Yes, I'm Alive. No, I Haven't Published My Book Yet (But I'm Trying)
The November 2024 Update
Hi! It’s been a while. I realize that back in January I said I would be doing seasonal newsletters. Then life happened, and now it’s somehow November (where does the time go?). Grab a beverage, and let’s catch up.
Since it’s been so long since you last heard from me and there are some new faces around (welcome!), I thought I would reintroduce myself. I’m Stephanie, and I write under the pen name, Stephanie Saige. You likely found me either through my fantasy series, The Lost Queen, or my dragon+zombie book, Wyrmrot. (And if you aren’t familiar with either of those, how did you find me?) This newsletter is typically where I share updates on my work, talk about writing, and share what I’m currently reading.
What’s in this issue:
Wyrmrot Publishing Update
Serial fiction update
What I’m Reading/Watching/Listening
The Wyrmrot Update: The Self-Publishing Journey
I finished up self-edits on Wyrmrot several months ago (if you are interested in my self-edit process, let me know and I can talk about it in a future newsletter), and then started looking into editors. For those unfamiliar there are different types of editing one might need for their book:
Developmental editing- looks at story structure
Line editing- looks at sentence structure, word choice, and flow
Copyediting- the grammar edit
Proofreading- the final check for errors
That’s a very simplified explanation, but you get the rough idea.
If you are self-publishing, it will be up to you to decide which types of edits (if any) that your book needs. Obviously, it would be best to get all of them, but editing can be expensive, so sometimes you have to pick and choose based on your budget. Editors typically charge based on word count with developmental being the most expensive and proofreading being the least expensive.
Right now, Wyrmrot is getting a developmental and a line edit. I should get it back at the end of November, and then it will be time get to work making all the changes needed. Since this is my first time working with an editor, I’m not sure how much work I will have ahead of me (I imagine it will be a lot), so I haven’t scheduled copyedits or a proofread yet. Those will be next on the list.
Something to note when scheduling editors is that depending on the editor, they can book many months or even a year ahead. To give you an idea, I scheduled Wyrmrot’s developmental edit back in July, and my editor started working on it November 1st. While I’m learning to do all the things with this first book, I’m not on a tight schedule, but this is something to keep in mind if you have a set publication date you want.
Besides booking an editor for Wyrmrot, I also booked my cover artist. I’m so excited for this one because I’ll be working with one of my dream artists. Like with editing, cover designers can book months in advance. The artist I’m working with was booking five months out at the time that I had contacted him. This is another thing to keep in mind if you are on a tight schedule.
I’ll be working with my cover artist in December, and hopefully in the new year, I’ll have a cover to share with you. Newsletter subscribers will, of course, be the first ones to see it.
The Serial Fiction Update (The Lost Queen)
In my last newsletter, The Lost Queen was still in the process of being serialized across four free platforms and two subscription platforms. I had pulled back from two updates a week and dropped to a weekly schedule.
Since then, The Lost Queen has finished serializing. Here’s some stats:
Started: Sept. 5th 2023
Completed: May 31st 2024
Total chapter count: 57
Total word count: 106,359
Total Read Counts (on day of completion):
Royal Road: 4717
Tapas: 827
Inkitt: 2004
On the same day the last chapter of The Lost Queen posted, I also posted the first chapter of May Shadows Reign. I’ve kept the same once weekly update schedule for free platforms while my subscription platforms (Inkitt and Ream) receive two updates a week. This means at the time of this newsletter May Shadows Reign is about half done posting for free readers, and will be completed for subscribers on Dec. 3rd.
Speaking of subscribers, if you are interested in early access to May Shadows Reign or any of the bonus content for the series, exclusive short stories and novel (Snowflakes on Saguaros) that are available on my subscription platforms, you’ll want to join before December 9th. On December 9th, I’ll be pausing the subscriptions until it is time for the third book in the series, which means no new subs will be able to join. Anyone who is subscribed when I pause will retain access to all content, but will not be charged monthly for it. If you are interested, you can pick your favorite platform (both have the same subscription content):
What I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening
I feel like I’ve read quite a bit this year. According to my Goodreads, I’ve read 76 books so far and that doesn’t include the manga. I won’t list every book (you can go poke around my goodreads page if you really want to know), but I’ll share a few of my favorites.
To no one’s surprise, they are all some flavor of fantasy. What are some of your favorite book you’ve read this year? I’m always looking for more to add to my TBR pile, so share them with me in the comments.
As far as what I’ve been watching recently, its not much but it is all anime. I’m currently keeping up with Dandadan2, Shangri-La Frontier, Bleach, and Tower of God.
For listening, I need some recommendations. Please share your favorite podcasts and songs because these days I’ve been listening to white noise rain sounds, and I need something else.
And that’s all from me this time. Hopefully, I’ll be back next month with more updates.
This number includes the reads from previous versions of the book. The number of reads gained during the time period the new draft was posting is 16,974.
I binge read the manga for this in two days. It has the cutest romance. 10/10 recommend.