January 2023 News and Updates

So here it is, January of 2023 already, and here’s that long-promised post with news, plus some other updates and a look ahead.

First of all, news I’ve been meaning to share for a while. I’m really excited to have finally opened my own store! This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I wanted the extra measure of independence of having my own store, and I’m looking forward to doing some special things with it, exclusive discounts and bundles and so on. For now, I’m only selling ebooks; print books are something I might think about in the future.

Right now, you can get 10% off your entire purchase in my store with coupon code WELCOME10, plus I’ve got a few pop-up discounts hiding here and there. The store is hosted by PayHip, a widely-used ecommerce service, with payments processed by PayPal (and I plan to add Stripe as well), so you don’t have to worry about giving me your credit card info! And book delivery is handled through BookFunnel, who make it easy to load your books onto your devices.

Also, I’m in the process of updating all my print books, both new paperback editions and I’m adding case-laminate hardcovers on Amazon. These have the cover art and text printed directly on the cover; if Amazon ever makes it possible to do the fancy hardcovers with dust jackets, I’ll be on that as well. (There’s a print service that some authors use that does these, but it charges a lot of up-front fees.) But if you want something more substantial than a paperback, the case laminate covers look very nice. All the Wildings books, Daughter and Defenders, are now available in the updated paperback and hardcover editions, and I’m slowly working on the rest. A bunch of my books still have the old cover art on the print covers, so I really need to get this done!

In other news, Beneath the Canyons is no longer a permafree ebook (at least, once I finally get Amazon to un-free it on the last few sites!). Having a long-term free book has been my main marketing strategy for the last 4+ years, but now I feel like it’s time to shake things up a little and try some different things.

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I’m nearing the end of the final FINAL (and this time I really mean it!) edits on Storm of Magic, book 3 of Mage of Storm and Sea. This is the Book that Ate My Brain, it had major, major issues, but even though it’s taken so much time and work, I’m very happy with how it’s turning out. Hoping to release it next week!

To celebrate, the prequel to Mage of Storm and Sea, Dreams of Magic, is on special for 99 cents this month.

Next in the pipeline: I’m nearing the end of the draft of Children of the Wildings, another trilogy set in (in case you didn't guess) the Wildings world. Now that I’m near the climax of the series and know where everyone needs to be and what they’ll be doing, I’ll need to go back and fill in the subplots. But I’ll be wrapping up this first draft sometime in the next few months. Then comes the revision, yikes. I’m working out some refinements to my revision process so that hopefully it won’t take so long!

I’m also working out ideas for a new trilogy, set in an entirely new world. The working title for this one is “The Wise.” (Hint: they actually aren’t as wise as they think they are.) And a couple of other projects I’m not ready to talk about yet.

For 2023, I’m working on increasing my productivity. Time management is one issue I’m addressing, and like I mentioned above, I’m making some changes and refinements in my writing and editing processes. Between the release of Mages’ Uprising, the last book of Defenders of the Wildings, and Winds of Magic, book 1 of Mage of Storm and Sea, was over two years, and I really don’t want to have that long a gap between books again!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2023, and stay tuned for Storm of Magic release news!

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