Hey Everyone,

Pixilated Obsidian Roses has been selected for the new Library of Alexandria collection. I’m thankful for the invite. We hope that with our combined efforts we can get the book to at least a Quill status (with all your support, of course). Here a part of what has been said by the collection lead:

"This is one of those rare books that speaks to the reader. The imagery R.F. Martin uses is poignant and provocative. The way he has created this creeping sense of dread throughout the chapters that are up is pervading. He has obviously spent the time to create a detailed and well thought out world for the characters, inventing back stories, interspersing memorabilia from their lives in a way that makes you forget it’s fiction. Chernosoren hovers around the edges of the main characters like those dark shadows that H.P. Lovecraft made famous - the feeling of some unknown sinister motive is present, but not overwhelming, preferring to sneak into you and wait for the moment to reveal itself. If the writing is any indication, the reveal won’t be some explosion of action or flurry of plot points, it will be insidious."

We also put up some new cover art.

Thanks to all of you who have supported the project.

Rob

Some good news for me, and a big up for Inkshares. 

Here’s the thing; I missed my funding goal, didn’t even make Quill. Because I am impatient, and because the book itself was already finished, I just couldn’t wait to try another route to crowdfund my novel. 

So, I went to Kickstarter, and I did reach my funding goal. The book itself is being printed now and backers will be getting their copies before the end of June. Digital launch is set for 1st July on all platforms, advance orders available now. Paperbacks should be on Amazon around the same date. 

So does that mean I turn my back on Inkshares? Well no. 
Obviously I haven’t been as active on here as when I was funding, but part of the reason for that is the massive amount of work involved in self publishing. 

While I was funding, I read some comments on a Kindle forum criticising the Inkshares model, saying it wasn’t good value. An INkshares spokesperson pointed out that self publishers spend on average $2,000 (or thereabouts) getting their book to market. 
Another person said it was nothing like that. 

Well I raised £1,666 (£1,800 before deductions) on Kickstarter, and I have spent it all and then some.

I set up a publishing imprint "Blue Poppy Publishing", I had an artist paint a picture for the cover £450, I spent £350 on ISBNs, £360 on editing (it only had one editor), £300 on cover and other design work, £900 on printing, and a bunch of other sundry stuff.

I have had to format the interior file and convert it to PDF, which included learning more about Word sections, embedding fonts, and all sorts of painful stuff like that than I ever expected to do. I had to liaise between the printer and the designer over the exact specs for the two different cover templates, and check silly details like which way round the title goes on the spine. 

I also had to find out how to convert the file into a digital type layout with internal links and approved fonts, then get it converted into .mobi .pdf .txt .rtf .epub dot dot dot you get the idea? 
Also had to upload a special version to Createspace because otherwise I will have to jump through hoops and pay through the nose to get the paperback available on Amazon. 

So while I may be a lot more experienced at producing a book now than I was six months ago, I would still drop it all and leave the hard work to experts if I could. The difficulty for me, living in the UK is the cost of postage for physical books to the vast majority of my friends. Other than that, I think Inkshares is a brilliant idea, and I hope it goes from strength to strength. Well done for making so many authors dreams come true. 

Good afternoon Dreamers,

It is time for a non-update update. Thanks to the shares, recommendations, reviews, blog posts, interviews, syndicate pick, and pre-orders, The Sleeping Man has sold over 162 copies! 163 to be specific. This means we’re still above the projection to reach the goal of 750, and we’re definitely going to hit Quill. I’m constantly giving cards to my daughter to give to strangers (I ain’t above it and who is going to refuse her?), matching with people on Tinder and demanding they pre-order, and saying, "Bloody Mary" fives times into every mirror with my tablet in hand so she can pre-order.

It’s working, because we are crushing it. So many people are buying more than one copy as well and I cannot thank you enough for that because the numbers are going crazy. If you haven’t left a review, I would appreciate one. If you haven’t recommended The Sleeping Man, I would appreciate that as well. Lastly, if you haven’t pre-ordered, please pre-order. If you have pre-ordered, please pre-order again, here’s a list of useful things you can do with extra copies:

1. Hold a copy in each hand and read one with each eye to see which one is faster.

2. Create a book fort to protect your dreams.

3. Level a table.

4. Give one to someone you like.

5. Give one to someone you don’t like.

6. Check to see that each printed copy is the exact same and there are no discrepancies between copies.

7. Launch several into varying directions in space to teach aliens the English language.

...And many more!

Thanks again,

Stephen

Hey! I don’t usually update this often, but couple of pieces of news to share.

First if you like fiction about the dirty underbelly of Hollywood (and who doesn’t) please check out notorious Hollywood columnist Nikki Finke’s site, Hollywooddementia. Why? because she has published my novella Falconer, which is about a nasty piece of work named Gavin Falconer! It is appearing in four parts, with Part 2 up today, but if you follow the link to the site you can catch up on Part 1. It would be cool if you leave a comment on the site as well, preferably saying something nice. Or not! But also so cool is the artwork by John Donald Carlucci that accompanies each installment. He is extremely talented. So go read. Here’s the link:

http://hollywooddementia.com/nikki-finke-fiction-falconer-part-two-by-jason-pomerance/

And now marketing news. In case you missed the current issue of The Malibu Times (what, you don’t have a subscription??) this little piece appears on Page 19. 

Part of Women Like Us is set in Malibu (with most of the rest in Pasadena), so small independent papers in those areas have been targeted and see? The effort pays off. A blitz of small independent bookstores is currently being planned. Hopefully more news on that soon.

Okay that’s it.  Go read Falconer. It’s very different from Women Like Us, and quite frankly it’s not for children, so shoo the kids out of the room!

Hello again, all! Short update. 

As you may or may not know, there’s a Video-game themed Nerdist contest going on. I’m relieved to not have a horse in the race this time, but I wanted to let you know about it. 

I actually created the cover for one of the books in the top ten, REB1RTH, so check it out. 

All of the books in the top ten (and even some below that) look like real contenders and I wish them all luck! 

I am very excited to present a new book cover for Mission 51! Here is how it happened: