6 Month Update

Strange to think that just six months ago I was releasing my debut novel. Honestly, it sold way better than I expected—at least until around February. After that, things started to slow down.

I think that’s partly due to two main factors. First, I have a big network of supportive family and friends who bought the book early on, which gave me a great initial boost. Second, I haven’t done much marketing, so naturally, sales began to taper off after a few months.

I’ll admit I struggle with the social media side of things, and hiring someone to help with promotion just isn’t in the budget right now. I actually looked into it earlier this year, but it’s something I’ll have to revisit down the road.

All that being said—I’ve been staying busy with a few new projects. I’m taking my time with them, saving up to pay my editor, and of course getting distracted by the usual curveballs life throws.

Here are a few things I’m working on:

• The Dana Lake audiobook – Way harder than I thought it would be, especially since I’m narrating it myself! I’ve also been exploring AI narration options, which I’ll share more about in a future post.

• The sequel to Dana Lake – Slowly but surely, it’s coming together.

• A new standalone story about a young man and his dog – I’m really excited to finish this one.

• A fantasy trilogy set in a world I originally built for a D&D campaign nearly a decade ago.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for being here—it means you’re at least a little interested in what I’m up to, and that honestly means a lot. I plan to post more updates over the summer (assuming life cooperates), so I hope to see you back here soon.

- V