Unveiling the Book 2 Title (and a call for Alpha Readers)
Mist & Shadow #2 has a title!
The sequel to Daphne’s adventures will be called…Flame & Fury!
Here’s a glimpse of the cover.
Status update: I’ve been working steadily on the sequel for the last year and a half and am currently the middle of a rewrite to make it shiny. It’s times like these that I wish I had the luxury of writing full-time (the dream!) so that I could crank books out faster. But I can’t complain too much. A tip for slow writers, though: definitely write out your whole series before you publish that first book!
Mist & Shadow has received a tremendous response from readers and I’m extremely grateful for that. It really makes all of the work and time spent on the sequel worth it.
That said, the manuscript is getting to the point where I’ll need some ALPHA READERS!!
What are those, you ask?
An alpha reader is someone who reads a novel in its rough draft form in advance of publication and provides feedback. During the writing of Mist & Shadow, I benefited greatly from a number of alpha and beta readers who freely gave their time to look over the manuscript months and even years ahead of its publication.
Each one brought something different to their feedback and although they varied in their helpfulness (if they ultimately responded back at all), the book wouldn’t be as good without those insights.
Authors become blind to their own manuscripts, but alpha readers help point out ideas and sections of writing that are unclear, undeveloped (or just bad!). They say what works and what doesn’t. With this sequel, there’s another layer: Does it build off of the first book well? Is it ultimately a satisfying read?
If you have read Mist & Shadow, enjoyed it, have an editor’s eye to provide insightful feedback on book 2, and are well-read in the YA genre, please contact me using my website form to put your name in for consideration.
Those who make the effort to provide plenty of good, constructive feedback will receive a free signed physical (yay!) copy of Flame & Fury with handwritten annotations! :)
Here are questions I’ll ask my alphas to consider and jot down comments in a Google Doc as they read by chapter:
Was any part of this chapter confusing or hard to follow?
Did your eyes glaze over at any particular paragraph or section?
Was the manuscript compelling enough to hold your interest?
Does the dialogue flow? Is it natural?
Are characters fleshed out and believable?
Which parts do you like so far? What parts do you not like?
After finishing: Was this a satisfying sequel?
Is there anything you would cut out, rework, or change?
I’ll evaluate the feedback and make revisions. Then it’s off to beta readers, then professional editors! And finally, PUBLICATION!!!