Hey guys,

I started a crowdfunding page to supplement my editing (and eventually marketing campaign) for this ten-book project.

As of today, the deadline has passed and it failed. I didn't really advertise except from within The Book of Beginnings. It wasn't a comfortable fit for me, but it was a learning experience.

So that's over with.

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But here's the real big news: I got my first one star review!

I know you're not supposed to respond to reviews, but I'm going to share what the experience was like.

First, I came home from vacation knowing that I might have picked up some new readers because of the price promotion I ran on the 11th. So I was excited! Yay, I had some new readers.

Then I went to Amazon to check the also-boughts on BoB... and there was the one star review.

You might not believe me, but I was actually relieved. Your support and enthusiasm has been so incredible, I think it inflated my ego a little too much. When I hit the publish button on an unfinished story, BoB, I was certain that everyone would throw torches at me. I was ONE HUNDRED perfect sure that my first handful of reviews were going to be one or two stars. (Too long! One star! Collection of short stories and not a novel! One star!)

But the opposite happened. Somehow, the book got in the hands of people who enjoyed it. And the response has been so touching that I started to think: 'hey, maybe you can write something that EVERYONE will like.'

Well, that was laughably idealistic, to say the least. A guy can dream.

I was a little surprised at how happy/relieved I felt to see that one star review. It was like I could go back to work without trying to make everything perfect for everybody. I mean, I'm still aiming for perfection, but I guess I relearned that lesson that never seems to stick: there's no way to make everyone happy.

Yesterday I drafted 5k and I'm well on my way to hitting that number today. Time to get to work and draft these last few books. Then edit. Then sleep. Free time: I'll see you in the fall.

:)

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Also, what the heck is the with auto-boughts on BoB? The top pairing is "His Cocky Valet" which I get... because #cockygate. But the first TJ Klune book doesn't appear until the last page! And thank goodness Adam Silvera is on there too! Silvera was the first auto-bought and I thought: 'this is a good match. I'm not YA, but I am writing a bit more of a narrative than a typical romance novel.'

But now 50% of the recommended books have nekkid male torsos on the cover (half of those seem to be headless). 25% have nekkid male backs, unusually flexing but one of them is bound by ropes and looks to be blindfolded. Oh joy.

That price promotion might have confused the auto-bots because now it's moving back to 'also-viewed' taking top priority... oops. I'll factor this into my decision for advertising Book One when it comes out.

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(Fun Fact: Once, I had a one star review on a book that wasn't even a review of my book! That drove me up the wall like you wouldn't believe!)

Oh, and happy Friday! I guess I'm in a good mood? Yeah, getting back in the writing routine feels pretty good.