Past Life Hero and other projects, a note and an explanation.

Hey everyone!

Before I even really start this explanation, I need to level: part of this message is an excuse, but part of it is also an FYI about everything I've been doing lately. So, this should serve as both an apology and a community note of sorts. 

I'm a little bit behind on Past Life Hero, but it's not because I haven't been writing it. I actually wrote several chapters that I ended up scrapping. For everybody who's been with me a long time and has watched me write Delvers LLC, you all are probably used to this happening like once a book. 

It doesn't happen as often anymore because I'm a more seasoned writer now, but when it does happen, if anything, I actually hesitate less before scrapping something that's not working. 

Let me explain. 

When I write, I write as much for a story’s vibes and characters as I do for world building and plot. Consistent internal logic is in there somewhere too. All of these things have to fit together correctly for a story to be up to my standard. Sometimes I can't actually articulate why a story is not working, but I can tell that it's not hitting the way I want it to. 

Whenever that happens, if I can't identify the root cause or it's something that I can't fix, it's sometimes easier to just scrap that particular chapter or even plot arc and start over again–continuing to pick at it is usually going to take longer. 

All of that is exactly what happened this time. 

For those of you at the ten-dollar tier, you know that something really important is about to take place in Max's story in Past Life Hero 3. I really wanted to do that part of the story justice, and what I'd written just simply wasn't good enough. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until right before the chapters were supposed to go out and then I had other things crop up. 

So for those of you who kind of skimmed the first part, this is where I'm going to be talking about what I'm working on right now. 🙂

Some of my writing decisions are based on the fact that I'm on contract for certain series and I can't start new ones until I complete the old ones. Not only that, the way publishing works, especially in the indie space, is largely or at least partially dependent upon momentum. 

Momentum is less important if Amazon loves you. An example of this is Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series. 

Some have used his latest book’s success and the gap between it and the one that preceded it as proof that someone can take some time between books before publishing and still have a really good launch. To be honest, someone could actually say the same thing about Delvers LLC. I'm pretty confident that when Delvers LLC 6 launches, it will do well. 

However, Matt’s series is one of the most popular fantasy series in the entire world right now. Delvers LLC, although not nearly as popular, is still one that for some reason Amazon's algorithm loves…which is how I've been able to stay full-time for years, to be honest. 

So, the gist I'm trying to get at here is that sometimes my decisions on what to write are entirely decided upon necessity, whether it's bills or contracts. And I'm going to use that mention of Delvers LLC to segue into the next portion of this note. 

I am planning to write Delvers LLC 6 this year. I've written the first few chapters, but I didn't like them, so I think I need to start over. The problem is that I haven't been sure /where/ to start over and Delvers LLC is such an important story to me that I don't rush decisions on that series at all. 

However, about three months ago, I had an epiphany about Delvers LLC and I'm extremely excited to write it again. I just need to get to the point where I have enough money rolling in that I can afford food and to pay for bills while I spend the two months or so on Delvers that it's going to require to write. Minimum. 

Being a writer is super weird. You never know how much you’re going to make, and some months can be better than others. There are a lot of similarities to full time youtubers.

I am currently writing four series at once right now. Apocalypse Cultivation is being done very slowly, but I need to finish the third book at some point this year. I'm about to finish Past Life Hero 3, so the first trilogy will be done.

Right now, I am about halfway through Sponsored Apocalypse 2, and I just need to edit those chapters before putting them on Patreon.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the new launch of Sponsored Apocalypse!  The book is still doing well. If you read the first book and have not left a review on Amazon, please consider doing so. :) 

And last but not least, Reincarnator Raised by Dragons book one is done, it just needed more editing, and I’ll be starting work on book two probably next month. To be honest, I've kind of screwed myself a little bit by having a Patreon with multiple series. In addition to the complexity of the Patreon now (because Patreon is really made more for artists and celebrities) and the fact it's kind of a pain in the ass for you guys to navigate, it also puts pressure on me to work on books that I might not exactly be feeling the creative spark for during any particular week.

The one con is a pro, too.  Patreon is both a blessing and a curse for me. On one hand, yes, it puts a lot of pressure on me and it can leave me feeling frazzled and stressed if I don't meet a deliverable for one of my series. However, I think it's also good for me to have this accountability even if it's only with myself. I know that most of you are extremely forgiving and understanding, which I really appreciate.

Like, the reality is that most of you all are way nicer to me than I am to myself. Thank you for that.  Lol

Anyway, I'm extremely tired right now and trust me, I'm working really hard. In fact, there's another series that I've worked on with C. Cheesecake (the author I worked with for Cozy Isekai), a trilogy that has been done for a while but is in the editing stage right now. That series is called Breaths of Power and I'm not sure when it will launch but I think you guys might like it too. It's set in a futuristic dystopian world but follows a young cultivator on his path to power. 

Phew!

We have a lot of series and a lot of stories coming out this year and next year, fam. I still haven't forgotten about Secret of the Old Ones, either. I plan to finish up that series either this year or next year. If it's next year, it will be early next year. And I've already talked to Jeff Hays with Soundbooth Theater about the audio for that project. What we're probably going to do is combine all three books of Secret of the Old Ones into one new audiobook that will be a bit longer than a standard audiobook for an average lit RPG book coming out these days. 

Whether I continue that series after the third book of Secret of the Old Ones will entirely depend upon sales and word of mouth. I think that if I rebooted that series, it would probably do well, but I have so many irons in the fire now that I'm not exactly lacking for projects.


That was a lot.

I hope this note found you all well and I hope you understand a little bit of where I'm coming from now. 

Because whenever I launch a new series or a new book, I not only have to do two first rounds of edits myself, I also have to talk to my publisher about editing, I need to go over what the paid editor has done. And to be completely honest, I just don't have time for everything right now. I do take some solace in the fact that editing mistakes are always going to slip through the cracks no matter how many times an author and editor goes over a story, though. 

But this is not traditional publishing, and I am not Sanderson making millions of dollars per book where I can afford spending an entire year to go over a book ten times with a highlighter. Actually, Sanderson has employees for that. 

I can dream…

Anyway…in addition to the sheer time it takes to edit, due to the advent of Kindle Unlimited, the vast majority of readers are much less sensitive to typos than they used to be. I personally don't love Kindle Unlimited, but I do understand it's a great deal for readers, and I will never begrudge any readers for using it.

Good editing used to sell books. Now it’s a liability since very few readers in our space actually buy books. Most stories are consumed with KU, now.  I personally want my books to be as good as possible, and I won’t tolerate too many issues, but there’s a balancing act. The more time you spend on a book, trying to make it perfect even though perfection is impossible, the more money you lose. 

Readers: whether you use Kindle Unlimited or not, it’s helpful to know that it has affected global/Western reading habits, which in turn has changed how many authors bring their stories to market.

Wow, I am getting wayyyy off subject now.  Ahem.

That's probably enough shop talk at this point, since this note will already be pretty long. But I know some of you really enjoy getting a look into the kitchen and seeing how the bread is made. For all of you, this note is for you.

-BC

PS. I have 3 more chapters done of Past Life Hero.  I’m editing them as I post this note.

I have plenty more chapters of Reincarnator RB Dragons to post soon, too.