Intro
This year was wild.
It is hard to overstate how big of a shift 2024 has been for me as an author. I’ll go into details on why that is in the sections below, but I want to say up front how grateful I am for everyone who has supported me this year and previous ones. Whether as beta readers, reviewers, social media supporters, Kickstarter backers, or just people reading and enjoying my books, you are all incredible. This year is the first in my six years of publishing that I have a vision of a near future where I can make this a full time career instead of a side hobby. That is because of all of you.
So THANK YOU!
Now, let’s move on from the soppy section and talk more about what’s fun! Books and events. The past and the future. All the good stuff.
2024 Highlights
Book Releases: The Realm Reachers
If you’ve been following my posts at all this year, you’ve probably heard me harp on endlessly about The Crimson Court, the beginning of The Realm Reachers series and also the universe I’m calling the Crystal Realms. Between The Crimson Court and it’s prequel novella The Amber Dame, all my releases this year were in this new series. I know that probably disappointed some Frostmarked fans, but if that’s you, keep reading for the Frostmarked section. You won’t have to wait much longer!
Every new series is both an opportunity and a risk. With The Frostmarked Chronicles, I jumped from dystopian (The Prism Files) into epic fantasy and found my genre in the process. Switching genres often means starting over marketing wise as an author, though, so it took a lot of time and energy to get my Frostmarked books selling and also to adapt to the writing epic fantasy. It was amazing practice, and the series has a special place in my heart. After writing so many books in its Slavic mythology inspired world, though, I finally felt ready to create something entirely of my own making.
Now, The Realm Reachers is a continuation of my writing in the epic fantasy genre, and it has felt like a springboard compared to the more sluggish start to my Frostmarked books. Writing and world-building for this series and universe has been so smooth and fun. I have more freedom with this being my own universe now, so I finally feel like I can do everything I’ve wanted to in the genre, and I’m just getting started with the Crystal Realms.
It is far from more major authors’ numbers, but The Crimson Court has by far had my best book launch ever. Despite having only one book and a prequel in the series so far, The Realm Reachers’ profit has matched the entire profit so far for The Frostmarked Chronicles, which has four novels, two novellas, and has been selling since 2021. This isn’t all about money, but I cannot wait to see where we continue to go with this series.
The Crimson Court Deluxe Release Edition Kickstarter
The Kickstarter for The Crimson Court in February knocked my socks off. I am so grateful for all of you who supported it. We had 246 backers and funded at $14,039!!! I had a very low goal from the start because I wanted to add cool stuff through stretch goals, and we blew through every one of them, plus more. It has been a dream of mine to have a deluxe edition of my books with full color art, maps, etc. and we’re creating that together. Book 2, The Crystal Heir, will be having its Kickstarter in March of next year. More on that in the 2025 section.
If you missed the Kickstarter and still want deluxe editions, good news! I have copies available on my store.
That last stretch goal we unlocked was also The Crimson Court‘s audiobook! I was so excited to unlock it, and I worked with Ellie Gossage, who has done over a hundred audiobooks already, for its creation. She did an incredible job! You can get a copy from my store, Audible, Kobo, Google Play Books, Apple Books, and Spotify
I had wanted to work with Kateryna Vitkovska for a book’s art for a long time, and she has been incredible through the creation of the covers for The Crimson Court, The Amber Dame, and the soon to be revealed one for book 2, The Crystal Heir. She also did some incredible work for the case hardcovers beneath the dust jacket and the cityscape of Kalastok. I am so excited to have her continuing through the rest of the series and the Kickstarters for them. These funding projects make all the incredible art for the books possible!
With five point-of-view characters, I wanted to make sure readers had a picture of what they all looked like, so I also partnered with Joni Matoz for character sketches. I love how they turned out! They also were excellent to be used on the foil bookmarks that were part of the Kickstarter, and I’m so giddy to be able to work with artists to create all this cool stuff for you all.
Writing Progress: The Shards of the Moon (Frostmarked #5)
I know I had previously announced that the final book in The Frostmarked Chronicles, The Shards of the Moon (previously named The Way of Souls), would be released in 2024, but to be honest, it was a difficult write. Though far shorter than The Crimson Court, I struggled to push through the writing for this one during a chaotic spring and early fall, so things got pushed back a few months from where I wanted them.
