Charles M. Ryan

CREATOR

6 days ago

Project Update: Pledge Manager and Progress Notes

Hi, all—

I have lots of cool news to share with you. But first:

The pledge manager is now open. This is where you provide me with the information I need to deliver rewards to you, including such things as:

Your email address and physical address, so I can send you digital and physical rewards
Your choice of art prints
For Patron backers, your discord handle, so I can let you into the secret Patron-only chat!
And so on.

And if you feel so inclined, it’s a chance to upgrade your pledge level, or get extra copies of print books as add-ons. So please check your email, follow the link, and fill it out. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Late Pledges!

If you know anyone who might enjoy my books but who missed the campaign, please let them know that late pledges are now open! That’s right: it’s still possible to jump in and grab the great deals offered through the campaign.

Here’s the link: https://the-mason-of-new-orleans.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/673460

There have been nearly 30 late pledges since the campaign concluded, and these are very welcome—truthfully, the campaign didn’t quiiiite cover all the costs I’m incurring bringing these books to you, but late pledges are bridging the gap.

Oh, Those Sweet, Sweet Reviews

One of the great things about this crowdfunding campaign is that it drove a lot of interest in The Mason of New Orleans even among people who didn’t back the campaign. In the last couple of months TMNO has received nearly 200 new ratings, and 50 new reviews, on Goodreads—for an average of 4.89 stars!

Sales have also been pretty brisk, with more ebooks sold in the past two months than the previous couple of years.

If you’ve already read The Mason of New Orleans, please take a moment (if you haven’t done so already) to give it a quick review on Goodreads or especially Amazon. (The latter really helps Amazon’s algorithm recommend it to more readers.)

So How Are Things Coming, You Ask?

In addition to getting the pledge manager up and running (honestly, most of the work was done by Tammie Ryan, love of my life, who has extensive experience with crowdfunding reward management), here’s what I’ve been working on over the past month or so:

TMNO revisions: I made a handful of small revisions to The Mason of New Orleans. These included a rewrite of the opening paragraphs (I hadn’t really found Martin’s voice when I wrote the original opening), updating another short passage in the middle, making a couple of small timeline corrections, and fixing some typos. With the possible exception of the opening paragraphs, these are things most readers probably won’t even notice—but I did, and they bugged me!
Book layout and typography: I have the full book laid out, and all my typographical decisions made. It just needs the new maps. It’s pretty spiffy, if I say so myself!
Audiobook: This is what I’ve spent the most time on:
- I finalized the decision on a narrator after reviewing roughly 60 auditions!
- I put together a pronunciation guide for him, with guidance on 150+ names and terms from the book.
- He’s submitted two chapters so far, which I’ve reviewed carefully and sent notes on.
- And as part of that process I’ve started writing up character bios so he has better context when deciding how to voice these characters.
Community hub: I set up a Discord server, which you’re invited to (see the pledge manager). This is of particular interest to Patron backers!

Next steps include:

Audiobook: I’m continuing to work with the producer to move this along. It’s a fascinating process! I’m very happy with it so far, and want to ensure the final product is something we will all love.
Graphics and the TMNO revised edition: I’m starting work on maps and other graphic items for The Mason of New Orleans revised edition. Once they’re in place I can get the ebook out!
Print book to press: Once the revised ebook is complete, I’ll move on to print book. Most of the layout work was already done for the ebook—that is, I only have to make small tweaks to the layout file to make it print-ready.
All the other stuff: Once the book is in production, I’ll get the art prints and book marks off to press too. And work on other items such as the alternate opening chapter and Cypher Unlimited incentive.

Then I’ll have the time and energy to dig into writing The Angel of Ecbatana. But don’t worry—I find that I can’t really type out words until they’ve stewed in my head for some time. All the bandwidth I’m putting into this project is keeping Martin’s adventures active in my noggin, and I’ve make a lot of creative decisions for TAOE. I’ll be able to hit the ground running, inspired and full of ideas, when my schedule clears up to start writing.

Thanks again!
—Charles

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