Donna Litt liked an update for Fae Child

 

Once upon a time there was a friend. This friend asked me to join a contest, and I didn’t think about it too much and just did it. First mistake: had I known what I was getting into, I would never have pulled the trigger on Inkshares in August ’16 and started the journey that culminated in a publication deal in March ’17.

Second mistake: She asked me to join another contest, this one a flash fiction writing contest from Sci-Fi-London (the 48hr Flash Fiction Challenge), and I did that too. On April 8th I opened the site to view my story requirements. A title, a line of dialogue, and an optional bit of science. The maximum word count was 2,000 words, and I had just two days to write it in.

Title: NOT ON MY WATCH
Dialogue: When the clouds are this low it can be a nightmare to get a clean signa
lScience (optional): Augmented reality becomes so good we neglect reality, when the system to fails, the decay is revealed.

Except I worked all day on Sunday, so I really had just one day. And then I knew that in all honesty I probably just had Saturday morning to write it. The good news was I already had a pretty good idea what I wanted to put to paper. I popped open Scrivener (worth it’s weight in gold), wrote out descriptions for about seven story points, and then just...

...wrote.

I finished up a little over 2k words before noon, trimmed it down, sent it to some friends to read, edited the mistakes, and then sent it off. I’m not sure how I got that word count done so fast, but my brain was sizzling with ideas and I just let it get on with it.

And now YOU can read it! I published the short story through Pronoun, making it available for free on all major ebook retailers’ sites, and you can access it here: NOT ON MY WATCH.  If you download it, please rate and review it! It’s only 8 pages, so it shouldn’t take you long at all. Every review or rating helps boost it’s status among other ebooks, and in return gives my author page more recognition, and all of this will help me when Fae Child comes out.

I don’t know if I’ll win the Sci-Fi-London contest, but hey, stranger things have happened? And those things I listed as mistakes at the beginning of the post? Actually they were probably the best decisions I could have made, regarding my writing. Thank you Jenny!

~ Jane-Holly
p.s. Of course, the work on Fae Child continues! We are #2 on Inkshares in Teen and Young Adult, how cool is that?

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    Donna Litt liked an update for APEX

    Dear Readers,

    I had my first phone call with my editor, and I’m inspired to dive in and keep things rolling. I have a major edit in front of me,but I’ve made it through about a third of the manuscript adding my initial thoughts on how to tweak and revise the story. I’ll finish that within the week, and then I’ll start the writing, which should go quickly as I’ll know the path.

    I’ve been nominated as this month’s pick for the Rites of Passage syndicate, and I’m truly honored. If you’re a member of that syndicate (and if you’re not, you should join), please take a look at my updated book page and revised Prologue, as well as the awesome video trailer by Christopher Lee, and consider voting for me. I’d be thrilled to have your support and the publicity that winning would bring to my first novel, APEX.

    Cheers, Debbie
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      Donna Litt followed Angela Melamud
      Angela Melamud
      Assistant Director of Marketing & Publishing Operations at Inkshares
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      Donna Litt liked an update for Mission 51

      Hi, everyone!

      I’m writing to let you know that Mission 51 will participate in the 2017 Launch Pad Manuscript Competition! This is exciting to me because it means that I will take Mission 51 into an Inkshares funding campaign around the end of the summer or early fall. The best case scenario is if it happens as a Launch Pad Competition finalist, but it will go into funding one way or another. I simply can’t wait any longer to bring you this story!

      I have now updated the Mission 51 Inkshares page to reflect my Launch Pad Competition submission. There are eight chapters and I included some of the original artwork that has been produced for this story.

      Thank you all very much for your patience while Mission 51 has been simmering in draft mode. I believe you will see that it has been worth the wait!

      Peace, y’all!

      Ferd  👽
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        Donna Litt liked an update for Asteroid Made of Dragons


        Asteroid Made of Dragons came out a year ago today.

        Thank you.

        Derek

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          Donna Litt liked an update for Shadow King

          April 3, 2017

          Hi everyone,

          I know it has been a bit since my last update, but we all get so much email, I didn’t want to send anything unless I actually had something to say.

          The good news--the Shadow King manuscript and author questionnaire that Inkshares asked me to fill out have both been turned in to the Inkshares team. So, that is one step closer to getting production rolling. The "bad" news is that I’m still in the queue so production has not officially kicked-off yet (and I don’t have an anticipated kick-off date yet). I am keen to get going and as soon as I have any news on that front, I’ll be sure to let you know!

          In the meantime, I’ve been trying to figure out some of this whole marketing thing which--I confess--is a bit alien to me. I have been invited to contribute to a couple blogs, and I’ll send those links when my posts are live. I’m also looking into starting my own. And my author pages on Amazon and Goodreads are set up, and I’ll share those links with all of you in an upcoming update.

          My cover is nearly complete and I’m very happy with how it has turned out. Once we get the last few adjustments taken care of, I’ll be updating my Inkshares page and sharing it with all of you.

          From a sales perspective I’ve leveled off a little, and I need to refocus on that. I’m within striking distance of 300 orders, and I’d love to hit that milestone in the near future and move on up from there!

          That’s it for this update. I’ll send another soon when I have information on my author pages and new cover!

          Have a great rest of the week!

          Best,

          Susan

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            Donna Litt liked the forum thread, Quill Community?
            This is a good question, and I think there might have been one once, but it’s currently inactive? So I’ve started a Slack community for Quill authors. If you are one, DM me your email so I can add you! (If you follow me I will follow back) 
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              Donna Litt liked the forum thread, Quill Community?
              I’m wondering if there’s some sort of online hub (aside from this forum here!) where Quill writers can connect to one another and share advice! One of the things I’m noticing here is that there’s not a ton of guidance for us once we hit our goal and are in the process of editing our MS, hiring cover artists, and most importantly - finding creative ways to promote our work. Because we don’t get a huge boost from Inkshares in this capacity, I’d love to find some sort of board where we can help each other! And/or if one doesn’t yet exist, find other writers who’d like to start one. :) 
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              People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Quill Community?

                Donna Litt liked the forum thread, Quill vs. Self-Publication
                The lovely Avalon e-mailed me to give me a better understanding of the differences between Quill and Self-Publication, so I wanted to share her comments here. This way, if there’s anyone else out there who’s not sure what to do, hopefully they’ll see the benefits of working with Inkshares. 

                "I saw your forum question about self-publishing versus Quill, and I wanted to help answer some of those questions. Self-publishing would probably ensure a faster timeline, and you’d have more control over the process. However, the strongest benefits of Quill, aside from working with a copy editor, proofreader, and interior designer from our side, is that a) your book will have more visibility from rights buyers (foreign, tv, audiobook, etc.), and b) your book will be listed in our catalogue for distribution, and it’s very likely that accounts like Barnes & Noble would stock copies. If those sell well, they’d re-up."

                So there you go, Inksharers! I hope that assuages any fears and clears up any concerns! Best of luck in your campaigns.

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                  Donna Litt followed The Last Machine in the Solar System
                  The Last Machine in the Solar System
                  He witnessed the end. Now he has a new mission. Hear his testimony.
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