I get to blend a little family and writing in this week's update, something only possible at a book launch party. Here's a pic of me with my super-daughters (cake half gone).

Now a smorgasbord of old friends and family, and new friends... plus cake and other silliness. It won't let me caption the pics individually, but having friends, family, neighbors, other writers come out and talk, chill, and celebrate with me was a blast. (My wife is the short, cute one in the blue sweater with white stripes).

I wish I could say getting the book launch out of the way freed up more time to write. But there's a belief that the first 30 days of a book release have a strong influence on Amazon's algorithm for displaying your book during future searches. So I'm leaning into advertising for Mother of Trees for the month.

Frankly, it isn’t going as well as I'd hoped. I think the plethora of fantasy writers who have left a series unfinished have deterred people from buying a series until it is complete. I’ve read several authors' updates saying they’ve shortened their intended stories in order to prove the series will finish. Anyway, friends rallied to push Mother of Trees into the top 100 in Amazon's "Dragon and other Mystical Creatures" category, but there was a strange lag going on that showed many of the purchases as delayed on the Amazon side, so instead of a surge, we created a slow smear of purchases. Unfortunately, that doesn't move the needle much in terms of ranking, as Amazon rewards spikes. I REALLY appreciate the support though. I would rather shoot and miss than not try.

One of the few good things about the early days of growing an audience is that the percent changes can be huge. If judged by my newsletter, my audience has skyrocketed: I'm up to about 150 from 100 subscribers since October. You should have bought stock in me in October and made 50%! 🤣🤓

So the real question: where am I with the next book? It’s carrying about 35,000 words right now. The book after has about 16,000 words. The skeleton is there… it’s missing connective tissue, a few vital organs 😬, and the things you prefer to see, like… skin. The pacing is still wrong, even after my recent attempts to fix it. That’s a big deal—gotta fix the pacing. Lots of work left. So here’s my question: should I throw bits of future books in my newsletter? Or will that ruin your first legit read?

Example:

“Our fates are intertwined, Illiara.” Felaern’s deadpan voice contradicted his grandiose words. I was grateful I could hide away, at least briefly. Even hearing the conversation overwhelmed me. Couldn’t we just eat in silence? “Elran wants the council seat. He achieves that by discrediting you, Elliah, and by association, me. He takes you down, takes Elliah down, gains the council seat, and we lose.”

“So what if we lose,” my mother said. “High Elves don’t believe in capital punishment. I can wait out a sentence.”

“Conscription,” he said. “You’ll find yourself on the war front, unable to disobey a command. It may not be capital punishment, but it’s a death sentence nonetheless.”

“That’s against the law!” my mother protested.

“It is the law. Things have changed while you were away. Maybe they can’t Coerce Elliah. Her natural resistance might protect her. They definitely couldn’t keep me under. But there are many ways to die.”

You want these glimpses? That whole section could be gone by the time the book is released. Fun to catch a glimpse of, or too spoilery?

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Layten Grayread, a young dreamer who aspires to safeguard the free lands of the North against the threat of Southern magic, discovers that the pursuit of knowledge comes at a heavy cost.

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May you get lost this week in another world.

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Steven J Morris

Newsletter - February 15, 2024

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It's here!

Ten days

Elliah was never meant to carry this.