I’m Darrell Winfrey, the author of the Janus Perspective horror book series and a few other books and short stories. Many moons ago, I started getting bored with people retelling the same stories over and over, so I came up with the idea of a living story. No, it’s not something that starts growing on you like a fungus. It’s a unique type of interactive film that responds to your facial expressions and gestures. The result would be a single movie with thousands of variations.
I found out two things early on. Even with my technical background, I didn’t have the skills or the resources to build the massive engine that would drive my concept. I also couldn’t find existing content (stories) that would work within it. That’s when I started writing my own stories that eventually turned into over a dozen books.
In 2019, I started Trade Win Marketing Company, a baby sister to another business I had been running since 1996. I used this new company to publish and market my books. Things were going well until…well, until the pandemic hit. My business was only a few months old, so it was difficult to get relief funds. I missed out on the SBA Disaster Loan because of a technicality that wasn’t corrected until after the final deadline. It was disheartening to find out about the people who didn’t have legitimate businesses but managed to secure these funds. More of them should have gotten caught.
Obviously, I’m writing this because I’m begging for $$. I support my businesses with my own money, but the marketing reach is very limited. I’m also struggling to find time to continue writing books for my other two series. The money I seek will boost my marketing reach to raise the profile of my books on Amazon. The idea is to sell more of them to fund the beast of a project that I can’t wait to show you. It really is the future of storytelling.
If you wish to donate money directly, that would be great. If you choose to buy one of my books instead, I won’t complain. Two of them are free, along with several short stories on my blog:
My goal is to raise $5000 by the end of January. February and March tend to be the best months for self-published book releases. Previously released books also sell well during those months. I’ll occasionally post updates here, but feel free to join my newsletter, where I highlight free books from other authors and sometimes run giveaways. Whether you decide to offer support or not, you won’t go away empty-handed.
Important Link
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-past-has-passed-so-look-to-the-future
Other Links: