Ready for Launch in 3, 2, 1…
On September 23, I revealed the official cover of The First Sin to the world. I think it’s absolutely stunning. Jeff Brown is the artist and he did a phenomenal job with the painting. Tårik is the character in the image and he’s in a lot of trouble: the enemy is amassing in the distance and the ship in the background is a smoking ruin. I’m so grateful for the reception the cover received. Everyone who has seen it so far on social media and elsewhere seems to really like it!
Sharing the cover means I’m one very real step closer to releasing TFS into the world. It’s on GoodReads and StoryGraph. The ebook is also listed on a wide variety of online retailers for preorder, like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others. I even put it up on Itch.io! The paperback and hardcover editions are slowly propagating to online retailers too. I’ve ordered a supply of books for myself to sign and sell, and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. TFS releases on October 23, 2025.
Am I ready for my book to be out in the world? As a first-time author, I’m both ecstatic and terrified. Sure, I’ve had my writing in the public eye before, from having written fanfic back in the day, but this is different. Really different. This is a real book that I have poured my heart and soul and tears into (although, I do wonder right now if I ever did actually cry while writing TFS? I can’t remember). It’s also a real book that I have spent a not-small amount of money on. It’s not a mainstream novel by any means and I knew going in that it probably won’t appeal to a lot of people. Even though I know that, and know that it’s okay that it won’t appeal to everyone, this is still the part that makes me scared. Of course I don’t want the book to bomb. Of course I want people to enjoy it. And yes, getting a little bit of fame and fortune wouldn’t hurt my ego one bit! But if people decide they hate it, if I get a lot of bad reviews… Well, of course that would hurt. I’m not without my insecurities. I worry what people will think. (I know, reviews are for readers and authors aren’t supposed to read them. And yet, we’re also supposed to use them in our marketing. How to do that without reading anything, I wonder…)
But I think I’m more ecstatic than terrified. Surely, if the terror was greater, I wouldn’t have actually pushed that “publish” button. I want to share this story. It’s been with me for an achingly long time and it deserves to be told. If I don’t tell it, nobody else can. These characters need to live. They deserve fans who love and hate them. They deserve to be art, to be perceived, to be talked about. Now is their chance and that makes me happy. Hearing people say they are eager to get their hands on a physical copy just blows my mind, but it helps reinforce the good feelings. There are people who want to immerse themselves in the world I have created. They want to support me and see me write more of this story! That’s incredibly gratifying. My heart rate ticks up when I think about it.
Less than a month remains until release day. I still have a lot of work to do between now and then, but when the actual day comes around I plan to do a livestream on my Twitch channel to celebrate! I’ll read from the novel, select the winners of the preorder giveaway, and generally aim to have fun with everyone. I hope you’ll join me there!
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