Post Campaign Update 6: OMG! I Forgot to Tell You **WHO** the Third Narrator Is!
Hey, hey Bloodlings!
I just realized I never told you who will be voicing Dmitri!
As you all know, this project was delayed because I had a hard time finding Dmitri’s voice narrator. In update 5, I told you the problem was solved and to expect rewards (except Blood Lies) soon. But I didn’t tell you who the narrator would be.
I’ll give you a super easy hint: He’s the voice of Antinous on Epic the Musical (one of my faves and a high-key obsession!).
You don’t know? Come on, I think you have to know after all my Epic the Musical references on my Instagram…
Okay, well, if you can’t guess, let’s have a drum roll!
When I reached out to him on Instagram, I did not expect a response, like, at all. But Ayron, who’s such a kind person, said yes. So, yeah! We got us a very talented narrator people!
I can’t wait for y’all to hear his full recording on this audiobook.
Speaking of which, it’s coming along nicely. Waiting on one more set of edits, and then the producer will finish doing her thing, and I’ll, hopefully, have the audiobook ready to distribute in a few weeks.
As always, I’ll keep you updated. And, for the millionth time, thank y’all so much for your patience!
XOXO
J.S. Living
P.S. Is anyone else fangirling over this moment the way I was when he said yes? If so, you MUST tell me in the comments! I don’t want to be alone.
Post Campaign Update 5: You Did It! Coupons, Positive Update, and a Delay
Hey, hey Bloodlings! 🩸🩸🩸💉💉💉
Just sending a quick update to let you know that all surveys were completed on time!
That means y’all get the 15% off coupon for my online store! The coupons will be sent out along with the rest of your rewards, and you will have one year from the date of distribution to use it. The coupon is good for anything in the store that’s in stock, so mosey on over to www.thejsliving.com/shop to see what you might want to purchase.
I’m also happy to report that all the files for the audiobook have been sent to the producer! Granted, it was just sent today because I had some additional tweaks to make to the text files, so I’m not sure how long it will take for all the mixing and sound editing to be completed, but I’m hopeful that we’ll still reach the mid-May mark. That said, what I’m most excited to hear is the entire book being read aloud for the first time by all of my narrators (and me). What about y’all? Are you y’all ready too? I bet you are!
Oh, and, on the topic of rewards, quick reminder that if everything goes according to plan, Blood Lies will not be available at the time the other books are distributed. As I stated previously, that reward will be delayed, though I’m hoping it will be ready by June. I will continue updating you on the progress of that book. That said, I want to thank y’all for your patience and cooperation as I navigate audiobook production and running multiple projects. I’m so thankful for y’all.
But, yeah. Y’all did it! Community FTW (that’s for the win…I’ll see myself out now 😅😅😅). So glad we accomplished the community goal.
That’s all I’ve got for now; but, keep an eye on this space because there are more updates to come.
Just sending a quick update to let you know that surveys are almost complete!
There are only two people left who haven't filled out their survey. 👀👀👀
I'm resending their links today; hopefully, we can still reach completion by 18 April.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I'm extending the deadline by a few days because I realized I didn't send out an update on the day the rest of the surveys released (even though I mentioned it in the Smoke Survey updates).
If the surveys aren't filled out by 18 April, I will still go ahead with production, and their acknowledgements will be read/listed in the book as Anonymous.
With this timeline, I'm hoping to send the rewards between 27 April and mid-May—with the exception of Blood Lies. That book is taking a bit longer than expected, so that's the one reward that will be delayed.
So, yeah, five days left to get those surveys in! 😅😅😅
Now, unfortunately, the Smoke Tests weren't completed by 4 April; but, if the last two surveys are completed by 18 April, I'll still send the 15% off coupon for my online store. 🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️☺️☺️☺️
This is a community effort, so we're relying on everyone to do their part.
Just sending a quick update to remind our Smoke Testers to complete their surveys by 11:59 PM so everyone can get their 15% off coupon!
I'm only waiting on two people. If you received one, please answer today. I'm counting on you because Smoke tests help me work out any glitches there might be in the survey, and the group is counting on you to get the coupon.
Remember: The smoke test allows me to collect your name for the acknowledgment page so I can uphold my promise to read your name in the audiobook.
It only takes a few seconds to fill out the survey, so I know we can do it!
So, what do you say? Do it for the group, and fill out those surveys!
Just sending a quick update to let you know that the smoke tests have been sent!
If you receive one, please answer immediately. Smoke tests help me work out any glitches there might be in the survey, and it allows me to prepare for sending surveys to everyone else.
