Hi Readers!

Why OF COURSE I have not forgotten you, how could I? Just wanted to shoot everyone a little update - we’re still in the production queue, with a few books ahead of Phantom Forest that were greenlit prior to mine. The queue looks to be moving ahead though, so once they’ve assigned me a copy editor we’ll be in the home stretch. What I’ve discovered throughout this process is that hybrid publishing often takes just as long as traditional publishing does, from final manuscript submission to seeing the work in stores! So I wanted to say thanks to all for your patience.

In the meantime: I know a lot of folks who pre-ordered the book work in Film/TV, and a few of you have asked for full reads. If you want to go about this process all officially and make an inquiry, feel feel to visit the book’s properties page: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-phantom-forest/properties/wow 

Talk Soon!

Liz

Just a quick update to let everyone know that the beginning stages of the developmental editing process are proceeding nicely. I promised a behind-the-scenes look, so read on if you’re interested in hearing more....

My developmental editor, Matt Harry, and I have spent the past month passing an 11-page outline back and forth. At this point, we have settled on the arc for the story as a whole, and the arcs of the main characters.

I am thrilled with the tweaks to the original storyboard and feel that the alterations and additions to the initial plot will serve to reinforce the themes. I am eager to see where it leads.

Now that the outline is complete, we are moving on. I am currently spending a few hours a day working on rewriting and editing the first 100 pages to turn over to Matt so that he can provide page-specific notes. As of now, I have worked through about 60% of the first section, and hope to complete it within a week.

Matt will then work through the first 100 pages as I edit and rewrite the next 100 pages. We will then do this with a final section (the book will likely end up between 250 and 300 pages). Because we are adding new scenes and drastically altering others, the second and third segments will take a bit longer to work through.

After the first round is complete, we will rinse and repeat a couple of times until we are both happy with the story.

So, there you have it. As always, thank you for the support. Every day that I sit down and write, I think of all of you. I am forever grateful for this opportunity.

Until next time,

-Jacqui

Hi everyone,

This weekend I had an amazing event at Austin’s Book People. Each book store I’ve visited thus far has exemplified the unique literary flare of its city, and Book People did not disappoint. The highlight, for me, was receiving a watermelon carving of The Punch Escrow’s cover. I sent it to M.S. Corley, the cover designer, and he and I agreed that we should have shipped all the books with watermelon rind covers in lieu of foil. Unfortunately, this was not a stock option offered by our printer.

Many of you have been asking me about the "secret" chapter. I am very close to releasing it to you. I have every intention of keeping my word that, as soon as we hit  101 reviews on Amazon, I will send a special out-of-band reader update containing the "secret" chapter. In the mean time, with the help of my friend and 22nd century legal expert Jay Wolman, I’m taking this opportunity to "clean up" some of the future legalese. There are 727 of you on this distribution, only 26 of you who haven’t yet need to post a review on Amazon, and the "secret" chapter is yours!Also! More exciting movie news is forthcoming this week. I am sworn to secrecy (sorry for being so clandestine lately), but the news should be public on the early side of the week (I hope!).  

Peas,

Tal

Thank you all, thank you for the support. I’ve been going through many life changes through this process, all that I’ve come out better from as a result. Thank you for preordering, following, and liking my work. I will be revamping my cover, and sending my complete manuscript out to my editor before returning for my third and final funding campaign. There will be updates, additional chapters and behind the scenes grabs that I have planned and finally finished. I’ve learned so much from this platform, my audience, and peers. I am finally ready to give my books a fighting chance.

Thank you all for being awesome!