I've officially written the first page of the new story opening! I've also plotted out about half a dozen new early chapters. The plan is to smooth out the start of the story, improve the MC's disposition and likeability, and add important lore and continuity for characters and world-building. Over the next month, as we race toward the end of "book two," I'll post a poll each week regarding the story's future. For clarity, polls will be separate from each chapter, but will not replace the weekly updates. I'll make sure to release an actual chapter tonight or tomorrow night.

Finding the balancing between releasing new chapters and revising old chapters is tough. I don't want to leave my current readers hanging if I go back and fix the beginning of the story, but I also don't want to keep turning off new readers. Rest assured, regardless of the direction I go, you'll get new content. I'm determined to write this tale to the very end. The question is whether the updates are a new opening, or whether they're the beginning of "book three." I could post on a new story entirely, with shorter, 3x/week updates until we work our way through the backlog and pick back up with the current storylines, but not everyone is interested in a lengthy reread.

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If I "rebrand" to something like The Glass Mage, with new artwork and a new introduction to the world of glass-making and magic, I might be able to capture new readers. My suspicion is that I've more or less capped out the growth potential of the current story due to the shaky beginning. Picking up new readers is slow. We're almost to 250 followers, but we'll probably never make it to the 1,000 mark. I know, I know, I'm being greedy. :)

Let me know what you think in the comments.