The good news, however, is that The Shards of the Moon is finished and just in final revisions and formatting. It’ll be coming to you on January 28th, 2025. More on the release below. But first, enjoy the final cover of the series by Mariia Lytovchenko.
Struggling with the writing doesn’t reflect my love for this series. I have absolutely adored working in the sandbox of Slavic mythology for The Frostmarked Chronicles. Some books just come more easily and others don’t. It is a hard thing to complete a series and say goodbye to characters I’ve been writing with since 2020. Both they and I have grown a lot in that time, and it’s been incredible to look back on that journey.
Writing Progress: The Crystal Heir (Realm Reachers #2)
So, I must confess that part of my struggle with The Shards of the Moon may have been my excitement to continue The Realm Reachers with The Crystal Heir. There is so much I had planned for these books, and no joke, I have written this book around 2.5 times as fast as The Shards of the Moon so far. Having started in mid-October, I will have over 125k words written of the book by the end of December. That is just over two-thirds of the way finished. This puts me on pace for a March Kickstarter for the book and a wide release in June.
It’s rare to get these inspired pushes of productivity, so I am going to keep pushing forward with it while I can. It has been SO FUN to write this book so far. Of course, Kasia still plays a major role, but many of your favorite other POV and side characters have crucial bits to play in this one. Nikoza especially takes on a lead role along with her complicated relationship with Nex, and it has been fun to see both of them grow throughout it.
I expect the book’s first draft to be completed by the end of January if I can keep this up. I would say fingers crossed, but I need to keep them on the keyboard! The book’s cover reveal will also be at the end of January or early February.
ALSO: If you want to help shape what the final book looks like, I’m currently accepting beta reader applications.
In-Person Events (C2E2, Dragonsteel Nexus, and many more)
Last year was my first time doing in-person events. It was a lot of fun, so I massively expanded my schedule this year and took on some massive events like C2E2 and FanExpo Chicago in well, Chicago, and Brandon Sanderson’s Dragonsteel Nexus in Salt Lake City. In total, I believe I did fifteen events, including comic cons, bookstore signings, and other selling events this year.
I absolutely loved all of it! It is so special getting to meet both new and returning readers to my books in person and signing their books in person. I am a rare extrovert among authors, so I loved every minute talking books with you all.
My favorite event of the year was definitely Dragonsteel Nexus just a couple weeks ago. I am a huge Sanderson fan, so being around fellow epic fantasy readers was fantastic along with meeting Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage books that inspired my switch to Victorian age inspired fantasy. I got to participate in a panel on Earth’s history and how fantasy is inspired by it, and we had over 500 people in attendance! The con in general had about 8,000 people. They were all incredible. The biggest highlight, though, was meeting Sanderson (twice) and getting to give him a copy of The Crimson Court, which he said he loved the cover of! Seriously, dream come true.
C2E2 in April was another major highlight. I mean, it’s an event with over 90,000 people. How could it not be a highlight? Sanderson was actually there too, and I had met him quickly there before Dragonsteel (I swear I’m not just copying the same events haha). This was the first major con I had ever done, so it was overwhelming but such an awesome experience. I also had the chance to do a panel there about using Kickstarter for books, which was a lot of fun.
Awards
I attempted to enter a few competitions this year with The Crimson Court‘s release.
Illinois Author Project: The Crimson Court has been selected as one of three finalists in the Illinois Author Project’s annual competition (also called “Illinois Soon to Be Famous” competition, but that name feels pretentious, so I’ll stick with the other one). This is a competition connected to libraries across the state with judges from those libraries picking what they considered to be the best submissions out of the hundreds in the competition. The winner has yet to be announced, but should be revealed soon. I’m hoping it’s a certain red book with a big old crystal dragon on the cover!
Indie Author Project: I also entered The Crimson Court into the national affiliate of the Illinois Author Project, but as you can imagine, the competition is stiff nationally. It was not selected in this competition, but that’s alright! It’s a great program regardless to give attention to some amazing indie authors.
Mark Lawrence’s Self Publishing Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO): I attempted to follow-up A Dagger in the Winds reaching the semi-finals in SPFBO 9 last year with hopefully more success this year, but SPFBO 10’s entry process turned to a random selection for the 300 included books. About half of the books didn’t get selected, and The Crimson Court was one of those. I’ll be trying again to enter it again, hoping the odds are ever in my favor.
