Convergence of Connection is Complete!

Above: A photo of our cat, Kona, encouraging me to keep typing as I neared the end of Convergence of Connection.

July 9, 2024

Let’s Just Get Right to It

Coming in at just over 172,000 words, the first draft of Convergence of Connection (the third book in The Way of the Wielder series) is complete!

I started writing this book last November. It took me about a month longer than expected to draft it, but sometimes, life happens. Also, a lot happens in this book (which I can’t go into detail about without major spoilers, so you’ll have to trust me on that), so I took my time making sure I got the character arcs right. I’ll need to do a bit of work adding in some more action beats, but I need to do that after editing book two.

What Happens Now?

Now that Convergence of Connection is drafted, I need to turn my sights back to Mysteries of the Material (book two). Several things need to happen with that book.

Editing

I finished the first draft of Mysteries of the Material in February 2023. I gave myself some time away from that manuscript (and wrote Rise of Iron), then did an initial round of editing in October 2023, before starting Convergence of Connection. I haven’t touched it since.

Now, I’m coming at book two with a fresh set of eyes, and a much clearer picture of what happens in book three. I’ve always known the “second action sequence” would span both books, so this is honestly a perfect place for me to be.

Second round of editing happens in two phases for me: a digital phase, and a paper phase. Once the digital phase is done, I’ll print out the manuscript and read it on paper. Editing in two formats helps me find more errors than in just digital format. I anticipate this combined editing to take about 5 weeks.

Once edits are done, I’ll reach out to my editor and have her do her review. That should take 4-5 weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances. I’ll comb through her feedback and, hopefully, have a clean manuscript by early- to mid-October.

Cover Art

In the midst of all the editing is the pretty stuff—cover art! I’m using the same artist who did The Way of the Wielder, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. We talked about a few ideas before, but after reading the manuscript, she might have new ones.

Once I’ve completed my digital edits (or by the end of July, whichever comes first), I’ll send her the manuscript for her read through. I love that she reads the manuscript before starting her art. It makes for such a beautiful, story-specific cover, and I want that to continue for the rest of this series.

If all goes well, the cover will be complete by early September. Maybe I’ll reveal it then, maybe I’ll wait. Either way, stay tuned!

Publishing Prep

Once I have the cover and clean manuscript, publishing prep begins. This includes a long list of tasks that are, quite frankly, very administrative. Things like: applying for copyright, assigning ISBNs, uploading to Vellum (book formatting software), formatting, proofing both formats, uploading to Amazon, more proofing, etc.

The whole process takes about a month (well, receiving the copyright paperwork can take longer, but applying is relatively quick). Assuming all goes according to plan, I anticipate Mysteries of the Material to be published in November. I don’t want to confirm a specific date yet, but I’ll keep you updated.

What Else is Happening?

Before I do any of what I outlined above, I’m rereading The Way of the Wielder. The purpose of this is threefold:

• To ensure things are consistent across the series.
• Fix some typos that I’ve found (or been told about) over the last few months.
• Because it brings me joy. Seriously. I have never read The Way of the Wielder just for fun, and I’m enjoying it so much already (okay, I’m a little biased)!

Which reminds me…

New Price for The Way of the Wielder

After some deep reflection, I’ve decided to reduce the price of the eBook to $4.99. There are many reasons for this, but my marketing coach said something that really resonated with me: “At the end of the day, the dollar amount doesn’t change how valuable your book is.”

If you’ve been following along with my journey, you know how valuable The Way of the Wielder is to me. In many ways, it’s invaluable. I realized that I originally priced it at what I would pay for it (for an eBook), not what readers might pay for it. That was a mistake. Of course I would pay more for it—I wrote it! And (as previously noted) I’m a little biased.

At the end of the day, what’s most important is that this story is shared with the world. Because the more people read my book, the more valuable it becomes—not just to me, but to everyone.

That’s why I’m reducing the price of the eBook. So, if you haven’t bought The Way of the Wielder yet, and are looking for a new fantasy read for the summer, pop on over to Amazon and buy it now for $4.99.

And as a reminder, it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited.

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As a final note, this blog post has also been published as a newsletter. There, as an added bonus, I’ve included some bonus content. If you’re interested in reading a chapter that didn’t make it into the published version of The Way of the Wielder, check out my newsletter now (yes, it’s free).

Until next time, be well, and stay creative.

~Sarah