Deciding what comes next has been among the hardest decisions since I got published. I love all of the stories, in print or in planning. So how do I decide what comes next? The answer came from a video I watched featuring Michael Anderle and Craig Martelle of the 20booksto50k organization - readers tell you what they want with their reviews. The advice made sense, so I'm going to try it out and see how it fits us. With no one really reviewing the series I had out (Bittergate & Scion), I started Dumpstermancer in hopes to find something the readers liked. Interest didn't seem to strike there, so I went on to write the Blood Phoenix Chronicles.
I read the reviews, all of them. I admit that gets a bit irksome at times, but I want to know how my readers feel about the stories. Even (some) bad reviews can help me learn how to tell better stories. So, basically what I write next comes down to what the reading community is most excited about. That doesn't mean I'll just abandon a series (at least at this point). I want to know how these stories end too. It does mean that stories with fewer reviews won't rise to the top for the most attention. If it's a series, then most recent book's reviews will be the first measure and series reviews the second.
Here's where we stand as of 04/20/19:
Bittergate(24 - Average 12 - Last 6):
Murder in Wizard's Wood (18)
The Wizard's Bane(6)
Scion(50 - Average 12.5 - Last 7):
Scion of Conquered Earth(30)
Stolen Lives(8)
Hijacked(5)
Unchained(7)
Dumpstermancer (24 - Average 12 - Last 3):
Discarded(21)
Duplicity(3)
Guns of Underhill (9 - Average 9 - Last 9):
Fey West(9)
