February 2025 Update
Marching the manuscript into March
I can now breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the last remaining hours of February (mostly) stress-free.
The Manuscript is functionally complete. It can be read as one piece from beginning to end. No scene has been left unfinished, and everything that I wanted to include is present. In this raw, unedited state, The Manuscript holds a staggering total of 115,624 words! For reference, Shadowbound has a total word count of only 92,219 words… which is the final version that is available on Amazon.
As of right now, everything is going according to plan, if not better! Let’s quickly revisit the timeline and my ideal expectations:
Beta Reading — March & April: Beta readers have been pre-selected and will be receiving digital copies of The Manuscript on or around March 3rd. They will have until the end of April - or the end of May if they need some extra time - to complete The Manuscript and send feedback.
Editing Stage 1 — March & April: This will also be the time where I comb through The Manuscript myself and, taking on the feedback of my beta readers, spruce up some of the more foundational aspects of the story.
Editing Stage 2 — May & June: Once I have received most, if not all, of the feedback from the beta readers, The Manuscript will be sent off to be marked for finer mistakes and errors.
Formatting — July & August: This will be the last chunk of time I’ll have left in the year to fix and finalize The Manuscript as it goes through the formatting process to become print-ready. By this time, The Manuscript’s digital cover and physical wrap should be complete as well.
ISBN, LCCN, Copyright, and other paperwork — August & September: By the end of September, The Manuscript will be ready to be published in November!
I have yet to decide when The Manuscript will have its title reveal, but it will most likely happen around June or July as editing draws to a close. But, at the very least, the biggest barrier has been passed for the time being.
If you’d like to support me this year, consider buying Shadowbound if you haven’t already - or maybe get a copy for a friend or family member! - and leave a review for it on Amazon if you can.
But word-of-mouth also helps! Even if you can’t afford the book, consider checking out and sharing around the Shadowbound Audio Book & Author Commentary playlist, where I read the entire novel from beginning to end. All the readings are free up until The Manuscript is published. It’s perfect for those who want to give the story a spin before buying.
Of course, if you have thoughts, theories, hopes, critiques, or anything else about Shadowbound that you’d like to share more in-depth, drop a comment about it down below!
And don’t forget to like and subscribe ;)