Weekly Check-In (3/10/24) (Patreon)

We've got another week in the books, and this was a big one.  Not only did Path of Dragons reach the front page of Royal Road (on the Popular This Week list, which means it was in the top ten in terms of views on the site), but the launch for Death: Genesis 5 went great.  It stuck in the top 1000 on both Kindle and Audible for the whole week (still in the top 2000 right now).  So, it seems pretty popular.   Big week all around.

In more specific Death: Genesis news, I'm sort of regretting splitting what was the fifth book into two volumes (what is now the fifth and sixth books in the series).  It was done at my publisher's suggestion, and I went along with it, adding a bunch of chapters to both volumes.  However, it wasn't until I started seeing some reviews for book five that I realized what the problem was: it's almost all set-up.  Now, that means book six is way more action-packed, but for now, book five is a little light on plot progression.  I still think it's a good book.  It just doesn't really climax the way I prefer.  

Book eight (which is what we're on right now in Patreon chapters) does not have that problem.  We're coming up on the end of this book, so I hope you'll all enjoy the climax.  It was fun to write, and I think it'll be fun to read, too.

Regarding Mistrunner - we're only about five chapters away from finishing things.  I know there are a few of you who'll be sad to see it go, but I think it'll be a satisfying ending.  

In Path of Dragons news, as I said earlier, we've really hit our stride in terms of popularity.  Part of that is because of the double-chapter schedule, so we'll see how it works out after this month.  But either way, the extra visibility has been great.  I will say that there are a few...ah...suspicious ratings that have driven the overall rating down a bit, though.  A bad rating after a few chapters, I get.  Those are normal because tastes differ pretty widely.  That said, when a reader goes nuts in the comments, then I get like 5 0.5 ratings all in the space of an hour, all in the first chapter, it's probably safe to assume there's something hinky going on.  All of that is to ask any of you who haven't rated or reviewed the story to step up and kind of offset those ratings (as much as it's possible).  It would help out a ton!

Anyway, the story's going great.  I'm currently writing the chapters for the end of March, and I'm very much vibing with the tone.  It's a fun set of chapters, and I think you're all going to love them.  

So, that's what's going on this week.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know in the comments, on Discord, or in the messaging function.  Thank you all for your support!  None of this would be possible without you all.