A Look Ahead at 2025
Book Release: The Shards of the Moon
As mentioned above, The Shards of the Moon finalizes The Frostmarked Chronicles. It got pushed back unfortunately, but not too far into 2025! It is only a month away now. Retailer pre-orders are available for the eBook, and you can also order eBook, signed physical editions, and bundles of the series from my store.
Feedback on the book has been great. I believe it will be a satisfying conclusion to WacÅ‚aw and Otylia’s stories for all of you, and we get some final looks at some fun aspects in Slavic myth. Between Marzanna, Czarnobóg, Weles, and Dziewanna, we also have a full slate of gods to handle. And that’s not to mention the twelve magical blades they need to collect (the Moonstones, thus the name The Shards of the Moon). It will be hard finally saying goodbye to all these characters, but I hope this final book gives them the final story they deserve.
I am grateful as well to Mariia Lytovchenko for her amazing work on the covers and interior art for the entire series. Being in Ukraine, she has worked through horrible conditions in her country, and I’m honored to have worked with her. More interior art reveals to come in January!
Release Date: January 28th, 2025
Book Release and Kickstarter: The Crystal Heir
That quick progress I talked about earlier on The Crystal Heir has ensured I’m keeping on pace for the wide release of the book in June, with a Kickstarter for the Deluxe Release Edition coming in March (follow the Kickstarter pre-launch if you haven’t yet). Editions of The Crimson Court will also be available as part of the Kickstarter in case you missed the first one.
Expect a cover reveal of Kateryna Vitkovska’s art in late January or early February!
While I talked a bit about the story of this one in the writing section, know that it picks right up where The Crimson Court left off. I won’t put spoilers here, but the situation is chaotic in Kalastok and beyond. There are multiple factions all seeking to control or destroy the Commonwealth of Two Nations. Not to mention those dastardly spirits over the mountains…
All editions of the book will come with art, and the Kickstarter will hopefully fund some awesome stuff especially for the deluxe edition. We’re starting off with another amazing Kateryna Vitkosvka cover and hardcover case cover under the dust jacket, a full color interior piece by Alhin Row, and another full color piece by Eddie Yorke. Depending on stretch goals, we’ll have a ton of interior art for the book along with graphics for magic stuff, another new map (bringing the total to four), and more. With another Joni Matoz sketch in stretch goals for a portrait of Wanusa, Radais’s Glassblade mentee, that also brings us up to four artists for The Crystal Heir. I’m telling you, this is going to be awesome.
Kickstarter Launch: March, 2025
Wide Release Date: June 24th, 2025
Book Release and Kickstarter: Lifeless Lands Book 1
With the completion of The Frostmarked Chronicles, I need another active series! I tend to write in one series while editing a book from another to avoid messing up the time-space continuum and breaking things in the previous book that require me to rewrite a lot in the one I’m currently working on. Don’t ask me about those 40k words from The Daughters of the Earth that will never see the light of day. *shudders*
That new series is going to be another set in the universe of the Crystal Realms. More specifically: the realm of Death.
I had previously mentioned wanting to do some pirate fantasy with the Water realm in last year’s update, but as I fleshed out my ideas, I decided to do the Death realm first. That Water one is still coming… eventually. I just have too many ideas not to jump into Lifeless Lands right after I’m done with The Crystal Heir, and besides, there’s some connections between the series that might be fun.
My intent is for these to be like Sanderson’s Cosmere. Lifeless Lands will be able to be read independently of The Realm Reachers, but there will be easter eggs and some cross over elements. Each realm will share elements of the Reacher magic system that crosses across realms, but each realm also has its inherent magic, some being more prominent and common than others. This is the start of the branching out into the Crystal Realms, and I am very excited to be building out this universe and showing you all the cool stuff in it.
This one is for all my fellow Sleep Token fans. Being the Death realm, this one will have pretty dark elements, but I won’t be straying into grimdark. I want my books in the Crystal Realms to be enjoyable for anyone who has read any of the series within the universe. That being said, this one will likely be less political and flintlock fantasy and more undead assassin serving a dark goddess. It’ll have an immersive, very fun world with competing necromancers, different tiers of undead, and a hunt for a servant of Life who is trying to ruin it all.
This one may also get a prequel novella that I’ll give away free to newsletter subscribers too.
