Writing Update: November 2021

Hello, December! Is anyone else ready for Christmas? New Year's? 2022?

THE RISING ELEMENTS RELEASE DATE??

March seems like forever away, but it will be here before we know it. My to-do list is a mile long! Speaking of Rising Elements, I have to confess something...

I made a mistake.

If you've been following my on social media or my newsletter, you know I went to the 20Books conference for independent authors in Las Vegas last month. It was life-changing! I learned so much about the publishing industry, met some amazing powerhouse authors, and came away with so many ideas to level up my business.

Of the things I learned, the most important was about branding my book to the appropriate market. After a particularly informative session, I decided to do some market research in the YA fantasy genre, and I discovered something huge. Well, 2 things.

First, another author published a book with my exact same title in my exact same genre in September. (Wahhhh!) And secondly, my cover is not to market.

I repeat: my cover is not to market.

This is super important, because if my cover doesn't match the market, many readers won't even click on it to learn more about it.

Soooooo I went back to the drawing board and worked with my cover designer to redesign my covers for the entire series. AND I brainstormed some new titles for the books within the series.

Lo and behold, I'm rebranding the entire series only a few weeks after I did my cover and title reveal. *face palm*

Want to see the new cover? Say no more! I'll share it below. :)

CURRENT WORD COUNT

Current word count: 52,661

Target word count: 65,000

As you'll probably notice, I lowered my target word count to 65,000. I've decided to make a more realistic goal for my genre and my story. I want to stay true to my storytelling style and avoid adding words for the sake of reaching a word count goal. This feels more true to me as an author! Plus, this means you'll be able to finish the book in one day, which is so satisfying!

WRITING THOUGHTS

Okay, you've waited long enough. Are you ready for the new cover? And the new title?

Here it is!

Say hello (again) to the first book in the Rising Elements series... SPARKS AND SHADOW.

I gotta say, I loved my old cover and title, but this new one is growing on me. The cover truly matches the market and I feel like the title pops more.

What do you think? Is this a book you'd click on to learn more about it? Let me know in the comments below!

One lesson I've learned this month is that I have so much more to learn about the publishing industry (as if I didn't know that already, right?). I truly didn't know what I didn't know. And while there's even more to learn, I'm confident that I'm taking the right steps forward.

Next step? Get the book back from my editor, do one final edit, and GET IT READY TO PUBLISH.

Bring it on, 2022. I'm ready for you!