(TLDR: I wrote a book pre-Vixen, it was bad. The self-published world is HARD, Vixen 2 release date, pre-order and deals at the bottom)
It's January.
My perception of time has absolutely vanished. I had a Snapchat memory pop up of me sitting down to write my first book back in 2021 during lockdown.
Two years later, I have released two books and made over 100 sales, and seeing new readers on Kindle Unlimited who like to flirt with my world on the weekends. Tiny milestones, I know, but I've got to crawl before I can waddle.
The book in question—not Vixen, believe it or not—was an awakening in my desire to write. Yes, I had been on and off writing and dropping ideas for the other 24 years of my life, but (Let's just call it "Iron") writing Iron was the first time I managed to type "The End."
It. Was. Terrible.
As all first attempts go, Iron was a wet sock in a dry shoe. She was clunky, the plot upped and dropped beats and ideas randomly and with every chapter I had planned, I ended up writing 3 more that were not.
By the time my characters had overcome evil, ventured half a world away and were ready for that next step, my notes, and ideas had accumulated to a number of 8 follow-up books. 4 spin-offs, 3 prequels and a legacy series…
Every indie-fantasy author I know has this problem. Every idea must be a trilogy and a series. It must compare to The Hunger Games Harry Potter or The Storm Light Archives because that is what we love.
Unfortunately, we are not all Brandon Sanderson and the world does not show love for indie books that much.
When I sat down and looked at the indie author sphere, its rate of success and open readers: I found that when you write a series, on release, the second book will ALWAYS underperform from the first. Not every reader will pick up that second book.
Yes, there will be some who will see the traction and buy both, or when people start to read and review the second it will inspire more readers to try your book, but it will be a slow burn.
And that's okay.
So when I wrote Vixen, I tried my hardest to reel in this trilogy idea and stick to a standalone book. And I failed. Though I no longer had a spreadsheet of 18 ongoing projects, timelines, and character maps, I did have a single cohesive story that I wanted to share.
I am now coming to Vixen II's release, and so my fear of 2021 has become all too real. So, with some clever marketing and a big push, I should be able to gather some momentum for the penultimate book in Vixen's story.
Where Vixen I was in the wild and dying autumn forest, she now finds herself in the dusty halls of The Sanctum. A university of magic, where she must fight for her right to survive. Vixen still strives for a cure to her curse and hopes that with her new friends, she can cling to her humanity long enough to find one… but when something dark hunts her from the shadows, craving her blood, Vixen must solve a mystery that puts the school itself in danger.
Vixen II: Ink and Ichor will be released on February 15th 2024. (Pre-orders up soon)
And for those who have not read Vixen 1, you can get it for free next week (Jan 15th-22nd) on Amazon or read it on Kindle Unlimited.
Alternatively, if you buy ANY paperback book through my website, you will get a 50% off code for Vixen II when it is released! Sounds like a great deal to me.
Thanks for reading and STAY CLASSY!
— TAH
Comentarios