Merry August everyone!
I hope your region of the world is treating you well, whichever season you happen to be in. I thought I’d check in with a post about my current progress on The Song of Silver book 2 along with an appeal for reviews!
I’m an independent author, which means I have no marketing team, no industry contacts, no agent putting my name out there. Any ads I run, I organise myself, and promotional opportunities for indie authors are limited.
What this means is that I rely on you guys, the people who read my books, to help get the word out there. Reviews, ratings, discussions on Facebook, Reddit, or even just recommendations to your friends are how I stay financially afloat. I feel truly blessed that many of you have left kind, honest, and informative reviews of my books since I started publishing a year and a half ago. If you wrote one of them, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
While the first book has garnered a decent number of reviews at this point, later entries in the series still only have a handful between them. So I’m appealing to you, blog readers, to lend me a hand if you can find a spare moment in your day.
I don’t like to beat about the bush and misdirect you with my intentions – the bottom line is that reviews are the best way of getting new readers interested in my books. If people don’t buy my books, I can’t pay my bills, and I can’t keep writing. This year I’ve started to make a net profit from the series, but it’s still a long way from being equal to a job that pays even minimum wage.
Financial concerns aside, I also just love getting your feedback. I adore hearing about what you love, hate, who your favourite characters are, what you hope to see next, or any other thoughts and feelings you’re comfortable sharing. Seeing new reviews makes me happy because it lets me know people are engaging with the stories I’ve told.
So if you’ve read any of my books and haven’t left a review yet, it would be a huge help if you’d consider sparing a handful of words (as few or as many as you want) to let me and other readers know what you think.
Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are the most helpful, but if you want to post them on another retailer’s website or a personal blog, that’s great too! I’m also more than happy to get simple star ratings if you don’t feel like writing anything. Every little bit helps.
Now onto a short writing update. It’s been a couple of months since The Slave and the Sheriff released (I hope those of you who read it liked it – leave a review if you did!) and I’ve been working hard on the second volume of the trilogy. As of this post, I’m about 60% of the way through my initial draft of The Price of the Wind. It’s possible it’ll end up being a slightly longer book like A Heart in the Hills, but I’m still shooting for an early 2026 release date in January or February.
I’m excited for people to read this one. The Slave and the Sheriff was very much the setup, while the second novel really allows the characters to start coming into their own as they grow older and wiser. It’s strange to think that I’ve already passed the midway point in this trilogy given that I started writing it less than a year ago. Time flies when you’re having fun!
I don’t have too much more to share at the moment, as much as I’d love to dive into spoilery details, but rest assured book 2 is on track and making steady progress.
Have a lovely second half of the year, and happy reading!
Kelly River 