I just got word that Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock was chosen as one of the best books of the month for December on Manybooks.net. And I’ve been notified that Book 4: The Witch made the “hot list” of the most anticipated upcoming new releases at Kobo. 
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Bragging Rights
Filed under Books and Readers
One Month Out: What’s Next?
Can it really be true? After planning this, for so long?
Waterspell Book 4: The Witch releases on February 18 in print, and in all ebook formats. It’s up everywhere, available now for pre-order from nearly any bookseller.
After a frantic two weeks in early January, setting up Book 4 for pre-release, then updating each ebook in the original trilogy to reference Book 4, and also refreshing the print editions of each book to ensure consistency across the Waterspell universe, I feel like I’ve been running a months-long marathon that, at the end, turned into a sprint. And the sprint ended as abruptly as if the finish line materialized out of thin air: one minute, I couldn’t even see it; the next second, I had crossed it. Every item on The Plan was checked off. I was done.
With Book 4, anyway.
Next Up: The Complete Series
As in: both boxed set(s):
Next will come the boxed ebook set. I’m thinking an April release for this, supported (perhaps) by a Goodreads Giveaway and a $50 NetGalley listing. Perhaps also with a Written Word Media promotion, although they are pricey.
Then, after the boxed ebook set is published everywhere and (hopefully) attracting notice, I can give my full attention to the boxed audiobook set.
Audio work is well under way, with the complete series now in the capable hands of an experienced, professional narrator. I’m delighted with his ongoing progress on what will be a 50-finished-hour project.
Looking into my immediate future, I feel almost relaxed. The sprint is over. The marathon continues, because marketing is an endless marathon. But compared with the frantic pace of the past few weeks and months, releasing and promoting the two boxed sets in Spring 2022 will be a leisurely stroll along an otherworldly shoreline. A stroll I’ll be happy to take … and happy to finally finish.
Birth of a Book: Waterspell 4
Intense! The first four days of January 2022 were intense. I’ve been glued to the computer, shepherding Waterspell Book 4: The Witch into the catalogs of every major bookseller, and several less-famous stores, too.
It’s been extremely gratifying, seeing the book appear in store after store. There’s now a Universal Book Link (UBL) that takes readers to their preferred bookseller. Book 4 has a page at Goodreads now, too.
What’s next? I still need to flesh out the book’s detailed listing at Amazon, as soon as Author Central will let me. And I’m waiting on the printers to send me a proof of the paperback edition.
Once the Book 4 paperback is proofed and ready to print, I’ll begin the process of updating each of the earlier paperbacks with a repaginated interior. Printing and shipping costs being so high these days, I took the opportunity to make a handful of minor text edits to the existing paperbacks, while also repaginating them to slightly reduce the page count of each. It may not make a great difference in printing/shipping expenses, but the end-of-line hyphenation definitely looks better in the repaginated editions.
Also in the near future, I’ll be scheduling a new promotion at BookRaid. I’ve already got a one-day ad scheduled for The Fussy Librarian, for January 18.
Happily, though, Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock continues to rank quite high in its category at Amazon: #49 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction, #82 in Epic Fantasy, and #85 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy. It’s building momentum, which I hope will carry readers through the entire series, drawing them in due course into the finale, Waterspell Book 4: The Witch.
Now, I think I’ve earned myself a nap. Followed by an online grocery-shop. I’ve been too busy to bother with mundane things like trips to the supermarket or the post office or the gas station. Book publishing takes tremendous amounts of time and effort! #ifyouknowyouknow
