spine and back cover R1 due
6/14 – Spine and back cover approved
7/27 – Final cover layout approved
8/5 – Digital proof due
8/9 – Digital proof approved
8/11 – Mechanicals (final files to printer)
AND even after this, there is a marketing schedule as well! But I don’t have any dates for that stuff yet. Just a plan. In the middle of all of this, I’ll start writing the sequel: The Rise of Dystopia.
The next update I’ll try videos, pictures, and music to show some of the themes I used when writing the book. You can find me on Twitter @CrankyBolt and on Facebook /CrankyBolt as well. Reach out to me if you have any questions about this entire process. As always, if you are a backer, and would like a copy of the manuscript early, email me: CrankyBolt@gmail.com and I’ll send you whatever current revision I’m on.
3 WEEKS AND 300 PRE-ORDERS TO GO - HELP SADIE REACH 1,000 PRE-ORDERS BY FEB. 29th!
Dear Sadie Supporters,
With your help, over 700 books have been pre-ordered - thank you! With only 21 days to go before our crowd funding deadline, please take a few minutes today to reach out to your family and friends across the country who may be interested in helping "Sadie McGrady, Leading Lady" become published and available via Amazon and bookstores nationwide.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1. SEND AN E-MAIL to your friends, letting them know how much this project means to you. Ask them to pre-order and to help spread the word about our upcoming deadline within their own network of friends, teachers and librarians. Be sure to include the link to our project page for more details and ordering information.
2. SHARE OUR LINK ON FACEBOOK with a note about how excited you are to see a book like this one become published.
3. SHARE OUR LINK ON TWITTER tagging people or groups with interest in books like ours. Be sure to tag @Vote4Sadie and ask your friends to follow along! #Vote4Sadie
LINK TO OUR INKSHARES PROJECT PAGE: https://www.inkshares.com/books/sadie-mcgrady-leading-lady
Stay tuned for more frequent updates as we near our crowd funding deadline. I will be working hard to spread the word and really appreciate you doing the same. Keep up the great work campaigning for "Sadie McGrady, Leading Lady!"
- Mary
P.S. If you haven’t checked out our Inkshares project page in awhile, scroll down to the full manuscript and look for new images from the book. More to come!
Today I officially head into writing mode. I took a break from writing to compete to my fullest in the S&L contest, and when that didn’t pan out I sort of hit a writing slump. I talked with some writing friends over the weekend, had them look at the chapter I have posted for DHM, and received some excellent constructive criticism. Man, I forgot how much I miss writing workshops!
The result is that I have committed to a writing schedule, and spent the morning plotting out said schedule on my calendar. I should have the book finished by April. It’s not quite a Nanowrimo schedule, but writing a scene a day for five days a week seems on paper pretty reasonable.
I have already promised to post chapter two for you fine folks, and I apologize that I didn’t get that finished in a timely fashion and posted. I will remedy that hopefully by the end of this week -- at least that is my hope. I will probably also post Chapter 3 when I get to it, but this project isn’t going to lay all its cards on the table. We have to maintain our air of mystery, Isidore and I.
Deus Hex Machina is an experiment for me. Can I write in a different genre and have readers respond? Can I translate what was originally a visual work to a purely written format? Can I really turn this noveling thing into a career? All these questions still rattle around in my brain. It will be interesting to see what happens as 2016 progresses and I write this thing. Hopefully only good will come of it.
Shameless preorder request incoming:
Everyone I’ve shared DHM with has responded positively, and that is wonderful. Speaking of wonderful, I should be receiving my shipment of books to sign this week (UPS says they are currently in Colorado -- I hope they get some time to play in the snow), which means I will get the chance to send out my backer contest rewards to the nearly dozen or so winners I’ve had so far. I am only 1 order away from the next raffle, which means I am also only 161 orders away from Quill. If you have followed DHM and enjoy what you read here, please consider backing the book. I will continue to give away books all the way through 750, and might start upping the ante as I get closer to June. Right now though, 250 is the first goal.
Know someone who likes scifi? Share the book with them, encourage them to order, and encourage them to share as well. Together we can do this.
