Q1 2025 Update

Come to check in on me have you?

Well, pull up a chair and stay awhile!

The first quarter of 2025 was a bit wild, dear reader. I was practically bed ridden all of January and most of February and March was spent playing catch up with organizing notes and follow ups/exit interviews until I was finally able to take some much needed vacation. After such a pleasant detox from work I’m ready to get back to it (although I desperately need to catch up on some sleep) but you didn’t come here to read about my personal life. You came to see how the books coming along!

Well I’m pleased to announce: rather swimmingly!

I think (wonder of wonders) we may actually be able to call Round Two of Beta officially over!

Now here’s the thing- I’ve seen people suggest a minimum of five rounds of beta but that’s also with a far smaller sample size per round. I’ve got the opinions of a whopping fifty plus people to analyze here in Round Two alone and while they all finished at varying stages in the manuscript…well, there is such a thing as too many chefs in the kitchen y’know?

Thankfully I can say Round Two responses have been fairly consistent and haven’t pointed out anything plot related that needs taking care of so we’re actually sitting pretty in that regard.

The time has now come to actually consider a professional edit but here’s where I need to let you in on a little secret: this isn’t a stand alone novel. In fact there are payoffs in the sequel that are directly set up in this manuscript that really need to land for the story at large to continue smoothly.

So as I sit here, dear reader, at the culmination of months upon months of effort, I also face one helluva dilemma: do I shell out several thousand dollars for a professional edit and risk there being something I need to go back and fix or do I just write the damn sequel and make sure everything meshes before I pull the trigger?

Now, now, don’t roll your eyes. That last isn’t quite as dramatic a development as you might expect. Idle hands are the devil’s tools as they say and I haven’t exactly been sitting on said hands while waiting for responses to trickle in.

But more on that later.

So that’s where I am today, dear reader: done with one hurdle only to face another, and whether I have to invest time, money, or both to surmount it remains to be seen. Which way do you think I should lean? Am I being cocky but not doing at least a Round Three of beta? Sound off down below or shoot me an email with your opinion because trust me I am willing to hear you out on this one haha.

Until next time.