First-round edits on Inheritance of Magic 2 (a.k.a An Instruction in Shadow) are done! Manuscript was emailed off to my editors as of yesterday.
Finishing the first-round edits is the point at which a book really becomes ‘settled’ in my mind. The first draft takes much more work, but until the first-round edits are agreed on and completed, the book is still somewhat fluid. There’s always the possibility that the editor will want big changes, or they’ll point things out that make me decide on big changes. Once the first-round edits are done, that’s no longer true. The manuscript will still be revised quite a bit in the copy-edits stage, but the fundamental story won’t be. The version of An Instruction of Shadow that I sent off yesterday will be >95% the same as the version that you guys will be able to read next year.
Which means that it’s time to get started on number 3! I’m hoping to start writing the first draft around the end of the year, with the aim of finishing in summer 2024.
Everything appears to be going well with Book #2 and its reassuring that the first-round edits are off to the publisher so soon. Book #1 was great but contained a lot of the scene-setting necessary for world-building, I’m sure that Book #2 will move the story on apace. When do things like target publication dates get set? As you can tell, I’m just gagging for the next fix!
Publishers usually decide on the publication date around 9 months in advance. In this case Book 2 will probably be at around the same yearly slot as Book 1, so around October.
Woohoo! That’s great that you have finished book two. I know there are a lot of people excited for book two. Looking forward to the resolution of the cliffhanger at the end of book one. 🙂
Yay, congrats!
How exciting! Really looking forward to reading book 2.
Thank you for keeping us updated! I’m excited to read further books in the series.
I hope that your Real Life tasks are being completed and that you can get a relaxing Christmas (well probably not relaxing but maybe fun) and that you can shift your full focus to Book #3 in the New Year.
In the meantime looking forward to the next DruCrafting background briefing and (perhaps?) you will be starting an “Ask Amy” or should it be “Ask Joanna” in 2024?
Excellent book one and looking forward to book two. Thank you for updating us as we eagerly await to find out what is next for Stephen in the Drucraft world.
I just finished the first book and I’m already addicted. Thanks so much for the update. I look forward to the next installment!
Thank you. First time I am looking forward to a Christmas present for the one one year from now 🙂