Progress: June 2026
Been a busy first month.... marketing, editing, reading, meeting and writing!
6/6/20263 min read
Hello everyone, so blog post 2 here of progress and thoughts, and a lot has happened in May.
To start, there was the launch of Instagram and TikTok. I will admit, I was a little apprehensive at first, putting myself out there, not fully knowing what reaction I would receive. But the support from friends in my daily life and online has been amazing! There has been some growth, which hopefully continues, in interacting with others who also have a love of fantasy books or books in general. I am still learning about what seems to get the most interactions, and my marketing is still yet to begin in August, later in the editing stage, but just being out there and having these interactions has been a joy!
Secondly, the writing and editing process. In May, I hired a Developmental editor who will help me work on the story itself, character voice, and the book itself. For any author reading this, I found Reedsy was a great place, where you can also research the editor, looking at their portfolios and analysing their Goodreads, and it has such an easy interface. I am very excited about the editor who's working on the book, and for 'The Shroud of the Tower' (current title of debut) to take one step closer to publication. I should receive feedback by mid-August, and from there, I will assess how long for the appropriate edits to take place (1-4 months, hopefully) before going to copy editing and contacting a graphic designer for the map and book cover. Whilst this has been going on, the second book of the duology, I've done extensive rewrites to get a working first draft for beta-readers to give me feedback on!
I have also had the pleasure of watching Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie give a talk at Waterstones (online), focusing on Brandon's work, advice and so on. These two are amongst my favourite fantasy authors, whose books inspired and improved my own writing. Again for any writers out there, I would encourage watching Brandon Sanderson's lectures on fantasy writing on YouTube! Before I started this blog, I also attended a talk by Samantha Shannon and Saara El-Arifi, from whom I also learnt so much and great to hear all these authors' journeys, quirks, humours and advice. I would recommend that any writer have a look at these author talks, often hosted by Waterstones, to see them and even ask questions!
I've also connected and had meetings with other self-published authors. Writing can often be seen as a lonely profession or hobby, but on the contrary, I have found the opposite. Each writer I have met is incredibly supportive and willing to give their advice and share their passion with others. Social media has given us the power to connect via Instagram, LinkedIn, and elsewhere - and I've found it to be a powerful tool. I've also managed to keep up with one of my writing groups, filled with super-talented writers!
Finally, reading. I have managed to read 4 books in this time (all I highly recommend) - The Book of Fallen Leaves by A. S Tamaki, Red Rising by Pierce Brown, White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (short read) and a non-ficiton history in Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire by Eve MacDonald (Deffo not research for a potential new civilisation in a second trilogy... but I do also love Carthage since my Rome Total War days and the fact Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants. However, there is much more to this civilisation which the Romans tried to wipe off the face of the earth and ridicule, wrongly). My next read is Golden Son by Pierce Brown, the sequel to Red Rising. After, if anyone wants to suggest any, please let me know.
Been a bit of a long one, but thank you all and will report in a month!