Hello All You Damn Dirty Apes!

Whoa! I know, too aggressive. I’ll try again. Hi Everybody! Hope you’re all doing great. I’m sending out a quick update to just let you know a few good things about this Business of Monkey’s book.

1. I did this:

I turned our bathroom into a recording booth, put a microphone in front of my face and read Monkey Business into it. I am currently editing that recording to turn it into something called an "audiobook." Which will be available to you soon. My plan, my hope, my dream is to give it to you for FREE if you purchased a physical copy of the book (or you’re willing to purchase one) OR... if you preorder my new book Black Cloud when it starts taking preorders.

There are still some technical issues to be worked out with all that but Inkshares is on my team and we’re going to make it happen. I think you guys will enjoy the audiobook. I know I really enjoyed making it.

2. Monkey Business is doing great!

• #1 Community Interest in Fiction on Inkshares, which is awesome!

• We’re up to 70 Reviews on Amazon.com (with a 4.8 out of 5 star rating.) If you would like to contribute your own review please do that right here, right now!

• In the Kindle book store, Action and Adventure category, Monkey Business has climbed as high as #406. Top 2%. Which is pretty awesome considering I have done no marketing whatsoever in the past couple months. Which I know makes me a huge slacker but it does reflect well on the book.

All of which is to say, Monkey Business is doing great and that’s thanks to all of you! Thank you for supporting this funny little book. Please stay in touch. Look forward to the audiobook and please go follow my new project Black Cloud which I hope to launch officially soon. In the meantime, read the sample chapters already on Inkshares. I think you will thoroughly enjoy them.

As the monkey always say... hang in there!

- Landon

Editing update!

I was thrilled to begin the editing portion of production, but I had no idea it would be this amazing. (I mean, I guess I did a little, because Inkshares posted their production process here.) I’m in the "story architecture" portion of the developmental edit. What this means is that my editor (the incredible Matt Harry, author of "Sorcery for Beginners," which you can check out here) started challenging me right off the bat. He threw great questions at me regarding what I want to say with my book and how I can make each character more meaningful in the story. 

Long story short, I’m restructuring the story. 

This is a GREAT thing, believe me. It does not offset the current release date aim of February/March of 2018, as long as I put in the work. And so far, I certainly have. In the two weeks since production has started, I redesigned the story into a four-page structure, and my editor, my beta readers, and I all see this becoming a story that is vastly improved and will be a fun read. 

Personally, I’m over the moon. 

At first, I’ll admit, being challenged on my own story and being presented with difficult questions was frustrating. Then I realized that pulling together a new and improved version is better for everything all around. This is a process I would not have gotten at a traditional publisher. Any other publisher would have simply helped me clean up the story I submitted. Working with Matt Harry makes me feel like I’m in a writer’s room and I’m the lead writer. It’s been an amazing couple of weeks working on the new and improved Mr. Butler, and I am sure that you all will enjoy the final product all the more. 

What’s next? I’m expanding my story structure into individual chapters with summaries describing what will occur in each chapter. Then Matt will go over everything with me and help me tighten the story up. 

After that, it’s rewriting time! I am excited to write this story. It’s going to flow quickly. 

With the detailed treatment my little book is getting already, I truly feel like a contest winner. And I won thanks to all of your support. Thank you. 

I will let you know when the chapter summaries are finished and I’m moving on to getting this adventure down onto pages. Until then, just know that I love you all. 

And if you haven’t preordered, you can here. Thank you for your support everyone.

-Michael.