:D thoughts & original ending of book 1 reveal
Added 2020-09-17 00:43:23 +0000 UTCHi guys!
I'm going to talk about a few things!
Question: Do people want more author engagement? Do you want an author newsletter? Do you guys want VC sessions in discord where you can interact with me/ask questions etc?
I have really appreciated everyone's support and want to do my best to engage everyone :)
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On another note, the reading statistics are pretty funny to me because it seems like most people read the releases the day after they publish. That is totally fine if it's personal preference; I just want to make sure that people are being notified when chapters drop.
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Another question: People have mentioned having an epub version of book 1 available to patrons. I didn't really bother worrying about it because
a. if you just google Menocht Loop...there are epubs floating around (lol)
b. the incredible editor of this book, sontagisme, is working on...you guessed it...more extensively editing book 1 for eventual publication in the more distant future (probably not before The Eldemari's Wrath is done, cuz my schedule is insaaaaaane).
If you still want an epub copy, I can literally just convert my word doc into an epub/pdf/whatever (yes, book 1 is in 1 gdoc lol...book 2 is as well, but it's getting to be a bit of a hefty boi so might need to split it into 2 docs). I won't bother unless there's desire for it.
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About my insane schedule...sontagisme is very helpful in keeping me alive when I'm doing a fulltime job, part time grad school (my single class starts October 1st rip), and writing this book. Surviving this triple threat = 3 cheers to sontagisme!
Please do give sontagisme some love in the comments though, for real! He came right before I started this patreon (I'd written a first draft of everything up through the Achemiss chapter at that point) and I hope that people have been able to see a difference in the quality of writing! Man, those chapters of the first arc of book 2 were supposed to be a massive backlog...and then took all our time to edit because we revised them so much (bye bye backlog~).
Oh, can't forget: sontagisme is the person who made me rewrite the ending of book 1. For those curious, it originally was supposed to end when Ian is walking with Aunt Julia and Germaine after Germaine is attacked by the soul swarm (evil mosquitoes).
For those curious, it's halfway through this chapter:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31514/the-menocht-loop/chapter/503417/35-vision
My thinking was that his thoughts about only needing Germaine and not his family were akin to him having an epiphany, and that doing that would make him start his ascension or something...and that doing so would instantly punt him from the loop. >.>
Yup. So to clarify, book 1 ended with Ian walking with those two ladies, being introspective, and suddenly everything fading to black out of nowhere!!!
So again, please give sontagisme a hand for making me not do idiotic/unsatisfying things! lmao!
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Hope people enjoyed a peak into my thoughts!
If you have any thoughts/suggestions, leave a comment!
If you're content with the way things are, also feel free to leave a comment and just say "hi." I'm very friendly!!! :D
All the best and hope people have an awesome day/evening/etc,
caerulex
Comments
Hi! I generally consider the reading experience on patreon to be trash so my expectation is that everyone will read the chapters on royal road except for the 8 advanced chapters on patreon. If I wasn't lazy I'd honestly just delete all chapters but the advanced 8 chapters ahead of the public chapters. π π π I'm not sure if there's any downside to doing it this way but if there is one I'm happy to hear it lol
Caerulex
2020-10-02 22:16:18 +0000 UTCHi! :) GL w/ grad school, and try to enjoy it! I'm presuming it's something that interests you, after all. btw, the lower tier on patreon has fewer chapters than are public on RR :) (not a huge deal, but kinda odd and prolly not the incentive structure you had in mind?). Some of mine I just read on RR anyway depending on how the patreon feed is set up.
fbt
2020-10-02 22:00:03 +0000 UTCOfc! Glad to help :D I personally find the RR reading experience much better than the Patreon one haha
Caerulex
2020-09-18 22:41:33 +0000 UTCThank you!
MageLord
2020-09-18 22:24:45 +0000 UTCHi! They're all on Royal Road. I'd recommend reading everything on there (besides the chapters only on Patreon, of course). https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31514
Caerulex
2020-09-18 22:22:50 +0000 UTCWhere are the chapters before 42 please?
