Thanks for Giving to my Cause

As I settle around a crowded table filled with delicious treats and smiling family, I am reminded of just how lucky and thankful I am. So many friends, relatives and fans have supported me on my quest to get my first novel completed and published.

The very first day that The Evenarian Kickstarter was live I had 41 people pledge their support. And now, 22 days later more than 100 people have joined together to championed this project with their great words and dollars.

I have also found a great community in the grouping of Kickstarter campaigns -- entrepreneurs with amazing drive and mind-boggling ideas.

I now have to say that I am thankful for so many more things today than I was just a month ago and I hope that I have been able to provide some encouragement and support back to each and every one of you too.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Halfway on the second day!

Thank you EVERYONE for your help thus far! We're already past the halfway mark for the campaign's goal of $5,000. Your contributions will help make publishing The Evenarian a reality. To show my deepest thanks for your overwhelming support, I want to give something back.

I was hesitant to offer a reward level that basically amounts to pre-sales of the book because negotiating with publishers is notoriously difficult and because, as Kickstarter has stated, this website is not a store.

But with this much support already, I am prepared to buy the books from the publisher and mail them to you my making a new pledge level of $41. If you've already pledged at a lower level, you can still adjust your pledge amount.

With this new funding level, I hope we will be able to reach $7,000. So tell your friends that they can pledge and "pre-purchase" the book for $41. And if we reach this second push goal of $7,000, then I will add a very affordable level where I mail you a map of The Evenarian's world. So after all is said and done, you'll get a little tube in the mail with a map that you can hang on your wall - but only if we can reach that second push goal.

I love you guys. No, really. Everyone who contributed, even at the $1 level. Your support means everything. I hope you will share this Kickstarter campaign with your friends and ultimately enjoy my book.

Click here to make or adjust your pledge.

Also, I'm going to post another excerpt from the book on my blog shortly. So stay tuned for that!

Kickstarter campaign is LIVE

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Come one, come all! The day I've been telling you about is finally here. No, the book is not yet complete, but I have shot past the half-way point, for those of you keeping track. Today The Evenarian Kickstarter has launched and you are cordially invited to check out this crowd-sourcing campaign and make your pledge.

As I have been hard at work banging out gripping pages for my upcoming fantasy novel, many of you have asked when you can contribute to the cause. Today is the day you finally can.

Since success on Kickstarter is closely tied to a campaign's starting momentum, I'm asking for contributors to make their pledges on Day One for maximum impact.

How to pledge:

1.              Go to this link

2.              Choose the level of support you wish to give.

3.              If you are new to Kickstarter, you can create an account or link it to your Facebook account for speed and ease.

4.              Then click on the “continue to Amazon” link to complete the payment.

5.       Once you have pledged your chosen amount, you can share this pledge via Facebook or Twitter. I would greatly appreciate everyone spreading the word!

Remember that the campaign runs for just 30 days (the month of November), and if the $5,000 goal is not reached, then we don’t receive any of the pledged funds.

I will keep all of you apprized of the campaign's progress throughout the month. If you haven’t done so yet, join the Kickstarter Facebook event page, check out my blog, Kickstarter profile, Facebook and Twitter where I will be sharing this experience and the process of creating a novel.

Stay tuned, because in coming days I will be sharing some sneak peeks into some elements of the novel that I can’t complete without your support.

Thanks again!

Scratch my back

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Why is launching a Kickstarter campaign so exciting? For me, it's the feeling of letting you be a part of this book, The Evenarian, in a very special way. Some authors are all secluded when they write their book, not giving the slightest glimpse to strangers or family alike. But I want to share my book with you, and let you get a sense of what it's like to write and publish a novel.

All my life I've been training to be an author. I've saved up money while working as a journalist so that I can do this. Every day after work I would come home and work on a novel that I self-published online because I wanted to perfect the art. Since it received many positive reviews, and I had enough money saved up to get started, I went for it. I'm writing full-time now, and it's going great. I'm writing conflicts and resolutions, build-ups and action, plot and subplots. The story will be spellbinding - not in the least because there's actual spells in it.

Sadly, I recently realized that I have enough funds to get me through writing the book, but not enough to build an audience and get the novel published. That brings up all sorts of troubling questions.  What if I write a great book but nobody will be able to read it because it just needs an extra boost to get a bit of press and an editor who will make it shine for a publisher? That's why I need you to donate to my campaign.

But this isn't a one-way street. I can give you an inside scoop into writing and publishing, and you can give me a chance to go all the way to bookshelves and living rooms all over the world. This is where Kickstarter comes in. With each donation comes a prize.

For the price of a movie ticket, you can get the first level of inside scoops into the book and writing process. You can get a postcard in the mail with new and improved Evenarian cover art and a heartfelt thank-you note from your truly. You can also get an inside view into what literary agents see when I send them the package about my book. You can get a phone call with me where you can ask me about the writing and publishing process, or just what it's like to live in California. It'll be a blast. You can even get an invite to the book launch party. And most importantly, for all of the prize levels, you get your name in the book's thank-you section!

Thanks in advance for your support. I promise it'll be worth your while.