Audiobook Review

Quick update--I've finished reviewing the audiobook. It really sounds incredible, and I'm very proud to have worked with Open Book Audio on this production. There are a handful of changes to make, but the book may be available within the next week or two!

I'll keep you all posted as this progresses! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Progress Report 16: Paperbacks sent, audiobook in review

What a day! I spent nine hours yesterday and today organizing and shipping the paperback packages. Everyone who gave me their address should expect their package by first class parcel post in the coming weeks. People from all over the world ordered copies, so I'm sorry that I can't give estimates! In general, I was told to expect 2~3 weeks to reach other countries, and then it depends on customs and that country's postal system. Not quite as fast as I'd hoped, but it would have cost far more money than I had to send them any faster. As it is, I covered the extra shipping costs myself on behalf of the backers.

It was an interesting and somewhat fun experience, but I almost certainly won't be doing it again!

In other news, today I received an edited/mastered copy of the audiobook to review! I've only listened to the first couple of chapters, but it sounds phenomenal. I'm going to begin again with the paperback in hand and follow along to check for errors. Hopefully I'll be able to get through the entire book by the end of the weekend!

The thing is, I have hearing problems, so I won't be able to do anything else while reviewing it, and it'll probably take me about twice the actual length of the audio to listen to it. Even so, I'm hoping to get through all of it by Monday. I'll keep you all updated!

Finally, every non-time sensitive backer who has responded to my survey has received their rewards! I still don't want to rush anyone; I just want to be sure that I deliver rewards ASAP after receiving the responses. If you haven't heard back from me and/or feel concerned, please do feel free to contact me any time!

For now, though, I'm off to work on proofing the audiobook!

Mini Update: Paperback Packages

I received the paperbacks for the packages! I'll be able to sign them later tonight. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to mail them out tomorrow (Saturday) or if I'll have to wait until Monday; it depends on whether I can purchase all of the shipping materials before the post ships tomorrow.

Regardless, you can rest assured that they'll be on their way by Monday night at the latest, barring some kind of unforeseen disaster! I'll update again once they're in the mail. If people who receive the packages could let me know when they receive them, it'd certainly be a load off of my mind.

Here's hoping that I'll be able to mail them out tomorrow!

Rewritten I: Fallacy

AVAILABLE NOW FROM $2.99!

A scientist mad with grief; a mother trying to escape guilt; a little girl’s worst nightmare; a mistake with unforeseen consequences.

What if your life—your world—your memories—were a lie?

This is the premise for Rewritten, a fantasy book series. Along the way, readers are invited to unravel characters’ motivations, identify the causes that set the story into motion, and put together the pieces while immersed in a fantasy world where any false move could have dreadful ramifications. 

The characters in Rewritten must work with limited information, deal with the consequences of their assumptions, and struggle to cooperate despite drastic differences in their own perceptions of their world and situation. The setting of the first book is a highly regulated and controlled society that utilizes the inherent magic of different castes to maintain a rigid, hierarchical order. 

Links

• Amazon (all works)
• GoodReads (all works)
• Sample
• KickStarter

***

That's right! It's the moment you've all been waiting for--Rewritten I: Fallacy is now available for purchase by everyone, whether or not you backed the KickStarter! If you missed the chance to order a paperback package, you can still order a paperback on Amazon for $9.99, which is literally the cheapest I can make it and not lose money on Expanded Distribution channels.

If you've had a chance to read the book, please consider leaving a review on GoodReads or Amazon! It would mean the world to me. 

Even if you don't, I want to extend my most sincere thanks to everyone who helped me get this far! This would truly have been impossible without all of you. I hope that the final product is worth your time and effort! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

Progress Report 15: Wrapping up!

Rewritten I: Fallacy now has a GoodReads page! If you've read the book (as a backer), plan to read the book, or want to write a scathing review denouncing the book as a travesty, you now have a place to do so!

I'll officially release Fallacy this Thursday, so stay tuned!

Also, of those who responded to surveys, all rewards that don't have a timed element have been filled! Unfortunately, since not everyone has responded to the survey, it's not at 100% complete just yet. Soon, though! I've been managing a turnaround time of at most two days for getting digital rewards to people, which I hope has been prompt enough!

If anyone is dissatisfied with the quality of their reward, I wholeheartedly encourage them to contact me!

Also, the audiobooks are moving forward! Last night I received word that the edits have been rolling along, and everything is proceeding according to plan! With luck, backers will have their audiobooks not long after Halloween. There's no guaranteeing when the books will be available in various stores, as that's out of our hands. I'll try to keep you all posted!

Speaking of post, the paperbacks are on their way to me! I might have them as early as this Friday if I'm lucky enough to get them before the weekend. I'll then sign them immediately and ship out the packages the next business day after I receive them. (If they arrive on Friday, I'll ship them out on Saturday or Monday, depending on what's open.) I can't control the postal service, but I can do my best to get it into their hands ASAP.

Right now, I'm kind of in limbo. Every time something I can do personally crops up, I do it immediately. But most of the remaining work is out of my hands. It really feels like everything is wrapping up! I can't wait to see what next week brings.

For now, I'll try to get the next book ready and work on more short stories! If you need me for anything, you're always more than welcome to contact me.

Progress Report 14: Rewards!

I sent out surveys to backers. Of the responses that I received, I've fulfilled all but two of them. (One of those two will be filled when the second book comes out; the other will be mailed out over the course of a year.) If you had any problem with your rewards, please don't hesitate to contact me!

There are still a few backers who haven't responded to the surveys. I'll try to fulfill their rewards as soon as possible after I hear back from them! I understand that some people would prefer to wait until they've read the first book before making such requests, so I don't want to rush anyone. I just want to be prompt in fulfilling my promises!

