It’s been a while since my last post. I spent most of December working toward the final edits on The Turing Exception.

After two rounds of beta reader feedback and edits, I’m feeling pretty good about the way book four ended up.  the manuscript is currently with my copy editor, and I should get it back in a few weeks. Then I’ll make a few more changes and send it for a round of proofreading. Finally, there will be interior layout for the print edition and formatting for the e-book. And hopefully all that will happen by sometime in February, leading to a release by late February if possible.

Also, if you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll notice the title changed slightly. My friend Mike suggested Turing’s Exception as an idea, and that was better than any of the dozens of ideas I’d considered. But then I tested three different variations (Turing’s Exception, The Turing Exception, and Turing Exception), and The Turing Exception was vastly preferred, by about 38 out of 40 people in a poll.

As I’ve mentioned before, Patreon supporters will receive their e-books before the public release, just as soon as I can make them available. Patreon supporters at the five dollar level and above will receive their signed paperback around the time of the public release. This is because the paperback books are just not available any earlier.

You might be wondering why I have a Patreon campaign. The economics of writing are such that I still have to hold a day job in addition to selling books. Except for a few bestsellers, most writers are unable to support themselves solely by writing books.

Have you heard of the Kevin Kelley essay 1000 True Fans? The core idea is that it’s possible for an artist, writer, creator to support themselves if they can create $100 worth of product per year, and have 1000 fans will buy that product. 1000 fans times $100 equals $100,000, and therefore approximately a full-time living.

The challenge is that it’s hard for a writer to create a hundred dollars worth of product per year. I net about $2.50 per book sold, and I can publish about one per year. Even with 10,000 or 20,000 fans, that’s not a full-time income. So the idea with Patreon is to have a closer relationship with a few people, share some more of what I’m creating and create some special rewards just for supporters and hopefully get to the point where writing can support me full-time enabling me to write more than I do today.

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday and happy new year. I wish you the best in 2015.