GoFundMe

Book Three Is Coming Along!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

It’s a new week, and that means that we have another opportunity to achieve success, to tackle our goals, and to accomplish the task at hand! Join me for today’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

I have made some good headway this past week on my third book, with the word count coming in at over 19K words. In the spirit of tackling our goals, mine for this week include completing Part I and beginning tending to a few details in the text by Friday. It should only be a day’s work (or two) because I should need less than 1,000 words to finish what needs to be said in the book’s first act.

When I return after some time away from work, I plan to move forward with writing Part II. The planning is done for the most part, but I feel I’ll need to get some more details ironed out in order to smoothly write the rest of the book. But even with that still on my plate, I am confident that the story can be completed by the end of the summer. However, it’s always wise to keep an open mind, especially when it comes to publication timelines.

If you haven’t checked out my first two books, Resistant and Unguarded, then I encourage you to do so!

YouTube

We are in the final week of my videos on writing process, with the videos being posted this coming Friday as usual. There will be two videos because they each cover the same topic but relate to different media of publication. By this, I mean that I’ll touch on bringing your book to market via Kindle Direct Publishing and Createspace (Kindle and print, respectively).

If you haven’t checked out my channel, I encourage you to do so. After my writing process videos are complete, I’ll post more personal, writing life videos with tips, tricks, and other writing-related topics included. Come along for the ride, and be sure to click the Thumbs Up and Subscribe buttons too!

GoFundMe Campaign

I am still raising funds to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Raising money for an organization has been something I’ve wanted to do for some time, and this is what I’ve chosen as my first philanthropic project. So please, consider joining me in my effort to maintain history for future generations!

In other news, I recently got hired into a second job that is starting out as part-time, but has the potential to turn into full-time. This may sound counterintuitive in terms of writing productivity, but it is an answered prayer in my person life. This will give me more stability and more time with my wife. Rest assured, my writing will continue!

Also, I’ll be taking next week off from my blog posts and newsletter. However, upon my return from vacation I’ll have details and information for you in blog, vlog, and newsletter…so be sure to keep an eye out for those!

If you are reading this and you are new to my work, please feel free to check out the projects on my website and to contact me if you want to chat!

Until next time,

-Eli

Dayton Book Expo & U.S. Air Force Museum

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Friends,

Welcome to a new post, a new week, and a new chance to achieve greatness! Let’s get into today’s content…

Dayton Book Expo

This past weekend, I attended the Dayton Book Expo at the David H. Ponitz Conference Center at Sinclair Community College. There were over 90 other authors, some of which were sponsored by the Dayton Metro Library. Prizes and awards were handed out throughout the day, and there was an award at the end given to the author with the highest sales that day. It was populated by many readers, some local and some from out of town. Overall, it was a good experience!

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My table at the Expo, with all of my tabletop material set up

Though I can’t put a number on it, I had many people – readers and authors – visit my table. It was great to chat with others about my writing story, my work, and what I’m planning for the future. Most of the slots on the free ebook signup sheets were filled, and many people wanted to be added to my mailing list. If you haven’t done that yourself, you can easily join the group here.

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Resistant and Unguarded for sale

In terms of books sold, that number was 3. Bright side: both of my books will be in a library in Michigan, available to be read by countless high school students. I also gave away many business cards, so hopefully I’ll be contacted in the near future for networking and/or collaboration. It’s a start, at least, and that’s how you’ve gotta make your way sometimes.

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My short story volume covers

Plans have already been started for next year’s expo, but I’ll wait until closer to then before deciding on returning. I’d like to attend other expos to see what else is out there; I simply treated Dayton as a test expo to get the basic gist of things. We’ll just have to see what time brings!

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

On Sunday, my wife and I visited the Air Force museum in Dayton, and let me tell you – it was great! It’s crazy to think that all of the planes there had seen action in wartime, and it’s even crazier that they survived to be showcased as pieces of history. And what made it even more special for me was that I got to see many planes from the World War II era, which greatly interests me.

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75mm cannon that would have been the armament of a B-25 bomber

While there are far too many pictures to show here, know that I did see the plane that is featured in my second book, Unguarded. It is the Supermarine Spitfire, the primary fighter plane used by the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Though it has the emblem of the US Air Force – because U.S. airmen did fly it at one point – it’s the same version of fighter plane the British used…

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Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vc

I am so glad I got to visit the museum and see these pieces of history, and know that they were used to bring the war to an end. More pictures will make their way onto my social media and website over the coming weeks and months, but I think this will do for now. In addition to these pictures, I’ll have footage of my visit in this week’s vlog, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to catch that video!

