Goals for 2026 and Plans for Book Three

The first thing, of course, is to release When Darkness Blinds. Most of the work is done, but there are still a handful of small tasks to accomplish, like finishing the Amazon product page, preparing marketing materials, and fixing any errors my proofreaders find.

Once book 2 is released, I will turn my attention to book 3. My first goal is to reread my last draft and go over the notes my parents made on it when they beta read (or alpha read, if you prefer) the book last year.

While reading, I want to break the story down into a detailed outline that I can then revise until I feel I've rearranged, added, and changed things as much as needed. Using this outline, I will then write the third and final draft.

From there, I will get beta readers to go over the story, then will make any necessary revisions based on their feedback. The plan grows a bit fuzzy at this point, as the next steps will depend on what state the book is in, and what kind of feedback I get from my readers. There may be another round of readers/revisions, or if I feel confident about the changes I've made, I might transition into editing.

Given how variable many of these steps are, it is difficult to guess at the time breakdown for the year, but here is a rough idea:

   January: Release/market WDB!

   February: Go over book 3 draft and make/revise outline.

   March: Begin draft 3.

   April: Continue draft 3.

   May: Continue draft 3.

   June: Finish draft 3 and give to beta readers.

   July: Work on cover/formatting/other. Go over beta notes and start revisions.

   August: Continue revisions.

   September: Continue revisions.

   October:  Continue revisions.

   November:  Finish revisions? Get beta readers?

   December: ??

As for when book three will release, it is too soon to tell! I know for sure it won't be this year, and if it comes out next year, I suspect it would be late fall at the soonest. I'll have a better idea once I get through the revision stage!