Tag: The End of Magic

The End of Magic is 100% funded! Now where’s my bloody book…?

It happened overnight while I was sleeping, but one of you beautiful people nudged me over the finish line with less than 24 hours to go. Here I am getting all excited after breakfast…

A massive thank you to you everyone who pledged (some of you more than once!), banged the drum and kept the faith – this has been an incredible experience and a massive learning curve.

Already I’ve had a few messages from you asking when the book might come out. Well, it is written but will need an edit, then revisions from me, then maybe a second edit, followed by more revisions, then the copy edit, more revisions, then a proof read, more revisions, and then we need to sort out the cover art and schedule a publication date.

Based on my own experience in publishing I reckon we might be looking at early next year, but I’ve yet to properly liaise with the Unbound team, so I’ll update as soon as I hear from them.

Again, thank you all and here’s to the next stage!

All the best,

Mark

PS. The funding doesn’t end here. If you haven’t pledged yet, you still can! Do it now while you can still get your name in the book.

£519 to go on the End of Magic

There’s about a week to go until the 90 days of pledging are up and there’s just £519 to raise for my fantasy novel The End of Magic.

That’s roughly…

  • 52 pledges for the £10 eBook
  • 35 pledges for the paperback
  • 26 Patron paperback pledges (you get your name in the front)
  • 21 ‘For a friend’ pledges (you get two copies),
  • 11 Robot Overlords pledges
  • or just 7 of the five-copy bundles! (Why not go crazy and by a bunch for your fantasy fiction friends?).

This is it – the last push to make this happen: click here and hit that beautiful blue PLEDGE button!

Thank you and a huge bearhug for all you beauties who’ve pledged already!

Mark

 

80% and 200 backers, but I’m lost… does anyone have a map…?

The End of Magic is 80% funded! Wallop and thank you… Though I’ve not had a single pledge in the last few days, and I’ve contacted everyone I know (twice) and chased everyone who hasn’t pledged (two or three times) and what was fundraising is now bordering on harrassment! But all is not lost, and I’m hoping to make an exciting announcement very soon…

Please keep spreading the word!

All the best,

Mark

The End of Magic: 78%, 69 days and 196 backers…

Just a quick update, but another big thank you to everyone who’s pledged so far – you’re all scientifically proven to be more gorgeous, intelligent and frankly awesome than those who have yet to pledge… That’s science. You can’t deny that. Why not join their ranks and help me make it to 200 backers? Click here and hit that big blue ‘Pledge’ button.

Oh, and here’s me reading an excerpt if you like to try before you buy…

You may have seen some online chatter about this book’s editor Simon Spanton being made redundant from Unbound. Here’s the story on the Bookseller: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/unbound-makes-four-editors-redundant-due-cost-cutting-773346

Simon is a top bloke, and a fantastic editor with an incredible track record, and he was the main reason that I decided to go with Unbound for this book. I have been assured that Simon should still be able to work on the book, a) once all the redundancy negotiations are over in about a month’s time, and b) should he choose to do so.

Whatever happens, I will do everything I can to ensure that this book will be as good as it possibly can be. If you have any concerns do please leave a comment below, or drop me a line and I’ll get back to you with the answers.

Until next time, thanks again for all your magnificent support!

 

Mark

Surviving your first year as a debut author with Ed McDonald

I had the pleasure of speaking to the superb Ed McDonald on the podcast this week. Ed talks very honestly about his first year as a professional author, achieving his dream of getting published, and then he asks the question, “What next?” It’s a very revealing chat and you can listen here.

I was over the moon to see my friend Deborah Haywood’s movie Pin Cushion premiere at the East End Film Festival last weekend. It’s funny, dark, and cat lady mad with a brilliant cast. Have a look at the trailer here.