More importantly: The smoke test allows me to collect your name for the acknowledgment page so I can uphold my promise to read your name in the audiobook.
I want to aim for Smoke Test completion no later than 4 April. Ideally, I would have sent this out last month, but life occurred and I tried to eliminate all issues from the pledge manager so it would be smooth sailing.
I know a week isn’t a lot of time; but we can do it!
And, for a bit of an incentive: If everyone completes their smoke test on time, I’ll send out a coupon for 15% off on my website to everyone who pledged to this campaign once I’m ready to distribute rewards.
Additionally: If everyone completes their surveys by 15 April, I’ll bump it up to a 25% off coupon!
So, what are you waiting for? Get to filling out those surveys!
I hope you’re happy, healthy, and wealthy. Sorry I’ve waited so long to give you an update. I thought I’d sent an update last month, but only just realized that I hadn’t. Apologies for that.
Now that we’re in March, I do have quite a few things to update y’all on.
TLDR: Finding a narrator for Dmitri’s section has been a nightmare, but the third time is the charm. The audiobook is close to completion with just Dmitri’s section and the acknowledgements to be recorded, and a bit of housekeeping left to be done. If you pledged to a tier with Blood Lies, your order will be delayed. I’ll be sending out smoke tests some time this week or next week, and surveys right after the smoke tests are complete and I’ve worked out any glitches. Rewards, with the exception of Blood Lies are on track to be delivered by mid/end of April. However, there is a slight possibility it will be pushed to early May. I’ll keep you updated. Narrator Challenges In my last update, I asked you all to use the poll to choose a narrator, and one or two of you answered the poll. I chose the suggested narrator; however, there was a disconnect with communication and quality of work, so I had to let him go. This left me in a lurch in terms of getting the audiobook produced, so I had to go back to the drawing board.
After a ton of DMs on Instagram, scouring through Fiverr, and sending out cold calls via email to strangers who fit the bill for this job, I finally got a response!
Actual footage of me receiving the news.
I’m personally fond of the new narrators work, and I’m excited to have them on the team! That said, I’m going to hold the excitement in until the audio is complete because I don’t want to jinx this good news. Just know the person I’ve hired has an excellent voice and I believe he’ll do us all proud. I can’t wait to reveal who he is; but, again, I’m going to wait until the audio files are in my proverbial hand.
Edits to the Blood Ties Book I had to make some edits to Blood Ties, so Jynelle and Carlos have to re-record a few of their sentences. Since the changes are minor, most likely, I won’t have to categorize the book as a new edition—meaning I can order new copies with the edits to send to y’all. The edits are only slight deviations from the previous text, mostly eliminating words like “says” or “asks,” and I’ve included a book review page and an updated acknowledgements page. This should not impact production and distribution of rewards.
What’s Left Now that we’ve secured a reliable narrator, I feel comfortable sending out smoke tests and surveys to collect names and order information because the next step is recording the acknowledgements section, which I can’t do until I’ve received everyone’s response on the surveys. Please note: If you do not complete the survey, you will automatically be listed as “Anonymous” in the acknowledgements section. So, please fill out your surveys ASAP. Outside of that, it’s just a matter of ordering the rewards and then distributing them out—with the exception of the book Blood Lies.
Blood Lies Book Blood Lies is still in the editing stages. I hired an amazing editor named Megan to do line and copy edits. As long as we remain on schedule, the line edits should be complete by the end of March, beginning of April. After that is the round of copy editing, which should be complete by the first week of May. Sometime in between that, I have a section that needs to be sent to a sensitivity reader. I’ll be looking into finding someone who can do that job. After the editing and sensitivity reading is complete, I’ll apply for the LCCN. It will take a few weeks for the LCCN to be approved; but once it is, I can send off the copyright application and then officially publish the book!
After that, it’s just a matter of getting a proof copy and checking for any errors before ordering the book en masse. If you pledged to a tier with this book, you will receive all rewards except this one on time. This reward will be delayed. That said, if you’d like me to delay all rewards until Blood Lies is complete, you will have that option in your survey.
I truly apologize for the delay with this book. Between my day job, chronic fatigue, and general life, it’s taken me some time to get the book to where it’s at, and there’s still things to do. Please bare with me as I do them.
Smoke Tests and Surveys Since I need an accurate count of rewards before I add the acknowledgements and order items, I will be sending out smoke tests between this week and next week. But, don’t worry, I’ll send out another update when it’s time to complete them.
