Rapid-Release

Hey guys! How are you doing? Well, I hope.

This month, as you well know, we’re talking about anything and everything. It’s catch-all month, and I’m actually finding this to be a lot of fun. It’s a great way for me to get to talk to you guys about topics I don’t usually get to mention, and tell you a little bit more about me and my writing as a whole.

Today, I’m answering a question that’s been put to me many times in the last few years.

"Why don’t you rapid release?"

I’m sure you’ve heard of this, especially if you’re a follower of any indie authors on Kindle. Everybody recommends rapid release, because “it’s the only way to get people to see or read your books on Kindle.” Well, fie, I say. Fie! I disagree completely. Rarely ever is there only one way to do something.

But really, primarily, the reason I don’t rapid release is that I respect my readers more than that. I know my books are long, and that this is why I have to price them a little higher. It’s a waste if they were to be priced any lower, but I also can’t expect you all to drop your money on books when you have life to live as well.

Also, because my books are so long, I want to make sure you actually have the time to read them. I understand that life happens, that sometimes a longer book takes more than a week to read, and I respect you too much to demand that you read all six of my 200,000 word novels in the Druid series in six weeks flat.

Seriously, I just couldn’t do that.

But then again, it’s more than just that. 

200,000 words is a lot of words. That’s a lot to write, and it’s a lot to edit. It takes me the better part of a year to edit a single novel for release in the following year. That’s a long time. I can’t push myself any faster than that and expect the books to be on par with what I’ve already released in the series. I can’t. It’s simply not possible if I want to retain the caliber of release I’ve attained.

Never fear, however! For those of you who do read quickly, and for those of you who do want to see more of my books hitting the shelves in a year, there will come a time when I intend to make that happen.

It still won’t be rapid-release, but it’ll be better than one a year. And it’ll start with my next series, currently titled Earth-Space.

Unfortunately, that series won’t be coming out for a few years yet. But, fortunately, that means I have more time to start editing and getting them ready for release.

See, Earth-Space is unlike the Druid Novels. It’s not a series of standalone novels that link together to make one masterpiece. It’s a traditional series that flows one into the other—which also means I’ll need to edit the whole chunk at once, before I can release any of it. And that’s my intention.

This year, I’ll start editing the first book in the Earth-Space series (no, it doesn’t have a name yet), alongside Anialych. The series is only four books so far, so I could potentially release the whole thing in two years if I released two in a year (likely one in spring and one in late fall). Then I’d have more books on the shelves, and you guys would have even more reading to do—but I’d also be able to reach extra people, and the people who do like to read several 200,000 word novels in a year.

So there’s your answer. You won’t see rapid-releasing out of me at all, but hopefully you will see more than one book in a year when the time comes.

But that time is not now. Be patient. ;-)

[love]

{Rani Divine}