And if you’re looking for a major time suck, the BBC have opened up their sound effects archives for non-commercial use. There’s some really freaky stuff available for your delight. Listen to this doll singing Oranges and Lemons and tell me you won’t be sleeping with the lights on tonight…Oh, and I’m 77% funded on The End of Magic with less than a month to go! If you’ve not pledged already, now would be a wonderful time to do it. Just click here and hit that lovely blue pledge button.

Till next time, happy writing!

Mark

Just a couple of pledges away from 75%

Hi everyone – the three-quarters funded marker is just a couple of pledges away and it’s kind of crept up on me. Again, massive thanks to everyone who’s pledged so far, and do please continue to spread the word (send them here!). In the meantime, here’s a little quiz you can share with anyone who’s not yet pledged…

TEOM CHILD

Till next week!

Mark

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The End of Magic, week 8… I think… I’ve lost count

Big love and thanks to all new backers of THE END OF MAGIC this week. We’re up to 68% and it would be great to make 70% by the end of the week.

It was great to see some of the 5-pack bundles get pledges… I bought a 5-pack myself last week to get copies of the book for a few friends who aren’t fans of the internet (and after the news these past few weeks you can hardly blame them!).

If you know someone who loves a bit of fantasy but doesn’t relish the idea of shopping online then do please ask them to drop me a line here and I’ll do everything I can to help. Until next week, here are some choice words from the book…

Mark

Cavan Scott – Licence to Write

I really enjoyed speaking to Cavan Scott on this week’s episode of the Bestseller Experiment. He writes on licence – that is, he writes for some of the biggest franchises and series in the world, including Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek. Listening to how he worked his way up from sending pitches to Big Finish Audio to becoming an influential writer of these beloved universes, and now writing his own fiction, was inspirational stuff. And moreso, now I’ve just learned that Cavan is bringing back Jaxxon the Rabbit, a cocky gunslinger who featured in one of the first ever Star Wars spinoff stories in the weekly comic.

It’s a fun episode, and you can listen to it here.

My co-presenter this week was the wonderful Jenn McMenemy, whose own podcast The Ancient History Fangirl, has just launched its second episode and it’s a blast. Check it out here.

In other news, I hit 60% funded on The End of Magic this week! A huge thanks to everyone who has supported the book so far. As a reward (punishment) here’s me reading from the book with another terrible “comedy” accent…

If you haven’t pledged yet, then please visit here and hit the big blue ‘pledge’ button: https://unbound.com/books/end-of-magic/

So close to 60% it hurts…

A huge thanks to all the new backers of my fantasy novel THE END OF MAGIC who’ve joined us in the last week.

I’m still hitting my 1% per day target, which is great, and as a treat (punishment?) here’s another clip of me reading from the book with another terrible accent…

Enjoy and if you haven’t pledged yet, you can do so here, and if you have pledged then please keep spreading the word!

With eternal gratitude – Mark

A ghostwriter, an archaeologist and a wizard walk into a bar…

On this week’s Bestseller Experiment podcast I spoke to Ghostwriter Roz Morris, who gives a very thorough breakdown of how a ghostwriter works, and also describes a fun way of developing story ideas that involves scraps of paper and a box.

Mark Desvaux has had to bow out of the podcast for a few episodes due to a family illness, so I was ably assisted by Jenn McMenemy who, as well being on the podcast as a guest previously, has also launched her own podcast Ancient History Fangirl, which is huge fun and proves once again that history is a great resource for writers.

This week’s Deep Dive podcast is a cracker, looking into audiobooks, the fastest growing sector of publishing. We talk to Orion Audio’s Paul Stark about mainstream audiobook publishing, and we also get contributions from indie authors Jo Ho and Michael R Miller. It’s choc full of ready detailed info, so if you’re not a Patreon supporter pop over to our Patreon page and get on board!

And finally, at the time of writing I’m 59% funded on my book The End of Magic. A thousand thanks to everyone who’s pledged so far, and if you haven’t joined the adventure yet, why not be the hero who nudges me over to 60%? Click here and hit the blue pledge button.

Till next time, happy writing!

 

Mark