New Book Rough Draft Complete!

After months of writing, I have finished the rough draft of my medieval fantasy novel. Coming in around half the length of Iris, the story is a good length for a non-intimidating first entry into what is envisioned as a four-part series. I love this length! I think it is a good size for the book. Typically first entries tend to be a bit shorter than other books in the series to create a less-intimidating impression on a potential reader. Historically, I have not abided by this rule. For example, Iris is the longest book in my Color of Water and Sky series, despite being the first book.

The book is in the ballpark of 80,000 words. Interestingly, this was not my initial idea. When I first proposed to book to the consultants I am working with, I proposed 60,000 words. The feedback I received was that a 80,000-word story is far more palatable and popular in the medieval fantasy genre. Therefore, I extended it. After writing Iris, which was around 160,000 words, I had no problem writing a longer story. For me, it’s the shorter stories that I have trouble with anyway, so this was feedback I found easy to implement.

That brings me to my next subject; the consultants I am working with. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that I am working with a company called Copy Write Consultants that helps writers enter the “traditional publishing” route. Thus far my impression of the company remains fair. When working with them, the feedback I get is always strong, useful, insightful, easy to understand, and worthwhile. However, I have been displeased by the abysmal pace at which they respond to emails. If I hear back within two weeks, I consider that a fast response from these people. The good news is, I have not necessarily been in a rush. After all, I only just finished my draft this week. However, if I was more pressed for time, I could see this slow response rate being extremely frustrating.

For people who may not typically enjoy medieval fantasy because of all the magic, spells, curses, and rules that typically come with the genre, this is the medieval fantasy book for you! Personally, my least favorite thing about medieval fantasy is the magic. I find it is often confusing and can create deus ex machina situations. That is why this story has no magic in it at all. Instead, it relies heavily on romance, action, political intrigue, and culture. It is my hope that this unique exclusion of what is typically a common genre trope will help my book stand out from others in the genre and will hopefully pull in readers who would not typically read this type of story.

Now that the draft is written, my current step is to edit the manuscript and continue working on my submission materials with the help of Christopher from Copy Write Consultants. After I make a round or two on the manuscript, I hope to once again bring in a group of beta readers and outside editors to help me. I did this more often during the early Color of Water and Sky books, but I gradually cut down on this process over time as I honed my editing and formatting skills (I basically realized I could do it all myself). But given that I want to take the traditional publishing route, it seems sensible to bring in outside help once again for this process. The more eyes looking at this manuscript, the better.

While I will definitely hire some professional eyes who are trained in editing, I will also look to random everyday readers as well. If you are interested in reading an early draft of my 80,000-word medieval fantasy novel, there could be an opportunity for you! Please reach out to thecolorofwaterandsky@gmail.com and you may have a chance to assist me in my editing process (and get a chance to read the story before anyone else)!

After the editing, I will then send my draft and materials to the curated list of agents that Christopher will help find for me. From there, it is the luck of the draw. With my materials and story polished, I just need to hope someone reads and enjoys my writing. Wish me luck!

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