Post publication update

One month post-publication and I’m settling into the business of being an author; learning lots about different marketing strategies, talking to bookstores about stocking my book (eek! Hopefully more to come soon…) and trying to master the temperamental algorithms of social media (looking at you TikTok…

So far, over 60 people have purchased my book and I’ve been blown away by the messages and feedback I’ve received so far, so thank you!

From typing on my phone at 2am in the dark, to editing and annotating multiple drafts, to seeing my physical book for the first time. It’s been a journey and I’m so proud that I’ve ticked off one of the biggest things on my bucket list.

So what’s next? Well, I have lots to learn on the marketing front, so that is keeping me busy. But, for those of you that have finished Aubade Rising and have *thoughts* on the ending (I’m sorry? No I’m not, I love the ending) then you’ll be pleased to hear about book two…

But before I get into book two - check out this amazing character art of Sage - I feel like the artist did a great job of capturing her irritated expression when one of the Concord members makes a stupid suggestion (for the millionth time). I now have gorgeous portraits of Sage, Haelyn and Dervla - check out my instagram to see the whole set.

I’m over the moon to say that Book 2 is ready to be sent to my editor for developmental edits (the first of three intense stages of edits before you get too excited). This is huge though because originally I was desperate to finish the first draft by the end of 2025. However, it turns out that the days leading up to publication were so nerve-wracking that the only thing that could distract me was writing. So I did lots of it… 46,000 words in September alone.

I finished it on the 12th October but I’ve been playing around with a few new ideas and can’t wait to get my first round of feedback. I started writing on the 22nd July so turned this draft around in less than 3 months and that’s with finalising edits on Auabde Rising too. No wonder I feel a bit tired!

My tentative (very tentative) aim is (dependent on the level of revisions and feedback from my editor) to publish book two in early summer 2026 with book 3 coming very early 2027… But that is an aggressive timescale, even by my standards so we’ll see.

In the meantime, to keep you interested in the Trials of Trevesiga, I’ll be publishing two short novellas (one either side of Book 2). These will likely be around 20,000 words (although the first is at 3k and they haven’t even had a conversation yet so… Could be a lot longer) and the first will be a prequel focusing on Howl & Cedar’s relationship. You heard it here first… I hope you love these two characters just as much as I do and I can’t wait to share more teasers here first!

Thanks for reading,

Hayley

PS: If you’ve made it this far and not left a review on Goodreads or Amazon, could I convince you to do so now? It makes the world of difference to indie authors - thank you!

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