Pre-Order My Book and Help Me Win a Publishing Contract

I just posted my latest work-in-progress on Inkshares, a crowd-funding site for publishing. Here's how it works: You pitch your book idea and post excerpts on the site, and try to convince readers to pre-order the book. If you hit a certain threshold of pre-orders, Inkshares will pay for the editing, design, printing and marketing for the book.

It's a fascinating model that seems like a win for all parties involved. The author (potentially) gets their book published without the personal cost of self-publishing or the humiliating obstacle course of finding a traditional publisher. The reader is only charged if the threshold is met and the book goes to print. And the publisher (Inkshares) has a guaranteed number of presales on the book before they even accept the manuscript so they know that they can cover their investment in the project.

Inkshares say they can get their books into many major book sellers, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple and numerous independent bookstores. They also claim their are options for publishing overseas in other languages and even selling movies rights, but those are pale in comparison to the true reason I'm signing up.

The biggest reason that I decided to so this right now is that they're currently running a contest in conjunction with pop culture powerhouse Nerdist.com: The 5 books with the most pre-orders by September 30th in the Fantasy & Science Fiction categories will automatically get published, even if they don't meet their thresholds. More importantly, the folks at the Nerdist will pick their favourite book out of the top five to be backed and endorsed by Nerdist.com, becoming the first book in The Nerdist publishing imprint with all the perks and glory it entails.

So now I implore you, all my faithful readers: Help me win this contest so I can get an interview with Chris Hardwick on The Nerdist Podcast. Sure, publishing my book is great, but my true life's ambition is eat a burrito with the son of Bowling Hall of Famer Billy Hardwick.

This man's son is the first face you see after your favourite character bites it on The Walking Dead.

My project, tentatively titled "Hell Comes to Hogtown" is now live at Inkshares. The entire first chapter is available as a free preview so you can determine if you like my style of writing. I would love it if you would pre-order it and tell all your friends, but if you just "Follow" the book to increase it's profile on the main page, that would be great. Even if you tell all your friends and spread the word, that would be great. Maybe one of them would like it?

Seriously, Click Here to Check It Out!

Anyway, here is the (very) short pitch of what the book's about:

A comic book nerd and a pro-wrestler try to clear their names in a kidnapping while evading a bloodthirsty demon hobo.

It's a comic horror/dark fantasy in the vein of Christopher Moore. If that sounds like something up your alley, please check out the page and show your support!

(Also, if you have any better ideas for names for the book, I am open to suggestion)

The First Money I Ever Made As a Writer

I threw this factoid out in a random comment reply, but I realized it was a good enough story that I should probably share the whole thing.

I mentioned last week that I had received my first royalty payments from Amazon, but what I neglected to mention was that those few bucks were not actually the first money I ever made from writing. It was the first money I had made in about 20 years, though, and the first that wasn't - for lack of a better word - shady.

You see, in high school I wrote for a "literary magazine" called the Manifesto. It was a student run project, completely written and produced by our 11th Grade class. I did all the layouts and typesetting not just because I was the fastest typist but because I didn't trust anyone else to do it properly (I was a self-publishing control freak even back then). I was also the defacto treasurer: Since I was in charge of getting the covers printed so I held onto our meager funds to pay for printer ink and photocopies. I think we charged like 50 cents an issue and didn't sell many copies, so it's not like we were talking William Randolph Hearst publishing money here.

This is the cover of the Christmas edition that started the problem.
Colour prints cost a fortune back in the day.

Anyway, at the end of the school year there was like $5.25 in coins left in our printing "account" (which was actually a sandwich baggie under my bed). I held onto it through the Summer thinking we would need it in the Fall, but for whatever reason the magazine never got off the ground again. Maybe because I got a girlfriend and had other things on my mind. But I still had that bag of coins, and I held onto it all through the school year. When I was leaving home to go away to University, I found the bag and wracked my brain for all of about ten seconds on what to do with it:

"I did more work on the magazine than anyone else. Screw it, I'm keeping it."

I think I bought a Coke and some chips or something with it. That was the illustrious start to my "professional" writing career: blatant thievery. I regretted it afterward - while I did do a lot of work on the magazine (contributing many stories in addition to the layout, editing, etc), I probably should have shared the money with the other guys. So if any of you are reading this - Morgan, Greg, André, Steve, Chris, probably some others I don't remember - I apologize, and I owe you each like 65 cents. If you give me your addresses I'll send you an email money transfer.

