Mob Sorcery 4 - Post Heist Update

This is an update post, not a story post, for after chapter 32. So don't read this until you read those.

When the heist started, I mentioned the possibility of ending the book early and got a lot of confusion from people who thought I'd leave a massive cliffhanger hanging over people's heads. Now that it's done, I feel it's clearer what I meant by the heist and the Yakuza arc.

My original plan for Mob 4 involved:

• 3-5 chapters of reaction to the heist, including the Lionettis and Ally. Mei remains alive.

• Some downtime and planning on how to deal with the Yakuza.

• The finale for the book, which would have two sections.

All-in-all, it would probably take the book out to around the length of Spellblade 8, but I worry that it would easily blow out in size. There's a lot to react to in the heist, and trying to get to the finale means pushing some of that back. While it's easy to say "more book, more good," I do kind of want to get this out sooner rather than later rather than spend another month-plus spinning my wheels on it. This is especially the case because I still need to go over the whole book and edit some earlier stuff etc.

Instead, my current thinking is to approach this like I did Mob 1 & 2 when I realized the Kaziern arc was getting too long.

• Include the 3-5 chapters of reaction as the ending to Book 4

• Shift the ending of the Yakuza arc to Book 5, but only for the first half or so. Take it slower than I would if included at the end of Book 4.

• Use the Yakuza arc as a segue into the next major arc

I can sell this as a net positive, as you'd get slower, more Mob-like pacing as the Yakuza arc resolves, plus the arcs would connect instead of being a hard-ish transition from one book to another (I'll be honest, that probably helps a lot sales-wise, too).

But the biggest thing is that I worry about how long it'll take to actually get the book done and it ending up so long I'll want to split it in two anyway.

So I have a final idea: I'll end Book 4 here, but I'll continue writing the end of the Yakuza arc, as I have the ideas, momentum, and a decent chunk of it written and/or outlined. This will be like the situation with Books 1 and 2, where the first half or so of Book 5 will be up on Patreon well in advance, but may undergo some editing months later when I finish it.

After that, I will finally move on to Demon's Throne 4.

Let me know your thoughts.