Launch Aftermath and September Update

This update comes in a short and long version. This update does not contain spoilers for Mob Sorcery 5.

Short version:

I'm going on a break of a unknown length of time, because I absolutely fucking need one after the past few months. I might resume writing next month or it might be 2026. Dunno. After the rough launch, it will probably be sooner rather than later, tbh.

Patreon billing has resumed because I've been reminded it support my ability to write quality books at a decent pace. Particularly after NW3, it wasn't intended purely as a "pay me for early chapters" device. Patreon allows me to not rush books out whenever Amazon does stupid shit like fumble over half of my pre-orders and then crush the book in the algo afterward.

If you're only here for the early chapters or can't afford to support me, feel free to cancel your pledge and return when I start posting chapters again whenever. I don't know what's coming next, particularly with the launch bullshit. While there may be some other content posted, don't count on it. If you're staying pledged, I'm assuming it's purely to support me.

I will be returning at some point. I'm not vanishing forever or leaving harem, or whatever nonsense somebody might have peddled. I'm stressed and tired, not broke or unsuccessful. Even after this launch.

Thanks to everyone for their support, especially with my depressing updates recently. I hope you enjoy Mob 5 despite the arduous journey to get it out.

Long Version

I paused Patreon billing for two reasons. First, I felt frustrated after not really posting chapters for two months (especially after the Stellarforged/Demon's Throne mess). Second, taking away the financial aspect removed the pressure I had to "deliver" to patrons, particularly at a time when I wasn't confident about where the book was going and was making big changes to its structure after the break following Chapter 15.

That lack of pressure paid off as I felt free to take my time after the massive penultimate battle of the book took longer than expected and left me drained. I said I'd take 3-5 days and took like 9.

But I've forced myself to recognize that pausing my Patreon for months is kind of stupid, given a big part of the reason it exists is to make me less reliant on rapidly releasing books. If I don't accept support from you at the time I need it most, then I'll feel forced to write faster and be back in a frustrated, stressful loop. Everyone loses.

This is why I'm turning Patreon billing back on, and the fucked up launch only reaffirms my decision. You can decide whether to leave and return for new chapters, or support me through my break. To be clear, I'm not guilt tripping anyone. Especially with times being rough for many. I have received quite a few "I've/my partner lost my job" messages lately, and you never need to apologize to me for cutting Patreon support - this is something extra you do to support me.

I don't know how long my break will be. This is the most stressed I've been since Neural Wraith 3, which itself was the most stressed I've been since I had a 9-5 job, and that was because I had to delay a troubled book while I was moving place. There's been some very stupid drama, the book itself was stressful to write, and the launch went from "best ever" to "potentially second-worst in the series" because Amazon probably use ChatGPT for server maintenance.

Launch-wise, today has (to me) confirmed that Mob 5 will do around as good as Mob 2, which sold 30% less than Mob 4. It's taken the two best days of sales the book will ever see just to get back to the pre-order number, and Amazon is already slowing down recommendations (the sales rank peaked today, so I'm expecting a cliff in KU reads soon). The sheer length of the book protects it somewhat, but Amazon is recommending the entire series less, too. So I expect to see worse sales going ahead.

At this point, I don't know if the book will pick up or, more importantly, if Amazon has damaged the series permanently. This isn't an NW3 moment - Amazon would have to ban my account within a day or two for this launch to be that bad.

EDIT: Amazon unfucked the pre-orders, so things have improved a lot. No clue what the long-term sales will be, as I can't rely on past data because of how fucky this launch is.

Even after the drop, Mob 5 will still remain one of my best launches ever, because Mob is just that much more popular than anything I've written. But I don't know if the next book will start at this sales level (because Amazon will assume this poor performance is natural and recommend it less) or if a new book might fix the problem - I'm doubtful about the latter, as any time I've seen an author get fucked over by Amazon being a trillion-dollar basket case, it usually prematurely kills a series. I'm not making any statements about closing out the series or anything, but this has immensely reduced the probability of Mob being some 20-book behemoth, unless Book 6 bounces back.

Another thing that's come out of this book is a real worry that I'm being too reactive. Mob Sorcery is my most successful series, but I'm also haunted by the way Amazon decided it hated Neural Wraith in 2023 and my broader issues finding traction in 2021 (NOTE: I wrote this line before the bad launch, and it turned out to be fucking prophetic). The vastly increased interest and audience means I feel pulled in many different directions. Paying attention to the tug-of-war to influence me is vastly more stressful now, and can be both confusing and annoying. I also get a sense of a lack of trust at times, which does tend to bother me a lot as I feel I've earned a decent amount of it.

Trying to write books while ignoring feedback sounds like a pretty basic goal. A big reason I've struggled with it is that my opinion has been (and kinda still is) that authors tend to get worse once they tune it out. A lot of authors who openly say they never look at any comments, reviews, or opinions get praised for doing exactly that, and that fact has been enlightening. I'm not big enough to hire a community manager to go through my messages and comments, so I'm doing the simple option of just... stopping.

Semi-related to this is the official cessation of post-release commentary. It's been dead for a while, to be honest. There's not much interest in it and it's a crazy amount of work to put together. I could talk about the many problems that have built up around writing it, but I think the biggest one is simply the disconnect between what I like to talk about (the behind-the-scenes decisions that created the book) and what a lot of people want to hear about (lore, worldbuilding, and character details). Another big part is that I feel the decisions I make will earn more heat (a good example of this is the Daji body decision) and that takes any behind-the-scenes commentary from "a fun addition" to giving ammunition to people to shit on me.

The final thing I'll address is the financial elephant in the room. I haven't talked about finances for ages, except maybe obliquely in the celebration of Mob 4 getting in the Top 100. The last time I think I mentioned it was on Discord after HS8 got lower sales than I expected (which is still true, but not the full story, because Spellblade is doing better now it's a long and completed series).

Prior to the fucked up launch, I've been doing the best financially ever. Even after the launch I probably still will be. Mob Sorcery is my most successful series by a country mile. The launches do well and Amazon has continued (and hopefully still will) to recommend the series months after each release. Mob 4 has made more in 6 months than Demon's Throne 3 has in 3.5 years, purely in ebook sales. Audio is worse, because Audible has effectively slashed audio royalties this year, but it was also a small slice of my income so whatever. This can change quickly, as the launch proved, but that's also why I have Patreon.

The reason I don't talk about my finances is because I said I'd stop after Mob Sorcery 1's weirdass release (namely that it had a really shitty launch that got much better after HS6 came out) and because I don't have to. I'm fine. Not so fine I can buy a boat or stop releasing books, but I have no interest in leaving harem and fighting to make my name in another genre.

Mob 5's launch getting fucked up has forced me to realize I really need to have a new series in the wings, however. Once I'm back from a break, I'll need to seriously look at that, alongside finishing Neural Wraith and Demon's Throne. That might end up being Stellarforged, although for now the current plan is to make it a Messenger-exclusive series (I'll do some polls about that in October, probably).

Anyway, this ended up being a long, rambly update. I haven't done one in a while that wasn't just me bitching and this will probably be my last in many months. At some point I'll figure out what I'm going to do for monthly updates (they might just be a simple summary of what I did in the past month, instead of trying to predict the future) but I'll worry about that once I'm back from break.

I'll bother you all again once I return. Enjoy Mob Sorcery 5, and the eventual audiobook release. Thanks for your support, as always.