Kickstarter Project update

I'm happy to report that six days in, the project has been almost 30% funded.  :-)  Thank you to those of you who have so much faith in me that you have pre-ordered my book(s).  You make me so happy!

The Kickstarter site was suggested to me by my sister, Kathryn,  as a way to help cover the costs of publishing.  It is a platform for artists, authors, filmmakers and musicians to convert dreams into reality.

I went into it with the intention of setting the pledge amounts the same as it would be to order the ebooks and the print books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc after it is published...the shipping in the US/Canada is included in the pledge amounts.  There are higher pledges available because close friends and family have expressed interest in contributing more.

It will only take 150 readers to order the the first eBook, and 150 readers to order the print version of the same edition to fund the project.  I have more than 4000 members on LiveJournal, and 1350 Twitter followers, so I hoped that 200-300 backers wouldn't be over the top.

The costs of publishing include copyrights, cover art, cover design, formatting & printing.  It's quite a lot of money and I have fronted the funds for The Future of Our Past, but I didn't have enough in savings for all three of them.

The Kickstarter project is simply a way to get all three books out more quickly because I know that those of you who have already read DFTRM in it's original version would prefer it that way.  My goal isn't profit at this point, but only to get the books published and to launch a career in writing.  It would be a miracle to be able to write full time and that is my dream.

I wanted to clarify a few things:  Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition.  The pledges will only be charged to your cards IF the project meets goal, and not until the end date of the project (March 23rd) passes.  There is no risk to pledge, and if you want signed copies, this is the fastest, best way to avoid the time and money involved in shipping it three times.  (Retailer-->you.  You--->me.  Me--->back to you.

If you're already planning on purchasing the book or books, please consider pledging to the project. The Future of Our Past will launch regardless if the project fulfills or not, hopefully in March.  But let's get all three books out ASAP...:-)

I'll share the cover design and exact launch date as soon as I have them.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

My deepest thanks to all of you who have pledged and are planning on doing so!  I have always been inspired and overwhelmed by your love and support.

Please follow me on facebook, twitter & Goodreads. After you receive the books, I would so appreciate your reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, etc...They are like gold to a new author.  I'm counting on you!  I promise to never give you less than what you've come to expect from me.

Thanks, again.

Love and Peace,
Kahlen
XOXOXO

Release of Debut Novel

My debut novel, The Future of Our Past is on it's way to being published!  It's the first of a trilogy, and will be closely followed by Don't Forget to Remember Me and A Love Like This.   I'm very happy and excited to finally be able to give this story back to my readers and to hopefully, garnish some new ones along the way!

To those of you who have been with me on this journey, I am so grateful for all of your support.  I decided to self-publish the book after three editors asked for different revisions.  What one loved about the story, another wanted revised.

So...I did what I've always done; I leaned on you.  I asked some of you and I went back to the reviews and read them.  The conclusion I came to was that reading is as subjective for editors and agents as it is for readers, and though I didn't take their comments lightly, I was left confused with where to take the story.  So...I chose to put my faith in all of you and you told me said to leave it as it was originally written.

I've made so many friends among my readers that I know will last a lifetime.  I'm fueled by all of you.  Your support and encouragement; your excitement about each new thing I've written, lifts me up and gives me hope that I really am an author.  I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support and love this story has received.  I poured my whole heart into it, and I hope it shows.

The book(s) will be available for pre-order through a funding project on Kickstarter.com, for a period of 30 days.  Kickstarter is a platform for artists, authors, filmmakers and musicians to launch careers, new projects and gain exposure.  A pledge toward the project is connected to a reward that you will receive in return, to include the ebooks, print books, merchandise, etc...There is no risk because if the project is not fully funded, pledges will not be accepted.  You can pledge here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1312371723/the-remembrance-trilogy-book-1-release

Special thanks to Ali, Kathryn, Sally & Liz my editors, Jena, who helps me with blog design and posting to my blogs and to Samantha who's amazing artistic mind comes up with my banners and cover ideas.  All of these people are volunteers who believed in me and my writing enough to donate their time and effort.  It's more than I can ever ask for and I don't know how I can ever repay you.  I love each of you and hope one day to be able to meet you in person.

And to you, the readers;  I am ever indebted to you for reading, reviewing and recommending my work to others.  Without you, the dream could never become reality.  I will endeavor to never disappoint you and to keep giving you more and look forward to hearing from all of you.  You have my heart.

Keep checking back for an exact release date, but I expect it sometime in March of this year.  Yippee!  :-)

Love and Peace,
As Always...Kahlen
XOXOXO