For some time now, I’ve been hosting the following facebook event: The Mangono Pledge Drive. It was one way in which I could gage interest in potential financial supporters of my NaNoWriMo 2013 project, Mangono. I was shocked with joy and overwhelmed with gratitude as my family, friends, and fans flocked to RSVP yes or maybe (and some declined, that’s okay!) to help assist my dreams of publishing my first fiction novel.

Yet November has been over for some time now; the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is well behind us, and yet, I have not collected a cent from a single one of my pledged donors.

Why?

“Before you can reap the reward, you have to finish the work,” so my husband says, and I believe him 100% correct. How can I expect anyone to share their hard earned dollars with me, when I’ve yet to ship my manuscript off to the editor? How can I persuade anyone to pre-order their copy, when my copy isn’t even complete? How can I be so forward as to expect money forwarded my way when I have not, plain and simple, finished the book yet?

I cannot, and I will not, ask for a single cent until the work is through; until the book in completed (edited, revised, rewritten, with completed 21 illustrations) I shall not beg for money, plea for pennies, or propose pre-ordering of any kind, until that glorious day/ evening / moment when I deem the work finished.

That said, I’m a little crushed that I was not able to kick-off my Pubslush.com campaign when I had hoped to do so; after all, I’ve been working closely with some of the sweetest, most considerate, and helpful ladies in the industry, Amanda and Sara of Pubslush; they’ve done everything in their power (and dare I say prowess) to see that I am well-informed about their services, benefits, and procedures.

I had- in a manic moment after midnight, when I was bleary eyed and far too ambitious for my own good- created the postcard for my Pubslush campaign. I had hoped, just days into my campaign launch, to mail out nearly all 200 of those lovely postcards to promised and potential supporters and book pre-orderers; now even that has been put on hold until the book is more complete.

Pubslush Pre-Campaign Checklist Mangono Miranda Innaimo Worksheet

In fact, here is my nifty check list for my upcoming Mangono Pubslush Crowdfunding Campaign. As you can see, I’m nearly ready to launch my campaign; the most important aspect left to be completed is my campaign video, which, if you’ve followed me at all, you know, I LOVE vlog posts, and all things video recording / footage splicing/ audio editing. So this really isn’t a set back; what’s holding me back, as I’ve already mentioned, is the novel itself; it must be finished first.

I hope to have the book, published and printed, by 7.14.14 when I do intend to host the Book Release Party (sometime around then) at Orange 13 Lounge in Lemont, Illinois; it’s a swanky place for a swanky author (me) to throw a party for her first novel; now whether or not Mangono will actually be a novel (once revisions and rewrites come in) or whether it will be a work of epic poetry, we shall see; all I know is this: I will not quit, I will not give up! And publish Mangono, I will! Just wait, you’ll see. In the mean time, I’m off to work (#amwriting)! Ta for now!