0Here’s a standard piece of advice I offer to writers who hope to sell their novel to a traditional publisher: After you submit your work, get started on a new book, wholly unrelated to the submitted one. That way, if the first book sells, you have a second book to offer the publisher, in very short order. And if the first book doesn’t sell, you have a new book to present to potential publishers without the burden of the one that didn’t make it.
When I started out, I followed my own advice. Through my agent, I submitted The Glasswrights’ Apprentice. And then, I started writing a completely different fantasy novel, set in an all-new world, with all-new characters, facing an all-new challenge.
When Apprentice sold, the contract was for Apprentice, a sequel (which ended up being The Glasswrights’ Progress), and a book to be named later. That book—the one I’d written during the waiting period—was Season of Sacrifice.
I’ve always loved Sacrifice. It has an unwilling priestess who serves an ancient tree, young twins who are kidnapped from the only home they’ve ever known, and a reluctant rescuer who questions his own ability to succeed. The magic in this fantasy world is far more apparent than the magic hidden in the Lost Guild books.
But I’ll be honest with you—Sacrifice never found its rabid fans. It came out in the middle of the Lost Guild series, which confused and disappointed some readers. It was released in January, a month that’s notoriously bad for book sales. It had a cover that featured the heroine in a leather bikini…and the less said about that, the better.
But Season of Sacrifice is back.
You can read the first chapter on my website, for free. In fact, if you’re a member of Kindle Unlimited, you can read the entire book for free! (And if you don’t read on a Kindle, you can still get the book for your own device.)
So? What are you waiting for?