Good day, everyone. It’s been an intense four months to get where we are and now it’s crunch time for Bane of All Things.

I can’t emphasize this enough – it’s now or never. We crossed the 250 pre-orders mark a week ago. Help me get this thing past 300 by March 1 by encouraging a friend or family member to pre-order, too.

(And if you have followed BoAT but haven’t yet pre-ordered, please do!)

Before I go further, let me again acknowledge and express my deepest thanks for the support and patience of each of you. This campaign would not be anywhere without you.

Help build the Ripple Effect

Most funding campaigns on Inkshares fail. Some that succeeded hit that 750-pre-order goal, but many did not. As I wrote in my previous update, the Inkshares team is tracking metrics beyond just number of pre-orders to decide which books to publish.

The common denominator among Inkshares’ success stories is that the author’s friends and family had the biggest impact—they not only pre-ordered, they brought in their friends and family to also lend support. This ripple effect is key. An extended community of people who wanted to support a new author, even if the author’s kind of story wasn’t necessarily their thing. 

Many of you have helped to bring in those additional supporters. You have helped to spread the word. And some of you are of course Super Reader supporters. Again, thank you all.

It takes just one, for US$10

I have asked you before about bringing in other supporters. I can definitely appreciate that it may seem like a daunting task. But you don’t have to muster a whole team—it takes just one to make a difference. A single additional e-book purchase by a fresh face for a mere US$10. (Of course, if you can bring me more than one, please do!)

So, I ask you, please and thank you, can you find me that fresh face, today, tomorrow or by the end of the week? It could be your sibling, parent, cousin, child, co-worker, neighbour, workout buddy—anyone interested in supporting a new author and a good cause.

We may be literally a few dozen more supporters away from success! Together we can cross the finish line.

Reach out with a direct message/email or phone call. This is much more effective than social media posts. Remember to tell them that this also supports autism services and if my campaign does not succeed, they do get a refund.

There will be prizes

If we cross the 300 mark, I will be holding a prize draw for a piece of artwork printed on canvas, signed by me and the artist. Do you remember that skull and sword illustration from the early version of the BoAT cover? This is the work of award-winning Canadian comic book and graphic artist Dominic Bercier:

An additional prize will be drawn for those of you who bring in an additional supporter(s) between now and then – a $50 Amazon gift card.

And FYI: You can also pre-order additional copies of BoAT yourself. Up to 10, in fact. That includes e-books. The way Inkshares’ shopping cart works, you can’t purchase multiple e-book copies on one transaction – you have to do separate transactions. But anyone who pre-orders at least three copies, even if they are all e-books, will be recognized as a Super-Reader supporter.

Thanks again, and happy reading.

Cheers

Leo

Greetings wonderful followers, 

Guess what! As of Jan 30/19, it has been a full year since my first novel, Beyond the Code, was published and sent out into the world. And what a year it has been. Just for fun, let take a look at my author journey so far. 

I got Beyond the Code on the shelves of Indigo Books and did several book signing events at Indigo and Chapters all over the city of Edmonton. Actually had a kid want to take a picture with me because I was an author. Really cool. 

I was a guest panellist at panels on character development and Urban Fantasy writing at the When Words Collide writers convention in Calgary. 

Beyond the Code has been given great reviews from Roll Out Reviews, Literary Titan, The San Francisco Book Review, Readers Favourite, Opal Publishing, and Delusion of Literacy. These are people who know what they’re talking about. Also, from the reviews of my readers, Beyond the Code is running at a 4.23/5 rating on Goodreads and a 4.8/5 rating on Amazon.com. 

I was a guest on several podcasts talking about my writing and other geeky stuff. I’ve been on Spilling Ink, Just Joshing, Functional Nerds (this was my favourite one), Stories by Nerds, Alive after Reading, and Go Indie Now. You can check out these episodes through the kelseybarthel,ca website or the Beyond the Code Facebook page. 

And, last but not least, Beyond the Code was a featured book with the Scifi and Fantasy Network. 

Like i said, it’s been one hell of a year. So far it’s been a pretty good showing for my first novel and I am very happy with it. As for the future of Beyond the Code and me as an author, that’s still very much in the planning stage. Right now, I’m working on Beyond the Code’s sequel Beyond the Masquerade (working title) and like always, i will always endeavour to keep my readers informed. 

