Hello, Readers! Clevenger here.

The route of publication, as you can see, has been a big topic of conversation for Graham and I. I’m not sure we’ve finally decided, but we will keep pushing this forward until we do. Weighing the pros and cons endlessly.

I have little more to add to the conversation than what Graham has already so eloquently spoken about. Just that it is a new world, and that we believe in our project. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves.

My wife said that listening to our conversations, that sometimes it felt that one of our biggest pushes towards “non-traditional” publishing was sounding like “imposter syndrome.” If we reject them, they cannot reject us first. And as much as I want to argue with her, I cannot deny there is a grain of truth there.

None of our reasons are invalid. Our need for control of the story, our worry about the integrity and possibility of our future books, and our impatience at waiting through the process. These are still legitimate reasons we are concerned with the traditional publication routes. But could we get a contract with all of those concerns addressed? Could we fight for our story at one of the Big 5? Dare we?

We still have doubts, and I still think we are leaning towards self/indie publishing. It just fits our vision better, but we still have a lot of work to do before then anyway.

I have visions of us sitting at an Author’s booth at GenCon (Indianapolis), or C2E2 (Chicago), DragonCon (Atlanta), or any number of Comic/Game/Pop Culture conventions around the country, and talking to people about our book. We can gather at Pride Festivals and take part in the free LGBTQ+ story promotions that are so vital to our message. I will talk to my local library and have them get a copy to put on their shelves. I’ll aim at local bookstores (There are still SEVERAL around me!) and get copies for them, too!

I will not shut up about “Manticore’s Shadow” or the “Stories of Sainan” series! Regardless of how it gets printed, I will promote.

So, on to another topic. How are we doing? Well, we are doing great! Our beta read is still in progress, and the feedback we have gotten has been helpful. Still looking for more! We’ve touched up some of “Shadow’s Reality” (Book 2) based on some foreshadowing needed in Books 3 & 4, we’ve expanded some story lines, and we’ve pushed forward on the WIP. Slow, sloggy progress, but progress.

About every week or two, I add a comment at the top of Graham and I’s shared document for our WIP. “Revelation of Shadows” (Book 3) is still coming along… it has its starts and stops, because of some burnout, but we will tackle that as well (this is called foreshadowing, see next week). But I did want to leave a little status update… this week’s comment.

Stats: 7/5/22
Act One: 26262 words!
Act Two: 6902 words!
Act Three: 9695 words!
Total: 42859 words!!!
Progress: 4100 words!

Until next time.

Be kind.

-Clevenger