The Faces of the War Collection

Progress is being made on this front, with the total word count approaching the 15K word mark. I plan to tackle more writing this week in great amounts, so my hope is that I’ll exceed the 20K by the beginning of next week. Work will soon begin on the book cover, I hope, so I will let you know of those details when the time comes.

The Short Story Collection

Progress has slowed a bit on this project, but I still am shooting for a summer release. Keep an eye out for details about Volume 2 as the summer months approach. And if you haven’t checked out Volume 1 yet, you can find it here.

As for other news, I am still keeping up with my YouTube vlogs, with the next video going live this Friday. I’m also keeping the GoFundMe campaign open to receive donations for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As for personal things, I am on the lookout for a new, full-time job. I’m hoping these next couple of months will bring some change in my life, and that I’ll be able to accomplish the writing that I want to get done.

As always, thank you for your encouragement and support. I truly appreciate it!

Until next time,

-Eli

Dayton Book Expo is Close!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week awaits, hopefully holding for you a slew of opportunities and experiences that will enrich your lives! Let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I am happy to say that writing for Part I is nearing its completion…only a few thousand more words to go! Though writing has been slow due to preparations for the Expo this coming weekend, I look forward to picking up the pace upon my return next week. Also on this front: ideas for the book cover are coming together and I’ll soon be getting things moving for that, so keep an eye out for details in the coming weeks and months for its reveal!

During the writing of this book, I have come to realize that I have a better understanding of creative writing, and my hope is that this trend will only continue so I can produce better writing. The storyline of this book is different from my previous two books in many ways, yet my aim is to intertwine familiar plot and structure attributes into it. I am excited for what this story will convey to readers and how the moral of it will be perceived. Time will tell!

If you would like to check out my first two books in this collection, you can find them under the tab above entitled “The Faces of the War Collection.”

The Short Story Collection

Not much has happened on this project, given that my main focus has been preparing for the Expo and writing in my third WWII book. I am still awaiting the return of a manuscript from a beta reader, so the project as a whole won’t be moving forward anyway. As I said before, my hope is to now have this project released by early summer, so keep an eye out for details to come!

If you would like to check out my first short story volume in this collection, you can find it under the tab above entitled “The Short Story Collection.”

Dayton Book Expo

With the Expo only days away, my excitement is ever increasing. I have just about everything ready to go for my table displays, which I hope will be sufficient. That’s all part of the process, I think–gauging what I should take with me and hoping it’ll be enough, and then comparing other tables when I get there. Then if I plan to go again in the future, I’ll have a better idea of what to do!

The Expo will be from 11am to 4pm this Saturday, April 25 at Sinclair Community College. I’ll be in the Great Hall (Building 12), but I’m not yet sure where exactly I’ll be set up. But the details for that will be in the reader’s event booklet, so you can find me in there. At my table, I’ll have paperback copies of my two books, which I can sign if you’d like, as well as an email signup list to receive a FREE ebook of your choice after the Expo. And of course, if you’d like to chat about WWII or my books, I’d love to entertain a conversation!

Remember: I’ll be in attendance under my real name (Mike Pratt) and will be listed accordingly; however, my table information and books will have my pen name on them (Eli Kale).

I hope to see you there, and if not, then I’ll let you know how it went in next week’s blog post!

YouTube

My writing process videos are coming along well, with my ninth one in production this week. Last week’s vlog touched on the topic of having another person (friend, colleague, professional, etc.) edit your manuscript and the importance of it. This week’s vlog will touch on what to do once you get the edited manuscript back. To catch up on (or start watching) my vlogs, you can find them on my channel here. Please consider subscribing!

GoFundMe Campaign

I am raising money to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. If you have it in your heart to help me support this organization, and to help maintain an important part of history, then please consider donating to my campaign. You can find the details on my campaign page here.

That’s about it for today, but more details and information will arrive in the coming weeks. Thank you for reading my posts, and for supporting and encouraging me as I pursue my passion. It truly means the world!

Until next time,

-Eli

Movin’ Right Along

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week has arrived, bringing to us more opportunities to accomplish our goals! Let’s delve into today’s material…

The Short Story Collection

Last week, I mentioned that I was on pace to complete my next short story ebook, Volume 2, by the end of the month. I really wanted to reach that goal so that I could focus on my next WWII book for a few months. However, upon receiving feedback from my beta reader, it is clear to me that I should spend some extra time on one story in particular. This means that I won’t be releasing a new ebook in the spring, at least not by May 1. But that’s okay – I’m excited to see how the stories develop and where they take me this time around. And who knows…maybe putting in a little more time than usual might make the stories really good. Time will tell!

