The Dark Thorn by Shawn Speakman

Hey Everyone,

I am pleased to share that I have finished proofing The Dark Thorn. 

It took longer than I expected, of course, but it is done. And to be honest, I'm happy I did it. I found three misspellings. I found a quotation mark not closing off a character's spoken words. I found about 20 "the" words missing in front of "Cardinal Seer." And I found numerous sentences that just didn't need to be in there as they added nothing to the overall story. There were probably about 75 changes from the ARC edition.

So the book is vastly improved, even from the edit. Now the proofed book goes to my book designer. She will make the changes to the final InDesign document. Then a few things will happen at once:

For the ebook, I think I'm going to do a Zoom or Facebook Live or something so you can see me take the final book and create the ebook. Should be fun and I can answer questions while I work. More on that once I get the file. And when I'm done with creating the ebook, I'll get the digital package together and send both out at once as soon as possible!

Here are some photos of the book I used to proof. When I found something I wanted to fix, I dog-eared the page. As you can see, there were a lot of dog-ears. 

Anyway, progress! This was easily the hardest thing to finish. The rest is on other people thankfully. 

Okay, back to work for me. I'm reading proof pages for the stories in Unavowed now. 

Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday!

Shawn

Hi Everyone,

After working with the fine folks at BackerKit yesterday to solve some issues with the backend of the campaign and how items flow from BackerKit to my shipping software, I finally managed to get the ability to split orders that featured The White Thorn hardcover ARC and get that book shipped. Yes, it cost me a bit more money to do so, but I figure with the lateness of the project that I need to be fulfilling books when I get them -- no matter.

After the Terry Brooks Facebook Live that we are doing today at 11AM PT, I'll be going back to proofing the final pages of The Dark Thorn. It needs it. I've already found at least 20 things that I want to change and absolute mistakes to be fixed. But once done with the read -- probably sometime next week -- my book designer will enter those changes into the final file. Those files will go to the printer. And I'll then spend a day creating the Ebook. I'll send that out the moment that I have it done, along with any other digital items I owe. I may even write a short epilogue for the novel as an extra thank you for your absolute patience in this endeavor.

See some of you in a while on the Facebook Live. And if not, I'll see you somewhere!

Shawn

Hey Everyone,

Another month passes and it's time to write an update. Let's get to it.

I can share that we are one step closer to the signature pages being done. An author had them for about four weeks but finally signed them, getting them sent to the next author. The author receiving them: Dyrk Ashton. He's currently working on the pages and, when he's done, they will travel to the next. Knowing Dyrk, he will find the time to finish them off pretty quickly. After Dyrk, there are FOUR more authors to sign. So we are getting close.

I also started getting the design wrapped up for the Michael J. Sullivan pendant. It's a simple enough design, as it is featured in his story, and the fine folks at Wraithmarked are helping with the production. That will be the final piece needed... other than the books arriving, of course.

When it comes to files, I received one of the two late stories that hadn't been edited yet. So just one story left! Come on, author. Come on. Once I get that final story's edits back, the story can be plugged into our already-designed file and the ebook can be created and sent out. I plan on that happening no later than November 1st. You deserve the ability to read these amazing stories. The physical books will then take several months to work their way through the printing and binding queues.

There you have it. Closer. Still not close enough. Many apologies about this taking so long. I can tell you it will be worth the money you spent, as the stories are absolutely top-notch and exciting reads!

If you have any questions, let me know!

Shawn

Hey Everyone,

It's been two months since I updated you. Sorry about that. When people started asking where an update would happen, I realized I'd been updating my Patreon and social media and NOT to the people here. As a bald man, I wear many hats and sometimes those hats get lost in the shuffle. MANY apologies about that!

Here's how things are going. I received Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of The Dark Thorn, not just the trade paperback copies but the white-cover hardcover copies. The trade paperbacks were perfect; they were shipped with care. But the hardcovers were shipped with barely any care. And not only that, the printer placed the dust jackets on the books slightly off and then their shrink-wrap machine damaged 122/125 dust jackets on the hardcover books. After going round and round with their customer service team, I finally convinced them that this was their fault. You can see photos below.

Obviously, this set back some things. But this last Friday, I received new flat dust jackets. Now I sadly have to carve out time to wrap-by-hand these dust jackets onto the hardcovers so I can fulfill these to those people who have purchased them. I hope to do that next week once my kids are back in school after the holiday.

Right now, I'm editing stories for Grimoire: Dragonsteel Nexus 2025, the anthology that Grim Oak Press will be selling online and at Brandon Sanderon's December convention in Salt Lake City. But between stories coming in, I've been proofing the final pages for The Dark Thorn. I'm 6 chapters through and I've already changed some words for a cleaner read. I will then offer this book as a giveaway, just for fun. More news on that when done!

I'd imagine I should be done with proofing by September 10th. At which point my book designer will send me a final file of The Dark Thorn, and I'll create the ebook. I'll be sure to send that ebook out s SOON as it is done. 

On the signing front, artist Magali Villeneuve has also just returned signature pages. So now they are going to Don Maitz who I am sure will sign them quite quickly. He always does.

So things are moving. Just not as quickly as I'd like. But I do plan on being fully done with The Dark Thorn in September and all files at printer/bindery.

Let me know if I missed something here. I'm always around. And THANK YOU AGAIN!

Shawn