André earned at least 65 cents for this sweet-ass drawing of our Social Studies teacher.

As an amendment to the above story, during my final year of High School (remember, the year after we did the magazine), a bunch of guys got together during the yearbook photo sessions for a picture of the Manifesto team. For some reason I got super pissed at this because it wasn't part of our senior year and I thought it was dishonest to say it was (also remember, this was before I stole the treasury money). It didn't help that they had a guy pose in the picture that had nothing to do with the magazine just because he was trying to get in as many yearbook photos as possible. I think he's even in the picture of the girl's basketball team. My point is, you totally can tell I'm pissed in the photo, I have the grumpiest, nastiest look on my face. They even put my name down as "Editor-in-Chief" to try and appease me but it didn't help any.

I was a surly dick as a teenager and photographic evidence of that fact has been preserved for posterity.

Did you actually think I was going to show you a yearbook picture of myself? Fuuuuuuck that.

As an amendment to the above amendment, going back over these old issues for the pictures reminded me of the dumb and hilarious shit that we did as kids in high school. The magazine was basically in response to the terrible "official" high school newspaper, and we spent a lot of our time and energy making subtle (and not so subtle) digs at "The Man." I've got some great and embarrassing stories I'm going to have to share in some future post - maybe even a whole series.

For instance, our cover artist was really going through a "hippie" phase at this point.

How about you? How low have you sunk in the name of art or making a buck? I prefer stories that include both.

GUEST POST COVER REVEAL: Piper Morgan Joins the Circus by Stephanie Faris

Stephanie Faris is a children's author and all around great person. Her latest book, Piper Morgan Joins the Circus, will be released soon by Simon & Schuster. Stephanie asked me to help show off the snazzy cover for the book as well as get people hyped for what looks like a really fun new kids series.

So without further ado, here's Stephanie & Piper!

The Cover!

Cover illustration by Lucy Fleming.

The Book!

When Piper Morgan has to move to a new town, she is sad to leave behind her friends, but excited for a new adventure. She is determined to have fun, be brave and find new friends.

And after learning her mom’s new job will be with the Big Top Circus, Piper can’t wait to learn all about life under the big top, see all the cool animals, and meet the Little Explorers, the other kids who travel with the show. She’s even more excited to learn that she gets to be a part of the Little Explorers and help them end each show with a routine to get the audience on their feet and dancing along!

But during Piper’s grand debut, her high kicks and pointed toes don't go quite as planned. After causing a dance disaster, she has to prove to everyone--especially queen of the Little Explorers, Lexie--that she belongs in the spotlight.

The Author!

Stephanie Faris knew she wanted to be an author from a very young age. In fact, her mother often told her to stop reading so much and go outside and play with the other kids. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in broadcast journalism, she somehow found herself working in information technology. But she never stopped writing.

Stephanie is the Simon & Schuster author of 30 Days of No Gossip and 25 Roses, as well as the upcoming Piper Morgan series. When she isn’t crafting fiction, she writes for a variety of online websites on the topics of business, technology, and her favorite subject of all—fashion. She lives in Nashville with her husband, a sales executive.

The Links!

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

IWSG August: I Just Realized I Don't Know What I'm Doing

"So, how's that novel coming along?"

It's one of those things every writer hates to hear, and it's doubly worse when you ask it of yourself, which is something I've been doing every day for the past month.

See, when I put out Ten Thousand Days earlier this year, I had a big plan on exactly when and how I was going to release my next book. I took what I learned on that release and built a schedule on how the next one was going to work. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep to it.

I can make up excuses as to why it's not coming along, but the honest and biggest roadblock is simply me and my relationship with the book.

I've written 8 novels, of which Ten Thousand Days is the only one I've let out of The Closet. For all but one of the others, I simply wrote it for fun because I wanted to see if I could do it. I wrote only for myself and a handful of people who I knew might read it. I would finish the first draft, made a few edits here and there, but then it was done and I moved on. I didn't go back and go in depth into the mechanics of the book.

My current work-in-progress is the first time I've ever written something knowing that I would make it available for public consumption, and seriously considered that I have to make this something that people will enjoy reading.

I'm not thinking about catering to a particular market or preference, but I am suddenly acutely aware of all these things I've never paid much attention to: Are motivations consistent? Is dialogue believable? Does the progression of action make sense? When I wrote in the past, I just wrote what was fun and what I thought was enjoyable to read. I never considered how people were going to read this and judge me.