If you would like to check out my first short story ebook, Volume 1, you can find it here.

The Faces of the War Collection

Since the beginning of the month, writing has slowed a bit on Book Three. As is usually the case, life simply happens and thus pushes concentrated writing down the priority list, as well as decreases the amount of time in which to do it. However, I am convinced that the overall pace of this book is still very much on schedule for my intended release, but those details won’t be revealed yet for another few months.

If you’re interested in checking out my first two books set during the Second World War, you can find them here: Resistant and Unguarded.

YouTube

Videos about my writing process are slowly making progress on my channel. I currently have seven videos posted on the topic, with eight more to go! If you haven’t yet checked them out, I encourage you to do so. And while you’re at it, be sure to click those “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons. It’ll really help me out!

Dayton Book Expo

The Expo is fast approaching, and I have most of my tabletop material together and ready. I am very excited to see how it goes and who I meet. This is a big step for me in my writing life, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to do it! Also, I plan on vlogging while I’m there, so keep an eye out for that video!

National WWII Museum

I am raising funds via GoFundMe to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. I am doing this because I want to take part in maintaining history, especially that of a time period of which I am so attached and by which I am so intrigued. If you have it in your heart to donate in support of this campaign, I implore you to check out the campaign website and consider donating. Every little bit helps!

Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement of my writing passion. Without you behind me, this would be a whole lot harder!

Until next time,

-Eli

Come On Over!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new post and a new week! My hope is that you set out today to accomplish something on your To-Do list, and that you set out with a positive attitude. Now, let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I will resume writing on Book Three today, after this post goes live, and hope to get into another rhythm throughout the rest of this week. I am only about 5,000 words away from finishing Part I, so I’d really like to hit the writing hard this week to reach that mark. I am still very excited to see what this writing experience brings me and where this story will take me!

In other Faces news, Resistant and Unguarded are selling consistently…slow, but consistently. I have been told that Unguarded is a much better book in terms of writing improvement, so I encourage you to check it out! You can find the Amazon sales page here. You can also find the sales page for Resistant here, if you’re interested.

Dayton Book Expo

Speaking of my first two books, I will have hard copies (paperback format) available for sale at my Expo table. There will also be an email signup list for those interested in joining my mailing list, as well as for a FREE ebook copy of one of my books. There is a limited number of spaces to sign up, so once they’re filled, that’s it! So if you’re coming to the Expo on April 25th, be sure to stop by my table for a chance at a FREE book and to chat with me.

The Short Story Collection

I am currently in the process of awaiting feedback from beta readers on my upcoming release Volume 2. If all goes as planned, the ebook will release by the end of the month. However, sometimes things happen so it’s wise to take that into account. I will continue to update you with release details as the time nears.

If you want to check out my first ebook, Volume 1, you can do so here.

GoFundMe Campaign

I am really looking forward to the initial donation to my campaign! Money donated will support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. I am looking to help make a difference in the world of history by helping to maintain a part of it, and your donations will help! So please, consider it and consider telling a friend about it. Every little bit helps!

YouTube

My videos are slowly but surely gaining more exposure in the YouTube world, and hopefully in the writing world as well! If you haven’t yet seen my videos, you can find all of them on my channel here. My most recent video on writing process can be found here. I will continue to produce these videos, because I have developed a passion for it and it also is something that I think can help expand my author platform.

That’s about it for news on all fronts, but things are always changing and improving. So I will keep you in the loop! BUT – I can do that way better if you join my mailing list, where I divulge more details and reveal more information than here in the blog posts. So come on over!

Until next time,

-Eli

News, Quotes, and Such

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I’d like to start this week and this post off with one of my favorite quotes:

“We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.” Let’s get down to today’s material…

The Faces of the War Collection

This past week, I had one day off from my day job. I earmarked that day as a day of writing, and let me tell you–I wrote. I typed over 3,000 words in Book Three, bringing the size of the manuscript up to just over 12K words. That’s a little more than a quarter of the way done with the first draft! I was satisfied with the writing I accomplished, and am looking forward to yet another full day off this week. I only hope I can be just as productive, if not more!

Resistant and Unguarded, my first two books in this collection, are continuing to sell at a slow but steady rate. I hope to see that rate increase after I attend the Dayton Book Expo and as the following few months roll along.

