Hello! Fists, let me preface this update with insignificant things. Since the end of the previous year, I knew this update was close and bound to happen sooner, yet it is April already! I suffered a little bit from procrastination and if it hadn't been for the established backlog, it would've been worse. Add to that the changing shifts, and writing wasn't anywhere stable. I hope to get back on track and work on two novels at a time soon, and not just do one because it is kind of wrecking, and the change of pace is fantastic. I started on RR while publishing 3 novels at a time... which then changed to this one alone due to my dissatisfaction.
With yet another complete book, changes are due.
Anyhow, the update is as follows...
BOOK COVER!
image [https://i.imgur.com/uSrRDlO.png]
At long last, a properly done cover made up by an artist and no AI. It was costly, but well worth it. The name of the artist is Shredderdima on Fiverr and it went well although it was my first commission.
I plan to get two other covers for the next ongoing book, and the one after that. Afterward, who knows what will happen, but I don't have plans to commission covers for Books 2, 3, and 4 in the near future, albeit I have some idea about what I want to see from them. It isn't probably a good idea to do such commissions when I don't plan to publish this novel outside of RR.
For now, consider this cover as a baseline for the whole novel.
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Next is an overhaul of the Rulebook-Index chapter I created 9 months ago. Weird coincidence, eh? It is ready to hatch, I guess.
You can read through the changes right now, as I just copy-pasted the changes and tripled the details and word count. Unfortunately, a chapter can't be beyond 30,000 words in RR, so it has been cut into two parts. You can find the first at the start of this novel, or the link in the pre-chapter author notes, while the other half was published an hour ago before this updated chapter.
Big changes include a complete rewrite of many sections, new additions such as expanded Power Systems, summaries for each book, character details, a world-building section, a roadmap, and many more. I also got rid of some useless things and added more of them instead. It is great! Stuff about the novel voices my perspective and the writing itself. Think of it as a dive... to the void... Ignore it if you may.
It is well over 30,000 words long, so take it as something... big. I worked a lot with Spoiler tables, so a lot of things are hidden under a few clicks. More than 80% of people preferred it, so I guess it works.
For now, the novel goes as far as Book 4, which means nearly 3,000 pages, so it goes quite deep and far.
Summaries are especially good, I hope. There are 4 of them for each book and recapitulate what I thought felt right.
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The next thing is the novel itself.
As you might know, Book 3 ended a week ago, which is a spectacular accomplishment for me. By now, the novel is just below 3000 pages long, and it isn't hard for me to guess how or why. I tend to go overboard with some chapters, so the pacing might be off. Book 3 is more than 440 thousand words long and has more than 70 chapters. It is bigger than the two previous books combined.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
When I looked through the Roadmap and my backlogs, followed by work in the Rulebook, I decided to cut Book 3 in half and give Part 1 of this novel a new look.
Thus, each Gate of the Levandis Temple will be one book each, with 4 books in total.
Names go as follows. Book 1: Dungeon, Book 2: Encounter, Book 3: Gate of Suffering, Book 4: Islands of Greatness, and the new ongoing book is Book 5 called Hellscape.
Words by words, a new Book 4 is still chunky, closing on 300 thousand words. Book 3 is at half of that number since Gate 1 isn't that huge, and closely resembles Book 1 and 2 in size.
Also, I haven't thought of very good preludes between the new Book 3 and Book 4, so there aren't any.
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But something new is! A NEW prelude will arrive in less than a week upon this publication.
Plumfanoodle, the most fierce commentator of this novel, suggested and made many valid points more than half a year ago. This included barring holes that needed to be refiled, followed by a foreign perspective that I appreciated from this single reader.
One such suggestion will be fixed next week. It will be a Prelude chapter between Book 1 and Book 2 that will reveal things about Razmund and some developments that aren't mentioned in Book 2 or Book 3. This will clarify some things, as well as give Razmund more background.
I wrote it a few weeks ago, so I hope it will fit into the story and won't cause new holes. I think some small ones will spread, so I will have to look through at least the prelude of Book 3 next, or some chapters in Book 3 or Book 2 that are relevant.
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Book 5 is around the corner
What is brewing in the Hellscape, where it goes, and what awaits Murai in further Depths? A lot of things.
It will be a big book again because I had way too much fun with the second draft that went on for long months. 300k words is a baseline.
Releases: I plan to ditch weekend releases for this book altogether. New chapters will start soon and they will be posted on weekdays, followed by some shifts due to some changes I want to make.
By now, some chapters in Books 3 and 4 are quite massive, nearing 8,000 or 7,000 words. As my backlog for Book 5 started to take shape, the chapters were as big, if not bigger.
So, I implied to myself some set of rules, while I have no idea what the readers want.
The first two new chapters are important preludes of two 10k+ chapters. I won't cut them in half due to what they follow and show. Following those preludes will be regular chapters, while words are the curious factors. [I hope it won't end badly.]
Releasing 10,000 words a week is my starting goal, as it sounds easy. It will probably end up bigger as a whole anyway, due to some chapters being 8,000, 7,000, or 10,000 long. I will be cutting those in half, and when I do, you will have 4, 3, or 2 chapters in a week with sizes between 5,000 and 3,000 words. When a chapter is at 5,000 words, followed by another, there will be 2 chapters in a week.
For now, I haven't gotten around to cutting and managing them yet, or so it seems when I write this instead.
I will be gradually going through this process, which isn't as complicated as pushing the publishing button or forcing myself through spellchecking and grammar.
For now, be patient.
Preludes will be released first, with the start of the normal releases in early May.
Thanks for your understanding, and I hope this shift in publishing new chapters won't ruin anything. I was doing weekday releases for almost a year. [with occasional late chapters on Mondays due to... my blunders]
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That's it for the update. With 4 Books complete, it is my 10th published book overall, if I count my lousy attempts with my other two novels. Anyway, this duckling novel has more than 400 followers, which is not that bad even with the use of a single ad. The views aren't that stagnant like the 3-star rating since long ago. Oh, well, the ratings are what they are. People seem to read this. Some do... some bored sick... omitted.
I have some silly ideas and writing is barely two years old under my hands. More time will follow and improve it for sure.
See you soon.