You know we all do it.

For instance, yesterday I had to cut out an awesome scene that I really loved. I thought it was hilarious and really fed well into the next chapter, but the truth of the matter was it made no sense. The characters shouldn't have been doing what they were doing in that moment. It was just unbelievable and nonsensical. Not to say the book is hyper-realistic - far, far, from it - but the logistics of the scene just didn't fit into the story. It survived the first two drafts but it kept eating away at me and I had to go back and remove it. It sucks, because now I have to replace it with a much less interesting exposition scene, but I really think it has to be done.

And that's been my feeling of the whole manuscript lately. Is any of this any good? Will anyone like this? I've spent months working on this, but am I wasting my time? I thought I knew the basics of what I'm doing, but I've been questioning it a lot lately...

Anyway, I'm just about to the point where I can send the manuscript out to my beta readers - that should happen this week. I'll find out then if this book is worth continuing or if I should just chuck the whole thing. I'll be sure to keep you posted...

So just we don't finish on a completely negative note, there were a couple of good things to report from last month.

• Ten Thousand Days is now officially available for purchase in paperback form, and amazingly a couple of people actually bought it. It's exactly the same as the eBook version, but I guess there are still a few holdouts who prefer to hold a dead tree in their hands. I also sold a few more eBooks on Amazon and Kobo during July as well, presumably thanks to the price drop and promotion.
• I received my first royalty payments from Amazon for my first month of book sales in May. It certainly won't buy me a new car, but it covered dinner for myself and my wife. So not only am I a published author, but I'm a paid one as well. 

Maybe with the next book I can cover drinks, too.


The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

The Viper and the Urchin by Celine Jeanjean

I think I've mentioned this before, but I hate writing reviews. I'm terrible at it. There is an art to writing a good review, a certain ability to critically analyze a work and formulate clear, concise opinions. It's a skill that I simply do not possess in my repertoire. Maybe I'll spend some points on it the next time I level up.

However, I do like to tell people about stuff I like, so I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about a great new book called "The Viper and the Urchin" I just read that I think you should check out, too.

A month ago Ms Jeanjean asked me read her new book (which just dropped this week, you can buy it here) and review it if I felt comfortable doing so. I was hesitant simply because I knew I had several trips this month and was going to be busy, but I gave it a shot. I was really glad I did.

First, here's the blurb:

Being Damsport's most elegant assassin is hard work. There's tailoring to consider, devilish poisons to concoct, secret identities to maintain... But most importantly, Longinus has to keep his fear of blood hidden or his reputation will be ruined. So, when a scrawny urchin girl threatens to expose his phobia unless he teaches her swordsmanship, he has no choice but to comply. 

It doesn't take long for Rory to realise that her new trainer has more eccentricities than she has fleas. But she'll put up with anything, no matter how frustrating, to become a swordswoman like her childhood hero.

What she's not prepared for is a copycat assassin who seeks to replace Longinus, and who hires Rory's old partner in crime to do away with her, as well. Rory and Longinus must set their differences aside and try to work together if they're to stop the copycat. But darker forces than they realise are at play, and with time running out, the unlikely duo find themselves the last line of defence against a powerful enemy who seeks to bring Damsport to its knees.

Sounds pretty cool, right? On Amazon the book is categorized as Young Adult/Fantasy/Steampunk, which is technically true, but if I had only heard of this book based on it's category I may not have picked it up. I wouldn't have thought it was my cup of tea. But the categorization only tells part of the story: At its heart The Viper and the Urchin is a fast-paced and enjoyable character-driven mystery/thriller, and that's a wonderful thing.

Too many genre books focus too much on background and world building and not enough on the plot and characters, but The Viper and the Urchin avoids this trap with an entertaining duo of characters that you care about and would be interesting in any setting. The background is just that - a back drop to the action, which is a quickly-moving thriller with stakes important to the characters. There is just enough back story to set the scene instead of providing an encyclopedic history of the world. The writing overall is clean and polished. It's detailed and evocative without being overly or unnecessarily flowery, which lends well to its fast-paced readability.

The two protagonists, the surly, rough-around-the-edges "Urchin" and the foppish, well-to-do "Viper" (an assassin who's more concerned that his shoes match his belt than actual assassination) are a weird mix of unusual characters. They're so much fun to read and play off each other amazingly well. They may be a bit one-dimensional but that's a small trade-off for the constant antagonistic, witty banter between them. The dialogue is tight and well-written.