Thank you all for staying with me on this journey and I hope I can continue to deliver, 

Kelsey Rae Barthel 

Hey, everyone. I hope you made it through January with your sanity intact. Things continue to chug along with BoAT. Inkshares has kindly granted another extension on the campaign. We continue to be the top title in funding in terms of pre-orders, and one of the top titles trending on the entire Inkshares site.

But we are still a looong way from hitting the 750 pre-order mark. You may be asking at this point, and rightly so, if that goal is even obtainable.

The fact is, I don’t have to hit 750 to get this book published with Inkshares.

That’s right. The Inkshares team has seen enough to know that pre-sales alone are not a full measure of a title’s popularity or marketability. It is tough to convince strangers to pre-order a book which they can’t actually have and read yet, even if they like it.

That’s why Inkshares also has a program called Blink that tracks metrics like page visits and time spent reading chapters. Inkshares will also chose a book for publication based on these metrics, aside from number of pre-orders.

The thing is, I have no idea how well I am doing on these other metrics. Inkshares doesn’t share them with me. I could be close, or still miles away. That’s why I have kept the focus with you on reaching 750 – it is the clear and obvious goal that I can track through my Inkshares dashboard. 

But I have done plenty to drive those non-pre-order metrics.

I have reached out to hundreds and hundreds of people, tried Tweet promotion on Twitter, post boosts on Facebook, secured local newspaper coverage, posted flyers and business cards in my local coffee shops, library and gym. Many of you I know have also been spreading the word to friends and family and supporting my efforts on social media with shares, likes and retweets, and I thank you.

Together, we are driving eyeballs to BoAT’s page, even if those pre-orders are slow to come.

So, let’s keep at it. While pre-orders remain of utmost importance, know that the needle is moving on other key indicators behind the scenes, too.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Ricky Ruszin, who launched a campaign for a suspense thriller called Showtime only 17 days ago and has already racked up enough pre-orders to make BoAT look like it’s standing still. That’s hustle for you. 

As always, I remain truly humbled and grateful for the support each of you have lent this dream of mine thus far.

Cheers

Leo

It has been a while, and so many great things have happened. Let me break them down. 

Since getting bumped from Quill an Inkshares property, and getting all the wonderful benefits that come with that, The Living God went through several rounds of developmental edits. It has been copyedited, "poured" into book format, proofread, and had a brand new cover designed by Tim Barber of @dissectdesigns! 

I don’t know about you, but I think it looks fantastic. I’ve gotten several compliments on it ranging from, "Its beautiful!" to "It looks like a NYT bestseller!" And while it may not be a NYT bestseller (yet, gotta keep the faith), it sure does make me feel like one!

The whole process has been a rollercoaster of emotions, mostly joyful. However, there is a change that I am sorry to inform you. The publisher has moved the release date to May. This is to better strategically place and market the book. While I’m bummed you won’t get it for a few more months, I understand their decision to do so. 

These things take a lot longer than I ever anticipated when I started this process and when you pre-ordered in 2016. I want to thank you all again for believing in me and in this project, but especially for your patience. May will be here before you know it, I promise.
 

Happy new year!

Please take a moment and consider this (if you haven’t already): Is there one person in your circle of friends and family, just one, whom you could reach out to right now and encourage to lend their support to Bane of All Things over the weekend?

It could be your spouse, a sibling, a parent, one of your children, a co-worker, a neighbour, a friend in a book club, a buddy in the beer league or a classmate. 

If each of you who has kindly supported this campaign so far with a purchase were able find one other person willing to do the same, we would be halfway to that pre-sales target by this time next week. (I don’t think I could sleep if that happened.) They would only have to purchase a single ebook.

In my last update, I talked about the media coverage provided by my local community papers. This did yield modest results over the holidays. I continue to build audience with other Inkshares users and authors. At every turn, I look for opportunities to engage with new contacts and old ones at local events and through social media.

Heck, last night at a business networking event, I even pitched the staff working the cash bar, BoAT business cards in hand.

Your good word matters more than mine

Here is a simple truth I have learned from established authors, agents and publishers – word of mouth from existing supporters remains the most effective way for an author, at any stage of their career, to sell books.

Now for the good news: BoAT clung to top spot among titles in funding on Inkshares for most of the three-week period that ended Sunday past.

And the not so good news: BoAT achieved this by averaging just one sale a day. (Yes, that does mean every title in funding on Inkshares suffered a holiday slump, which was only to be expected.)

Over the holidays, more than one supporter said to me, “But I don’t want my money back, I want my copy of the book,” when I told them how Inkshares works.

I would much rather you get a book instead of a refund, too.

