A problem of being an indie author is that you are, in fact, a small business owner with all the hats that come along with that. In addition to writing I have to arrange for editing, formatting, covers, promotion and marketing (which are separate things, believe it or not), plus I have to keep a weather eye on the market and try to hop on the next rising wave.

At the moment that appears to be Kindle Vella. Now, I’m no stranger to writing serialized fiction—I did it all the time with fanfic and I know how to add little cliffhangers to keep the reader interested and reading along. But that also means splitting my already fractured writing time to absorb yet another project that has to be updated at least once and ideally twice weekly. Plus I need to write something that will appeal to the main group of Vella readers. From looking at the top sellers in Vella, that appears to be Why Choose academy romance with just a touch of bullying.

Yeah, yeah, I know—wasn’t I doing a Hidden Empire novella? I am, mainly because I need it as a link between The Crimson and the Black and To Love a Wild Swan. But seeing as this is serialized and I only have to post two chapters a week, I can squeeze in another project. And I am choosing to look on this as a challenge. I know the market, I know what readers expect from the market, and I think I can deliver an entertaining WC academy romance set in my Paladins of Crystal universe. I mean, hey, haven’t you ever wondered what attending the Academy of the Elements must be like? And for a shy girl who’s been tutored at home until her parents lose all their money and have to send her and her twin brother to the academy for training in their Talent, that could be very interesting.

So, yeah, gonna be quite busy for the rest of the month. But hey, who needs sleep?