Alpha readers for Blackcloak sequel wanted (cover art added to OP)

And I was telling my Mrs. that you had written the second book, so she got me a copy (or so she thought) using the link in the OP.
I now have 2 copies of Book 1 :)

"

DoubleU wrote:

And I was telling my Mrs. that you had written the second book, so she got me a copy (or so she thought) using the link in the OP.
I now have 2 copies of Book 1 :)

Oh Im sorry. I will contact you about that soon.

--

Book 3 is already percolating its way through my everyday. I thought it'd be disconnected from 2 but I realise now I put quite a few important pieces into play in b2 that demand elaboration. Otoh some pieces won't get their time until books 5-7...

Any ETA about when the 2nd tome will be on amazon?

@WJC - Must ask as well how is the next book coming along?

Thanks for the interest, friends. Lights a most necessary fire under my butt.

I am pretty happy with the state of book 2 but one alpha reader did point out a few big changes I should make to elevate it from his idea of a 7/10 to an 8 or 9. So those are lingering somewhere between brain and page.

Have to admit I am a little worried how dependent this is on people reading book 1 first. As my initial effort it is rife with newbie mistakes and embarrassing indulgences. Heck, I feel like first person was a mistake to begin with... Which I think is evident in how I framed it: as a sort of third person interrogation. There is a reason it is so popular for YA authors...

I very much look forward to producing books 4+ after which I am ditching the exhausting first person entirely for the more in vogue limited third (just finished reading Expanse which I feel is a masterwork of that mode). But vegies before dessert: book 2 as a first person mirror to book 1, then book 3 as a mixture of memoir and research log.

Book 2 is far too good to abandon or rewrite but it's not quite there yet. Most of the alpha readers dug it but I suspect that came down more to the fact that it was a return to Charan/Vachaelle's world than it being actually good in and of itself.

Also it sure would be nice if people stopped releasing so many good games. My 2023 backlog is years long already!

Oh. As a PS I will almost certainly do a kindle release before physical due to ease of preparation. I fully believe in the necessity and value of physical media (especially books) but confess I am much more apt to read a book digitally first before comitting a copy of it to my shelves.

Some have requested an audiobook but ehhh I am not convinced my style works too well when spoken aloud. Long ago I did narrate all of book 1 for my sig other at the time. Took 20 hours. Was kinda fun but I would never do it again. And getting a pro to do it is just more overhead than it may be worth. I am not doing this for much profit so all expenses have to be justified at least a little.

In this day and age of influencing and hype driving everything I am solidly a hobbyist putting my difficult, demanding stuff on display simply because I can and a few people were interested in it despite it being... Less than user friendly more often than not. That has to suffice.

Oooh kindle release, nice!
Mrs. is a Librarian so that means I have free access to a kindle reader.
Looking forward to it WJC.

Admittedly, I did print out what you sent me last time as I love having a book (or in that case a binder) in hand when I read.

Still waiting for that copy you were meant to send me to sign. :p

Funny thing about drafts: I typically dont keep them as separate files. This prevents me from moments of weakness and putting back things I removed. So the only people who have possible copies of my longer or pre-tuned work are early readers. Somewhere in the world, the Netherlands I believe, there is a version of Blackcloak that is roughly 50 pages longer than any other... And I can't for the life of me remember what they could possibly have on them.

Book 2 is really different -- the first draft was so much more ruthlessly written and kept to a strict word limit. This means when I have to add something - - and I suspect I will need to in order to do certain supporting characters justice - - it won't create a bloated mess. Much easier to add than to take away!

"

wjameschan wrote:

Still waiting for that copy you were meant to send me to sign. :p

I literally found it this morning after I posted, I will get on that!