Tales in Publishing:
Playing with Fyr
So I announced a successful #PitMad ages ago (story here) and have been silent about landing a publisher since. The silence did not mean nothing was going on nor was there any drama. My publishers and I have been hard at collaborative work, bringing my book to life.
I'm
pleased to announce, my book Fyr, Book 1 of the Celestial Spheres trilogy, will
be released to the world on July 14th. Fyr is an upper YA novel that crosses
over to adults with a rating of 17+ that older teens and adults can both enjoy. The book is like The Selection meets Poison Study.
Toury arrives in Fyr where magic is power, a prince’s love is deadly, and
female autonomy is a dream. Prince Alex realizes Toury can break his curse and
save his people, but Earth girls aren’t so easy.
So far, so good. I love my editor's ability to get a lot out of me, considering how I put a lot of important stuff off for book two or accidentally left details behind in my mind. It's all been pushed into book one, fleshing it out to create a wonderfully developed world, complex and realistic characters, and a solid plot of twists and turns leaving the reader--I hope--wanting more. We've passed through two edits and now in the last copyediting stage.
We're looking at cover art, discussing pronunciation for the audiobook and choosing voice actors, and formulating the marketing plan. I've reached out to an old college pal to take specific photos for me that my publisher will jazz up to use in marketing. I've never realized how much went into marketing and audiobooks. I'm very excited to hear them do the voices--accents and all.
My publisher creates such a tight-knit community all about collaboration that I know I've chosen the right publisher for me. They are even having my illustrator-husband draw the cover art which makes it mean so much more to me (since this book will be dedicated to him). In all, I'm happy with the publishing path I've chosen; smaller presses really are the best since you get most the support traditional pubs have at no cost and almost the same control you'd get if self-publishing.
I'm so excited to share more, so keep on the lookout for future posts as the release date draws closer.