Once the Smoke Tests are completed, I’ll send out the surveys. When surveys are sent, you should fill them out immediately! Filling out the surveys immediately allows me to order everything on time and keep production on track.
Overall, I’m so excited that we’re at the stage where the audiobook is almost complete and I’m able to send out surveys. Overall, we’re looking at reward completion by mid/late April. In the worst case scenario, early May, but I don’t think it will come to that. In the next post, I’ll give an update as to where we’re at overall—which will hopefully be complete!
As always, I’ll keep you apprised of what’s going on with the project up to completion. Have a great night!
I just realized I never told you who will be voicing Dmitri!
As you all know, this project was delayed because I had a hard time finding Dmitri’s voice narrator. In update 5, I told you the problem was solved and to expect rewards (except Blood Lies) soon. But I didn’t tell you who the narrator would be.
I’ll give you a super easy hint: He’s the voice of Antinous on Epic the Musical (one of my faves and a high-key obsession!).
You don’t know? Come on, I think you have to know after all my Epic the Musical references on my Instagram…
Okay, well, if you can’t guess, let’s have a drum roll!
When I reached out to him on Instagram, I did not expect a response, like, at all. But Ayron, who’s such a kind person, said yes. So, yeah! We got us a very talented narrator people!
I can’t wait for y’all to hear his full recording on this audiobook.
Speaking of which, it’s coming along nicely. Waiting on one more set of edits, and then the producer will finish doing her thing, and I’ll, hopefully, have the audiobook ready to distribute in a few weeks.
As always, I’ll keep you updated. And, for the millionth time, thank y’all so much for your patience!
XOXO
J.S. Living
P.S. Is anyone else fangirling over this moment the way I was when he said yes? If so, you MUST tell me in the comments! I don’t want to be alone.
Just sending a quick update to let you know that all surveys were completed on time!
That means y’all get the 15% off coupon for my online store! The coupons will be sent out along with the rest of your rewards, and you will have one year from the date of distribution to use it. The coupon is good for anything in the store that’s in stock, so mosey on over to www.thejsliving.com/shop to see what you might want to purchase.
I’m also happy to report that all the files for the audiobook have been sent to the producer! Granted, it was just sent today because I had some additional tweaks to make to the text files, so I’m not sure how long it will take for all the mixing and sound editing to be completed, but I’m hopeful that we’ll still reach the mid-May mark. That said, what I’m most excited to hear is the entire book being read aloud for the first time by all of my narrators (and me). What about y’all? Are you y’all ready too? I bet you are!
Oh, and, on the topic of rewards, quick reminder that if everything goes according to plan, Blood Lies will not be available at the time the other books are distributed. As I stated previously, that reward will be delayed, though I’m hoping it will be ready by June. I will continue updating you on the progress of that book. That said, I want to thank y’all for your patience and cooperation as I navigate audiobook production and running multiple projects. I’m so thankful for y’all.
But, yeah. Y’all did it! Community FTW (that’s for the win…I’ll see myself out now 😅😅😅). So glad we accomplished the community goal.
That’s all I’ve got for now; but, keep an eye on this space because there are more updates to come.
Just sending a quick update to let you know that surveys are almost complete!
There are only two people left who haven't filled out their survey. 👀👀👀
I'm resending their links today; hopefully, we can still reach completion by 18 April.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I'm extending the deadline by a few days because I realized I didn't send out an update on the day the rest of the surveys released (even though I mentioned it in the Smoke Survey updates).
If the surveys aren't filled out by 18 April, I will still go ahead with production, and their acknowledgements will be read/listed in the book as Anonymous.
With this timeline, I'm hoping to send the rewards between 27 April and mid-May—with the exception of Blood Lies. That book is taking a bit longer than expected, so that's the one reward that will be delayed.
So, yeah, five days left to get those surveys in! 😅😅😅
Now, unfortunately, the Smoke Tests weren't completed by 4 April; but, if the last two surveys are completed by 18 April, I'll still send the 15% off coupon for my online store. 🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️☺️☺️☺️
This is a community effort, so we're relying on everyone to do their part.
Just sending a quick update to remind our Smoke Testers to complete their surveys by 11:59 PM so everyone can get their 15% off coupon!
I'm only waiting on two people. If you received one, please answer today. I'm counting on you because Smoke tests help me work out any glitches there might be in the survey, and the group is counting on you to get the coupon.
Remember: The smoke test allows me to collect your name for the acknowledgment page so I can uphold my promise to read your name in the audiobook.
It only takes a few seconds to fill out the survey, so I know we can do it!
So, what do you say? Do it for the group, and fill out those surveys!