MageLord
2020-09-18 22:20:44 +0000 UTCThis would be my vote. Focus on writing, slave. If I wanted you to dance for me Iβd have bought a dancer. ...Seriously though, it sounds like youβre fairly busy. No need to cut into your writing time to do fan chats, imo. But thatβs just me. I like reading new chapters, not newsletters.
K Hilliard
2020-09-17 16:52:02 +0000 UTCWell that definitely adds to the drama around it xD
Definitely (Not) a Necromancer
2020-09-17 16:03:07 +0000 UTC:D
Caerulex
2020-09-17 15:28:05 +0000 UTCHahahaha excactly...sontagisme actually recommended that I make the loop recording end when Ian goes to the last layer, but I insisted on keeping it as I originally envisioned :)
Caerulex
2020-09-17 15:27:46 +0000 UTCHey! Am friendly and read your chapter as soon I get the chans!!
Sebastian Lindqvist
2020-09-17 07:40:35 +0000 UTCNo need for newsletter and author engagements and all that fluffy, time-wasting stuff. That just takes away time from writing. Simple comments/corrections on stories is sufficient engagement IMHO. Maybe a poll or two whenever you feel like it. Only a tiny fraction of readers actually use discord. But everyone reads the story.
lenkite
2020-09-17 06:55:16 +0000 UTCSo the ending would be like the recorded loop ending... Am i right?
Definitely (Not) a Necromancer
2020-09-17 06:15:00 +0000 UTCSalutations! =] I'm really digging things so far. Kudos to both you & Sontagisme for all the work you both do on this wonderful story! Personally, I think you are already doing a fair bit r.e. author engagement -- I putz around a bit in the Discord, and It's cool being able to fire off questions to you. I'll second what Dillion said a few comments up; perhaps a Q&A-type thing might be less energy/time-intensive thing to explore if you are trying to engage with patrons more? Real life obligations can be a kick in the teeth at the best of times, and you sound like you got plenty on your plate already. Make sure to take care of yourself too!
Cybereye
2020-09-17 04:31:04 +0000 UTChi
Meredith
2020-09-17 03:06:34 +0000 UTCI normally get your chapters from Patreon while I am drinking my morning coffee and read them immediately from the email. I do not need more author engagement. Do not even go to discords. That said do what feels best.
Archivist0
2020-09-17 03:02:09 +0000 UTCThanks Sontagisme!!!!
Archivist0
2020-09-17 02:58:11 +0000 UTCWould you writing a newsletter distract you from important study and writing, becuase if so maybe Q&A might be easier to handle that way you can answer the questions people are interested in, so you don have to think about them yourself
Dillon Adams
2020-09-17 02:19:01 +0000 UTCYassss
Caerulex
2020-09-17 01:43:27 +0000 UTCCool, thanks for letting me know! :D
Caerulex
2020-09-17 01:43:22 +0000 UTCGood to know!
Caerulex
2020-09-17 01:43:12 +0000 UTCYeah I'd be down to answer questions like that!
Caerulex
2020-09-17 01:43:07 +0000 UTClmao
Caerulex
2020-09-17 01:42:50 +0000 UTCHi. I'm very friendly!!! :D See what I did there? :p ...Sorry, I couldn't resist T_T
Hamis
2020-09-17 01:41:01 +0000 UTCI've always enjoyed author chats, particularly when they get into their thought process of how they create their story.
Scott
2020-09-17 01:12:05 +0000 UTCI would love scheduled Q&A sessions :)
Kazzy
2020-09-17 01:05:42 +0000 UTCMonthly newsletters along with Q&A streams sound like lots of fun
mhaj58
2020-09-17 00:53:34 +0000 UTCSontagisme for president!!!
Zak Cornell
2020-09-17 00:47:12 +0000 UTC
