As promised, new details! Just received the following from my Kindle Press editorial team:
"We're pleased to let you know that editorial work on your Kindle Press manuscript Ghost Star has begun. An editor will review your manuscript using the Microsoft Word Track Changes feature and provide recommendations.
When
the editor has completed work on your manuscript, we'll send you
another e-mail letting you know your manuscript is ready for review,
along with a link so you can download your manuscript, review all the
editorial suggestions, and decide which changes you'd like to make
before submitting your edited document to the Kindle Press team.
Your manuscript should be ready for you to review by October 20, 2017."
How cool is that? Needless to say, I'll jump on the recommendations right away. Not sure what the schedule is after I submit the revised manuscript, but I'll let y'all know as soon as I know.
WALK ALERT: Hey, everybody! I'm participating in this year's Walk to End Alzheimer's and asking for your support. My mom, Pat, and my father-in-law, Jerry, both suffer from this brutal disease. The Walk to End Alzheimer's is my small way of fighting back.
Thanks to your generous donations, I've blown past my original fundraising goal of $500.00. I'm just a little short of the $1000.00 mark and would love to beat that, too.
Our local walk is NEXT WEEKEND on October 7th, 2017. Follow THIS LINK to donate now. You'll be taken to my Donation Page.
Please donate what you can to support the efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. Any amount is a good amount. Thank you for joining the fight!
My (annoying?) GHOST STAR campaign is finally over. I'll find out if the
book is selected sometime in the next 15 days. A heartfelt thanks to
everyone who supported me. You folks are awesome! :) #fingerscrossed
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already nominated GHOST STAR for publication on Amazon. So far, so good -- at least as far as I can tell.
Kindle Scout doesn't tell you how many actual nominations your book has received, but they do give you a little bit of info. With fifteen days left in the campaign, GHOST STAR has spent 169 hours on the "Hot and Trending" list and has received roughly 2.5k views on its page. I hope most of those views were also nominations!
For those who haven't nominated GHOST STAR and wouldn't mind doing so, please follow the link and vote today. It's free to vote and if my book is approved, you'll get a FREE Kindle copy. Thanks!
Step Three: Nominate Ghost Star, my new YA Sci-Fi novel, for publication by Amazon.
It's just that simple! Seriously though, I know this kind of stuff can be a pain, but, in this case, there really isn't much more to it than the steps I just listed.
It's free to vote and only costs a little bit of your time.
The Backstory: I recently completed the manuscript for Ghost Star and decided to give Amazon's Kindle Scout program a try. How it works is that you submit your previously unpublished novel and support materials--book cover, description, etc.--and, after a review, they assign you a "campaign."
My Kindle Scout campaign for Ghost Star will launch on August 26, 2017 12:00 AM EDT and end on September 25, 2017 12:00 AM EDT.
During that time frame, it's the author's job to get as many of his supporters to "nominate" the book for publication as possible. Here's why: "The more nominations your book receives the more likely it will get the
attention of our Kindle Scout team and be selected for publication."
Pretty straightforward, right?
The bottom line is that it would be really cool if you would nominate my book.
Thank you!
Roger
BONUS STEP:
Step Four: Ask your friends and family who might be up for this kind of thing to vote for Ghost Star, too. Thanks!
Raw link to campaign: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/K0R7BME788ZC
Hey! Here's the cover for Ghost Star, my new YA Sci-Fi novel! Isn't it cool?
Amazon is launching a Kindle Scout campaign for Ghost Star this Saturday, 8/26.
That means you folks will have an opportunity to nominate Ghost Star for publication, and I really really hope you do.
I'll post more details and a link to the campaign page on Saturday.
If Ghost Star gets picked, I'll get a modest advance and my book will be published by Amazon! If you nominate the book and it gets picked, I'll be eternally grateful, and you'll get a free Kindle copy.
In the meantime, how about that cover? Isn't it cool?
I love, correction, LOVE the Age of Empires pc game franchise! Launched some 20 years ago by Microsoft Studios, I've purchased and played every single edition of this incredible RTS (Real Time Strategy) game from the very beginning. From the original Age of Empires through Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires III--I've played them all plus their Expansion Packs.
Well... Imagine my delight upon hearing that not only is Microsoft going to bring back a fully updated version of the original, but they've also begun work on a completely new AOE game, Age of Empires IV!
The original Age of Empires was designed for Windows 95 and, as far as I'm concerned, has been unplayable (technically-speaking) for many a year. This new updated version is for Windows 10 and will be released on October 19, 2017. Here's the trailer for the remastered Age of Empires: Definitive Edition:
How cool is that? If you were a fan of the AOE series, you've got to be pleased with this new development.
As if that wasn't enough, Microsoft Studios and Relic Entertainment have announced they're developing Age of Empires IV! As you'll see in the "Announce Trailer" below, details are a little sparse. In fact, all of the artwork is from previous editions of the game. Why? My clever deduction is that they're still very early in the development process and don't have anything to show yet. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they're going to advance the timeline up into the modern era as that's what they've done with all of the previous installments--advance the ages with each new release. WWI and WWII? Who knows? Everything is conjecture at this point.
Anyway...both of these announcements are so cool! Can I get a yay? YAY!!!
The writing for Treehouse Detectives, the fun animated show I've been
working on, is close to wrapping. Our mystery-solving brother and
sister bears are coming to Netflix soon and should be a big hit with the
preschool crowd.
How cool is this?! Definitely checking out the full episode.
From the video description: "Adam fulfills his lifelong dream of becoming King Arthur from the film
Excalibur at San Diego Comic-Con! This year's costume is a full suit of
armor from Excalibur, made by legendary armorer Terry English who made
all the armor for the film. Adam spent over a week at Terry's shop
assisting with this build, culminating in this beautiful shiny suit
that's surprisingly comfortable to move in! Shot and edited by Gunther Kirsch"
I think my cover for Dragonfriend is a fine cover.
The good folks at indieBrag do too and nominated it as a finalist in their 2017 cover contest.
If you agree with our assessment of Dragonfriend's cover, please go to the indieBrag site and vote for it in two categories: Middle Grade/Young Adult AND Overall Favorite. Just scroll through the genres and vote along the way in other categories like Sci-Fi and Historical Fiction.
After you've voted for Dragonfriend (2X!) and reach the end of the genre nominees, press "Finish Submission."
They'll ask you to sign up for their mailing list and I recommend that you do since their site's an excellent resource for finding quality indie books like Dragonfriend!
"Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz": I wrote for this fun show last year. It just started airing on Boomerang's streaming service so check it out! #otherwriting
