Now that I’ve published The Shackles of a Mountain Lord (Available now on Amazon!), I’ve got some new projects to focus on.
NaNoWriMo 2024
This year, I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month a little differently than I have in the past. Instead of trying to get 50,000 words in a month, I’m going to aim for 30,000. I’m doing this to give myself a bit of a working break. Shackles was an emotionally exhausting project to work on, so I’m backing off on the word count for a bit. I’m also shifting to a different book, series, and genre by working on my sci-fi story, Torin Keth: Bounty Hunter.
If you’d like to follow along with my progress, click here to check out my Stats page!
Writing Projects 2025 and Beyond
Torin Keth: Hunter’s Redemption–Spring 2025
–I started writing Torin Keth: Bounty Hunter as a web serial on Patreon, but I’ve decided to also publish it as a book on Amazon once it’s finished. You can read the rough drafts on Patreon still, but the final book will most likely look a little different after editing. The Patreon version is more of an interesting in-progress behind-the-scenes first-look experience, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Unnamed Cyberpunk Detective Story–Summer/Fall 2025
–This story has about 20,000 words written so far, and I’m expecting it to be somewhere in the 80-100,000 range.
Unnamed/Undecided Book–Winter 2025
–If I have the time to fit in another book in 2024, I’d like to write either another Torin Keth story or a fantasy story I’ve had rattling around in my brain.
Start work on Realm Wars Book 3– Spring 2026
–As The Realm Wars Chronicles is a long and complex series, I’m planning on alternating between Realm Wars books and smaller series/standalone books. At this point in time, I’m not sure whether the next book in this series will be the third Muspelheim book or the first of the Alfheim books. The first Alfheim book takes place before the events of the third Muspelheim book, so I might write it first.
Social Media, YouTube, and the Blog
I’m becoming more and more jaded as I attempt to wade through the mess of modern marketing and social media. Spending prolifically on ads for social media is the only way for people to know you exist unless you are willing to light your hair on fire on camera. Books on Amazon sink to the bottom of the rankings like bowling balls in the ocean without copious advertising–and I mean thousands of dollars in ad spending per month. It’s a terrible environment for any small business, and worse for relatively new independent writers.
The current state of the marketplace in general and publishing in particular makes it almost impossible for authors to even let people know that our books exist. If no one knows your book exists, it doesn’t matter how good of a story you’ve got. It won’t sell.
My current solution is to pivot back away from social media and towards my blog. Anything that I post on social media like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube will be to support what I do here. If you are interested in hearing what I have to say, please consider subscribing to my newsletter.
Also, I’ll be focusing my efforts on my online store, where you can buy signed books and various merchandise inspired by my stories.
Conclusion
Thanks for dropping by! I hope to have more updates as I go along! I’m excited to continue sharing my stories with you.
