THE FIRST DRAFT IS COMPLETE!!!

Thank you all for your patience. This has been a long time in the making with many restarts and do-overs, but the story is finalized from beginning to end. It is a readable piece of work now...kind of. 

Does this mean you finally get your book? 

Next year, yes. You will get your book. It’s come to my attention that there is some confusion regarding when everyone would be getting their copy after supporting me in the contest. Getting this book published was a crowdfunding venture, and even if I had submitted the manuscript back when I won the contest on March 15th, the book would not have been in your hands yet. It takes a lot of editing, developing, design, and marketing to get a book from manuscript to published. I know of someone who did submit their manuscript in March, and their projected release date is January. So there’s that. 

I am sorry that it will take so long to get to you, but I am honestly working to make this the best book it can be, not the fastest. This is my chance to build up my reputation as an author, and I don’t intend on sullying that reputation by hurrying. I have 67,000 words of condensed and scrutinized story down on paper, and now I’ve turned it over to my frontline editors. One of them is already reading away. 

I hope they are brutal. It will only make the book better. 

In order to give you a timeline of when things most likely will happen, I completed the first draft before my personal deadline of November 1st. Now that I’ve turned it over to my editors, both they and I will be working to fix all the little errors and bugs and enormous plot holes in order to bring this story up to a good second draft. I’m hoping to have that done by mid-December. I’m using NaNoWriMo as a motivator to edit the heck out of this thing. I will submit the second draft.

Once I turn in my manuscript, it’s all in Inkshares’ hands as far as timelines are concerned. It seems that the average turnaround time is about ten months to a year after submitting the manuscript. Therefore, we are looking at an autumn 2017 release date. 

I know that seems like a long time from now. It is. And I beg your patience. Trust me, no one is more anxious for that publication date to come along than I am. 

But I plan on getting a lot accomplished between now and then. I plan on having a great, interactive website up, and I’m working on a lot more surprises for next year. 

Plus, there’s the release party to plan...

Also worth noting is that I took down my other books from Inkshares so I can focus solely on Butler. I promise not to bug you to buy anything else. That was a mistake on my part, but thanks to all of you who sent your support for these other projects. Your support means more than you know.

My eyes are on the prize, now. Butler will be a reality, just not this year. 

But when you get it, it will be amazing.

Hang in there, and I love you all.

-Michael

P.S.- The preorder sales figures directly contribute toward production costs, so if you haven’t ordered yet and would like to contribute to keeping my book out of the red, I would appreciate any and all help. The prices are lower than they were during the contest. and it’s going to be an amazing little book! Thanks for your consideration. 

Hi all! I wanted to send out an update because some people are not finding the signed headshot from Felicia Day in their hardback orders. To be clear, anyone who ordered a HARDBACK before the pre-orders ended should have a signed picture. Flip through the book to find the shot, because they were placed in the middle of the book as to not to bend. If you still cannot find the shot, email hello@inkshares.com with your issues. 

Just a few reviews to share.

-Powell’s Books picked Dracula vs Hitler as their book of the month for October. Their endorsement: “Imagine Inglourious Bastards mashed up with, well, Dracula. This fun, spooky romp is told in the same epistolary style as Stoker’s original and each voice in unique and well-written. It’s a blast.”

-The New York Journal of Books says about Dracula vs. Hitler: "It’s a novel worthy of being called the true sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Patrick Sheane Duncan a writer rightfully deserving to be considered that author’s successor."

Thank you all for making this possible!

Pat

Dear Friends

What better day to release The Catcher’s Trap e-book than the first day of Halloween weekend!

This afternoon you will receive an e-mail from inkshares with a link and instructions to download your digital copy of The Catcher’s Trap. Fear not, if you purchased a physical copy you will receive yours very soon. The e-book is just a nice perk Inkshares offers to their readers so you can have access to your books on the go.

You all have done so much for me already, but I have to be shameless and ask you for more. Getting reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads is key for a book to succeed. There is, actually, a magic number: 100

Books with over 100 reviews are featured more prominently on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Visibility is key when you are a new author trying to make a splash in an industry that releases over 3,000 books a day.

Please follow the links and leave an honest review. Seriously, be honest. If you love The Catcher’s Trap as much as you love your mama, then leave a five stars review, but if not 4 or 3 are perfectly fine. A book with all five stars reviews looks fishy to readers.

Goodreads

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Finally, don’t forget to join me on Thursday, November 10th, at 6 PM at North Haven Barnes and Noble, to celebrate the release of The Catcher’s Trap.

You can RSVP here.

Have a thrilling weekend!

Hey folks, some frustrating news: I know a lot of people have orders that have been stuck in the "Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS, USPS Awaiting Item" phase for a week now. If your tracking number says that, please contact hello@inkshares.com and let them know (include that tracking number). It’s not known what’s happening with those packages but Inkshares thinks the USPS simply lost them. 

Very, very sorry for this (and, in the case of others, shipments arriving later than your tracking number originally said they would). 

