Adding this here - Public update (Patreon)
Content
This should all be a rehash of stuff that you guys already know from my previous weekly updates, but I'm posting this here as well so it doesn't feel like you guys didn't get this information before I post it publicly as part of my monthly public updates.
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Hey everyone! I hope everyone is doing well. It's been a minute since my last public update. However, I've been busy behind the scenes and have plenty to share with you all so let's jump right into it.
Writing Update:
We're now four weeks post launch of Supplying Supers. Needless to say, this one bombed in a glory of flames. It's doing worse, that my previous worst, Strength Unleashed. I took a lot of creative liberties with this one: a fixer MC, heavy POV-shifts to expand the cast, released it on RR first, etc etc. I'm sure a culmination of those factors played into the low sales. Luckily, I went into this with low expectations. The book has still reviewed well just like Strength Unleashed did, so overall I'm happy with the book I wrote.
However, since this is the second failure of a book 1 launch in a series, I've had to take a step back and reevaluate things. I've discussed this with some fellow authors and received some great feedback and suggestions on how I can hit the mark going forward. So, that's my plan.
With my next series, Dragon's Archon, I'm going to be implementing some of these changes. It will be written in 1st POV, I'll be returning to epic fantasy but this one will be a LITRPG kingdom builder, little to no POV swaps, and a focus on everything else that makes my stories great: unique characters, good world building, and a fun progression plot.
One of the things that has always been apparent to me is how long it can be in between releases because of my speed as a writer. When I went full time this year, I was foolishly overconfident in my ability to just crank out books like I've seen so many authors in the genre do. Unfortunately, that's just not who I am. My process has been slow, so one of the things I've focused on over the last few weeks is optimizing this, and I think I've finally figured it out.
I'm working with my editors to edit my work as I go, which is going to shrink my time to release by a month right off the bat. I've brought in a fantastic alpha reader who is really focusing on the core of the story, and I've got a great support group that's helping keep each other motivated. Supplying Supers and my current WIPs are seeing the reflections of that. While I may not be able to one book a month, 1 book every two to three seems feasible.
For my audio lovers, as I have previously shared, the optimization there is that I will be working with Rebecca Woods doing solo female narration on all of my series going forward. She's currently recording Supplying Supers and will be performing all of my stuff as long as she is available.
To help improve the readthrough of my series, another change I will be making is focusing on one series at a time. This is something I think many readers will be excited to see because it means the wait between books in the series will be reduced. To do this, I'll be focusing on wrapping up my existing series that have been profitable.
A Look at the Future:
So what does that last line mean? Well as you can guess my most two recent novels have not done well financially. One of which I'm still in the red on, meaning I've lost money on it because of production costs. Because of this, and the desire to incorporate the above changes as soon as possible, I've decided Supplying Supers is a one and done. Because of the creative liberties I've taken with that series, the amount of effort that would be required to keep it profitable just doesn't make sense financially.
For all of you who supported Supplying Supers, shared it, and commented that you thought it was my best work yet, I appreciate you. I wish things were different, but these are the hard decisions I have to make doing this full time. Once my contract for KU is up, I'm bringing it back to RR and marking it complete.
Strength Unleashed will continue to stay on hiatus. However, it will come at a time when I've recouped my costs from the production, and have completed a series.
So with all of that above this is what my current schedule looks like:
Warhawk 3 ETA: Patreon Now - KU release - Nov 2023
Warhawk 4 ETA: Jan 2023
Dragon's Archon 1: Epic Fantasy LITRPG Empire Builder (New series with the aforementioned changes): Patreon Now - KU Release - Feb 2024
Dragon's Archon 2 April 2024
Dragon's Archon 3 June 2024
That's pretty much everything. I hope you all do not take this post as bad news. I'm not going anywhere and will continue to be here as long as I can support myself doing so. I'm super excited about all these changes. My productivity has been better than it has ever been, and with it, I'm excited to bring you all new and fun stories. Thanks for your continued support!