Tom's Update 12-29

Shadows of Twilight has been corrected and is up for sale again. The corrections were minor and having to do with layout, nothing in the story changed, but I feel much better about it now. So, go, buy it, let me know what you think. It's on Lulu.com, Tymarune: Shadows of Twilight by Thomas Funk. Or, if you know me, get a hold of me, we'll be placing orders for it soon to sell at stores around us. There is an email listed in the front of the book for people to send comments to, please feel free to do so. Enjoy!

The Fearless Three and the Time Machine...

...is now available through my Lulu storefront. It's the second in the series of children's books. they have been so fun to write and working with my mom while she does the editing (thank you!!) and the illustrations has been great! She's a talented lady and I'm glad to have her as a mom and a partner!

http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2374698

Tom's Update 12/27

Ok, found a few layout issues with the print copy of my book that we are working to correct, so I took it off the public sale on Lulu for the time being. Should be back up again by the end of the weekend. I just got the revised copy over the past weekend and noticed the layout errors and I definately want to clean those up. Other than that, the book looked great, the cover is awesome and I think the size of print is good. So, I will let everyone know when it's back up, and since the holidays are over, hopefully more people willl have a few extra bucks to go ahead and buy a copy or two!

Descent available on Kindle through Amazon

I just finished uploading Descent Into Temptation to the program that makes books available for Kindle readers.
Check it out...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001O0EHYU

Toms update

Ok, my book is finally done and for sale on Lulu. http://stores.lulu.com/tjfunk23 I got a copy of it last week and the margins were all wrong, it was completely unreadable. So, we re-did the margins, then had to wait as Lulu was having issues with their preview generator, and today I finally got a preview of it. It looks like its good, so its for sale.
I'm pretty proud of this story. It's the first in a series, so I had to dedicate time to the development and introduction of characters, something that doesn't take as long in the second book.
I don't have any sales goals or anything for this one, I just hope people enjoy it. And hopefully I'll get some useful feedback. I know my style is always evolving, I'm doing a rewrite of the second book right now because of it. Feedback is always appreciated as I feel it'll make my writing better. I'm just starting so I know I have room to improve!

It's official...

I'm a selling author! The Fearless Three and the Pirate's Gold has been available for sale for less than 24 hours and I've already sold 3 copies. Yes, two of those were to my sister...but they still count!

I've earned a grand total of $1.65 in revenue. Can't build a summer home with it, but hopefully the books will go like gangbusters and it'll all add up!

If you're interested and want to check it out go to my storefront at Lulu and pick yourself up a copy!

http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2374698

Everyone knows a little kid somewhere, and kids love getting books! And if you don't know any kids, order one anyway and donate it to a doctor's office. Or to your local school. Or to Goodwill! Tis the season after all!

Oh...and the second volume should be available shortly. I'll keep you posted!

Fearless Three update

Well... I have been busy, busy!
I just finished writing the third Fearless Three volume. As in just finished! I have sent it on to my mom, the very talented lady who has done all of my covers so far. As well as the illustrations for the kid's books. My plan now is to get the three Fearless Three books completely cleaned up and uploaded to Lulu. I should be getting the first volume any day now in the mail. If that is good, I'll be making it available publicly and then I will move forward with the other two. I fugure that those two won't take as long since the layout for all three is the same. So only a short wait now!
Once I have those three available for sale I am going to take a break from that series for a month or so and see what the response to them is. If they are liked and get favorable reviews from parents and kids I'll continue on with them. (I'll probably continue on with them regardless..they're just too fun to write!)
But in the meantime I'll be focusing on my second novel and getting that written. As well as move forward with marketing Descent Into Temptation.

I will keep you all posted on the Fearless Three series as they are made available. Shouldn't be too long, my mom is a speed demon when it comes to drawing these things up!

Another place to check out...

Author's Den...
A neat site I found late last night...check it out if you have time!

http://www.authorsden.com/racheljfunk

Descent Sales...

Descent Into Temptation has sold 85 copies through word of mouth as well as some serious foot work! I haven't sold any through the lulu storefront yet, but am keeping my fingers crossed that before the end of the holiday season there will be a couple of online sales. And in January it will be available through Amazon.com. That may get it some great exposure! (cross your fingers!)
For those of you who'd like to check it out go to: http://stores.lulu.com/firefrog

Kid's books covers:

These are the covers for the first two kids' books...My mom is doing the illustrating and the cover art. She is AWESOME!!!

The Pirate's Gold will be the first volume of the Fearless Three and will be avalable very soon. The Time machine is still in the editing and polishing process.

Tom's preview

This is the cover of my first book, the initial installment of the Tymarune series.

This will be the little blurb on the back of the book, check it out, let me know what you think:

Xander Coyle was born to be a hero. Raised by wealthy parents, he spent his childhood years developing a sense of right and a drive for justice. Misunderstood by those around him, Xander wandered the world trying to find the right fight, the right person to save, the right moment to shine, always coming up short. Until one fateful night on a winding forest freeway transformed his life and transported him to a new world, a world in need of a hero.
Xander’s quest to become a hero begins on Earth, but takes him to Tymarune, a world of magic and mystery. Inhabited by mythical creatures, Xander must traverse this strange world to find and destroy the evil that brought him there. Along the way, Xander will meet new friends, new enemies and a host of oddities, some there to help, others there to alter him forever. He must face his fears, face himself and confront the darkest evil he has ever known in order to deliver Tymarune from the shadows of twilight, the darkness that threatens every innocent creature.

