Weekly Check-In (7/30/23) (Patreon)

Alright, so, some of you might already be aware of this, but I figured I'd better mention it for those who aren't.  This week, I turned my final draft of the manuscript for book five, and just as I was getting ready to move on to book six, my publisher dropped a bit of a bomb on me.  Basically, they suggested that I consider splitting what was book five into two volumes.  Their reasoning was pretty simple: at ~250k words, it was a big book.  Like, really big.  And that made them uncomfortable for one major reason: because of the series' popularity (it's one of their most consistent sellers), Death: Genesis is a good candidate for physical release (in brick-and-mortar bookstores).  However, at 250k words, that size will scare bookstores off (due to printing costs, etc.).  So, they asked if I'd be willing to split the book into two.

At first, I was hesitant.  I liked the story how it was, and I didn't really want to mess with it.  However, after a few days of going back and forth with myself, I realized that it represented an opportunity to deepen the story.  So, I went back to Podium and told them that the only way I would agree to splitting the book was if I could add about 20-25 extra chapters (total).  They agreed, and so, for the past few days, I've been working overtime (3 chapters a day on Death: Genesis) so I can satisfy my own standards.  

Most of the chapters were already planned (for later in the story), so I'm not just adding stuff to add stuff.  It was ground that needed to be covered at some point; I just decided to work it in a little earlier (in the narrative) than originally planned.  I also have the chance to elaborate on some of the pivotal scenes and explicitly describe some situations I'd only hinted at in the previous manuscript.  All in all, I think it'll be a net benefit for the story.

That said, I'm going to keep the already-published chapters the way they are and upload a .pdf of the revised books when I get them finished (my deadline is the end of August, but I should be done far sooner because I'm fully focused on making this thing work right now).  

As for everything else, I'm kind of pushing it to the backburner until I finish this adjustment.  Thankfully, I've got a sizable buffer of Mistrunner chapters built up (I was preparing to expand the Patreon benefits for that book in preparation for the upcoming release in September), so I won't have to skip any releases.  

Anyway, that's what's going on in my world.  I know other authors have been through this kind of thing (Jim Butcher is the most recent one that springs to mind), and I figure if they can navigate it and keep the quality of the work high, then so can I.  In any case, I'm very happy with what the additions I've made so far (about 9 extra chapters, I think), so that's encouraging.

So - that's it.  If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know!