Dear friends and followers,

I have recently heard rumours of orders being made but not going through. So, here’s an important announcement: I ALWAYS THANK EACH AND EVERY READER FOR THEIR ORDERS WHEN I SEE THOSE ORDERS COME IN. I usually do this through e-mail within twenty-four hours; if I’m in conversation with you at the time, I’ll thank you there and specifically say that I saw the order come in--especially if I’ve previously thanked you for expressing an intent to order.

IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A THANK YOU FROM ME, THAT MEANS SOMETHING IS DREADFULLY WRONG.

Or it might mean that I’m out of town and have no access to the internet, but that’s a vanishingly rare occurrence. I’ll acknowledge your order and thank you for it as soon as I possibly can.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at the book again. I’ve got another character to introduce: Inspector Horatio Parker, the policeman assigned to the case.

Until next time, have fun, and keep reading.

No map today, because I’ve gotten a bit lazy in my efforts to convert the rest of my continent map over.  When I do get around to finishing there will be 5 more pieces, bringing it up to an 8 part map.

I do have new content to share though.  We hit 50 unique readers over the weekend, so that means I get to upload another chapter to add to the already way too long list.  I fear I may be addicted to sharing chapters.  Remember that for every 20 new unique readers who order I’ll share a new chapter, so for everyone following who hasn’t ordered get to enabling me already!  Seriously though, thanks to everyone.

I’ve decided to abandon the sequential release of the chapters this time, because I’ve been wanting to share what is one of my favorite fight scenes of the book for months now.  Because of the leap ahead that’ll happen I’m going to summarize what leads to this scene. 

At this point in the story it has been revealed that Palkaz has come to the mainland to hunt down his brother(and the titular Magus) Pentaz and drag him back to Thierdenvolgenlund to face real justice for his use of magic.  There’s a couple of reasons for this, but you can be certain that one of those is Palkaz’ wounded pride after Pentaz so thoroughly humiliated him during his escape.  His pursuit has led Palkaz to a small village in the Frozen North, where he soon discovers that Pentaz’ actions as he was passing through has led to the village being plagued by a shall we say "sizable" threat.  The resulting confrontation does a good job of showing off Palkaz’ snarky confidence as well as his unshakeable determination(not to mention his combat abilities).

The upload always messes up my formatting, so I’ll have to take time to fix that.  You should be seeing the new chapter before too long today though. That’s all I’ve got for today.  We’ll continue our dragon talk this Friday.  Until then, thank you all for your time and support.  Keep reading and enjoying!

Greetings from Hell frozen over, home of the World Series-hosting Chicago Cubs...

First, the good news

Okay folks, this is it. By now, if you ordered a physical book, you should have received notice that it’s in the sky or on the highway and en route to your front door. (It may have even arrived already.) The books took a little longer than we’d hoped to get from the printer to the office, but I think the wait is worth it. Speaking honestly, they look even better than I’d hoped they would. I’m delighted with the finished product, and I hope you are too when it reaches your door. (Quick note: Despite what the email said, they are jacketed hardback copies and not paperback.)

(Quick note #2: If you haven’t received a shipping notice, check your spam folder, and if nothing’s there, let me know and I’ll pass the word on to Inkshares. They’re a small but terrific group of folks and they’ll get it sorted.)

Now some bad news, followed immediately by good news

Due to circumstances and scheduling issues, there was no time to reschedule my September flight to Inkshares HQ to sign the books. But because I want to make good on that, I commissioned a big sheet of personalized illustrated bookplates (fancy word for sticker) that I’ve signed and will send out to all who want them for their copies. Just send your address to me via email (billyok@mac.com) and I’ll take care of the rest. It’s not quite the same as me writing my name in your book, but it’s close. (Alternatively, if you’re local, let’s just meet up and I’ll sign it right before your eyes.)

Now some more good news

In fact, if you’re in the Chicago area on the evening of Saturday, November 5th, you can get them signed in person by attending a launch party at one of Chicago’s best independent bookstores. I’ll be at Lincoln Square’s The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave., starting at 6 p.m. It’s right down the street from the Western Brown Line stop and there’s plenty of street parking in the vicinity as well. Come on by, say hi, and celebrate the imminent passing of this horrid election season.

And finally, a quick but hugely important favor

I’ll spare you the details and make this quick, but I cannot emphasize enough how crucial reviews are to an author’s ability to attract new readers on Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes & Noble. The benefits of receiving at least 100 ratings/reviews on each are tangible, and given how much weight those three sites carry, those benefits can be of make-or-break importance. So if you have accounts on any or all of these sites and can spare a few more minutes, I’m asking for your help in hitting that magic number. Even just a click on the star rating thing helps (though if you have some kind words to throw in, those are of course appreciated).

Here are links to take you straight to all three, all of which are accepting reviews now. Thank you so much (yet again) for whatever you can do.

— Amazon: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1942645236#customerReviews]

— Goodreads: [https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/30007120] 

— Barnes & Noble: [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/these-are-my-friends-on-politics-billy-okeefe/1123852462?ean=9781942645238] 

That’s all for now. Be nice to each other. November 9 is almost here.