Tom's update 12/2

I have my first book in the book format now and saw the pic Mindi did for the cover, it's pretty cool. She should have that done soon, and once it is, we can get the book finished and ready to print. So, it should be done very soon now.
In the meantime I've gotten back to the rewrite of the second book. After seeing the first one get put into the book format, I know what I have to work with now. So, I'm hoping the second one will be longer, as I really don't need to worry about length.

The Fearless Three and the Pirate's Gold

Done and coming soon! My mom is working on the cover and I'm already starting on the next one...The Fearless Three and the Time Machine!
I'll post more once everything is final and available!

The Fearless Three...wip

Well, my kick ass mom agreed to do the covers for the children's book series I talked about. And I have the first in that series underway...already 17 pages into it. I also added some to my other novel, so that is up to 50 pages and still going strong.
The kids books will probably be about 50 pages long, aimed at kids in the 8-12 age group as far as reading level and I'm super excited about it. Will keep you posted as it comes along!!

SOLD OUT!

So crazy...I dropped off 6 copies to Pineview Grocery for them to sell, the co-owner bought her copy right then, leaving 5 for the shelf. Well within a few days they have sold all five! It's insane! And they have 7 more people waiting until I bring the store more. Whoo hoo!!!
So, needless to say another order is going in soon! And for more than just 5 this time!

I was talking with Tom today about starting a series of children's books based on our kids and the fantastic adventures they have in their own imaginations. Already soliciting my mom for her hand at the cover work. So during the in between times of working on my latest novel, I'm going to be working on those, too. They'll be shorter and definitely kid oriented, aimed at readers about age 8-10. So I'll keep you all posted on that, too.

Tom Update 11/25

Well, I am now 30 pages from being done editing my first book. When I finally get that done, I will be putting it on Lulu and going the same route that Rachel went, so hopefully it will soon be available. Rachel's friend Mindi is working on some cover art for me, which I'm sure will turn out really well. So, I'll be done with the edit tomorrow then get it on Lulu, so with any luck it'll be available soon and I can get back to the rewrite of my second book in the series. I'm about halfway through that, then I'll edit it and get it to Lulu. When all that is finally done I'll be able to focus on writing some new stuff, new to me anyways, like the third installment and some shorter stories I'll be trying to send out to magazines and such.

Descent Into Temptation in stores near you...

...if you live in Sanford Michigan, that is. The order has been placed and the books are on their way and will be fore sale at 3 (count them...3!) locations in Sanford. Pineview Grocery, Timbers Party Store and Afterdark Fantasies.
Afterdark is a "novelty" shop I called on whim since there are very adult situations in the book. And I'm glad I did. I spoke with the owner and turns out he has written and self published 2 books himself (about baseball of all things..you'd think being surrounded by the inventory in his store that he'd have some other book ideas, but I guess after 10 years those sorts of things get old...) Anyway... He has contacts at major chain bookstores in the Bay City, Midland and Saginaw Malls where he has arranged book signings and now has his book for sale on their shelves. He's already agreed to sell my book commission free as well as share his contact information and give me some tips on how to win over a bookstore!
Wish me luck, hopefully soon I'll be announcing my first book signing!

Book #2 is still going strong...about 40 pages in so far and the story just keeps on coming, so clear a spot on your shelves...it'll be heading your way sooner than you think!

Rachel Info...what I'm working on now.

I am in the first stages of writing my second novel. It's going to be a big step away from Descent Into Temptation (DIT). DIT is based purely in reality, while much of the book is spent with the main character losing himself in his own fantasy world, but the situation and circumstances are entirely reality based outside of his mental issues.
The current piece has a working title, but in the end that may change, so I'm going to hold off on letting that out of the bag just yet. Let's just call it #2 for now. But it is going to be based in realms beyond normal human experience...Witchcraft, long running conflicts and ancient battles being waged in the modern world.
So far the writing is going well, this story has been in my mind for months now, but just started getting it down on paper as of October of this year. I didn't focus on it very much at first. I spent a lot of my free time getting DIT ready to publish, but now with that done and more time to work on it, the new book is going great. I'm about 32 pages in at this point, which is wonderful. And the little idea it started out as is rapidly growing and evolving all the time.
DIT took me about 14 months to write, then I let it sit untouched (mostly out of self doubt) for months. then with Tom's gentle pushing, I pulled it out and edited it over the course of a week, I think. This new book...I don't think it will take nearly as long to write, since I know I can start a book and complete it! (That alone is a big boost to keep at it!) Plus, this story is coming so much easier than the first, the writing is more natural and seems to just flow from my imagination to the page.

In the down times between writing, I'm working on promoting DIT. I'll keep you posted on how that goes and what avenues I find that work!

Tom's update

I am currently in the final stages of editing my first book, a fantasy novel about a human in a magical world. Kind of sounds like a familiar tale, but I think my story has a lot of unique aspects to it and can stand up with most fantasy books. Every creature in the book is my own personal take on mythical creatures you may have heard of, trolls, elves, goblins and so on. There are elements of action, adventure and hopefully a few twists you may not see coming. This is the first in a series of books that may go beyond the human's trilogy. I have already written the second book and am in the midst of rewriting that one. When I finish editing the first book I'll probably have it on Lulu, but I plan to shop it around to literary agents, too, so it may not be for sale right away. I enjoy the story, I believe it has potential, and I hope you will all give it a chance once it's out.

Introduction

Let us introduce ourselves, we are Tom and Rachel Funk. We are a married couple working hard to get into the published world. Rachel has one published novel and is currently working on another. Tom is in the process of the final edit of the first installment to a trilogy.
Rachel's novel, Descent Into Temptation has been published through Lulu.com. And is available at:
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2374698 .

Lulu has been a great experience so far.
Now that the book has been published worldwide, it's on to marketing... Will definitely keep everyone posted!