Follow-up Post

This is a just a quick follow-up to the Post About Problems I did on the weekend. I got an overwhelming amount of feedback, and although I responded to a bunch of comments, lots of people probably don't read those.

Also, the Spellblade 5 audio comes out tonight for those interested. Hopefully it doesn't have some horrendous Audible bug and completely tank again.

I made that post as a way to summarize where my thoughts were going. I've been putting off making decisive action about the worsening sales/reads for ages. I needed a triple whammy of two really poorly performing Neural Wraith sequels, where the awful algorithmic tail was too obvious to deny (NW3 has fallen so sharply that it's at levels I've never seen until 5-6 weeks in, and the first two books have seen almost no sales increase; plus none of my other books have increased at all), plus the abysmal NW2 audiobook experience.

In these situations, I usually brainstorm a bunch of ideas, work out what's realistic (including whether I'll do them), and mull them over. Bringing them up here meant I got some useful feedback, as well as helped cement some ideas in my head of what I would and won't do.

So, here's what I'll be doing over the next few months:

• Spellblade 6 and 7 will effectively be one book split in two, around the length of the Neural Wraith books. I expect to start on these once I detach myself from the Neural Wraith books and have reread the series again. This should hopefully kickstart the series after a break. If it works, Demon's Throne will get the same treatment.
• Neural Wraith will be parked until 2024. While I enjoy writing it, I need to give it a rest before I make any decisions about it. My feelings about it are much more positive than I was after DT3 (I strongly disliked how that book turned out, whereas I like NW3), but Amazon is flipping its shit every time I publish a book in the series. It needs room to breathe.
• I'll start on a progression fantasy series shortly. I brainstormed a bunch of ideas I've had for ages but I'm not sure if I've settled on one. Part of the issue is that while I have a bunch of ideas I want to write, I also need to make sure they have a good hook (as I've learned, sometimes the basics don't come together). Also, litrpg and progfantasy are really big on gimmicky series at the moment in order to stand out. I like time loop stuff, but kingdom building has a real dearth (mostly because it does horribly atm).
  
  What I don't know is how I'll post it. I'll start a new pen name, but I may or may not share chapters here for feedback or just with certain beta readers.
• I'm not leaving harem right away, because this is my job. My expectation is that my income will be dropping by around 40% this year if things don't pick up (and this after some less-than-stellar releases last year, like Spellblade 5), to give people an idea of why I'm unhappy. I need to plan ahead, especially as I'd only just hit a point I felt secure taking 3 months between releases (and now I'm not).

So, yeah, I said I'd take a break but I don't know how much of one I'll end up taking. I'm bad at them. I am still technically not doing that much work.