Time to twiddle my thumbs and wait around now for links to populate and then to send out ARC copies, but…
The ebook is now available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and multiple other retailers. More are populating as we read.
And honestly…
The entire process of writing and editing and preparing a novel felt so fast. I started writing in June and it is now 29 Aug and I can officially sat that it is ready.
Here’s a quick summary of my progress:
1-29 Jun: Drafting the first iteration - finished at 41,718 words
7-24 Jul: First set of major edits - finished at 44,893 words
24-26 Aug: Implementing beta read edits - finished at 52,813 words
27-28 Aug: Line edits and fixing plot holes - finished at 50,161 words
28 Aug: Formatted and created my code - the ARC is ready!
Yes… I took a longer break than intended in Aug, but I am happy I did and I am proud of what I did.
Mostly, I am proud of myself of sitting through and listening to the entire thing, even though I was so sick of it by this point. Listening not only caught a lot of mistakes that editors didn’t catch but it also helped me catch 2 plot holes and come up with a brand new ending.
Speaking of editors: this is what Word Editor and PWA told me my scores were before I started line edits. Not too bad :D
(For anybody that doesn’t know this trick - turn off spell-checker when writing. Personally, it helps me write faster without focusing on those horrible red and blue underlines and it makes for some hilarious spelling mistakes when it gets time to edit. Though, in my defence, 581 of those spelling mistakes were Aurel’s name.)
Biggest changes between the version on here and the ARC?
The entire first chapter is different. I needed to get more into Jun’s mindset on crossing the boundary and less into her being a taste-tester and reminiscing the old days.
Changed up a lot in the dungeon scene, because that was one of the plot holes that really bothered me (only once I noticed it!).
Added more interactions with the sage.
Changing the ending a lot. Practically a re-write, though I did use the same language and elements from the original one, but I wasn’t a fan of my first (or second, or third!) ending.
Bragging rights!
And lastly, a tiny little brag because I am so proud of myself for figuring this out! I was able to turn my little scene break separators into SVG files that change colours with the text depending on the theme!
I know there are probably still issues, not all ereader apps like the extra code, but I think it’s much better to have a blank space as a scene break than to have a giant white block with a black graphic on it (for dark mode readers like myself).