To the point: this is a fun, quick read that's genuinely enjoyable and entertaining. It's well worth picking up and I'm looking forward to future releases from Ms Jeanjean.

Go check out The Viper and the Urchin! And make sure to drop by Celine's website while you're at it!

We're going to the Zoo... how about you?

Actually, we just got back from the zoo. You missed it. Sorry.

This past weekend the wife and I packed up the kids and traveled to our old stomping grounds of Toronto to visit friends and check out the Toronto Zoo. I love the zoo and haven't been in many years, so it was great to go back and revisit old favourites like the polar bears and tigers, as well as check out the new additions like the giant pandas. I don't think the 4-month old really appreciated it, but the 3 and a half year old really enjoyed certain parts. The jelly fish tank was a big hit, as was the camel ride.

I think his favourite part of the whole weekend was the elevator in the hotel, though. He's 3 and a half, what are you going to do?

Here's a few pictures. I wish I had more but it's tough to juggle a camera and a toddler.

I love tigers. The zoo has 2 that they keep in cages on opposite sides of the walking trail. The first time I went many years ago the female was in heat and the male was trying to get at her through the cage. It was both awesome and terrifying.

Look! We're riding a camel. For reference, camels are way more uncomfortable than horses.
I have no idea how someone can spend weeks crossing a desert on one of these things.

This one's my favourite. Credit goes to my good friend (and photographer extraordinaire) Jason Salvatori.

Random zookeeper with an owl. She told us not to come too close or it would bite us.
And they let these things deliver letters to children???

Panda sighting! I actually have a better picture but I can't find it, must be on my wife's phone.
Anyway, pandas are the laziest f***ing creatures on the face of the planet. They just look like fat guys in furry costumes sitting around eating all day.

This is from the hotel room. My son has decided he likes Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering.
He mostly just dumps the cards and dice into piles, but it's a start!

So how about you? Have you been to a zoo recently?

GUEST BLOG: Gabriel by Patricia Josephine

Today we welcome the lovely Patricia Josephine to the blog to tell us all about her new novel, the final chapter in her Path of Angels series. Take it away, Patricia!

The End of a Series

Well, this is it. The last book in the Path of Angels series. It seems like only yesterday I was getting Michael’s cover. Time really has flown. I’m surprised and proud of myself for keeping up with the schedule I set. I had to push Jophiel back a little because of my editor’s schedule, but I found it worked in my favor, so I pushed Gabriel’s release date back a little too.

It feels weird leaving my angels boys’ lives. I have other stories to work on, but I’ve been immersed in archangels, nephilims, and fallen angels for so long. I’m a little lost.

Which story do I work on next?

I’ll figure it out eventually. If I get an idea to being back into PoA’s world, I will totally go back. There’s little scenes and stories that I think would be fun to write. Maybe delving into Charlie’s past to show why she doesn’t speak, or write about Michael and Lake after Michael left his brothers. What about the book Zephyr wrote? Who was the angels in it? I could bring other archangels down to Earth too. Have new plots. There are lots of possibilities for exploring the world. For now, I’m going to celebrate the series ending. I did it! After a bad 2014, I am rocking 2015.

About The Book!

The end is in sight.

To stop Uriel from freeing Lucifer, Gabriel and his brothers must fall and go to Hell. It is a sacrifice Gabriel is not entirely ready to make. Will he fight alongside his brothers or forge his own path? There is only one choice.

Alexander doesn’t want to help Uriel nor does he trust him, but the angel has promised him a better life. He swore to protect Charlie, and he’ll do whatever it takes. When he meets the archangels and learns the depth of Uriel’s lies, he understands the true meaning of sacrifice. If there’s any hope of stopping Lucifer from being freed, Alexander, Charlie, Zephyr and Lake will have to get to Hell and help Gabriel and his brothers in the fight against Uriel.

The path is finally ending, but the price may be too high.

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZPM94B4
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25723479-gabriel

About the Author!

Patricia Josephine never set out to become a writer. In fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. She was all about art. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head. That was the start of it and she hasn't regretted a moment. She writes young adult under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow, and an obsession with Doctor Who.

Links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/plynne_writes
Website: http://www.patricialynne.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/108938106639683446081/posts/p/pub
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/patricialynne07
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13460894.Patricia_Josephine
Path of Angels: http://www.patricialynne.com/path-of-angels.html