First, update on After Man.  I’ve finished rewriting act one and am digging in deep on act two.  Unfortunately, I’ve had a rough month or so as I’ve been working through some personal issues.  Some of these greatly affect the story that is Rise and her sequels.  Some also affect After Man’s narrative.  Either way, it’s drained all the creative out of me and I’m just starting to get that groove back.  So, stay tuned for more on that front.  I will upload a few more chapters in the coming weeks.

Now, on to something else you can help with.  Many of you also preordered Rise.  Some haven’t and are just getting introduced to it.  Here’s a copy of the update I sent there.

We are one month away from the release of Rise into the world wide wild!  And Rise needs your help yet again when this happens.  Well, really before it happens.  Here’s how.

Bookstores!  Go to them wherever you see them and request they stock the book.  All you need is the book title and my name and they will find it in their system to order.  Even if you have a copy coming, doing this helps tell bookstores there is interest in this product and gets them putting copies on their shelves for you to, I don’t know, take friends to get.

Amazon!  This is the big one.  The number of reviews a book gets is critical in getting it visibility on Amazon’s pages.  The magic number for this is 100.  Don’t assume everyone else will do this so you don’t have to.  Just go real quick and knock it out.  And your review does NOT have to be a work of literary note itself.  It can be something as simple as “I like this book” with a star rating to show how much.  Pro tip: in the subject line put “ARC review” or “Advance Reader Copy review”.  That tells people looking at the reviews who see you aren’t a “verified purchaser” because you didn’t buy it from Amazon that you did read it because you had special access early.  Second Pro tip: copy pasta!  Once you put one on Amazon, go to Goodreads, copy and pasteJ  And Bn.com.  And Indigo.  Anywhere you want.  You can reuse the same review on all of them.

Now for the big question.  When?  Well, with bookstores, now!  With the reviews, do them as soon as you can.  Amazon won’t open it up for reviews until about 2 weeks before or less.  I’ll be sure to send out a reminder once I notice it.

Now for the last big question.  The release party.  I’m still ironing out some details but Michelle and I will be at Dragoncon.  Don’t worry, it won’t happen at con so you don’t have to rush out and get a con badge.  When I know more details, I’ll let you know.  It’s only meant to be a little deal for all of you who supported this project in GA and who come to Dragoncon to come see me and chat about the book.  For those of you in Europe, I’ll have another in Frankfurt after I get back.

We are one month away from the release of Rise into the world wide wild!  And Rise needs your help yet again when this happens.  Well, really before it happens.  Here’s how.

Bookstores!  Go to them wherever you see them and request they stock the book.  All you need is the book title and my name and they will find it in their system to order.  Even if you have a copy coming, doing this helps tell bookstores there is interest in this product and gets them putting copies on their shelves for you to, I don’t know, take friends to get.

Amazon!  This is the big one.  The number of reviews a book gets is critical in getting it visibility on Amazon’s pages.  The magic number for this is 100.  Don’t assume everyone else will do this so you don’t have to.  Just go real quick and knock it out.  And your review does NOT have to be a work of literary note itself.  It can be something as simple as “I like this book” with a star rating to show how much.  Pro tip: in the subject line put “ARC review” or “Advance Reader Copy review”.  That tells people looking at the reviews who see you aren’t a “verified purchaser” because you didn’t buy it from Amazon that you did read it because you had special access early.  Second Pro tip: copy pasta!  Once you put one on Amazon, go to Goodreads, copy and pasteJ  And Bn.com.  And Indigo.  Anywhere you want.  You can reuse the same review on all of them.

Now for the big question.  When?  Well, with bookstores, now!  With the reviews, do them as soon as you can.  Amazon won’t open it up for reviews until about 2 weeks before or less.  I’ll be sure to send out a reminder once I notice it.

Now for the last big question.  The release party.  I’m still ironing out some details but Michelle and I will be at Dragoncon.  Don’t worry, it won’t happen at con so you don’t have to rush out and get a con badge.  When I know more details, I’ll let you know.  It’s only meant to be a little deal for all of you who supported this project in GA and who come to Dragoncon to come see me and chat about the book.  For those of you in Europe, I’ll have another in Frankfurt after I get back.

Blink.

Blink.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ

This video, in its ENTIRETY, is how I feel. I’m on an award list next to N.K. Jemison  and Jim Butcherrrrrrrr.

You did this. All of you that took the time to answer my plea and nominate me – and I cannot thank you enough. It makes me feel fantastic. This is great for exposure for AMOD and I was already going to be at DragonCon – so now MY SWAGGER WILL UNHOOK PLANETS IN THEIR VERY ORBITS. It is your fault that I will act like an even bigger asshole at the con! Feel the surge of pride!

Now – if you haven’t already registered to vote –  you should!

http://application.dragoncon.org/dc_fan_awards_signup.php

You should vote for me – and my Sword & Laser/Inkshares shelf-brethren: The Life Engineered by J.F. Dubeau and An Unnattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel.

BUT

LET’S BE CALM AND RATIONAL FOR JUST A SECOND.

Take another look at the bracket I’m in. Here’s who I’m up against.

• the writing Guest of Honor of DragonCon / perennial NYT  bestselling author
• A book that has already won both the Nebula AND the Hugo (guys. it is sO goood)
• Darth Vader of the Sad Puppies (who I’m sure is Googling my book as we speak. I’m sure he will be displeased, my book features ladies who both speak AND have opinions.)
• Some other guys who seem very nice!

