Hey there!

The first draft of An Ember Defiant is finished! There's still a lot to do, and I wanted to share my timeline and updates with you so you know what's coming. It's currently at 112.5k words (Book 1 is 111k words) and I expect it to finish around 115k to 120k words.

1. As for my timeline from first draft to polished product, I’m thinking 4 to 8 weeks. I’m going to add some extra scenes and smaller details, then edit it from top to bottom, then I’ll run it through ProWritingAid. Once that’s done, it’ll be thoroughly vetted by a few trusted beta readers and an editor, and then I’ll do one last read to ensure it’s the best I can possibly make it. The best part about all this is that the vast majority of the story is already set in stone; I don't need to rewrite a ton of chapters like I did in Book 1. All I need to do is add a little more details, check for typos, and we're set. Realistically, I'm looking at a mid July to August publication date, dependent upon how fast I can edit and how fast my beta readers read.
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2. I'm going to be launching a giveaway for a signed paperback using gleam.io soon. It is my hope that it'll increase my social media followers on all my platforms, including my newsletter. For now, all giveaways will be restricted to the US, but as the series grows, I'll be able to afford to do international giveaways in the future. For now, it's just not in the budget.
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3. I'll give y'all advanced notice of when I'm going to launch my ARC campaign for this book, and I'll give you early access to one of those ARC sites. I'm planning on using NetGalley, BookSirens, and Booksprout for 2 months, and I'll offer Book 1 as a free copy along with Book 2. This way, I'm hoping to incentivize readers to review/rate both books. I know it's going to cost me a lot of money to do all three for two months, but the overall exposure should be worth it.
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4. As I edit and finalize more of the early chapters of Book 2, I'll share specific scenes that I just looooove with you. If you want to see anything specific, just ask! Like, if you wanted to see a tender romantic scene between Kala and Soren, I'd be happy to send you one.
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5. Once I figure out a release date for Book 2, I'll be able to put up the preorder page on Amazon. I still have to figure out a good description for Book 2's amazon page, so... it may take a while haha. Ideally, I'd like to have that set up so I can include that in the gleam.io giveaway. I may just have a placeholder description until I can work out something perfect. I'm also waiting to hear back from Podium concerning a few different things, too.
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6. While the ARC campaign is running, if I have the time, I'm going to create a map for the series. I'm leaning towards using Wonderdraft; the video on the front page of their website looks really cool!
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7. Oh! And one more thing! This is going to be a 5 book series. =)
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Lastly, I need your help. If you have any presence in the bookish community, it would mean the world to me if you helped spread the word about my series once I announce Book 2. My main goal here is to go full time as an author. Ideally, if I was able to go full time, I would likely be able to easily produce two books a year around this length, perhaps even three. I don't like how it takes me about a year to write a first draft with a part time job (I work as a pharmacy technician at a retail pharmacy chain; it's very exhausting work for little pay). I am certain that once I get more books published, we'll see far more readers checking out the series, and on top of that, royalties would increase, both from Amazon, Podium, and The Bookish Shop.

Anywho; you reading anything good? I just started reading the third Bloodwing Academy book! I was bummed that it wasn't on KU, but I managed to find it on Libby.

I am beyond excited to share this book with y'all, and I cannot wait for the day when I can finally release it into the world.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Best,

Luke

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