NOTE: This post originally appeared in my Patreon account on January 9th, 2023
Hey all! First things first, I want to thank all of you for helping support me and the novel. My gratitude for your support is endless, I promise. I'll get back to that later though.
For now, I want to talk about what's going on with the rest of the story. There are maybe about 50 to 60 chapters left, which means we're getting closer and closer to the end.
I'm really excited to tell it, and I hope I don't go overboard with certain things.
BUT there's going to be a bit of a pause at the end of the January. This is only because I'm forced to move and don't really have a choice, sadly. Not necessarily a bad thing, but still a thing regardless.
It's going to take a majority of my time and effort for probably a couple of weeks. During that time I won't be able to write, much less update.
For that, I truly apologize.
That said however, once I do get back in the swing of things, it will be to finish off the story. Assuming nothing happens between now and then. Fingers crossed.
I'm also planning a couple extra chapters after the end, for a couple of reasons. For one, so that everyone on Webnovel can read the last two chapters without being stuck in Privilege.
Tangent: WN's Privilege is seriously predatory, and I absolutely hate that they forced it on my book. I'll get back to this part in a moment.
The other reason is to fill in a few lighter moments that I missed or forgot during the original run. I don't want to spoil too much, but one is going to be semi-romantic and will contrast the relationships between Azrael/Kali & Freya/Lucifer. The other will be a chapter of a wolf pup exploring the Republic Cruiser.
Both will be set somewhere between Arcs 8 and 9.
In any case, once those two are out, the novel is done. There won't be any sequels or prequels or any of that, haha.
But I will be making edits and art for physical and ebook versions of the novels. I'll definitely be publishing those and doing my best to get publicity for them.
And since all of you have supported me thus far, I want to be able to give you free copies of those books. I mean, that's only fair for the support you've shown.
After that, I'll be developing the manga version. My art has a long way to go, and I might just have to hire an artist in the end.
And then after that? Probably the next book. But that said, I'm not sure where to write next. I could continue to write on WN, GN, etc. Or I could put it all on my website. Or on RR. Moonquill. Wherever.
What I don't want to do is put the chapters behind a paywall. I've found that the books are just too expensive when read that way. And that whole Privilege thing that WN does? It's designed to extract every last dime from readers, and I really don't like it.
Like I said, I really hated that they forced it on my book. I brought it up with the Sharestory editors + technical team, and they almost fought me to keep it. I mean, they really wanted to convince me it was the right thing to have.
They did offer to bring it up and try to get my book off Privilege with the Inkstone WN staff, but I declined. I knew it would be a waste of my time and their time.
If it was that tough talking to the Sharestory AE's, then it would be extra tough talking to the Inkstone Editors. Much less their bosses.
Instead, I told them to activate tags. In my view, from a business perspective, tags are more valuable than Privilege. Reaches a wider audience rather than squeezing the current audience. Less of a fight, and appeases the business people above me.
By default, nonexclusively contracted books published through Sharestory don't have book tags. It's the worst, most unproductive feature of the system.
It feels like a very minor win against a major problem.
There's other problems, too. Like I don't have direct control over the book itself. Such as removing spam comments. Or toxic readers, of which there are so fucking many. Or just the basic ability to engage with other readers in general.
Sharestory and Inkstone sucks, basically. So yeah, no more contracts for future books.
And if you're a budding novelist who is thinking about getting nonexclusive contracts, don't. Definitely don't ever sign an exclusive contract.
Okay, back to what I was saying... I'm also entertaining publishing a choice-based novel on Tales. But those also require unlocking. Although these are more game-like than normal novels, and are so much more immersive, so maybe they might be worth it?
I know there's nothing too predatory about their system. Even then, I'm not sure on that one also. I'll have to think about it more.
Ultimately, it comes down to just having all the stories unlocked and free to read whenever.
Which comes back to all your support once again. I'm seriously grateful for all of you - thank you all so much! Without you, I'm not sure the novel would have gotten this far. Seriously.
Anyway, I hope all of us have a great 2023. I hope you all enjoy the ending once it comes.
