Warning: This contains no story content! This is a chapter rely containing so thanks, announcents and information about the series going forward. There is also a tl;dr at the very end if you just want the general gist of things.
THANK YOU
First off, I want to thank everyone for reading, and special thanks to the people who comnted and pointed out errors so I could clean them up. I really don't know why google doc's spellcheck didn't pick up on so of those. I never expected to make it onto Rising Stars, and I am very happy that I did, and that I got a bunch of new readers.
Also, if you read this story and enjoyed it, please, give a follow, a favorite, a rating (or even better a review), or best of all, tell people about it! There does seem to be an audience for this sort of story on Royal Road, but I think it's safe to say that it gets less word of mouth than other genres like litrpg. So I make a humble request: if you can - if you think you know soone, or a community, that might like this story, tell them about it. When people hear about this story from actual readers, it's so much more aningful than if I go out and promote it myself. I do have a patreon as well, but it's purely a tip jar right now. Tips would be appreciated, but just so you know, it is just tips.
Also please, participate in the poll! I'd like to get an idea where people are coming from.
Alright, that's enough nagging. Here's a question:
What do you want?
As a reader, what would you like to see? (Other than more story). I know so authors try to make a community around their works. Would you guys want a discord where you could discuss things? (I don't use discord a whole lot, but I could look into it if people are interested). I know I don't interact in the comnts a whole lot, but that's because I don't want to offer definitive answers to speculation and questions there - part of the joy of reading a book (at least for ) is puzzling things out, and having a word of god answer for everything would detract from that fun. As for extra stuff, I'm probably going to add a glossary to this, and I was thinking of occasionally writing (short) stories or fables that canonically appear in-universe - like the tales of Vereline Valoir that Elyse is so fond of.
And dream big! It doesn't have to be realistic. Would you like to see a webcomic adaptation? A conceptual instruntal mood album? A bestiary of creatures? A cartoon or ani adaptation? A feature-length film that reimagines Martios as a futuristic super solder that dual-wields laser pistols? The sky's the limit.
Okay, now for so rambling:
HOW I WRITE
In case you're new and you didn't know, this story is actually a rewrite of an original draft I wrote 3 years ago. Well, more specifically, what you have seen so far is a rewrite of the first arc in that draft that massively expanded it from 30k words to the 180k word book that you see here now.
The original draft does have two other arcs that have not been rewritten yet. They are probably going to be much less of a rewriting project than the first arc was, because they actually have so at to them. (Again, the first arc was originally 30k words, while the other two arcs were around 150k ).
However, I really recomnd against reading the draft.
You see, when I wrote the draft, I wrote it the way many fictions on this site are written: Releasing chapters as I wrote them. As a web serial, essentially. But by the ti I reached the end of the third arc, I was extrely dissatisfied with what I had written. Readers didn't seem to think it was too bad, but releasing chapters week by week influenced the story I wanted to tell. It locked
into decisions I wanted to go back and reconsider. In so parts, there were details I wanted to go and add in, but I couldn't because the chapter had already been released. At tis, I felt myself bending the plot of a chapter in ways I really didn't like just so I'd have stuff to release. (Trying to wrap up a chapter in 5000 words, for example, when it really deserved more).
It all added up to a draft that I really didn't like by the end of the third arc, though it certainly had its fans. At the end, I was torn between wanting to go back and imdiately start a rewrite and wanting to go on to the next part of the story (but building the future arcs on what I considered a very shaky foundation). In the end, torn between these two, and in a very intellectually demanding job, I just simply didn't have the ntal energy to write and I abandoned the story for a few years.
In fact, I remained torn between wanting to move on to the next arcs and wanting to do a rewrite up until relatively recently. There was sothing that made
want to really commit to just doing a rewrite, though, so I did.
This ti, I did it differently, though. This ti, I wrote it not like a web serial, but like a book. What that ans is I had the entire thing written before I even posted the first chapter (though I did give it more touch ups than I thought I would while releasing it).
And really, I liked writing this like a book way more than as a web serial. I am much, much more satisfied with this now than I was with the original. And going by the reception, it seems to
that people like it much more than the original as well, which I'm very happy about. So I think from now on, that's how I'm going to write entries in this series; an entire book at once, and not worrying about making the chapters conform to sothing that would be beneficial to a weekly schedule.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I still consider this a draft. I want this story to be the best it can be. But it's now a draft that's much, much closer to the final product than the original draft was.
