I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who picked up their copy of Cape’s Side Bay and to those who’ve read it. I’m overwhelmed with the support and feedback. It really is amazing when I find out how much you enjoyed the book. I had a lot of fun writing it (7 years ago!).
So, thank you everyone for purchasing, reading, texting, calling, reviewing…etc! I’m thrilled you are enjoying my little book that got published because of YOUR support!
Thank you, James
SHIPPING
I guess this is the FINAL update before you have the book in your hands..
I just received an email saying that the BOOK IS READY and will be SHIPPING SOON.
So, one final reminder to change your shipping address if you haven’t yet!
- James
THE BIG ONE
I received the final, completed, manuscript (digital) earlier today. The cover was finalized earlier this week. The last bit of info was just sent in by myself. And that. Is. It.
The book is now ready to go into production!
If you have moved (it’s been 7 years most of you have!). Don’t forget to change your shipping address by logging into Inkshares. I believe they email you a reminder, but just in case, please make sure you change your address.
I guess my next announcement will be something like "They’ve shipped"
Thanks for Noah Broyles at Inkshares who has been a big help over the last little while, and thank you to all of you for sticking around for 7 years!
James
It’s happening…
I received the typeset manuscript earlier today. I’m reading over it. Once that and the cover are approved it will be sent out to the printers.
Inkshares has told me we are on schedule to have the books sent out by the end of the month!
Now if you’ll excuse me… I have to read this manuscript so you can have the book!
- James
Hi you beautiful beings!
Two weeks after the release of The Bone Wars, it is thriving! Look at all the times its been seen out and about all over the world
The Natural History Museum London (thank you Ben and Jess!)
NHM
Here is one of Jess next to Mary Anning’s "Swimming Dragon" This is mentioned in the book! In fact, this whole museum is :-)
Here it is at my parent’s local bookstore. If you’ve read the acknowledgments (also the dedication), you know that my father was an important Dev editor to the many drafts of TBWs.
My step mom Kris with a member of Book Passage’s wonderful staff. Such great people!
Here it is at Book Inc in Mountain View (thank you Kristy!)
as well as at Stanford!
If you have pics, send them my way!! Or let me know and I’ll go a hunting!
Thank you again for all your support. I’m just so thrilled the book is finally out there and people are enjoying the story. In addition to pictures, I’ve been getting very nice emails, not only from close friends and family, but also from people I haven’t had a chance to connect with in a while, telling me how much they enjoyed the book. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
Two things quickly!
One, THE BOOK IS ON AUDIBLE! As I mentioned last update, I spoke to the actors last year and was just so please with how they interpreted the story. Their pronunciations also deserve some major kudos! Parasaurolophus isn’t easy to say! You can buy it now, so if you’d rather hear the book instead of reading, definitely go check it out:
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Bone-Wars-Audiobook/B0C1T5TVXM?qid=1683242675&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=BMEY9B4JJBK284HJ5H53&pageLoadId=MklzD1CXYmLcEA6M&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c
And two, please review! Every author I know hates this part, but it’s critical in today’s saturated book climate. If you liked the book, review it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you want. The more people review, the more the algorithms/AI gods bring the book to the attention of others that might enjoy it.
Thank you again for your support after all these years. I truly appreciate it!
Best,
Erin Evan
Hi all you fantastic supporters!
Wait, you’re probably like, new number, who this?
Well, it’s me, dear friends, Erin S. Evan. That book writer you pre-ordered from all those years ago. Let me refresh your memory....
The Spring of 2016. My son Jack wasn’t even a year old, the sky was blue, the earth was filled with fossils, and you preordered a book called The Pirates of Montana.
So much has happened then, amirite? Moving (for me, a total of three times), new babies (my daughter Sara says hi), new jobs, a global pandemic. I’m sure you all have new updates and stories to tell. I hope they are all wonderful and bring you joy! Except for that pandemic. That can go to hell.
But the most important part of this update- THE BOOK COMES OUT ON APRIL 11!
A HUGE thank you for your patience all these years. For those that preordered a copy years ago, you’ll get it sent to you around April 11. For those that didn’t, check out Amazon or, better yet, ask your local bookstore to order a copy.
In fact, for those that preordered, you should have gotten an email from Inkshares asking for your updated address, if needed. Definitely fill that out! I wouldn’t want the book going to an old address you haven’t lived in for years (I’ve updated mine)
Now, the hard question- why did it take so long? Because Inkshares is a small publishing house, I had to wait in line. Plus I needed to become a better writer. I went into this never writing fiction before. I’ve always made up stories, often spinning my yarns to my kiddos during their bedtimes, but I’d never put anything on paper.
Now I kinda claim I’m not too bad at it. What is that saying? You need 10,000 to master a skill? Well, I’m probably about a third of that way along. Not kidding- I’ve got lots of drafts of this book on my hard drive, plus tons of notes, treatments, summaries, etc. Over the years, Inkshares set me up with several amazing editors who challenged me to become a better writer. For that, I’ll forever be thankful.
When you read the book, check out the acknowledgements- there are many individuals that have impacted this book and your name might be in there.
