Archer’s Aim Weekly Progress Report – 4/22/2022

When will the next volume of The Cursed Mage Case files arrive? Find out in this week’s Archer’s Aim progress report.

Hi all! PH here with a progress update for the week. This is a new series for me as I detail some of what I’m doing each week. It’s a way for me to keep myself going by posting each week. The update format will likely change over time until I’m comfortable with the feel of the posts. Now for what happened this week.

This Week With The Unseen Hand

This week, I took a long look at where I am with The Unseen Hand. This review was helpful as I dug into how long it will take me to complete the next volume of The Cursed Mage Case Files. I started by estimating how many days each section of the book would take to revise plus copy editing, formatting and other preparation details. This assessment was very honest and I arrived at a mid-June completion date of everything up to formatting.

As a result of this appraisal, I’m giving myself until at least mid-August for release. It’s a soft date that could slide closer or further out based on my progress, especially over the next several weeks. If progress is faster, then release will be sooner. The closer I get to a finished book, the better I can determine when to set the release date. I think I should have a pretty good idea of the date within a few weeks.

Why am I being conservative with the release date? The last release was done with about thirty or forty-five days lead. There were quite a lot of details that were not finished and then I contracted Covid several weeks before the launch and haven’t been the same since. As a result, The Order of the Dark Rose didn’t get the proper release it should have gotten and, while it has sold well over the last year and a half plus, it could have been better with a more robust release. I’m planning to release The Unseen Hand with a broader plan. Advanced release copies will be available and more blog posts for the series will be written. I may even complete a growing series companion. There are other plans for promotion that need my attention so I need appropriate time to build toward the release.

This Week With Other Writing Projects

What else happened this week? I also reviewed where I stand with The Nine Jewel Heist, Volume 3 of The Cursed Mage Case Files. Again, this book will go into in-depth revision as soon as possible after The Unseen Hand is completed. This book is intended to be launched later this year so my intention is to put myself on the clock for completing the work.

Additionally, A Charm in the Hand, Book 1 of The Black Glove, is almost ready for an editorial review. The plan is to complete that revision to send to my editor ASAP so there’s a chance to release that book this year too. It needs about 8,000 words edited which won’t take too long to complete. I’ve even gotten most of it posted to my Reedsy account where I’ll produce a draft copy for my editor. This book is much further along than it seems due to the nature of the story. I hope to share more about it over the next weeks and months and I think it will be the beginning of an entertaining series.

This Week With Miscellaneous Projects

I’m also planning an overhaul of the site with a new theme. It’s something to juggle, but this is necessary since viewing on the mobile version of the site is somewhat limited. The change is overdue so I want to push this along over the next month parallel with work on The Unseen Hand and getting A Charm in the Hand off to my editor.

What else is going on? I’ve been planning to launch an imprint for print books this year. I’m behind on this project, so I plan to push it along. There’s some lifting to do, but it’s mainly smaller tasks for existing books. Readying the books is mainly having the imprint stood up with a basic website, obtaining ISBNs registered to the imprint, and putting these into distribution through Ingram. The goal here is to make the print books available to bookstores so there will be some marketing material to create. The goal is to possibly have it all ready for the release of The Unseen Hand and the following books.

Once The Unseen Hand is ready along with the website and the imprint, I hope to clear time to spend on outlining, world-building, and drafting books for publication next year. It’s important to make progress on several projects to free up creative time in addition to editing and revision.

Oh yeah, I’ve submitted The Unseen Hand to my audio publisher, Podium Audio. If there’s interested, this should get audio on the launching pad for all of The Cursed Mage Case Files series. If this doesn’t work out, I’ve got a few ideas for audio I’ll pursue at a later time

Otherwise, The Order of the Dark Rose is on sale at 99 cents through 4/24. I’m planning more items for listings in the merchandise store. I’m also looking into digital products for the NFT market as well as possible 3D figures. Stay tuned for these developments.

Thanks for stopping by the site today and reading this post. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Like what you’re reading? Feel free to follow this site, you can even view the site from the WordPress reader app. Looking for more information? I’m growing a text club for faster, shorter announcements and exclusive specials. You can also join me in Marston’s Station, my private fan group on Goodreads where you can read about more non-public development news and additional exclusive special deals. Look for me at these additional sites too. There are plenty of ways to follow and I look forward to hearing from you soon.