I came back from class to a very welcome message in my inbox:

Your project has been successfully funded!

That’s a great email to get from Kickstarter. If you want to see the page, go here. I’ll be sending out a follow-up update soon.

Thanks to everyone who backed this; it’s an incredible feeling to know that others believe in you.

In other news, I have seen the cover, and it is incredible! We are right on target for our October launch window.

As we head into the homestretch, I’d like to first of all thank everyone who has backed Grandissimo so far—we’ve far exceeded my original goal and we’ve even reached my initial stretch goal of $6,000. It’s been an incredible experience for me, as a writer, to see just how enthusiastic people are about my work. Thank you.

Of course, there seems to be no shortage of things to spend money on to promote the book, so more funding is always appreciated. 

As of today, I have a completed index, which I have integrated into the layout of the book, meaning the layout is substantially done. Once the campaign is complete, I’ll be adding quite a few names to my acknowledgements (thank you all $50 and over backers) and doing one last read-through before ordering a print proof. Once I get that in the mail, it’s time to make sure the book looks the way it’s supposed to on paper. If it does, I then put the book into production, making it available for sale online and ordering a few dozen copies to send out to backers and to have available for sale at VIMFP. 

I’ve had lots more exciting news about book signings in the past few days that I’ll share with you as well. I’ll be signing at the Vegas Valley Book Festival on November 2 from 2-4, have discussed doing a talk and signing at the Mob Museum later this year (no date yet, but possibly sometime in December), and am scheduled to give a talk and signing at the Clark County Library on March 6. 

If you would like to see the Kickstarter project page for Grandissimo, to make a last-minute pledge or to just see what all the fuss is about, please go here. 

Thank you all again!

It didn’t take long—about 4 hours—to reach my initial goal for the Grandissimo Kickstarter campaign, $2,500.

As of right now, I’m at about $4,000, which is great, because I can put the additional money into more marketing for the book, which should translate in getting it in front of more people. So if you haven’t pledged yet, your money will still be put to great use. I also want to do things like printing up cards and maybe even t-shirts to help promote the book.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged—it’s a wonderful feeling to know that people believe in your work.

I’ve talked about doing it, and now it’s done: the Grandissimo Kickstarter campaign has launched and hopefully, over the next 29 days, I can raise $2,500 and publish the book in time for VIMFP. 

You can read more about the project (and hopefully back it) here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1588383140/publish-grandissimo-the-first-emperor-of-las-vegas

Basically, I need the money to help me with some of the editing, indexing, and marketing expenses to get the book launched. As of today, I’m just about done the layout (waiting for rights permissions for 4 photos), and it’s almost ready to go to the indexer.

I’m gratified that I’ve already attracted a few backers—before I could finish this post, I have gotten 10% of the way to my goal. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out!