It’s hard to believe that four years ago, ‘End of Crows’ was released to the world. I worked so hard in 2018 & 2019 to build and create a dystopian world that would rival against the top hard-hitters like ‘Divergent’ and ‘Hunger Games’. Stories that I loved and adored. I had no idea then, what a battle it would be to get my fictional series out there.
For four years, I’ve battled being banned, had social media accounts shut down for “violating” platform rules, been accused of “election interference”, “encouraging uprising”, and being “psychic” as the plot lines in my series parallels so closely with what is happening in the United States. Fact or fiction, I wrote this fictional tale only for the purpose of entertainment.
Unfortunately I lost this battle. Four years of book royalties that diminished to nothing caused me to gain employment outside of the book world. I’ve spent thousands to try and promote my series, given hundreds of books away, covering the printing and shipping costs in the hopes that I could spread the word about my work to the world that way. My hard work has not paid off and my royalties for this 26th day in June amount to $1.04. I will not be working on the spin off of the series and the 5th book will be the final book. But I am not done.
I still believe in my series and it is still winning International awards, so I’ve decided to go in a different direction. Having won over 12 International film festivals for my book trailers, I’ve decided to cut out social media all together and go straight to the power-houses of entertainment. Movies. ‘End of Crows’ is currently in screenplay production, using the software tools that writers on Netflix, Hulu, Prime and so many other platforms use, Final Draft. Once the screenplay is done, it will be sent directly to producers and directors who are looking for an incredible dystopian story to bring to life. A third of the story has already been transcribed and I’m so excited with how the storyline is coming along. It is very different than writing a book, as you can describe your scenes with as many details as you would like, but with a script, you are limited and hope that whoever chooses your script will have the same vision as you, the author, does.
In the meantime, I will continue with my outside job, go back to writing novels that are not so controversial and hopefully build up my royalties again. I’ll be starting a newsletter to keep everyone informed on the happenings of Willow’s world and the Crow faction.
Until then, always remember that “In the Depths of Despair, Rebellion Takes Flight…”
R.A. Lingenfelter
