I did not exactly intend to write SC #3 and then set it aside for a month, but that’s what happened, because I needed to do secondary revision and proofing for SC #2, of course. Then when I came back to SC #3 and started to read it from the top, a LOT OF THINGS LEAPED OUT AT ME, which I had not seen coming, and therefore primary revision turned into a real bear.
Possibly as a consequence of seeing a lot of things that should change, and changing those things, the upcoming secondary revision looks … not too terrible. Actually pretty much okay! It’s not like there’s nothing to do — there’s a lot to do — but mostly I don’t think it’s going to be too time-consuming. Lots of tweaking, but nothing big-scale. I got a lot d9ne this past weekend, and I’m hoping to get through all or most secondary revision over the Thanksgiving weekend. I’m really thankful to have a four-day weekend!
I’m still dithering over setting up the actual preorder, meaning committing to a date for the Amazon release, because if I’m wrong and I’m not ready by the date, which actually means at least three or four days in advance, that would be bad. I’m not sure what KDP does if you say Oops, I can’t make the preorder date I picked, but I bet they aren’t at all happy with you. Let me actually check. Okay, here:
Your pre-order will be canceled and you won’t be able to set up a pre-order for any eBook for one year.
My, highlighted and everything. Yep, KDP definitely does not want you to cancel or delay the release date after you set up a preorder. Which is perfectly fair, but it means I don’t want to push the preorder date too hard.
Also! There’s one other factor here, thus: Ordinarily, on the series page, there’s a button that says, “Buy the series.” A reader who thinks your first book looks good and feels like taking a chance on the whole series can hit that button and buy the whole series at once and this is nice, of course, BUT, when you set up a preorder for a new book in that series, the “Buy the series” button disappears.
As it happens, I am, somewhat to my surprise, running a big, complicated sale over the Thanksgiving weekend, and therefore I don’t really want to set up a preorder for SC #3 in advance of the sale. I want the “Buy the series” button to be sitting right there for the entire sale. Therefore, I’ll probably set up the preorder sometime during the first week of December. That way, I have another week or two before I have to decide for sure.
Coming up later this week: Info about the Big, Complicated Thanksgiving Sale. However, as a basic heads up, I will just say that almost everything of mine is going to be on sale over the Thanksgiving weekend. I didn’t precisely plan this out in advance; various things all came together and suddenly made this seem like a good idea. So, info about that coming up later this week.
AND that will all go into a newsletter as well, AND the 4th chapter of “Midwinter” will be in that newsletter because that’s another thing I did over this past weekend.
So that’s what’s going on! Busy week, coming up! For which I am thankful!
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I’ve read comments by authors who blithely put up pre-orders regardless of the current state of the manuscript.. Apparently, the way their minds work means that assigning an arbitrary deadline will motivate them to finish the book without any second guessing or revision.
In other words, there are aliens among us.
Evelyn, it would terrify me to put up a preorder before I have a manuscript I think is basically in good shape. I wonder if the people who put up a book for preorder before it’s finished also stand on wheeled chairs to water plants? Just, you know, wondering.
I just finished SC #2 and came straight here to see if there was release info for SC#3! Truly, bless you for working so rapidly and efficiently … and for not posting release info you can’t live up to (been burned so many times before). I first picked up Black Dog in November of 2017 and it’s honestly exciting to be this close to the finish as a reader!
This series, and your Tuyo world series, are real comfort reads for me—this last month with the election madness in the US, I’ve reread the entirety of the Black Dog books. With everything going on there’s just something soothing to me in reading about a collection of fundamentally decent people struggling hard against the little demons of their own natures and the greater evils in the world. I’ve recommended them to others for that (and the world building, the interesting magic system, the inclusivity, and writing, of course). I don’t classify them as “cozy”—they feel much higher-stakes and grittier than cozies—but you can get lost in the depths of world yet still emerge confident of the inherent goodness and resilience of the main characters, and that’s … well, deeply comforting.
Anyway, thanks for these books, and fingers crossed the revision’s going smoothly and doesn’t eat up too much of your holiday weekend!
Thank you, aysinatx! I’m always optimistic about how fast things will go, but by this point, I’m confident SC #3 will be ready to go very soon!
Yes, I DEFINITELY wouldn’t call this series cozy, not even cozy horror. I hope there’s a LOT of tension for most of the third book (and I’m confident there is!), plus I’m pretty proud of myself for coming up with something completely different from zombie towers, but even more horrific.
About two-thirds of the chapters end on a cliffhanger in #3. BUT, the long epilogue should give everyone time to recover. I’m guessing the epilogue will be about 60 pages, or around 20,000 words, or close to ten percent of the total length.