So, let’s make it happen … together. It is, after all, the birth of a new year—a time for fresh optimism and second chances.

If we hit some milestones in the near future, like 300, 400 and 500 pre-sales, there just might be a contest announcement or two!

As always, your continued support is deeply appreciated. 

(And remember, you can always purchase an additional copy yourself to give as a gift :).

Happy reading.

Cheers

Leo

Good day, everyone. One last note before we all enjoy our holiday time with friends and family.

Some great news – the editor of my local community newspapers (shout-out to Laurie Weir!) has picked up an article on this whole venture. You can read it online here.

Just this morning, Laurie confirmed she has found room to also run the story in the print editions of both our local papers, the Perth Courier and the Smiths Falls Record News, coming out Dec. 27. I couldn’t be happier. 

Bane of All Things has also enjoyed in recent weeks some great social media push from Startup Canada and others. Despite this excellent support, direct one-on-one outreach remains the biggest driver of pre-orders to date. We will see what kind of impact media coverage has through New Year’s. 

For those of you who are new to Inkshares, I can’t emphasize enough how important friends, family and community support is to make this work. While there are thousands of users on Inkshares who self-identify as fantasy fans (and I’m following as many as I can find), they tend to wait for a new book to prove itself with hundreds of pre-orders and followers before they start jumping on board as supporters, too.

That means I can’t do this without you. No matter the media coverage we get, or what amplification through social media, word of mouth to friends and family is profoundly important to bring the volume of pre-orders and followers we need for success.

That’s all for now. Have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Hey, everybody. It’s been a long time but, rest assured, neither I nor the book have died. In fact, I’ve finally got some news for y’all, which is why I’m sending out this update. (It seemed counter-intuitive to send out updates when there wasn’t any news, hence the long silence.)

I just received the copy-edited version of the manuscript and—if we meet all of the deadlines—the book has been assigned a tentative publishing date during April, 2019. I am going to endeavor to reach every goal we’ve set for which I’m responsible, so I’m confident that, come April, this book will finally come to life.

It’s been quite the journey, I know. I didn’t expect it to take this long, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you have forgotten about it, and about little ole me, even, in these ensuing years. But we’re back, baby. Disintegration is happening.

I’ll keep you posted on any further developments. Watch this space.

P.S. Please be sure to update your shipping address, if you’ve moved some time in the last three years. :-/ 

Today is the one year Anniversary that U-turn at Next Synapse has been out among the wild world of cinematic literature. In other words, my book’s birthday. Woo Hoo!

Thank you to everyone, especially the Inkshares team who has made this dream into a mouth watering reality. It has been quite a year; Sold a little over 400 copies, including three at Skylight Books, not to mention 4 Amazon reviews, and did someone say audio book for 2019??

If you have not checked out this adventurous tour o’ madness and whimsy, I encourage you to do so. I would love for this book to sail to new heights, for I am not done with this story yet. Not by a long shot. 

Stay tuned for up to date latest news:

Insty & Facebook

Good evening. I hope this finds you well as the holidays hurtle toward us.

First, the good news. At this moment, Bane of All Things (BoAT), is the top most recommended work by readers on the Inkshares site. And that is not just against other works that are in funding mode as I am, but published novels, too.

If you haven’t lately, check out the REVIEWS section of my Inkshares page to read the wonderful things other Inkshares authors have kindly written about BoAT. You can leave your own review, too, and help BoAT keep that top spot.

Second, the great news. In my last update, I raised the alarm about how pre-sales were not moving fast enough, but I did also raise the possibility of extensions to my campaign. Well, Inkshares has added 30 days. This puts the new deadline at Feb. 11. (Incidentally, my son’s birthday – here’s hoping we have added reason to celebrate!)

Does this extension warrant a sigh of relief?

Definitely.

Does it give me reason to take my foot off the gas?

Definitely not – we still have a lot of ground to make up.

Third, the bonus good news. Startup Canada will be running a concerted social media campaign for BoAT this week. As some of you know, some years ago I served on the board of directors of this non-profit that supports entrepreneurship across Canada and beyond. CEO Victoria Lennox has graciously offered Startup Canada’s social media clout to help spread the word. This is, after all, kind of my startup venture. I’ve always said the author’s journey, and the entrepreneur’s, are more alike than different.

In the meantime, you remain an essential player on this team. Please continue to spread the word and recruit any friends and family whom you think might also dig this story.

As always, your support is deeply appreciated. 

That’s all for now. Happy reading.

Cheers

Leo