And, just when we finally were about to publish, Covid hit. The closures of bookstores was brutal for the industry, to say the least. E-books did okay, but Inkshares, like many indie publishing houses, makes money through the sale of physical books. So we decided to wait till people could go back into stores.
So we waited.
And waited...
And waited….
Until now!
Now the fun stuff.
I’ve changed the title, as you probably noticed. It’s now called The Bone Wars. This is a nod to the greatest paleontological race in American history, the rivalry of O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope. You’ll learn more about it when you read the book (along with a ton of other cool paleontologists). However, the book is now apart of a series called The Pirates of Montana. So keep your eyes peeled for more info in the future on that.
While the book is now defined as a Young Adult book, I’ve written it so that adults will enjoy it too (think Hunger Games).
Booklist, one of the literary trade publications, has reviewed the book and given it a fantastic review. To quote: it "is a remarkable combination of incredible scientific detail and convincing fabrication." What does that mean? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out (muahhahaha).
Professor Charles Marshall, Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, wrote a really awesome blurb for the book. It’s on the back cover. I’m really proud of his review. I haven’t been in "the game" for a while now, and to have a professional paleontologist read my book and not find any glaring errors was a fantastic feeling. His email was so nice, just a suggestion or two (which I incorporated). Additionally, he really enjoyed it!
Another science fiction author, Tal Klein, also wrote a nice blurb for the book. For those that have been on Inkshares for a while, you’ll definitely remember his book, The Punch Escrow. If you haven’t read that one, stop reading this update and go order it. It’s fantastic.
The Bone Wars will be on Audible! I met with the voice actors last year, and they are amazing. More on that to come!
Finally, the book was also selected by the Junior Library Guild as one of their Gold Standard Books, which is also very cool. The Guild helps Libraries choose books for their students. Fun fact: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on its editorial board for decades! I’m incredibly honored to have been selected.
We’re at the finish line. Thank you all for the support and encouragement over the years. It took longer than I would have liked, but thankfully it meant a stronger, more fun book with an awesome cover (by the fantastic M.S. Corley! Check out his work at www.corleyms.com!)
Best,
Erin S. Evan
It’s been a full week since the launch of Tantalus Depths, and it already feels like the whole world has changed. Our launch event was a fantastic experience; I loved the chance to spend time with so many of you and revel in this amazing experience with so many of the people who made it happen. Bookstores and libraries are beginning to carry it, glowing reviews are coming in from all over the world, and we’re right on track with where I wanted to be.
So what comes next? Well, the official launch day of a new novel is only the beginning when it comes to determining that book’s overall success. Technically, I could just forget about it and move on to the next project right now, but as far as launching a career as a published author, that would be the equivalent of sitting down to take a nap ten feet away from the finish line in a marathon. Many people have now read, and enjoyed, Tantalus Depths, but this still mostly consists of those of you who preordered it years ago. In order for this book to truly take off and become successful, it must be able to find new readers. It needs to build momentum, gather attention from outside my personal social circle, and start catching the attention of complete strangers. It’s a challenging, but necessary phase in launching a book, and right now the best way to achieve it will require your help once again.
We need reviews!
Reviews are absolutely necessary for a book to find its full potential. Amazon reviews are especially vital: it’s the primary driver of book sales in the industry, and it takes at least 50 reviews for Amazon’s automated algorithms to start recommending it to new customers. Fifty reviews just to get noticed, a hundred to be actively promoted, and at the time of writing this, Tantalus Depths has...four.
Those four reviews are incredibly valuable in their own right, but we’ll need far more to get the attention Tantalus Depths needs to find its best chances of success. With Tantalus Depths in all of your hands now, I must ask for your help one more time. If you can spare a few minutes of your time to leave a fair and honest review of Tantalus Depths on Amazon, or another site such as Goodreads, I would be eternally grateful.
Amazon can be a bit of a pain. Sometimes it takes several days for a review to go up after you’ve submitted it, and sometimes they will reject a review for no obvious reason and not tell you about it. That’s all the more reason why every review is vital and precious to Tantalus Depths’ survival, so please don’t underestimate how much of a difference your review will make.
I’m optimistic that we’ll get there eventually. Early reviews are very positive, and I suspect we’ll keep getting a lot more in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, thank you all again so very much for all your continuing support, and I hope you’re all enjoying your experiences reading Tantalus Depths after such a long wait!
To leave a review on Amazon, follow this link here:
Today I have the honor of presenting you with a lovely interview with my friend Kaytalin Platt, author of the Equitas series! Here we get behind the scenes as I talk a bit about Tantalus Depths, worldbuilding, and storytelling, along with an inside look at the editing and publication process. We had a really great discussion! Come check out our interview, and show her books a little love too while you’re at it. She’s extremely talented in her own right!
Other than that, I don’t have any huge bombshell announcements to drop today. But stay tuned tomorrow for another big update as we get closer and closer to the big day! Don’t forget that the Tantalus Depths audiobook is on sale through tomorrow for 65% off, and don’t forget to make plans for our big launch event 7:00 at Kent Trumbull on September 27th. You’re not going to want to miss it!