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Shotguns & Sorcery Cracks $4k

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Feb 202012

Over the weekend, the Shotguns & Sorcery drive on Kickstarter cracked $4,000! We took off like a rocket over the first few days and busted through the first goal in less than two days. Now, though, we’re in the middle stretch, during which most Kickstarters settle into a long, slow burn.

Usually that all changes in the last week or so of the campaign, when people realize they’re running out of time to join in and the pledge graph hockey-sticks up. I went with a slightly shorter campaign this time around, so that’s less than two weeks off now, and I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m stumping around the internet, looking for ways to get out the word about this project.

If you have idea or a venue you’d like to share, let me know. I’m open for interviews, guest blogs, shameless plugging, etc.

My next traditionally published novel, Carpathia, ships at the end of the month — either February 28 or March 1, depending on where you are and what format you prefer — and the next issue of the Magic: The Gathering comic I’m writing for IDW should be out around then too. Those should both give me lots of chances to plug Shotguns & Sorcery, and I plan on taking as much advantage of that as I can.

Meanwhile, if you can help spread the word, please do. Hand out copies of “Goblintown Justice” to anyone who can read. And if you like it, don’t be shy about posting a review of it, either on your own site or at Amazon or any of the other retailers who carry it. It all helps.

So far, I’m thrilled to see how well this grand experiment is going, and I have all my backers to blame for that.

We Did It!

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Feb 152012

The Shotguns & Sorcery Kickstarter drive already smashed through its first goal of $3,000! Many thanks to all of the backers who chipped in to make that happen. We managed it in just under 32 hours, less than half as long as it took for the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter drive.

So! This means I have another novel to write come April, the first in the Shotguns & Sorcery trilogy. WOOOOT!

Now, of course, just because we smashed through this first goal doesn’t mean we’re done. The drive still has another 25 days to go. If we hit a total of $8,000, that unlocks Book 2, and racking up $12,000 unlocks Book 3 as well.

That’s a long way past $3,000, of course, but I’m confident we can make that happen if we just stick to it. If you already joined the drive, don’t be shy about letting other people know about it. And if you haven’t, consider joining the rest of us for something truly fun.

My deepest gratitude once again to everyone who pitched in, either with a pledge or by helping get the word out — or both. I’m humbled to see so many great and generous people have my back and get behind this crazy project of mine. Thanks!

Shotguns & Sorcery Kickstarter Launched!

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Feb 142012

This morning, I pushed the “Launch” button on my Kickstarter drive for my next 12 for ’12 trilogy. It’s based in a new fantasy setting I call Shotguns & Sorcery, and well, I’ll let the video here tell you more about it.

If that tweaks your interest, head on over to the Kickstarter page to learn more and to back it with a pledge. Remember, because this is a Kickstarter, no one gets charged anything until the end of the drive on March 11, and only then if we hit our funding goal first, so it’s risk-free.

Also, if you’d be so kind as to tell people about the project, I’d appreciate it. Getting the word out is always the hardest part of any such project, and I’ll happily accept all the help I can get. Thanks!

2nd Kickstarter Launches Tomorrow

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Feb 132012

I’m in the final stages of getting the second 12 for ’12 Kickstarter project ready. All I’m waiting on at the moment is the video, which my pal Darren Orange of Reactor 88 Studios is polishing up for me. You can go check out a preview of it now.

There’s still time to make changes, right up until the moment I launch — which should be tomorrow, with any luck. If you catch any mistakes or have any comments, please let me know. Thanks!

New Shotguns & Sorcery Logo

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Feb 102012

My pal Jim Pinto, who also designed the 12 for ’12 logo, just came up with a fantastic logo for Shotguns & Sorcery as well. It’s reminiscent of both a tavern sign and a shotgun case, which makes it perfect for the books. Look for this to appear on novels — and a Kickstarter video — near you soon.

Jim was a pleasure to work with, by the way, and I recommend him wholeheartedly for any of your graphic design needs.

Goblintown Justice Out Now!

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Feb 102012

This morning, I published my first short story ebook, “Goblintown Justice.” This is also the first story for my Shotguns & Sorcery setting, and it first appeared in Carnage & Consequences, the Gen Con Writers Symposium anthology edited by Marc Tassin. (It’s actually the second story I wrote for it. The first will appear in Robin D. Laws’s anthology The New Hero 2, due out later this year.)