And again - I really, really, really recomnd against reading the original draft if you haven't. There really has been a lot that's changed, a lot more detail added in, so plot elents will be taken out - you will be reading an inferior version of the story and possibly spoiling yourself. (Sorry original readers)! In fact, very likely I'll eventually take that rough draft down (If for no other reason that it's currently confusing for people who are trying to find this story).
THE FUTURE
What was it that changed recently that made
commit to this rewrite? Well, it's easy. So of you already know this. I lost my very intellectually demanding job not that long ago, and simultaneously needed to find a new place to live.
It was a very hectic ti where I was desperately trying to find a new job and work as much as possible so I could save up money to move. At the sa ti, I had all this ntal energy now and I imdiately wanted to use it for writing. At first I was trying to get back into the groove after years of neglect with a new story (City of the Lost), but there was sothing that changed my mind.
See, when I was desperate for money, I actually submitted Wander West, In Shadow to a bunch of publishers. I didn't think any of them would be interested, I was just sort of doing anything I could to try and get so cash.
Well, so of them were interested.
By the ti they got back to , I was already more financially stable (though again, tips are welco!) But it did make
realize that wait, people actually will be interested in buying my books. Of course, I was so dissatisfied with it at that point, I had to do a rewrite if it was going to be published.
So that's what I did. I started the rewrite soti in September and finished it soti in November, and I included a bunch of the ideas that I had but which I hadn't included in the original draft. (For new readers, just to give so perspective: David wasn't even in the original draft. At all.)
So where do things stand now? I have so offers from publishers, though I haven't settled on one yet. (And if you are a publisher and you're interested, feel free to reach out). But look, the long and short of it is this:
I'm not rich. If I was rich, I wouldn't even bother with a patreon tip jar. I would release all my content for free. But I'm not, and the ti I spend on this hobby is quite significant. I actually took ti off in November, from my new job, just so I could really push myself to write between 5-8k words a day and finish up the story. The reality is if I'm going to spend this much ti and this much effort on it, I need to make money off of it. And the more money I make off of it, the more I can spend ti writing, and the more of it people will get.
SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL AN FOR YOU?
It ans two big things.
First of all, I will not be releasing the rewrite of the next arc until it's totally done (or very nearly totally done), and it's not right now. In fact, I've barely started on the rewrite of the second arc yet. (I essentially wrote this whole new 180k word book in two and a half months and really pushed myself towards the end while simultaneously working a whole lot and finding a new apartnt, and I really needed so ti to destress after it was done). So, for now, other than so side content like a glossary or so occasional short stories and maybe
commissioning so art, this is it. I don't know how long the rewrite of the other arcs will take , but again, I do think they'll be much less involved than the rewrite of this one was.
Second, I will be trying to monetize this sohow. I'm aiming to get published. But even if I don't go with any publisher, when new content shows up, I'll put so of it behind a patreon tier. Maybe give a free sample of the first 5-10 chapters, and then put the rest behind patreon. Though, again, I am aiming to get published.
Final words
This series will change over ti.
Martios and Elyse are young, and as they journey, they will grow more powerful in the Art. They'll beco more confident in standing their ground. That inevitably ans that the tone of the story will change, sowhat. In this entry, basically every enemy they ca across, they tried to avoid fighting sohow, and when they could not avoid it they ca very close to death. In the future, as they grow, this will not be the case.
I think that I can anticipate that probably so people will not like the gradual changes. So people probably appreciate this story exactly because how powerless the protagonists feel so often, and so part of that will be lost as they change. This is a series that will grow along with the characters in it. However, the one thing that I hope I am consistent in communicating is that the world that Martios and Elyse live in is one of terrible darkness but also great beauty. I hope I communicated that well enough here. Sotis my work gets described as grimdark, but that's never what I've been aiming for.
Anyway I'll stop rambling on. I wanted to thank you again, sincerely, for coming along on the journey so far, even if you don't make it all the way through. I hope I'll see you again in the future. If you have any questions, I'll answer them in the comnts here.
TL;DR
Don't expect new content right away, because I want to write the entire next book before I release it (which is what I did for this one). And do expect that I am going to try to monetize this sohow, because people have shown interest in doing audiobooks and print books of this. I'm sorry, but I need to pay rent, and the more money I can make off this, the more content I can actually pump out.
But again, thank you, thank you, thank you for reading. I'm really glad that so many people have enjoyed it.
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