It's been a while since you've heard from me. I apologize. If you follow me on socials, you already know that the last two weeks have been a complete nightmare for me. And as a result, I have not had the energy or will to create any content. But I am feeling ready to push forward, so here I am! Let's talk!

Here are some things that have been going on with me!

Pre-Orders

We have been working hard to get Cry, Voidbringer and Devil of the Deep to where we need them to be for pre-orders and I think it is going very well. But there is certainly still work to do. Especially for Cry, Voidbringer as launch is in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS.

Pre-Orders are incredibly important because they help us to demonstrate a books marketability. The more successful our pre-order campaign, the easier it is to get the book into bookstores, libraries, etc. And, every single pre-order counts toward first week sales. Which means if we have an exceptional pre-order campaign, it can even potentially propel a book toward best-sellers lists. And closer to home, the more successful these projects are, the more projects Bindery is willing to invest in for us.

All of this works together to help us ensure that Elaine and Falenecia's careers bloom. Because, yes, we want a successful book. But more importantly, we want to set up the authors who have trusted us to champion them for very long, very successful careers.

So if you have not already pre-ordered your copies of Cry, Voidbringer and Devil of the Deep, please do so right now. There are over three thousand people who receive these emails and support this community. Getting to 1,000 pre-sales should be a piece of cake for us. So let's show up for our amazing authors.

CRY, VOIDBRINGER: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781964721521

DEVIL OF THE DEEP: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781967967049

Acquisitions

We signed our next book!

I announced this on social last week, but I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little bit about it as well! Last January, I found a book I was very interested in publishing during one of our pitchfests, and our team has been working tirelessly since to make it happen. And well... it's officially happening!

Buzzard is a dystopian set in a near-future America where abortion has been criminalized nationally and oligarchs pretty much control the country through their massive organizations. Our main character is the last midwife in the country with the training necessary to perform safe abortions, which she does under the table until she is busted and imprisoned. During her sentence, she discovers egregious human rights violations and is forced to choose between keeping her head down and possibly one day getting out to reunite with her sons, or channeling the bravery to stand in the gap and do what she can to protect people. The story is set in two timelines. One, where we are watching her struggle through that decision in real time, and a second where she is sitting with a human rights organization employee who is trying to gather the necessary information to take down the massive corporation that has been hurting people behind closed doors.

When I tell you that this is one of the most impactful books I have ever read and I cannot wait to get it into your hands, i mean it. I truly believe this book is going to have a massive impact and I am thrilled that Inez--the author--has decided to trust me and Bindery to champion it alongside her.

As always, if you want to get a behind the scenes look at that process as we get this book ready for publication, make sure you are subscribed to any paying tier. And if you want your name listed in the book as one of our official collaborators, subscribe at the $12 tier or higher.

In addition to THAT news, we are also working on signing a fourth project. I don't have much I can share about that one yet, but it is a Black dark academia horror that I think takes the genre and turns it on its head quite a bit. It is giving similar vibes to Jackal, Bad Cree and the movie Sinners. So watch for more information on that!!!

Personal Life

Personally, life has been much more complicated. I have not read much at all this month. In fact, I don't know if I have even picked up a book. I'm not sure. If you follow me on socials, you know that pretty much everything in my life fell apart over the last two weeks. I am not in a position where I want to really talk about any of what is going on, but it's been enough where I am struggling to really show up in the ways I always have. I am struggling to find the energy to make content, to do my daily tasks, to even show up for myself. It has taken all of my will power to just show up for my kids and live my life to the best of my ability.

I went to a friend of mine last week (Dominique Burleson--who you may know as Paperbacks and Frybread) and shared a lot of what I have been going through for the last year and how everything seemed to be crashing down around me, and she listened, gave me advice, and then immediately went into action to do something about it. I had never intended to share any of what I was going through online, and I don't know how much of the details I will share or when I will share them, but she insisted that I let her and others show up. She put together a gofundme and brought it to the online book community, asking people to show up. And they did. We've raised over 30% of what I need in just a few days. And I am so grateful. I am sharing it here too, for anyone who is in a position to help who may not follow us on socials.

The goal we set is huge, but it is necessary. And if we hit it, it will absolutely change not only this moment, but the course of my life and just how much I can show up in the way I have for years. So if I have impacted your life in any way and you are in a position to help, please consider doing so.

I want to be clear that none of this affects the work we do here whatsoever, as none of this work is funded by me directly. We fund our projects through your subscriptions and through the resources Bindery contributes directly. So our projects are still in great shape. This is entirely a personal issue.

But anyway, yeah, that's where I'm at. If you are in a position to help and want to, here's a link: www.gofundme.com/f/aid-michael-laborn-in-overcoming-family-hardship

Upcoming Goals

• Dive back into content creation and really push this Cry, Voidbringer pre-order

• Catch up on my unboxing videos. I have quite a few packages sitting here waiting for a video/post!

• Update you when we have finished signing this next project

• We have our editorial and production kick-off for Buzzard this week, so I will provide updates as I have them

• I want to revamp the discord and make it a bit more user-friendly and more centered around our bookclub than it currently is

• Get more involved in bookclub. I haven't been reading much lately, but I want to get back into a great book!

• Keep pushing toward 9,000 free subs and 1,000 paid subs to grow this community and enable us to publish more books

Sorry it's been a while since I posted! I am hoping to be able to get back to my regular schedule soon. I've just been very overwhelmed lately, and I may be for a little bit still, to be honest. So please bare with me and make sure you are talking about our upcoming projects! Love yall!! :)