What this seems to mean so far is this: the majority of people who have supported my book seem to know me in some way. They're friends, family, colleagues, ex-students, acquaintances and so on. Some - blog readers, for instance, or that select group of fans of my first novel - know, or have a reasonable expectation, of what they're getting by way of my writing (or they hope they do!). Others - an increasing number of strangers, unfamiliar names on the supporters list - are taking a chance on the strength of the extract they can read on the Unbound website, or the video introduction.
As things stand I need a further 273 more pledges to get The Glorious Dead published. That sounds a lot, but if there aren't at least 273 people out there who are interested enough in the subject and keen enough on the project to take a punt on it then I'll happily eat one of the war medals I'm offering as a rewards for one of the pledges.
I reckon if everyone who has pledged so far or everyone who reads this post could put in a good word with someone else we'd be up and running in no time. So if you can think of someone please consider telling them. Let word-of-mouth be my marketing. And let's hope that, before too long, it's no longer a case of 'unknown' on Unbound - but unleashed!