Just 48 hours left to pledge to our Kickstarter

Attention friends, family and fans!


The Kickstarter campaign for my novel “The Evenarian" is rapidly drawing to a close and I want to make sure everyone who's interested gets a chance to show their support. The campaign ends midnight this Friday!

It’s been a wild four weeks of racking up pledges and talking with new fans, but now there is just a little over 48 hours left to support my project.

With more than 100 people pledging from as little as $1 to more than $500, this Kickstarter campaign has really fueled my ambition to complete my novel and share it with all of you.

If you would like to show your support for my writing, I have created various rewards levels for your pledges, ranging from a personal note and a electronic version of the book (when it is released) to your name appearing on the dedication page and a signed hardbound copy of the book.

It’s easy to pledge. Simply go to my campaign's Kickstarter page, choose the amount you wish to pledge, the reward you would like to receive...and you're done.

I'd like to extend my utmost thanks to each and every person that has helped spread the word of "The Evenarian" and to all those who have already shown their generous support. The campaign is going to be a success because all of YOU!

And remember, you have until Friday evening to pledge!


Thanks again!
-- Julia Dickinson

Kickstarter Campaign -- Week 3 update

Hey compadres!
It's already week three of The Evenarian Kickstarter campaign and I am so happy to tell you all that we are at more than 100% of our goal. With another nine days left to gain more pledges, the campaign has already received $5,075 of support from all of you.
Thank you all so much for helping me get this far. But now I have set my sights just a little bit higher -- to $7,000 -- so that I can build greater buzz online and get some orignal artwork created for the fantasy world I've built.
If the Kickstarter campaign can reach this new stretch goal in its final days then I can share the artwork with all of you and even get some extra goodies out to those of you that have pledged toward the book's success.
So, if you would like to continue your support by increasing your pledge or sharing the Kickstarter page on your Facebook, blog, Twitter or other methods of communication, I would greatly appreciate it.

100% Funded and Going Strong

Image Source: Tumblr

Friends, fans and fellow authors I have great news to share with you -- The Evenarian Kickstarter campaign is more than 100% funded as of today.

It took an amazing 18 days to get $5,000 crowd-sourced and I couldn't be more excited to share the news with everyone that has helped.

As most of you are aware, this $5,000 will go toward hiring an editor to prepare the book for agents and publishers since I would like to head down the traditional publishing route. But, with another 11 days left in the Kickstarter campaign, my efforts are far from over. In order to better position the book for publishing I would like to raise some more funds to commission orignal art and get a stronger social media buzz out there about The Evenarian.

The new stretch goal set is $7,000. As I continue to get orignal artwork created I will update this blog and the Kickstarter rewards to give back to those that are supporting my writing efforts.

Stay tuned for some additional perks for being a part of the campaign and keep sharing this cause with more friends and family.

Marathons of the creative kind

It's day 13 of The Evenarian's Kickstarter campaign and I'm so very, very grateful to the 91 people who've already pledging over $4,000 to my project. I am inspired by all of the well-wishes and interest in my upcoming novel.

Simultaneously writing the book while spreading the word about the Kickstarter has presented me with some interesting challenges. I am reminded that as I draft emails, manage social media pages and call everyone I can think of, that marathons come in many forms. With this particular marathon I've embarked on, I've had to set goals that are challenging (yet attainable). Eventually, all those mile markers add up to something amazing.

While it took a lot of preparation and energy to build the Kickstarter campaign and get it approved by the admins on the site, once I pushed the "launch" button, I felt so much satisfaction that helped fuel me to my next goal.

And to my astonishment, just hours into the campaign, I felt the exhilaration of seeing the next mile marker: getting my first 25 backers. Next, I was excited to reach the half-way point of fundraising by getting $2,500 from friends and fans. Once the campaign reached that point, I opened up a new reward level so my backers could essentially pre-order the print or e-book version of The Evenarian.

My next goal is to hit the $5,000 marker, where the campaign will be officially funded and I'll open up even more fun reward levels. And just like a marathon, I am looking to friends, family and the larger literary community to help keep this momentum going until the finish line is in view.

Writing is a job

Image Source: O5.com

When you work in an office environment ensconced by coworkers and a 9-5 schedule, it's easy for friends and relatives to understand why you are occupied for the better part of the day. People know the demands and constrictions that come with working-full time – in the conventional sense, that is.

It seems to be more abstract and far harder to grasp when you work from home and create your own schedule. I noticed this shift in the attitudes of others when I made the switch from my office job to writing a book from home. Suddenly people were acting as though I didn’t even have a job – not a conventional one, at least.

More requests for help in the middle of the day trickled in and I kept hearing about how lucky I was to be free of the daily grind. A lot of people couldn’t quite grasp the fact that I still worked, that making my own schedule and fostering a creative environment where I could churn out pages everyday was a real challenge.