You can now get “Goblintown Justice” for free through DriveThruFiction (ePub and Kindle/Mobi) and Smashwords (just about every known format). (The DTF version is the prettier of the two, so grab that first if you want the ePub or Kindle versions. To get ebooks into so many formats — which is wonderful — Smashwords requires me to strip out the nicer formatting for its versions.)

The story also available for the Kindle for 99¢ through Amazon. (I’d have it there for free too, but Amazon doesn’t allow me to list it for less than 99¢.) It ~~should be available for the Nook soon too, once Barnes & Noble approves it~~ is out for the Nook for 99¢ now too, and Smashwords should hopefully have it for iBooks and other online stores within a few days.

Shotguns & Sorcery is, of course, the setting for my second trilogy of 12 for ’12 novels. I’m hoping to launch the Kickstarter for that set next week, so read, enjoy, and stay tuned!

BNW on Slacker Heroes

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Feb 032012

Today I wrote a guest post over at Slacker Heroes about how I set out on my 12 for ’12 plan and how I managed in the first month. Go ahead on over there and give it a read!

12 for ’12 Starts Today

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Jan 162012

I finally managed to clear the decks of a few lingering projects left over from 2011, and I’m plunging into the first of the 12 for ’12 novels today. Sharp folks like you might realize that this only gives me 16 days to write 50,000 words, and you’re absolutely right.

Nothing like starting off the year with an extra challenge.

As of the moment, I’ve already written 25,000 words and a comic script this month. Given that I have an outline, characters, and a world all ready to go for this first book, I’m confident I can get it done by the end of the month. That doesn’t mean it won’t be a stretch, but it’s doable.

If you cast your eyes over to the right-hand columns on my website, you’ll see I’ve installed a couple progress bars. The first tallies the number of words written for the current book — currently titled Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World: Revolution — and the second counts up the number of 12 for ’12 books completed so far. You might notice they look a little empty at the moment, but that’s fine. We’re in early days, and it’s my job to fill them up.

Wish me luck.

12 for ’12 Starts — Really Soon!

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Jan 022012

I’d hoped to launch straight into the Brave New World novels trilogy that makes up the first quarter of my 12 for ’12 project straight away on January 1. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out quite that smoothly. Due to family illnesses and computer troubles, I lost a couple weeks worth of work time toward the end of the year, and I still have an obligation or two I have to fulfill before I can put my nose to that so-shiny grindstone.

The current plan is to wrap everything up by the end of the week. This should give me a full three weeks to finish the first book in the BNW trilogy. That sounds like a push, I know, but it’s about what I had planned, so I’m not too worried about it — yet.

I’m cooking along on my current project (worldbuilding for a yet-to-be announced thing) and just punched out a cool 5,000 words for it today. Meanwhile, I’m diving into the old Brave New World Roleplaying Game books to refresh my memory about all the things I wrote for it a decade or more ago. I’m happy to say there’s a lot of great material there, and it all jibes well with my plans so far.

So, wish me luck on this busy week so I can make the most of a busy month. Thanks!

12 for ’12 Update

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Dec 222011

It’s been a bit quiet here since the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter wound up in such a spectacular way. Thanks again to all my backers for putting their faith (and their pledges!) behind the project. I’m thrilled straight through with how well it went.

As you might imagine, I’ve been hard at work for the past couple weeks since. During the Kickstarter drive, I had to push for attention all the time to get the word about it out and to remind people that the clock was ticking. Now that it’s over, it’s time for the real work to start.

As of now, I’ve gotten many of the initial rewards out to the backers. This includes the MP3s of “Revolution” from Makeshift Prodigy, the private link to the PDF of the Brave New World Roleplaying Game core rules for only $5, and the ebook version of the first published Shotguns & Sorcery story, “Goblintown Justice.”

This leaves the full-color map of Crescent City that Aaron Acevedo created for me. He’s completed his excellent work on it, but I’m holding back on delivering it for a while yet, likely until I get a bit more of the books written. I want to make sure it features useful tags for locations from the books, and it’s hard to ensure that without having text in hand, so that’ll be a little while yet.

Then, of course, there’s the biggest part of the project: the actual novels! I’m working hard to clear the decks as much as I can to give myself as much time as possible to get the books written on schedule. As per the plan, I won’t start actual writing until January 1 at the earliest, but I hope to have a detailed outline in place before that fateful date.

Shortly after I start that, of course, I need to start thinking about the second Kickstarter drive. For now, though, it’s nose to the keyboard while I line up all the words (and plans for more words) in the most entertaining order I can manage. Wish me luck!