Dayton Book Expo

I am looking forward to heading south to Dayton on April 25 for the Expo. This week, I’ll be putting together all my table supplies and book accessories for the event; I hope everything comes together all right! If you will be in attendance at the Expo, I hope to see you at my table. You’ll be able to find me in the Expo author directory; however, I’ll be under my real name of Mike Pratt because that’s how I signed up. Remember, Eli Kale is merely my pen name.

If I get things put together well enough over the next few weeks, I might slip you a sneak peek at my table materials, perhaps through Instagram. So keep an eye out!

The Short Story Collection

I will resume work on my next short story book, Volume 2, this week. I gave myself almost a week off from the project, mostly so I could rest my eyes and brain from those stories, but also to devote time to my WWII project as mentioned above. I also have one of the stories out to an editor friend who is looking over the story for me. Another set of eyes always helps with writing!

If all goes as planned (which it sometimes doesn’t) with this project, I’ll release the ebook by May 1. I’ll keep you posted on it. You can check out Volume 1 on the Kindle here.

YouTube

If you haven’t checked out my vlogs (video logs) on YouTube yet, I encourage you to do so! I am currently in the middle of a series on my writing process and my writing life in general. In each video, I include details about a specific step in my writing process, and how it can relate to you. I also give brief talking points on other writing-related topics, some of which go hand in hand with the day’s writing process step. Not only do you learn of how I write, but you get a glimpse into my life and what makes me the writer I am. Be sure to subscribe to my channel (by clicking the red Subscribe button below any video of mine that you watch) and to give my videos a Thumbs Up (by clicking the thumbs-up icon near the video’s title). It helps grow my presence on YouTube!

GoFundMe Campaign

I am still awaiting my first donation to my campaign to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As an incentive, the first few donors will receive a Kindle ebook copy of one of my books, as a thank-you! So head on over to my campaign site and donate – even $5 will do!

As always, thank you all for the support and encouragement you’ve given me to do what I have a passion for doing. And if you’re new to me and my work, welcome aboard and I hope you can get something out of what it is that I do!

Until next time,

-Eli

Dayton Book Expo (and Other News)

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week is upon us, so let us go into it with a positive attitude and a mind ready to accomplish what lay ahead! I have some news for you today, so why don’t I get right down to it…

Dayton Book Expo

At the end of April, specifically Saturday the 25th, I will be heading down to Dayton, OH for the 6th Annual Dayton Book Expo. I will be in attendance as an author, with a table all to myself where I can meet fellow authors and readers, sell/give away copies of my books, and just increase my presence in the reading/writing community in general. I am very excited about it, and I hope to make it a fantastic experience. I will have more details on it in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

The Faces of the War Collection

Unguarded has been doing well since its publication in January. I can’t say enough on how satisfied I am with that project, because it really was a fun project and I learned new things along the way. If you haven’t checked it out, you can do so here

Book Three is well underway, with the current word count somewhere around 7,000. This project, too, is quite fun and educational, as I am writing on things with which I am not 100% familiar. I have a few things in mind to add to this story that will make it better than my first two, but we’ll just have to see how it all pans out!

The Short Story Collection

I have figured out what I am going to do for my third story in my upcoming Volume 2, due to release in the next couple of months, and writing on the other two stories is also underway. I feel comfortable in saying that I’ll have the bulk of this volume complete by the time the Dayton Book Expo rolls around. You can find details on Volume 1 here.

YouTube

I released the third vlog in my series on Writing Process this past week, and am looking forward to producing more. In case you missed it, or haven’t seen any of my videos, you can access it here. Please keep in mind that these videos are not definitive or exhaustive, but simply my view and opinion on the topic at hand. I can in no way explore and explain every detail of the writing process, for it differs from person to person and would take a great amount of time to cover in whole. So I hope you can get something out of these videos, and watch them with enjoyment. To see my channel and other videos, you can click here.

GoFundMe Campaign

My fundraising campaign for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans is still in its infant stage. I am looking for individuals to donate to this cause of raising awareness of the time period and to sustain its history for future generations. As an incentive, the first 3 people to donate to my campaign will receive a FREE copy of my short story ebook Volume 1. Just snap a photo of your donation confirmation screen and send it to me via email, then I will get in touch with you. My email is: elikale.author@gmail.com

That’s about all the news I have for you today. If you haven’t subscribed to my mailing list yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. The next newsletter goes out this week, so it would be a perfect time! And as always, thank you for your support and encouragement as I do the thing I love.

