After two years of writing, and a lot of procrastination, my first official fantasy book, Kingmaker, will be available in the coming week or so. Although this is technically my second self-published book, I think of it as my first using my creativity instead of an autobiography.

Kingmaker is the first in a series of four, though, I am thinking about expanding the third book into two parts. What can I say other than there was just so much more to the story that it wouldn’t fit in one book?

I know some experts say you shouldn’t tackle a series as your debut novel. But I know that I wouldn’t be able to do this series justice if I tried to cram it into 85,000+ words.

Not to mention that I am a firm believer in writing the story you want to tell. And I wanted to tell this one.

Why Did It Take So Long to Self-Publish?

First, I’m not the kind of person who will use artificial intelligence to write anything I create. In fact, if you use AI to complete any part of your story, you’re not a writer, in my opinion. You’re a prompt jockey.

People want to connect with the author on a personal level. They want to appreciate your creativity and personality. They won’t get that by letting a bot write your manuscript.

That’s aside from the fact that it’s just lazy writing.

Secondly, I am always busy with one project or another. Between having clients, blogs, and YouTube channels, my time is at a premium.

This means I need to try to prioritize what needs to be completed first on any given day. Sometimes, that means I have to put my book on the back burner.

You should never sacrifice a paycheck for hopes and dreams, especially if you have credit cards and a mortgage to pay.

Lastly, I have to admit that I wasted quite a bit of time over the past couple of years. I know no one wants to admit that, especially on a public forum. But the truth of the matter is that many of us simply waste time instead of being productive.

YouTube, social media, binge-watching Star Trek…we all have things that take time away from what we’d like to accomplish. The trick is to recognize those time sinks and do something about them.

That is as long as you truly want to write that blog post or finish that manuscript you’ve been working on for the past decade.

Or, perhaps you want it, but just not bad enough to do anything about it.

What Are My Hopes for Kingmaker?

I had a lot of fun writing this book, and I often find myself more engrossed with the story despite trying to focus on editing and proofreading. It’s definitely one of the best things I’ve written so far, and I’m looking forward to what I can do next.

Still, I do have a few hopes and dreams for Kingmaker. However, they’re probably not what you think.

Learning More About Self-Publishing

There is always something new to learn about publishing in any capacity. To believe that you simply “know enough” is awfully arrogant.

My first book, A Freelancer’s Tale, opened the doors to self-publishing. And despite the book being incredibly niche, it helped me learn a lot.

That’s why I feel A Freelancer’s Tale was a complete success. It did exactly what I wanted it to do. Sure, I only sell a handful of copies each year. But the knowledge gained from the process was worth every moment of publishing that book.

Kingmaker is but another novel that will continue to help me learn more about self-publishing.

It’s all about refining my process, developing better writing strategies, and getting more out of myself. You can learn quite a bit about yourself as an author when you start publishing those books that have been rolling around in your head.

Learning More About Marketing

I really didn’t do a lot of marketing for A Freelancer’s Tale. Mostly, that was because I felt the book was too niche to really gain a large audience.

Unless you were interested in me as a person or wanted to read how I built a writing career while dealing with severe depression, it’s just not going to interest you.

I didn’t feel that it was worth investing a ton of money on ads and such with little return.

Now, I definitely think I could have marketed the book more than I did. And with Kingmaker, I’m going to invest quite a bit in marketing. As a dark fantasy book, it has a much broader audience.

The best part is that everything I learn gives me content for WriterSanctuary’s blog and YouTube channel. And sometimes, those posts and videos wind up being semi-popular.

So, no matter what, I win.

Having Yet Another Book On My Shelf

A Freelancer’s Tale fulfilled a lifelong dream of having a book on my shelf with my name on the spine. While some people think it’s akin to cheating, since I self-published the book, I still have a great sense of pride in what I accomplished.

That’s because of the sheer amount of work I put into publishing the book. I didn’t just slap up something for the sake of publishing. It went through rigorous drafts and editing.

Just because some publishing house’s logo isn’t on the book, doesn’t mean it was half-assed.

In reality, I appreciate and respect successful self-published authors more because of the insane amount of work that goes into producing a good book.

In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing Kingmaker in print. And yes, I’ll be doing a book reveal video once my author copies arrive.

To Entertain the Reader

Of course, one of my priorities as an author is to entertain the reader. Why else would you want to put a book out for public consumption?

As I said earlier, this is my favorite work to date. And from the feedback I received, it was well worth the time and effort to put Kingmaker together.

Do I think that thousands of people are going to love the book? Not necessarily. It would be awesome, but I am also realistic.

In the grand scheme of things, I am an exceptionally small-time author. Sure, I’ve built a successful career out of freelance writing. But when it comes to my books, it’s not like I have my own section at Barnes & Noble.

Still, I know a few people enjoyed the story. It’s my hope that a few more will buy the book and love reading it as much as I loved writing it.

To Possibly Make a Few Bucks

Making money as an author is always at the bottom of my list. I’m not one of those people who think they’ll make $10,000 per month in book sales by uploading anything to Amazon.

I mean, I would love to bring in enough money to the point where I could just write books all day long. But in the real world, I’d be happy to bring in enough to trigger a monthly royalty payment from retailers.

I do have high hopes with Kingmaker, as I plan to do a hell of a lot more marketing this time. But I’m not delusional to the point of thinking I could retire.

Remember, I’m essentially a nobody. But that’s how we all start.

It took me several years to overtake the top of the search results page for my name. I view becoming a known author in much the same regard.

I’m a nobody today…but I won’t be tomorrow.

Finishing Edits and Setting Up the Cover for Kingmaker

Initially, the plan was to wrap up the final edits and have the book ready to publish at the end of September 2023. Unfortunately, a lot of things got in the way, as I kind of listed above.

Nonetheless, I am working on wrapping up the final draft over the next few days and we have plans to go take some pictures for the cover art this weekend.

This includes hitting up Spirit Halloween and Disguises for some props.

It’s a long story, but we have some brilliant ideas for the cover, including a few ideas for the rest of the series.

If all goes well, which it rarely does in this house, I should have the book published over the next few days. I’m already thinking about a fun way to promote its debut.

Last time, I did a giveaway on WriterSanctuary.com. I might still do that, but I want to do something extra, somehow. If you have any fun ideas, feel free to comment below.

And as a reminder, my Buy Me a Coffee monthly members get a free, personalized autographed copy of my books when they’re published. Not to mention being able to beta-read the books as I write them.

Beta Readers Helped Shape the Story

Speaking of which, I’d like to take a moment and thank my beta readers. Although I thought the first draft was well written, you all helped shape a much better story overall.

Kingmaker is the awesome story it is today because of your help. Your insights, comments, and excitement for the story to be complete are what inspire me to continue.

At first, I wasn’t sure why anyone would want beta readers, in the first place. I am a bit old-fashioned, being Generation X. I thought “beta readers” were just some younger generational thing to take up space on social media.

But thanks to your input, Kingmaker is a much stronger and more fulfilling story than it was as a first draft.

I can’t wait to hand you guys the next book, Fury.

What Are You Writing?

Although A Freelancer’s Tale is technically my first book, Kingmaker just holds a higher place on my totem pole of books. Perhaps it’s because it’s the first book I’ve written and completed with the sheer intent to entertain.

My first book was more of a breakdown of my life and the steps I took to become the successful freelancer I am today.

They are completely different from one another.

Still, I am immensely proud of what I accomplished for both books and am truly looking forward to the library I intend to create for myself.

What are the projects that you’re proud of most?