It's Time for a Cover Reveal
April 2025 Newsletter
Hello! As the title says, I have a cover reveal for this month’s newsletter! Now, before anyone gets too excited, it’s not for Wyrmrot (but I do have an update on that). Let’s get into it.
In this month’s issue:
A Cover Reveal
Self-Pub Plan for The Lost Queen aka what I would change about the series before I self-pub
Wyrmrot Update
What I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Playing/Listening To
1. A Cover Reveal
With May Shadows Reign finishing up at the end of May, it was time to commission a cover for book 3. I won’t be sharing the cover on any other platforms until the first chapter goes live at the end of May, but newsletter subscribers get to see it right now.
Ready?
Tada!
And with the two previous books:
All of the covers were commissioned from Get Covers. They are very affordable and easy to work with, and best of all (and most important to me), they don’t use AI.
I’m happy with how these have turned out. They each feature an object and flowers that show up in the book. I think I’ve talked about this in a previous newsletter, but I specifically chose the flowers for their meaning, not just because they look pretty.
There can be many different meanings for flowers (and they even change with color), but these were the ones I went with:
Daisies for purity and innocence, as well as loyalty and friendship.
Hollyhock for ambition and perseverance.
Rhododendron for caution and danger or beware.
2. Self-Pub Plan for The Lost Queen aka what I would change about the series before I self-pub
As I’ve been working on the third book in the series, I’ve been thinking about my plans for when the series ends. I originally started rewriting the series as a way to keep my Wattpad account active while also testing out other serial fiction platforms and a subscription model. Now that I’m two books in, I’m about 95% certain I’m going to fully move all my content to self-pub (and maybe I’ll keep the subscription model for early access to drafts and bonus content, but tbd on that), which means I will be publishing The Lost Queen.
And that means doing another rewrite.
I know. I know. I’m almost to the end of rewriting the series, and I’m already planning to rewrite it again. I’m tired just thinking about it, but I feel it must be done to give this series its best life in a new format.
Let’s talk about some of the changes I’d make:
1. Aging up the characters/books
Right now, TLQ is written for a young adult audience. Some of the characters are in their early 20s, and some are teens. I think the voice of the series leans YA, and while YA used to be the big seller, it isn’t so much anymore. In particular, in the self-publishing space, it is my impression that YA is harder to sell (guess I’ll find out when I publish Wyrmrot). Due to this, I would age up the younger characters and change the voice to fit a New Adult/Adult audience. Romantasy is very popular right now, and I think TLQ could be a good fit for that audience.
2. Changing some plot lines
With aging up the characters, I’d need to change some of the plot lines. In particular, I would get rid of the adopted sister plotline, which, if you’ve been reading the series, you know it is a large part of the story and will require changing a lot of other things. Another big reason I’d want to do this (besides just aging up the story) is because if you’ve read both Wyrmrot and The Lost Queen, you know they have similar storylines with an older sibling searching for a younger sibling, etc. I’d like to differentiate them at least a little so it doesn’t feel so much like you’re reading the same story, but this time set in a high fantasy world.
3. Changing character names/new book titles
When I originally named some of the characters, I didn’t take into account that having the same starting letter for several names was going to be confusing for readers. For example, we have Seraiah and Sterling and Kestrel and Kai, so some of them will have to change. Kai has also become a popular name in recent years, and I’d like to avoid comparisons to those well-known books. As much as I love Kaimana (Kai for short) for its meaning of sea magic, I think it has to go.
Along those same lines, I’d change the title of the first book (and maybe the others as well). The Lost Queen is a pretty common title. If you google it, you’ll see several pop up, including another one that’s about to be published in early May, and those are just the trad published ones. There are even more that come up if you search on Amazon. While it is difficult to have a completely unique title with how many books are published every day, I would like my book to be slightly easier to find, and therefore, I must come up with a new title (and while I’m at it a series title as well. Have I mentioned I hate coming up with titles?)
Those are all the changes I can think of right now, but I’m sure there will be more. First, I have to finish this rewrite for my serial platforms, and then I’ll start back at the beginning again.
3. Wyrmrot Update
I have seen an update on the cover. It is beautiful, and I love all the details the artist managed to work in for the characters. I can’t wait to share it with all of you when it is complete.
As far as release date goes, I’m thinking late August/early September with Symbiosis (aka the sequel) to follow in November. I would love to publish them close together, but we’ll have to see how the schedule works out.
4. What I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Playing/Listening To
Reading
In April, I finished reading three books: Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist. I’m currently reading The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten (I adore this series) and The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (yes, one day I will finish The Wheel of Time, I swear).
Watching
April was the start of the spring season for anime, so I’ve picked up some new ones to watch. I’ve been enjoying Windbreaker, The Apothecary Diaries, Lazarus, Witch Watch, and The Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl. I’m always open to new suggestions, so if there are any you are watching and loving, please share.
Playing
A new section for this newsletter! Since I’ve been playing a lot of video games lately, I thought I might as well share them. The current three I’ve been bouncing between are Stardew Valley, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, and Last Epoch. One for each of my favorite game genres. Stardew Valley is a cozy farming sim where I’m doing a modded playthrough. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is an open-world survival that just released in early access this month, and Last Epoch is an ARPG that released a new season this month.
Listening
I’m once again back to listening to random ambiances that YouTube recommends for some background noise while I write. If anyone has any recommendations for great ones, I’d love to hear them.
And that’s all for this month. See you in May!
Gorgeous covers! Sad to hear the books will be rewritten because they're amazing as-is, but I understand how the market keeps on changing. Good luck with the manuscript and title changes 😊