Until next time,

-Eli

Spring Is In The Air

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and ready to tackle the week ahead! Let’s get into today’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

The word count for Book Three is currently sitting just shy of 5,000, but I foresee that count going up this week. I am going to try something new over the next handful of days that will hopefully improve my writing output. I will set a timer for one hour and write during that time, really trying not to get distracted. When the timer goes off, I’ll take a quick break…maybe check my emails, social media, or whatever. Then I’ll set the timer again and write for another hour, repeating the process as much as possible to fill up my day.

I think it’s good to try new things in terms of improving yourself, even if it’s just something small like setting a timer. Over time, those small actions add up, and the hope is that it will produce something far greater and more efficient than what would have been produced through previous habits or practices.

I’m also starting to do a better job of tracking my word count as I go through the writing process on Book Three. During the first week of every month, I’ll record my current word count, then compare the different counts later as the months move along. This will hopefully give me a better idea as to how productive I am, and it might get me thinking on how to change to improve upon it. Again, it comes back to the little things adding up.

The Short Story Collection

Good news! I believe I have found an idea to develop for the third story in my upcoming Volume 2. It isn’t for certain yet, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. As for the other two stories, they are coming along. I think it is safe to say (at least at this point) that this ebook will be ready before May. I will keep the details coming as they develop.

I recently added a story sample to my website (which you can find here) from my short story “At the Gates of Sevastopol” in Volume 1. I figured this would be a good way to give you some idea of what my writing is like if you haven’t read my work yet, so enjoy!

YouTube

On Friday, I released my second video on writing process, specifically covering the step of planning the story. If you missed it, you can check it out here. The video to be released this week covers the step of writing the rough draft.

The main reason for uploading videos to YouTube is to expand my author platform and presence in the reading/writing community, but I can’t do that without YOUR help. So please, whether you watch the videos or not, spread the word by telling your friends, sharing the video links, or clicking the “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons on the video’s page. It truly helps bring others in the know about what I do.

Whatever is done, I want everyone to know how appreciative I am of your support and encouragement, and for your desire to read my work and follow what I do outside of selling books.

GoFundMe Campaign

So far, no donations have been made to my campaign to support the National WWII Museum. I hope to see that change in the coming weeks.

That’s about it for today’s news. I encourage you to Follow me on social media and on this blog if you aren’t already, and again, I’d appreciate it if you checked out my YouTube vlogs and GoFundMe campaign.

Until next time,

-Eli

It’s Already March!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week, a new chance to make a difference, a new opportunity to accomplish your goals. It’s crazy that March is already here! Let’s delve into today’s post…

The Faces of the War Collection

Some more copies of Unguarded have sold in the past week, and that makes me very happy to see! I encourage you to please check out my new book if you haven’t already done so. And pass the word along to your friends and coworkers!

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I haven’t put much time toward Book Three because of work and the fact that I’ve been writing my next short story volume. However, I’m not going to fret over this. The book will be tended to in due time. I don’t want to rush the writing just to match the time frame of previous books. It will be written in its own time. Another big part of why writing has taken a hit in these past couple of weeks is because of my launch on YouTube, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

As for Book Three, I am anxious to see where the story takes me and how the process goes along this time around. I’ve said it before – the writing experience for all of my books thus far has been different every time. And I like that. It shows that I am improving my craft and making the stories new and exciting, not recycling the same routine and feel when writing.

In terms of the story, I can’t give out too many details just yet, but they will be coming to you over the next few months!

The Short Story Collection

I have two of the three stories fleshed out and already half-written, but the third story has yet to be figured out. I have a pool of story ideas from which I can choose to fill that spot, but I just can’t seem to land on a solid enough idea. There is still time, though. I don’t plan on releasing this volume until further into spring, and I’m almost three-fourths of the way through the first two stories. If you haven’t checked out my first ebook, Volume 1, I encourage you to do so.

YouTube

The first two vlogs on my YouTube channel launched this past Friday, and they both already have more than a dozen views each! If you missed the launch and what it’s all about, you can check out my post about it here.

I am really looking forward to the journey ahead and seeing where it takes me, and who comes along for the ride. If you check out the videos, please “Subscribe” to my channel. It greatly improves my presence and author platform, and besides – I do this for you, my readers, and also for fellow writers!

GoFundMe Campaign

I recently started a campaign to raise money on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding site. I want to raise money for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana because keeping the history of that time period alive and understood is something important to me. If you’d like to learn more about it, you can check out the link for it here. I’d really appreciate it if you considered donating some money, even five dollars, because every little bit helps and will get me to my goal!

I am very thankful for those who have been following my work since the beginning, and for the support and encouragement you’ve given me. Please pass the word along to anyone you know who would be interested in what I do. I always love being able to share my passion with new people!

Until next time,

-Eli