Hello! It's been a while!
I can’t believe it’s been nearly a decade since I launched the Bleeding Heart Kickstarter. As some of you may know, I used Bleeding Heart as a launching pad for my webcomic The Glass Scientists. It’s the story of a ragtag group of mad scientists trying to survive in a steampunk-spiced alternate Victorian London, under the questionable guidance of their enigmatic leader, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
And now, after eight years of writing and drawing The Glass Scientists, it’s finally getting published! The series will be released as a trilogy, with Volume I collecting Chapters 1-7 as well as bonus content and an all-new side story! Here’s what the cover looks like:
Volume 1 comes out October 3rd, but before that, I must survive the trial-by-fire of my debut pre-order campaign. Speaking of which . . .
You can pre-order The Glass Scientists Volume I HERE!
As it turns out, pre-order campaigns are surprisingly similar to Kickstarters. Authors ask potential readers to buy a copy of their book in advance, offering incentives and add-ons to sweeten the deal.
Pre-orders are enormously important, especially for debut authors like me. They show your publisher that there is an audience for your book, so they will invest more time and resources into it.
But unless you’re Stephen King or Neil Gaiman, the publisher rarely puts in the effort to promote this enormously important step in the process, leaving the author to self-promote the best they can using whatever social media platform and personal connections they happen to have. A troubling number of “Self-promotion 101!” videos on the Penguin Random House website begin with a successful author sheepishly explaining: “Well, I already had 10 million followers on Instagram, so . . .”
I don’t have anywhere near 10 million Instagram followers, but I am fortunate enough to have a vibrant community of readers, some of whom have stuck with The Glass Scientists from the very beginning. I hope you will join them in supporting the pre-order campaign!
As I hinted at above, I will be sending out exclusive add-on rewards to everyone who pre-orders The Glass Scientists Volume I. And unlike the Kickstarter campaign, these add-ons will be FREE! It’s my way of giving back to my readers and showing my appreciation for their support. I’m still figuring out exactly what these rewards might be (I’ll be producing and sending them all out myself) but some suggestions from readers have been: signed bookplates, bookmarks, enamel pins, stickers, phone backgrounds, or exclusive Q&A sessions.
When the rewards are ready, I will send a follow-up email linking you to a Google forms sheet asking for your contact info and proof of purchase, such as a screenshot of your pre-order confirmation. Everyone who pre-orders the book will be eligible for the pre-order rewards, no matter where you pre-order.
Oh, one last thing–you may notice that my name is different from the last time you heard from me. I’m going by Sage now, and my name is listed on TGS Volume I as S. H. Cotugno. So, for clarity, Sabrina Cotugno=S. H. Cotugno=Sage Cotugno=all the same person!
Okay, that’s just about everything! Once again, if you would like to support me and my work, please consider . . .
