The Overlords

For those of you reading this for the first time, The Overlords is a trilogy written by Mike Squatrito.  It is set in the fantasy genre, and has been an ongoing project of mine for the past eleven years.  I either found your email address, got it from you, or got it from a friend of yours!  Please continue to read this newsletter, and visit my website!

What’s New

Last month I submitted my manuscript for The Overlords: Legend of the Treasure to Gardenia Press.  For a nominal fee, they are going to give me a professional evaluation on my story.  Hopefully, if all goes well, they will deem my novel worthy enough for publication.  The process to evaluate the manuscript is a lengthy one.  The manuscript I sent to them is 659 pages!  I won’t hear back from them until mid-July at the earliest.  Until then, I’ll periodically keep you posted on other aspects of the project.

Gardenia Press also asked me to submit a marketing strategy document for The Overlords to them.  This document is supposed to reflect the interest in the author in regards to self-marketing.  I left no stone unturned!  I detailed how the project can be noticed by the general public by using email, my website, this newsletter, local papers, alumni journals, public appearances, and local TV and radio appearances.  I also went on to discuss screenplay and movie rights, merchandising of the storyline, and video games as additional ways to generate interest and revenue about The Overlords.  Hey, you have to think big, right?  I’ll pass along all pertinent information to my fan base when I hear back from Gardenia Press.  Stay tuned!

 About the Project

As I wait for my evaluation, I am still busy working on the second part of my trilogy, The Talisman of Unification.  For those of you who don’t know the story, I originally started writing this book first.  It started out with my heroes searching for another piece of the treasure.  I was letting friends read the story and they kept asking, Who are these characters?  How did they get what they have? and What are their backgrounds?  I was able to verbally tell them, because all the information was in my head!  They kept saying that I needed to write it out.  So I decided, after 15 chapters were already written, to stop with this story, and begin a new novel.  This new novel became Legend of the Treasure.

I recently combined my old 15 chapters into one document, and found that I had 340 pages of a new storyline!  I’ve begun to read it over, and let me tell you, it needs A LOT of work!  I guess I have become a better writer over the past ten years.  I’m hoping to have this book’s first pass finished by the end of the year.  I’m sure editing of the first book will impact my self-imposed deadline, but I’ll deal with that later.

 Acknowledgements

This month I would like to thank first time author, Debra Lauman.  Deb, like me, has gone through a lot of the stresses that come along with trying to get published.  She was able to work with Gardenia Press, and her first book, I. Joseph Kellerman, is due out in August.  If it weren’t for Deb, I would not have found Gardenia Press.  She pointed me in the right direction, told me the right people to talk to, and has guided me on this next leg of my publishing journey.  Deb’s parents live in RI, and the next time she visits them we are hoping to do a joint public appearance some day to discuss writing, creating storylines, what first time authors need to do to get published, etc.

You can learn more about Deb by going to her website, www.debralauman.com, or reaching her website via the link on mine.  Deb’s book is in the literary fiction genre, nothing like my fantasy-based storyline.  Read an excerpt from her novel, look at her hiker’s journal, and buy her book!

Contact Information

Send all correspondences to the-overlords@cox.net.  I have accumulated many email addresses over the years, and have used them to create my mailing list.  Please pass this newsletter along to anyone you feel might be interested in my project.  The more contacts I make, the better the chances of having all my hard work pay off!

If you wish for me to use a different address or to be removed from my mailing list, please send me an email and I will handle your request.  Please feel free to visit my website at www.the-overlords.com.  There you will find character biographies, more details on my books, and links to other sights.  Be sure to visit them too!