reflections on Publishing My First Novella & Audiobook
Funnily enough, publishing a prequel novella was never part of my original plan for the Crucible of Legacy series. I mapped out the series as three books and planned to move on to other projects once I finished, but writing has a funny way of taking you in unexpected directions. A couple months after I published The Scion Conspiracy, I felt a nagging notion that there was another story to tell. In my first installment in the Crucible of Legacy, I hinted at the notorious past of the Red Wolf and his crew and their history with the Burning Blades. I knew there was a story to tell their, one which let my readers see a different side of my world and gain a deeper insight into the magic and mysteries at play in this series.
So I decided to write The Coldwater Job, and I assumed, because it was a novella and far shorter than my first book, that it would be easier and faster to write. But after months of struggling, I realized something fundamentally important; writing within a shorter, confined word set is a whole different skill set. I found myself having to be far more efficient and intentional with my words and descriptions, which was a challenge as I tend to be a wordy writer. So what started as a fun little side project turned into something that was both a major endeavor and a new development of my skills as a writer. And although it was a struggle at times, ultimately I am very thankful that I did it. I think it helped me develop some skills I was lacking, give my audience something for all their support, expand my world, and has opened up some interesting new doors.
To that point, being that The Coldwater Job is a novella, I was able to realistically begin exploring audiobook options much sooner than I had planned on. For anyone not in the industry, creating an audiobook is an expensive project and it is largely dependent on how long your book is. Because The Coldwater Job was so short, I was able to begin to look into an audiobook which led me to finding the immensely talented narrator Jake Calkins. We immediately hit it off and I was able to commission him for the audiobook, which is now complete and available alongside the physical and ebooks! And, exciting news, we are in talks to begin working on the audiobook for The Scion Conspiracy as well!
So, what I learned from this whole experience can be summed up as this; don’t be afraid to change course. I felt there was more story to tell and although it led to a greater challenge than I first assumed, it has also yielded some amazing results and created opportunities for me. I am incredibly grateful for how well everything has turned out, and hope everyone gets a chance to check out The Coldwater Job before the next Crucible of Legacy book comes out.
