John W John W

Launch Day +1

Hey ME,

I want to thank everyone again for your incredible support during the launch of my book. If you haven't already, could you please take a moment to leave a review? Even if you're still reading, remember you can always update it later. Your reviews mean the world to me and help tremendously in spreading the word about the book.

Here’s where we are as of 5 pm today.

Reviews:

Social Media stats:

  • ‘Influencer requests for paid promotions’: 43

  • The number that continued to push and had to be blocked: 15

  • Instagram posts/reels by someone else: 2

  • Facebook posts/reels by someone else: 0

  • Thread posts by someone else: 0

  • Tiktok posts by someone else: 1

StoryOrigin reviewers:

  • The Motherhood Mandate:

    • eBook: 3 requests, 0 posted

  • The Fatherhood Mandate:

    • eBook: 3 requests, 1 posted

    • Audible: 4 requests, 0 posted

Amazon Stats:

  • Best Sellers Rank: #222,749 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

  • #279 in Political Fiction (Kindle Store)

  • #714 in Political Fiction (Books)

  • #2,189 in Dystopian Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Make sure that you let me know when and where you’ve posted your review. Not only do I want to shout it from the rooftops, but I also hope to use them in future ads.

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John W John W

It’s Happening!

In just 4 days my new book, The Motherhood Mandate, is going on sale! I’m so excited!

First the ebook will be available through all the usual suspects, Amazon, Google Play, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and of course from me. After that we’ll start auditioning voice actors to produce the audio book. Once that’s started the hard cover and paperback will be put up for sales. Finally once the audio book is finished, that’ll go up on Audible.

So much to do!

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I had a feeling this was coming…

If you look closely at The Fatherhood Mandate, you’ll see a tiny Easter Egg.

Link provided for verification purposes

I.V.F. Is a Miracle. For Republicans, It Is a Land Mine.

By Kristen Soltis Anderson

Ms. Anderson is a Republican pollster and a moderator of Opinion’s series of focus groups.

The grief of infertility can be all-consuming, but also hard to fully grasp for anyone who has blessedly never experienced it.

It is an unusual grief, a grief about lives not yet begun rather than lives that have come to an end. It often asserts itself most powerfully in moments of joy: the laugh of a toddler in a park, the smile of a mother-to-be at a baby shower. It can haunt you when you are living through it and stick with you even if the day comes when you are lucky enough to be called Mommy.

For years, I lived with that grief. Today, I am called Mommy. I am a person of faith, and I believe children are miraculous blessings. I am also of the mind that science is one way that miracles are made possible in this world. Even in the darkest of hours on my long journey to motherhood, hope existed for me and my husband in the form of in vitro fertilization.

As a result of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision permitting would-be parents to sue for wrongful death over the negligent destruction of I.V.F.-created embryos, the hope and miracles that I was blessed to experience are at risk for families whose clinics have suspended treatments. To the extent that Alabama’s laws have now been interpreted in such a way that I.V.F. is at least temporarily unavailable, I am hopeful that policymakers in the state will take rapid action to put policies in place to protect it.

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John W John W

I thought I was almost done…

Next week, I'm leaning in.

Time to get The Motherhood Mandate polished for that all-important editorial review/proofreading.

I won't be doing much else over the next few weeks. The Muse has spoken!

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Another Step Forward…

At 3:05 pm CT, I received the email that I’ve been waiting all day for: my editor has completed the line editing for The Motherhood Mandate, and we are ready to initiate Phase Two: Operation Rip ‘n Rebuild.

Or I thought we were. That manuscript is over 92k words long. The Fatherhood Mandate feels skimpy in comparison. I mean, it’s the same story, just told from Rylee’s viewpoint. From here, it just looks like a data dump!

“For scenes to cut: I honestly believe you've got a solid manuscript here. The growth in this story compared to when you first came to me with Sam's story is huge. I don't believe the story dragged on, or I questioned why a scene was there. I truly think it could be published as it is now.”

However, Chelsea did identify scenes that could stand to be trimmed a bit, so I’m going to take a few days to page through the manuscript and digest her recommendations. Maybe I can shave a few more thousand words out. I’m not sure.

Beta readers, gimme a few days and I’ll send out the calendar of events for you to review. Time to grab a fresh cup of coffee, print this thing, and get to work!

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John W John W

Join me on Patreon…

I didn’t realize that I was a dystopian author until The Fatherhood Mandate came out. Do I enjoy writing about near-future events? Check. Do I easily create wicked situations that are traumatizing to my protagonist? Maybe. Do I weave historical events so deeply into my narrative that my readers can’t tell fact from fiction? Yup!

Bonus question: Do I enjoy writing in virtual reality so much that I held the first ever book launch party in Immersed VR cowriting app? Yes, yes I do and I did.

Damn it. I guess I really am a dystopian writer!

Seriously, though. If you can’t find me running a writing sprint in Immersed’s Classic Café, or playing Walkabout Mini Golf with my friends or socializing in Glass House (VRChat for Work), you may find me at a local coffee shop, sipping that all-important latte as I try to slog through my TBR pile.

Welcome. Important note: Coffee on Mondays is a five-cup minimum! Join me on Patreon!

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John W John W

First Draft Done?

The Motherhood Mandate first draft clocked in at 102,406 words, written in just over eight weeks. I averaged just over 12,000 words per week as I pushed myself beyond what I thought was physically possible.

I'm emotionally exhausted but so damn proud of myself. There will be time for editing this puppy down so that my beta readers can give me their incredibly important feedback, working with my cover designer and blurb writers and getting ready to launch this baby on April 18, 2024.

I want to express my undying thanks to my husband for the never-ending offer of coffee, my daughter for letting me ramble, my Cafe Crew who hung out with me in VR and gave me the encouragement that I needed to lean in and get this puppy done, and to Renji Bijoy who created the Immersed app.

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