SO. What does my book have going for it? Well – you guys AND:

IT’S THE ONLY BOOK WITH ‘DRAGON’ IN THE TITLE.

SO LET’s DO IT!

Okay – okay. Honestly, I’ve already won. This is all I ever wanted out of The Dragon Award – to get nominated, get a little more attention on the book, etc. Thanks again to everyone who nominated me. You made this happen. (I always say that like an accusation…) I get to pretend to be a big shot for a little bit longer – the awards actually get announced AT the con, which adds the perfect amount of sizzle to the weekend.  It’s fun to be at the big table for a hot second – even though I’m still wearing my bib. So vote! Vote for MEEEE. But with the knowledge that I already feel awesome and I’m going to have a blast with this entire situation all the way through someone else winning the Dragon Award that should have been miiiineeeeeee.

With heart-eyes emoji for you all –

Dragon-Nominated Author [hey this is a thing now!]

G. Derek Adams

Unplanned update time!

When I got home and checked my email last night I was quite excited to see that I had been chosen this month for the Epic Fantasy Syndicate.  Beyond being a boost for Magus’ order number it was a huge boost to my confidence.  We still have a long way to go though, so keep referring others to Magus and order if you haven’t already.

I want to share a map now, but I’m on my phone so that will have to wait.  Look for it tomorrow. 

Thanks for all of your support, and keep reading amd enjoying!

This is so Unreal...

Hello you lovely readers!

One of the few things I enjoy about flying is the ability to write without interruption. It was on just such a very delayed flight two days ago that I was able to pull together this update to let you know what’s going on:

Inkshares and I have finally agreed on a final scene list for The Punch Escrow. I can honestly tell you that getting to this point has been incredibly challenging, but very fulfilling. I was just telling my wife yesterday that I would be frustrated with the editing process, but every single time we do an iteration the story becomes exponentially more clear and exciting. This last round of edits was all about ensuring every beat in the story pops. This picture might give you an idea of the sort of granularity I had to get into when composing this latest iteration of the narrative:

Yep. Our protagonist hears the call of nature, but can’t find a bathroom in order to heed it. Even this seemingly innocuous scene is an important beat in the narrative, otherwise it would not be there. By the time this latest rewrite is done, nearly 80% of the 2nd draft, which itself was 50% different than the 1st, will be entirely rewritten. I would expect there to be less than 10,000 words of commonality between the first draft of the manuscript and this latest one. Crazy, right?

(Yes, crazy)

Incidentally, bathrooms in the 25th are architected to be extremely efficient, absolutely no running water. Waste is dehydrated and recycled, all that remains of what can’t be reclaimed is dust. High pressure air enriched with sanitizing nanos is used to cleanse your nether-regions and hands. Totally sanitary, good for the environment, and unwasteful. We actually have much of the capacity to do this today (okay, not the sanitizing nanos), but bureaucracy inhibits progress. 

In other news, I have submitted to final draft of my short story Morcom is here. for the Too Many Controllers anthology, which will be coming out on the Nerdist imprint, possibly even before The Punch Escrow. It’s a 6,758 word story about a mysterious program developed by Alan Turing, designed for a computer that he knew would not exist for nearly a century after his death. Incidentally, it’s based on a true story! The narrative is told through various press clippings, blog entries, and even Slack chats. I’m very proud, and happy with it.

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to keep up with my twice monthly column on the intersection of science fiction and present reality, The Future Is Now, on Geek & Sundry.

Peas,

Tal

 So huh... Remember when I asked all you beautiful people to help my first book, The Life Engineered, get nominated for a Dragon Award? Ha! Good times, gooooood times. What a laugh we had.

I didn’t think there was a tuna’s chance in a cattery of this happening but apparently I’m wrong. You guys did it. You got The Life Engineered nominated in the Science Fiction Category.

It would be a lie to pretend I’m not floored.

So I guess, the next logical step is to try to win? You’ve been kind enough to go vote for the nomination so perhaps I can impose upon you to follow this link and sign up to vote for The Life Engineered and perhaps, we can make some magic happen? It’s a long shot but so was getting nominated.

Wow, friend... you are amazing.

NOTE: My fellow Sword & Laser Collection authors are also nominated. So if you’re inclined to help push the Inkshares and Sword & Laser brands, give An Unattractive Vampire and Asteroid made of Dragons a bit of a vote? Thanks!

JF

Once more, my friends, I turn to you for help.

You... you did it. I mean, I never doubted your level of commitment but I thought the competition would be so fierce, so aggressive and overwhelming, that there really wasn’t any chance.

But you magnificent sentient organisms you... you fraking did it.

You got The Life Engineered nominated for a 2016 Dragon Award in the Science Fiction Category.

I don’t even know what to say about that. Thank you? Seems a bit weak, so I’ll go with the next best thing; go vote again. Click this link and go put in your vote for The Life Engineered. We’ve made it this far, let’s find out the distance we can push this crazy thing.

Simply magnificent...

NOTE: If you’re in the mood to encourage other fantastic Inkshares authors along with The Lie Engineered, may I suggest An Unattractive Vampire and Asteroid Made of Dragons. Two fine books also in the Sword & Laser Collection.

JF