Hey everyone,

I hope your summer is going well and that you’re able to take some time to relax, eat some good food, and read some good books. I finished Stephen King’s If It Bleeds and am now about halfway through Michael Crichton’s The Lost World. So far, it’s even better than Jurassic Park.

I just wanted to drop in to say that Adam has finished reading Showtime and is pleased with the amount of developmental revisions that I’ve done with Sarah. Because of this, I’m thrilled to say we’re finished with macro-level editing (plot, character development, pacing, etc.) and moving on to the next stage of production: line and copy edits!

“More editing?” you might say. “What’s the difference between line and copy editing? Isn’t all editing the same?”

I’m glad you asked, because no, it’s not!

Line editing involves combing through the manuscript at the sentence level, focusing on the use of language—Is it clear? Is it easy to read? Does your diction convey what you originally meant? Good stuff like that to hone and polish the prose.

Copy editing, on the other hand, covers the mechanics of writing like spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

I’m not sure when I’ll have a new line edited draft to look through (I’ll send out another update when I do), but I’m optimistic that these next two stages will take less time than the previous rounds of developmental edits since we’re funneling down into the smaller pieces of editing now.

Showtime’s release date (like all Inkshares books in production right now) is still uncertain, but we’re looking at fall of 2021, which is pretty much what I expected when Showtime was greenlit for publication last summer. Regardless of the publisher, it takes around two years for a book to get from manuscript to finish product. Fall of 2021 puts it around that mark. If it weren’t for COVID, it would undoubtedly be released into the wild earlier. Oh well, that just gives us time to cast the movie. Any takers? ;)

Thanks again for your support, and enjoy your afternoon!

Ricky

Hey everyone,

I fully expect all of you to be reading this from your throne of toilet paper and canned goods, scrolling through this update with fingers slick with Purell.

While the world is losing its mind, I wanted to share that I recently received Round 2 of editorial feedback much quicker than expected. In short, things are moving in the right direction! It seems that Sarah, my editor, was overall pleased with the new draft. Her annotated copy of this draft had 196 margin notes, feedback, and comments, while the first one had 545. It’s a decrease that I’m incredibly pleased with. It means that while there is still work to be done, there’s considerably less of it.

Some of the “big picture” things I’ll be working on in this next draft are further strengthening characters and the relationships between them, as well as strengthening the dramatic tension in the novel’s climax (since more excitement is never a bad thing). Some of the smaller, easier stuff this time around includes fixing logical and continuity errors, eliminating run-on sentences, fixing confusing/”odd” sentences and phrasing, and improving the pace by removing repetitive narration and unnecessary scenes.

My work announced that it’ll be closed for the next two weeks, so receiving this most recent round of editorial feedback couldn’t have been timed more perfectly, as I’ll have a nice chunk of time to work on (and maybe even finish) the new draft. The last one took about a month to complete, so I’m anticipating to finish this one a little earlier. When it’s done and submitted, I’ll be sure to let you know. Hopefully the world will still be standing by then—you know, no rivers of blood or swarms of locusts like the media seems to think is on the horizon. Until then, try not to lick any doorknobs. 

Thanks again for your continued support! 

Ricky

This is it, everyone!

The last time I’ll ask you to order this book.

The last time I’ll post humorous memes in an attempt to win you over.

The last time I reference donuts and Doritos to send the subliminal message, “Hey! That Ricky sure is a swell fellow! Maybe I should order his book!”

This is officially the last full day for pre-orders. After that, things are out of my hands. It’s been a long, long winter (literally—I started this on January 16th!), and now as we finish up spring, it feels appropriate that the official end date for Showtime’s pre-orders is the first day of summer.

So, with that said, please, please consider ordering just one more copy for yourself or a friend. eBooks are only $10 and able to be sent as a gift as well. If just 21 of the 290+ individual readers do this, it will be enough to get us to finish at a mind-boggling 400 copies.

Some people will toss $20 or $50 at a charity as a donation and not bat an eye but feel differently when ordering multiple copies of the same book, thinking, “Why do I need another copy?” If it helps, consider it as a donation. A donation where you’re both getting a product in return as well as helping someone you know fulfill a dream that has been years—and literally thousands of work hours—in the making.

But if we end at 380, I’m cool with that, too. It’s much, much farther than I thought I would get. And, again, if couldn’t have happened without all of your help. Literally. 100%. I can write all I want, but the words stay on my computer screen unless there are people willing to read them. So thanks again to everyone who has come along (and stayed!) for the ride, for your selflessness and generosity, for your enthusiasm, support, and a dozen other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.

Whatever decision comes from Inkshares on Friday, I’m content knowing that I absolutely did the best I could with my efforts at crowdfunded publishing—something which was entirely new to me just five months ago.

So thanks again, and keep your fingers crossed for some good news,

Ricky