Book Announcement- May 2018
10 years, 11 revisions and 1,267,929 words later and my contemporary fantasy novel, Destiny of a Gamer, will be published.
Where do I even begin? I could write an entire book about my journey writing this story, the one that has left its mark, a scar of good and bad affliction upon my heart that will last for the rest of my life.
In the past ten years I’ve somehow managed to extract a vast portion of my soul and sculpt it into something tangible, into a world, a land beyond my greatest of dreams that anyone can travel to if they take a chance on the words I’ve chosen out of the 1,267,929 that came to me. The cost? Only ten years of my life, my unfaltering loyalty, more sacrifices than I’d ever thought I’d have to make, my finances, sometimes my health, sometimes my sanity, and the inescapable gravity of completely losing myself to a number of spectacular and terrifying beings no one else knows exists.
Was it worth it? If you could see the grin on my face you’d know.
If you saw an Estaysian sunset you’d understand or been to a thunderous Aerian race in the Olis Desert or walked the gilded cobweb-ridden halls of the fallen kings or have seen what awaits in the forgotten bowels of Wryn Fortress or the floating lands few have ever said to have seen. I’ve been there in its full vibrancy with each of my senses overwhelmed in a way this world never could. It’s my job to share all of that with you and that time is coming.
It’s been a secret I’ve kept for a long time. Could you imagine keeping such a world from family, friends, and even coworkers? And then having to live an entirely different life when I left the keyboard? Traveling that many miles a day between the two will put years on the soul.
I’m terrified and excited to share such an intimate thing. Every artist and every writer must face this in the beginning at one point and so must I. To keep something so vast and intricate inside yourself for so long and then release it into the world is daunting at best.
Will they understand? Will they see it? Will they love this world the same way I do? Will they be able to touch the grains of sand, feel the wind through the screens, feel the anguish, the tears, the blood, the humility, and the triumphs of my story? Will they relate to Twyla, see themselves in Ajax, fear the blood-lusting traitor Osirus, and want to meet Ryujin, the white dragon, the dying god who holds the key to everything?
Only time will tell.
What does this mean for me as an author?
I will be best described as an indie author. I will be the creative director of all aspects of my writing career from writing, editing, publishing, PR, marketing, my social media and web presence, book trailers, book signings, audio books, cosplay, content creation, and everything in between. It’s going to be up to me to make this all happen. This means I will have complete creative control. Although I will be doing most of the work on my own, I plan on commissioning artists for cover and book art, hiring an editor and voice actors/actresses for voiceover work for trailers and audio books, and who knows what else.
How will the book be released? And when?
As of right now, the book will be launched on Amazon as both an eBook and print-on-demand paperback. An audio book format will also be available in the future as well. The exact launch date is yet to be announced. I have at least two major tasks that need to be accomplished before publication. I need to hire a copyeditor to go through my manuscript and I need to commission an artist to design the cover art. I will be looking into both of these tasks in the next few weeks.
From the bottom of my heart…
I want to thank those of you who have supported me, believed in me, private messaged me, have been genuinely happy for me, been a beta reader, and put up with me constantly gabbing about “my book.” Thanks for pushing me when this became too hard, when I thought things would never happen. I have the most supportive family, especially my parents, my brother, and my sis. For those of you who have been following me for a few years and have been my first “fans” I cannot thank you enough for your interest, your time, and your support. This has been a labor of love, an obsession, a burden, a blessing, and the ultimate test. I also couldn’t have done any of it if I didn’t have God and Jesus guiding me the whole way. With God all things are possible.
It’s been an amazing once-and-a-lifetime adventure and I hope you get to experience it too.
Just to give you an idea of the kind of work that was put into my book(s) here is the technical breakdown of all its revisions:
Revision 1 (Nov 2010) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [139,261 words/ 503 pgs] Revision 2 (Mar 2011) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [140,563 words/ 508 pgs] Revision 3 (June 2012) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [135,325 words/ 493 pgs] Revision 4 (May 2013) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [147,544 words/ 563 pgs] Revision 5 (Aug 2014) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [149,268 words/ 519 pgs] Revision 6 (Dec 2015) Title: You Decide the Fate of the World [141,641 words/ 491 pgs]
*Title change to Destiny of a Gamer. Also manuscript was heavily edited/condensed. Story became rushed.
Revision 7 (July 2016) Title: Destiny of a Gamer [119,491/ 407 pgs]
Book Split Into Two Novels. Not officially titled.
Revision 8 (Sept 2016) Title: Destiny of a Gamer [Book 1/78,525 words/ 266 pgs)
Revision 9 (Oct 2016) Title: Destiny of a Gamer [Book 2/42,675 words/ 146 pgs) Revision 10 (Nov 2017) Title: Destiny of a Gamer [Book 1/88,581 words/ 292 pgs) Revision 11 (Sept 2017) Title: Destiny of a Gamer [Book 2/85,055 words/ 280 pgs)
Total Revisions: 11
Total words: 1,267,929
Total Pages: 4,468