What have I done this month?

Revisions, revisions, revisions. They’re never ending & being a bit of a perfectionist with my writing doesn’t help. As of mid-april (how is it already this late in the month) I have 6 chapters left to rewrite!

I sent my novel to my first editor at the start of the month. Alex is giving general developmental feedback. This is an edit which revolves around the big picture and consistency in the characters & plot. Similar to beta reading, but more detailed. 

We have our first piece of official art in the works! Bluvikk is designing a sticker for us! All physical preorders made through Kickstarter & my personal website shop will receive this sticker as a free goodie. There will be more information on preorders in the upcoming months, but here is a WIP glimpse at the sticker.

What’s up next?

Once I finish the last 6 chapters (I’m aiming to finish for this weekend), I will be posting a public sign up form for beta and/or ARC reading. Beta reading will take 3 weeks, starting in the last week of April.

If you haven’t signed up yet but are interest, here’s the link.

While the novel is in your hands, I will be busy working on the developmental edits and your feedback as it comes in. This round of revisions will be a lot faster since I am not rewriting the entire novel, but making changes sporadically.

Once that round of revisions is done, my novel gets fully yanked from my hands and gets placed in Shannons. As one of my long term writing friends, I trust Shan wholeheartedly with the copy edits and proofreading of my novel.

Unable to tinker away with editing, I’ll be shifting my focus to launching the novel. Picking an official release date, organizing preorders and kickstarters, ordering physical copies of the novel and annoying everyone on social media. This will also be the point where you start seeing more quotes & excerpts from the semi-polished draft.

Let me introduce Enchanted Pages Public Relations group! One of my friends, Megan @Iloveromantasy, started this PR group with the goal to support indie authors and small bookish businesses while building a wonderful community of book lovers.

The authors who have reached out to our group have been incredible, appreciative, and their stories deserve to be heard. ❤️ Let’s spread the word and show them some love!

What does this mean for me? A steady resource for receiving ARC (advanced reader copies) of indie authors. This week I’ve been religiously checking the post office waiting for my next book to arrive. On Instagram and Tiktok, I will be promoting other indie authors and hopefully striking some meaningful connections with you guys – romantasy lovers.

Now what you’re all here for…

The first picture isn’t incredibly clear, because it is a screenshot of the pdf :’) STILL I hope you love it as much as I do ❤

Indi @indicreates exceeded my expectations and thank you to one of my best friends, Cassidy, for spending an evening doing the typography for me. Also a special shout out to Marg, my friends roommate, who over-analyzed the back cover blurb with me over lavender lattes at her favourite coffee shop.

I’m absolutely blown away with how many people are in my corner and involved with this release. I don’t think anyone realizes how sudden the decision to publish this novel was. Aside from the original idea brewing in my mind, I only wrote the novel in January and I’ve been blindly running towards my goals. But with the help of everyone who has taken a look at this story and believed in me, I’ve been able to keep my head on my shoulders and keep pushing on.

This is getting scary real, scary fast and I’m loving every moment of it.

Love,

Lauren