📣 It's all kicked off again

Kickstarter and cover reveal

Greetings from Northumberland

Where it’s all hands to the pumps. My return to TikTok has been something of a success. I think between the longer-form content here on Substack, and the short-form content on TikTok, I’ve probably got the balance about right. Even my Facebook Page livened up a bit, when I started using my TikTok videos over there. It seems like the sort of content I was producing tickled their algorithm and the page is now getting more traffic than it’s ever had. I have big plans, but rather than describe them, I’m just ploughing ahead and working on them. Once they’ve hatched, I’ll be sure to share the details with you, of course.

🖊 Work in Progress

The prep work on my next story is going well. In fact, this next story is one I had outlined before I started in on The Blood Caller, it was just the planning revealed that it made more sense to work on the Caller first, nail a few things down, then move onto this one. I’ll play it close to my chest for the moment, but I will say, for this story, a character with a small part in Doctor Blessing’s Curse and Doctor Blessing’s Rapture will take centre stage. I wonder if anyone can guess who that is.

📚 Kickstarter

My Beltane campaign on Kickstarter has had a cracking first night. Within minutes, the first backer jumped aboard. Soon after, a second backer came in with a large pledge, and it was all looking great. Then the message arrived. The second backer sent a generic, vague pitch about having some pointers for me on my campaign, and how he’d like to advise me if I would only share my email address with him, as he doesn’t use Kickstarter much. I told wor lass about it, and said this guy would either lose his account, or reverse his pledge. Sure enough, a couple of hours passed, and his pledge was gone. So down to one backer. Then I woke this morning to find a new backer, totally brand new to my books, has jumped in to support and surpassed what that spammer had falsely pledged. Much relief.

I love crowdfunding. It’s exciting. It gives me a direct relationship with supporters, and I’ve said before, a couple of my biggest supporters to this day, even here on Substack, came from relationships fostered on Kickstarter. While these spammy ‘services’ are a bit of a nuisance for campaign creators, it’s really nothing for me to worry about. I know to expect them - but this tactic of backing the project first is a new one on me. And extra irritating. Fortunately, as with all of the world, there are far more good people than bad. You can join them, if you like, and support the campaign…

🖌 Cover Reveal

It’s the turn of Tread Gently Amidst the Barrows to get a new lick of paint. I encountered Crown and Quill Cover Designs on TikTok and discussed some options for a new cover. I think cover art is a bit of an experiment, and sometimes you just have to see what brings more people in. So we’ll see how this one goes.

I love the simplicity of it, and the inclusion of the railway track as a nod to the setting of the story. For those who don’t know, Tread Gently… takes place in the forests of 19-century Sweden, where an English railway engineer is helping a Scottish lumber magnate to complete a stretch of railway track to transport his felled timber. But progress awakens the sleeping past, and a mythical creature proves to be very real…

If you’d like to read the story, it’s on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. It’s a short read, and priced accordingly. To check it out…

🪔 Offerings

Miranda Boers has assembled your March reading list, where you will find your Darkest Nightmares, including work from yours truly and the outstanding Kev Harrison. Check it out…

Sending best wishes and bad dreams,

Jack