Rather than having a place I could go that was conducive to productivity, I had to create that space in my own home. I had to make a schedule that I could keep everyday to maintain a consistent work pace. And I had to find time to get in some semblance of social interaction so this new experience didn't become isolating. I really underestimated how the workplace can be a big a part of your social life.

It has taken four months to really find a new work-life balance, even though both of those things are occurring in the same room.  And, now that I am halfway through the book, I have learned a lot about what it takes to have both self-discipline and to communicate my new needs and feelings to others.

I suggest everyone take at least one crack at self-employment and detour to self-discovery at some point in their careers. It’s hard work.

Editing is a dirty job, but someone has to do it

Image Source: Excuseeditor.com

Have you ever read a magazine article or even a menu at a local restaurant and been struck by a glaring editing mistake? It happens to me all the time. From simple misspellings to just plain bad grammar, I can't help but see it. My years in journalism taught me that editing mistakes take away from the reader's experience and can be embarrassing to boot. 

As an author, I have experienced both the frustration of running into these errors everywhere I look as well as catching mistakes that I make while writing The Evenarian.

When you are churning out hundred of pages and already going through multiple rounds of edits, all those paragraphs start to look like alphabet soup. This is why I have decided to push my inner copyeditor aside and hand my novel over to a professional editor with a fresh set of eyes. Because heaven help me if there's a single subject-verb disagreement in the book!

However, the real issue with getting a professional to dive into editing an entire novel is that they tend to want to be paid for their time - and rightfully so.

In order to fund this quest for the most high-quality novel possible, I am asking friends, family and grammar sticklers alike to support my upcoming Kickstarter campaign to offset the editing cost before I shop for a publisher.

If you are a fellow fan of error-free reading, then please pledge support for my campaign and share the event with friends and family.

My red pen thanks you!

Kickstarter Countdown

Attention bibliophiles and fantasy aficionados! I'm really excited to announce that while I have been banging out pages of my book, The Evenarian, I am also getting ready to launch a Kickstarter campaign to help get the book edited and shopped around to publishers.
 

It seems like just yesterday that The Evenarian was just a twinkle in my eye and now it’s really happening!
 

While I’m the one giving my sweat and tears, I am asking for just a little help from my supporters in order to get this book to print.
 

On November 1, I will launch the KICKSTARTER campaign with a goal of raising $5,000 (and have hopes of surpassing that in the 30 days that the campaign is live).
 

In order to reach (and hopefully shoot past this goal) I need help from everyone who believes that more creative, page-turning literature should be out in the world.
 

Since I have friends, family and supporters of all different means, there are many different levels of contribution that can be made (from a single buck to a $3,000 bracket – each with rewards to boot!) to bring The Evenarian to fruition.
 

Since November is just around the corner, I want to keep the buzz going so the Kickstarter gets a big first week and the momentum propels this book into everyone’s hands as soon as possible.
Word of mouth and excitement will help make this book more than just a few million letters on my hard drive.
 

Since November is national novel writing month, I couldn’t think of a more fitting time to get this project closer to completion. In the coming days and weeks, I will be posting some great blogs, asking for feedback and giving shout-outs to all those that pledge to support The Evenarian. (Hopefully I’ll be shouting out to all of you.)
 

Until the Kickstarter campaign is live, I am asking everyone to share my Facebook fan page with other avid readers and people that love to support original content so “like,” blog, join the Facebook event, comment, retweet and pledge!

 More about The Evenarian:

The Evenarian is a fantasy novel-in-progress, inspired by the works of George R.R. Martin and Neil Stephenson. It takes place in a medieval world of magic, kings, ancient tribes and empires. It's also world on the verge of a massive change—a change that must be stopped at all costs. The world is held together by a monastic system of cloisters where the Seekers of Truth study history, prophecy, healing, warfare and, of course, magic. As the characters navigate a dangerous, politically-charged landscape, they find themselves confronted with not just the realities of their own journey, but questions about the nature of truth itself.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Evenarian

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheEvenarian/

Kill Hitler

The Evenarian will be fantasy book, like Game of Thrones, but it has a character who had time-traveled to kill a historical figure who will be responsible for causing the future world's problems. It's a takeoff on the old "if only someone would go back in time and kill Hitler" idea. But would that actually work out?
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We assume the kill-Hitler scenario would work because that era is so well-documented and we have many first-hand accounts of what happened (let's face it, The History Channel owes its success to World War II's thorough records), so a prospective time-traveling assassin would be able to pinpoint the perfect moment to swoop in and complete his mission. But even though those events took place less than 100 years ago, there are still many gaps and unsolved mysteries of the era.

So...what if someone went back in time several centuries, even thousands of years, with a similar goal? What if the man they try to kill had been prophesied? Can one really kill a prophecy to save history?

Ironically, we rely on history to help shape our worldviews and often our own identities. But can we really know everything in history? No. It's impossible. Just think of all the mistakes one over-confident person could make if they were actually able to go back in time.

Suddenly that whole kill-Hitler thing doesn't sound so simple. Nether is killing The Evenarian.