We are taking too long to get our next novel edited. We think we’ve figured out a solution, but we need your help!
If you are interested and are willing to indulge us with this experiment for the next 34 days, you’ll be formally credited in the published book, and you might even have a character named after you. Above all, you will have our gratitude and that’s pretty priceless, right?
Watch this video for details, and contact us if you’d like to help.
Click here to read the Chapter 1 preview mentioned in the video.
Click here to read the preview mentioned in the video for Chapter 1 of Spark of Justice.
Transcript for FraeLea Conversations #6:
RaeLea: Hi, and welcome to FraeLea Conversations. I’m RaeLea and this is Frank. Today, Frank and I are going to be discussing an experiment.
Frank: An experiment. Yes, that’s a good way of putting it. So, it’s been a year since we’ve started writing full time. And, I use air quotes on that because we haven’t really been working nine to five on writing. Part of that shows because in March of 2017, we published our first novel, Fog over Mandaree. To much critical acclaim. Well, not really, acclaim, but we had good feedback. And, now it has been a year, since we left our day job and we’re living off savings as we write. We’re not writing as quickly as we need to be writing. We’ll take full credit on that.
RaeLea: Yes, that’s totally on us.
Frank: We’ve got plenty of excuses. We’re managing a property. We’ve got summertime chores. And, there’s plenty of distractions.
RaeLea: Everybody knows about summertime chores.
Frank: But, bottom line, we’re not getting our writing done as quickly as we need to be. And our readers, you guys, have been very patient with us. We’ve had many people ask us, ‘hey, when’s the next book coming out.’ We do have the rough draft for the next three novels written. We’ve got an outline for two more novels after that. And, we’ve got a story idea for another series after that.
RaeLea: Plus, all the covers. The illustrations are done.
Frank: We haven’t released the covers because we wanted the novels to be done first. So, we’ve got plenty of ideas and work on our table and the bottom line is that we are not living up to our deadlines. We had a really good conversation the other day where we were saying, ‘why is it that we’re not doing so?’. The previous job we had was very high stress. Very demanding. We put out a report twice a day, at 4:00 a.m. and 1:00 or 2:00 p.m., and we were never late. We rarely had any mistakes, maybe a typo here or there. And, it didn’t matter what was going on.
RaeLea: Internet issues or blizzards; it was out.
Frank: Technology issues. We knew we had stakeholders and investors and clients that were waiting for this report. So, we were never late with that.
RaeLea: So, I think accountability is…
Frank: So, it was accountability. We knew we had people waiting for it. The deadlines were not ambiguous. They weren’t arbitrary like our current ones are. So, this experiment, long story short, is to try to recreate that. With your help, we’re running an experiment. We’re going to be releasing a chapter, one a day. We’re going to be asking for volunteers. You, if you’re willing to. To receive a chapter, one chapter per day, and you can comment on it. Give us feedback. And, hopefully, hold us accountable, too, if we miss a day or anything like that. What it will be basically doing is, we’ll be asking if you’re interested in doing this. If you can commit to reading a chapter a day and comment on it, if you like.
RaeLea: And, it’s going to be approximately thirty some chapters.
Frank: Thirty-four chapters, actually, is what this next book is. We’re releasing the first chapter today, in conjunction with this video. You can read it without signing up to any list to see if this the type of story you’d be interested in. If you’d be willing to help us out. And, you really would be helping us out if you do this, because you’ll be holding us accountable. Hopefully, creating some excitement, too, for us. We know we’ve got some people that are waiting for this. It’s going to be kind of an intense month of getting these chapters out. But, we kind of feel that that pressure is exactly what we need because we thrive under pressure. And, this is a positive type of pressure where we have people excited, hopefully. And, there will be other benefits, for you too! You’ll get to see the chapters way before they get published. Even after we’re done with all this, we’ll still have some final edits and whatnot that we’ll be doing before we’re publishing it. So, it’s probably going to be another six months, maybe, before we publish the first of these books. You’ll be able to see the whole story before then. You can opt out at any time, if you do decide to help us out. And, you’ll also be able to provide us feedback. If you decide the story doesn’t quite work for me, or…
RaeLea: Or, if something isn’t quite clear…
Frank: Right. If something isn’t clear, that’s a very good point. We’re kind of hoping, from our perspective, to close that feedback loop. Instead of writing an entire novel, sending it out into the world, and then finding out if it works or not. We love this story. It’s called Spark of Justice. It’s a Modern Fantasy, set in North Dakota…
RaeLea: In Minot!
Frank: … primarily in Minot, North Dakota. It follows the journey of this magic wielding young woman that is new to North Dakota and unraveling a conspiracy. So, again, the first chapter will be released. You can read it now. Let us know what you think and if you’re interested in helping us out. Either reply to the email newsletter or send us a comment on our contact form. You can send us an email that way and we’ll sign you on there. Again, you can opt out at any time if you decide it’s not for you or it’s too much work. But, we really would appreciate the help.
RaeLea: Do we want to tell them the name of the team that we’re putting together?
Frank: Yeah! We did decide to call it Alpha Team. You’ll be part of the Alpha Team. Which, is a pretty bad ass name, let’s face it. Our Alpha Team is basically our swat team to light a fire under our butts and keep us going. Hopefully, encourage us and get us to get this next novel out.
RaeLea: We just need that accountability. That knowing we need to get that chapter out a day.
Frank: We’re going to be keeping this a small group. It’s going to be first come, first serve. But, this first one, if we can get a few dozen people that would be willing to help us out, that would be awesome. If you’re a fan of Modern Fantasy, if you liked Fog Over Mandaree, that would be exactly in your wheelhouse. If you could help us out, we’d appreciate it. We’ll pay you back in various different ways. We might name a character after you, or send you autographed copies of the novel when it is published. Or posters or what have you. We have all kinds of ideas. But, trust us when we say, if you’re willing to help us out, we’ll make it worth your while. I think that about sums it up.
RaeLea: Yeah.
Frank: If you’d like to be a member of our Alpha Team, let us know. Thanks again for listening to us.