Kickstarter: Autumn/Winter, 2025
Wide Release: Winter, 2025
Writing: The Realm Reachers Book 3
I’ll also begin writing book 3 of The Realm Reachers once Lifeless Lands 1 is complete. No details about this one yet, besides that it’s a continuation of what I anticipate being at least a five-book series. The Crystal Heir ended up going deeper than I expected in some parts, so I may have more content to write for the series than expected, which is all great, because it’s more for you to enjoy!
Anticipate a Kickstarter and wide release for this one in early 2026.
In-Person Events
Like I mentioned before, I expanded my event schedule in 2024, and 2025 will be another ramp-up. I am already committed to 11 events next year, and most have either not finalized the acceptance of vendors yet or not even opened applications yet. So, in other words, I’m going to be doing a LOT.
So far, I am signed up for many smaller events in the Rockford/Chicago and Madison/Milwaukee areas with the larger confirmations being for the Midwest Gaming Classic (Milwaukee) in April and FanExpo Chicago in August. C2E2 is super competitive to get into with limited Writer’s Block spots, but I’ll be hearing whether I was accepted again in January. I am also intending to return to Dragonsteel Nexus in Salt Lake City in 2025! No confirmation yet, though, since they haven’t opened details for vendors as of now.
I am also looking to expand my schedule beyond my Midwestern area that I can easily drive to. I intend to apply to Dragon Con in Atlanta, which is also super competitive, and may also be looking to apply to some of the bigger comic cons like New York and San Diego depending on logistics and acceptance. These cons have been huge for marketing and profit, so I’d like to do as many as possible. There are only so many weekends in the year, though, and it takes a lot to plan for the further away ones.
Keep a watch on my socials to see a more complete schedule as I find out more. The early year schedule above is pretty much locked in, probably with the addition of a release signing for The Shards of the Moon at Maze Books in Rockford sometime in January or February.
The Future
What? An update on four books isn’t enough for you? FINE! I’ll talk about future plans, series-by-series.
The Realm Reachers: At least 5 novels total (not including The Amber Dame), with potentially more depending on how much I can convince the characters to do what they’re supposed to (I’m looking at you Kasia and Nex). There’s a lot of realms and Reaching and wars to do still. Too much Crimson around for my liking. One of the characters is going to have to fix that before the series gets to finish.
Lifeless Lands: This one may just be a trilogy. I haven’t plotted out the full arc yet, so stay tuned. Because of timelines and things between realms, there also be multiple series set in different eras within the Death realm eventually depending on how things go. Later eras would come after I do some other realms first.
Crystal Realms Pirate Fantasy: Eventually… I can jump between two projects pretty well. I worry that entering another one into the mix will befuddle my mind a bit. I will at some point do a Crystal Realms Water realm pirate fantasy, though. And there will be sentient crabs, because all things evolve back to crabs.
The Frostmarked Chronicles: I will answer the two biggest questions I get. First, no this series was not secretly in the Crystal Realms. It is separate and shall stay that way. Second, I do not have plans to ever return to this world. I did all I could to bring my ideas around Slavic mythology into the series, and I fear doing so further would stretch me thin. At most, I have an idea about Baba Jaga and Koschei the Deathless in their younger forms before they became what they are, but they would be standalones just technically in the same world. Do not expect this soon, if ever.
The Prism Files: It’s dead. Stop asking me (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).
Anticipated Future Release Schedule
This will likely change, but take it for what it is.
2025: The Shards of the Moon, The Crystal Heir, Lifeless Lands #1, Lifeless Lands Prequel (maybe)
2026: Realm Reachers #3, Lifeless Lands #2
2027: Realm Reachers #4, Lifeless Lands #3
2028: Realm Reachers #5, New Crystal Realms Series #1 (Water, Possibility, or Fire)
Conclusion
Once again, I want to thank everyone who has supported me, especially my wife, Andrea. She tolerates all my rants about my books and is my first reader for all of them. Plus, if you see me at events, there is a good chance she’s there helping me be able to make those happen.
Thank you to everyone as well who has ever bought a book, left a review, commented on a post, or shared any of my books with a friend. I could not do this without your support. This year has been incredible when it comes to growing my audience, and hearing from each of you means so much. Whether at book one or thirteen, I’m honored to have the chance to write and have people actually enjoy reading it.
That is all for 2024. It has been an awesome year, definitely the best of my publishing career so far. I cannot wait to see what 2025 has in store! Until then, Happy Holidays and New Year!