Hi everyone,

I’ve been trying to write this short update for a few days now, but I keep being interrupted with more things to add in.

Friday night, I was having diner with family and my phone as vibrating like it was trying to make a break for it. I usually don’t look at my messages at the diner table but the whole point of having a mobile device is to be available in case of emergencies and, considering I rarely get any messages, I was wondering what was up. Turns out, I had sold a handful of copies of The Life Engineered in a very short amount of time. “Cool.” I thought, making a note to track down what as up later that night.

The thing is, I’m a marketing guy. My instinct when seeing sales is rarely about the money or about the visibility, it’s almost always about ‘where are these coming from?’. So as soon as it was polite to do so, I went to social media to see what had happened. Turns out, The Life Engineered, along with Sword & Laser, were the focus of a short article on io9.com.

I read io9.com daily.

Already that's pretty awesome and I wanted to put up an update about it. Then I got confirmation of this article by Alicia Smock being posted on examiner.com. It’s a great article and was fun to participate in. So I was going to include that in my update.

Then The Life Engineered gets mentioned on Geek & Sundry and I lose my God damned mind. I can only keep a rational, marketing oriented line of thought for so long before I become an irrational mess. This isn’t a client’s product being mentioned in the media according to plan. This is my book.

Finally, another article, this time on Inkshares very own newsletter pops up.

So there you have it my friends. The surreal events of the first few steps of promotion of The Life Engineered. If you’ve ever doubted that this little crowdfunding venture takes care of their authors, I think I can testify that we are handled with much love and care. And that’s just the stuff I feel comfortable putting on a public forum!

Oh, and by the way, I still intend to kill you. When A God in the Shed gets published I will draw a name at random from those of you who've pre-ordered and I'll include your likeness in the final draft as a victim. It will be awesome. Also, for each people you've referred you get one more chance to win the raffle. To my editors: Don't worry. I wouldn't offer this if I didn't already have a minor character that I could replace with the winner.

So lets start referring this book to all our friends and family so I can get to killing you as fast as possible.

As always, you have my gratitude. It’s an incredible ride so far and none of this is happening without your support. Thank you.

JF

Good morning all (he says at midnight, assuming you'll be reading this when you wake)

Lots of news and good things to go over. First and foremost, the Sword and Laser, the reason yours truly is still talking to you about this dandy little fiction he's concocted (I've spent a good portion of today writing. Does it show?) has returned with another book contest! More authors are being given the same opportunity to get their book published and distributed just as I have. Books like:

The Darkest Places by Byron Gillan
The discovery of an ancient artifact, buried deep below Cairo, brings three individuals together in a race against an ever-ticking clock to stop an ancient and eldritch evil.  

You had me at eldritch Byron. Go here to check it out this tale of 1920s adventurous Lovecraftian horror:
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-darkest-places?recommended=true

I also would like to recommend a book that is not actually in the Sword and Laser contest, but looks immensely fun.

Dax Harrison by Tony Valdez
In a space-faring future, an alien war criminal seeks vengeance on humanity, and a celebrated-but-bumbling hero is forced back into action... whether he likes it or not.  

It looks like a great, golden-age style space adventure with plenty of humor to go around. You can read excerpts here. Just remember to do so soon, it only has 15 days to meet its Quill publishing goal:
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/dax-harrison-2276

There will be more recommendations to come I promise.

Meanwhile, because of the new contest, people have been asking me and the winners of last Sword and Laser contest J.F. Dubeau and G. Derek Adams lots of fun questions about our books and our experience with Inkshares. First, Alicia Smock from the Examiner wrote this wonderful article highlighting each of us:

http://www.examiner.com/article/inkshares-and-sword-laser-team-up-for-new-publishing-contest

And the Inkshares team asked us to contribute our insights for their blog on the new contest here:

http://blog.inkshares.com/post/134876312095/insights-from-the-winners-of-the-first-sword

AND I know many of you have been asking when your books will be arriving. Well, the release date is March 15. But if you'd like to see what they look like ahead of time, you can see an advanced galley being unboxed by Tom Merritt of the Sword and Laser by following this link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0RmQf9h5oM&feature=youtu.be&a

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope to have more good news to tell you soon. Until then, dear readers...

Hey all,

We have achieved 250 orders! The ebook will 100% be printed. Thank you so much, it is a privilege to receive so much support.

The next goal is 750, which is lofty, but I have confidence we can reach it over the next few months. There will be additional editing input as well as marketing support, and a hardback version, if we reach the goal. I'm excited about the possibilities of reaching more audience at that goal.

To incentivize, I've released another chapter. Please take a look and spread word if you enjoy what you see. I'm thrilled to be able to allow more Nazis to be corralled by the magnificent Dracula.

Thank you,

Pat Duncan