And with that, book 1 of Orion's Ballad comes to a close! Thanks so much for reading, rating, reviewing and commenting. Your feedback is what keeps me going, and helps make Orion's Ballad better than it could ever be without you. If you want a chance to directly affect book 2, you can complete this short google survey: https://forms.gle/5vW2yKEr21CCC8pT6
Announcements
When is book 2 coming?
Book 2 will begin on August 19th, 2024. There will be a release blitz of at least 7 chapters a week for two weeks following launch, then releases will settle into a regular schedule. I'll have more information about what that schedule will be at a later date, but for now I can say that it will definitely be a minimum of 3 chapters a week, but hopefully more. I'm currently planning for the standard chapter lengths of Book 2 to be 1500 - 2500 words, but this may change depending on the feedback survey.
I'm planning to make a big push with the launch of Book 2 to make Orion's Ballad profitable enough that I can write full time. I know it won't happen overnight, but the more growth we get the better. If you like the story so far, please consider sharing it with friends or on the internet and leaving ratings/reviews here on Royal Road. This leads me to the next two sections:
Early Reviewer Credits
A while back I decided to include the first 10 reviewers of Orion's Ballad in the credits of each book, here on Royal Road and in all future publications/editions. I've decided to expand this to anyone who reviews the book before the launch of Book 2 in August. You'll be added to the credits regardless of what scores you give or what you say in your review, and the score you give won't be included in the credits. You can also ask not to be included in these credits if you don't want to be, either in your review itself or in a DM to me here on RR.
Patreon
Alongside the second book, I'll be launching a Patreon with early access chapters. Exact tiers and how far ahead the chapters will be for each tier isn't settled yet, but I'm hoping to give you guys a good beefy backlog. I'll have more information about this later. I also have plans for additional rewards for Patrons, but none of those are set in stone yet, and there's a section in the feedback survey to give suggestions if you have any.
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Book 1 Revision
I'm currently undergoing a chapter-by-chapter revision of Book 1. As it stands right now, I'm very proud of what I've written, but it's not polished enough for me to be satisfied with leaving it the way it is. This revision will not alter the plot in any way, and it won't be necessary for anyone who has already read Book 1 to go back and read it again, it will simply make Book 1 a better experience for future readers. When the revision is complete, I'll post another update like this one with a change log. For now, here's the basics of what to expect:
- Grammar and spelling corrections
- Improvements to prose
- Implementation of feedback from commenters, such as fixing inconsistencies and better explaining things.
- Standardization of names and terms (ex: throughout the book, the Redwood Forest is sometimes referred to as The Great Forest. In the revision, it will always be referred to by the same name.)
- Additional scenery descriptions may be added to some chapters
- I have a handful of minor scenes in mind that I may add at different points throughout the book. If I do, they won't affect the plot and they'll be plainly mentioned and linked to in the change-log for anyone that wants to read them.
- The utility of the adventure journal may be expanded on to include displaying status effects and current quests. I'll still be keeping the character sheet sections short and sparse, though. Any changes to adventure journal functionality will carry over to the second book and be clearly noted in the change log.
Credits
Creative Contributions
Orion's Ballad wouldn't exist in its current form without my friend Atari Astro. They invented the characters of Grell and Adan and allowed me to use them in Orion's Ballad, they were instrumental in the design and characterization of the Agents of Morose, contributed to the creation of the Dreamweaver, and offered countless suggestions and personal headcanons/theories throughout the writing process.
Early Reviewers
Reviews mean so much to authors and make a huge impact on a story's success. Thanks so much to the early reviewers that helped Orion's Ballad get as many readers as it has today.
- Cynical Witch
- Czaja
- Bobgongo
- your daddy laozi
- Blahitz
- Ghostdraconi
- TheHornedOne
- TeeJay3000
- Janxius
- HansGuckIndLuft
Prolific Commenters
Comments are important too! They help authors see that people are enjoying and engaging with the story in a way that statistics and numbers can't. I wanted to give a special shout out to some of the most prolific commenters throughout book 1, sorry if I missed anyone!
- Evren
- F24Valentine
- Drachier
- TheHornedOne
- DLX
- Ghostdraconi
- ConFusion112358
- Jaricvenn
Prolific Editors
A lot of people have left edit suggestions, but these are the few who provided a lot. This community proofreading is immensely valuable, as I'm a long way from being able to afford my own editor and no matter how many times you read over your own chapter, you always miss stuff.
- LitRPG_fan
- Bobgongo
- Scregg5757
- Pitrel
- J. Davis
- dtape467
- Pacifax
- YawonNoway