I haven't heard any progress reports on the audiobooks, but I'm confident that the editing is underway, and that backers will be able to listen to them before the year's end. They'll be available for sale, too, if you're not a backer and like audiobooks--I'll make sure to keep everyone posted.

Oh, last of all, the paperbacks for the paperback packages have been ordered! They're scheduled to arrive November 1 or so. As soon as they arrive, I'll sign them and ship them off.

Basically, I've been hard at work keeping up with my schedule, and I'm very close to being done, which is very exciting for me! If I hear back from the other backers in the next two weeks, there's a fair chance that I'll hit 100% completion on all of the tasks! (At which point I'll need a new list for the next books, haha.)

Make sure that you contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I'm always happy to clarify things if I've made them needlessly confusing. Or even if you just want more detail than I've offered. I hope you're all staying healthy as the seasons change!

Pendular Motion

I've just released a 99¢ bundle with three micro short stories. Backers had a chance to preview this collection before it went live, but now I've finished polishing it. The description is below the cut!

Rewards!

Just a quick update: I shared the ebooks with the backers, so all but 15% of the rewards are now filled!

I also received the final proof copy of the paperback, and it looks like it's entirely set to print! That means that both the ebooks and the paperbacks will be available as of October 25.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me! I'll keep chugging along, otherwise. So far, I'm well ahead of all of the schedules I promised, thankfully! Fingers crossed, I'll manage to maintain that momentum for a while yet.

Short Stories

I've been working on some short stories, and I'm hoping that working in other genres will develop my writing skills as a whole. At the moment, when not working on the third book in the series, I'm focusing on a small bundle with three pieces of flash fiction (altogether about 5200 words long). I'll be offering a copy of this bundle to my backers; it'll be waiting in the dropbox along with their copies of the ebook and possibly a couple of other short stories.

I've also been going over the short stories that interconnect with my series, and I'm thinking of releasing them one by one when they're no longer spoilers, then compiling them into one big book after all of the series has concluded. That would mean less waiting for readers between books, which might be a real benefit! It depends on what readers prefer, of course; I have several of the stories ready right now, but they have spoilers through the end of the second book, so I can't share them just yet.

As it is, though, I'm hard at work on the third book in the series and trying to produce as much quality work as I can! I've ordered the final proof copy to double check all of the details, and I have things set up so that I can send my readers their copies of the ebooks at any time. I'd send the ebooks out now, but I want to take a look at the proof first if at all possible. I want the ebook and paperback to be as similar as possible.

Progress Report 13: Audiobooks and Paperbacks!

Wow, it sure feels good to watch that fill up!

I have some great news to share! Last night I received word from Open Book Audio that the recording portion of the audiobook is complete. This surprised me, since I hadn't actually heard who would be the narrator yet and hadn't realized that they'd already begun recording. Still, I think that's probably the best kind of surprise there is, right?

The narrator for the audiobook is Alexis O’Donahue; I listened to a few samples of other books she's narrated, and she's got a clear, easy to understand voice, and she seems to do a good job of putting tone into the story, so I'm looking forward to hearing the final product! Since I have hearing problems, though, I'll probably have to ask a friend with better ears for assistance during my part of the proofing process.

Now, some of you might be wondering why the audiobook is only listed at 75% when the recording is already done. Well, the editing and mastering process take a fair chunk of time, so I counted them as 25% of the total. The audiobook probably won't release on the same day as the ebook and paperback (October 25), but it won't be long after that!

As for the paperback, I recently received what looks like it'll be my final proof. The little tweaks that I have left are ones that I can check with an e-proof, rather than ordering another paperback, so I think I'll be able to release the paperback at the same time as the ebook.

Finally, as for the ebooks, I'm still considering KDP Select. I've spoken with Amazon, and they've said that I would be able to offer to send buyers the format of their choice after purchasing it through Amazon, so it shouldn't keep non-Kindle owners from being able to read it. I'm still up in the air, though. Also, I have to decide on my list price--I charged ebook backers $5, but they're also getting a free audiobook, which will retail at around $15. They also get a number of special privileges, including an early download of the book. But I don't know if it would be unfair to charge $2.99 for the book, even so. What do all of you think?

Aside from that, I'm considering releasing a few unrelated short stories through Amazon, as well. In recent months, I've had two short stories accepted by publishers, but I have several others that don't fit any anthologies that are currently open. If I do release them, I won't charge more than $0.99 for them. I wonder if anyone would be interested?

Finally, the agenda for the coming weeks:

• Go over proofs (paperback, ebook, audiobook)
• Set up ebook downloads
• Arrange paperback packages
• Rewrite the third/fourth books in the series (2000 words a day)

If things go according to plan, the ebook/paperback will be available on October 25, and the audiobook will be available by the end of the following month. After that, I'll be poised to fulfill all other rewards as soon as backers finish their surveys! (More than a month ahead of all promises made during the campaign itself.)

Back to work with me!

Considering KDP Select

In determining where to release my ebooks, I came across the KDP Select program.

Pros:

• Included in the Kindle lending library
• Can be promoted for free for five days every three months
• Can opt out after 90 days

Cons:

• Can only distribute my ebook through Amazon

I would only release my book via Amazon after making sure that I'd made all of the formats available to my backers, of course. As it's possible to read books for the Kindle without a Kindle (I read one on my laptop very recently), I don't know whether this would actually be a significant hurdle for potential readers. I've sent Amazon a message asking whether I can send people other formats after receiving proof of purchase and still qualify, but I'm not sure when they'll reply.

No matter what, it would still be available in paperback, so don't worry about that!

What do you think? If you're interested in reading the ebook, would the Amazon exclusivity make it impossible for you to buy it?