Hey there, Alesia here again. I thought about composing another informative post on writing or fantasy /romantasy literature this morning, but decided to change tracks instead. Today seemed like a good day to bring you up to date on what’s been happening behind-the-screens here at Metaphor Publications, or “MetPub” to save keystrokes.
If you didn’t already know, MetPub is just Michael and me. Like most other self-employed people we have to wear a lot of hats in one day. So far, we’ve spent a lot of April waiting for results to come back from our beta readers. When we do receive feedback, we read it then collate the actionable stuff for the next round of manuscript revisions. As I mentioned in our last newsletter, so far the returns have been positive beyond my wildest dreams. Apparently, we’re “on to something” with What God Has Ordained. I can hardly wait to start sharing excerpts with our subscribers!
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Another activity that's taking up way more time behind-the-screens than it should is scammer detection. In the years since we published our first two books (see below) and with the assistance of AI, book marketing scams have proliferated like rats in a garbage dump. Detecting them is an intricate and complicted process that sometimes requires hours of research.
In a "good" week, there are only a half-dozen or so attempts to fleece me out of some hard-earned cash; in a "bad" week, that number triples --- or more. I've re-instituted a policy of marking all unsolicited emails that orginate from a throw-away address (Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, &c.) as scams, regardless of how smoothly written, highly complimentary, or knowledgeable the source appears to be. It's turned out to be a welcome time-saver!
New News About Older Titles
Another matter that’s taking up a lot of Michael’s time these days is in reclaiming possession of our first two adult fantasy novels, Raven’s Tears and Dead Man’s Trigger. During the years we both spent grappling with depression, it seems that our account with our Print On Demand service got thrashed. In the interim, affiliate marketers have somehow gotten permission to print those books and ship them to buyers—without compensating us. Tracking down what happened and investigating any potential wrong-doing has been tedious and twisty, but he/we did at last get to the bottom of the problem, and have contacted an attorney to help us get it set right.
Think good thoughts for us! We can’t even begin to think about finishing that trilogy until both titles are safely back in our possession—but, behind-the-screens again, it’s a topic that’s arisen between us more than once in recent weeks.
What do you think? Once we get the first two books of The Legacy of Chandar published, should we loop back in time to complete the tale of Raven and Iris? I’d love to read your opinions in the comments!
Behind-the-Screens Weather Report 🌞
Spring has arrived here on California’s north coast, alternating showers and sun in that way that causes plants, including grass, grow like crazy. The sunshine and clear blue skies are distracting, making it difficult to stay indoors and concentrate on the chores in front of me. It’s still just a little too cool and a lot too windy to take our work out-of-doors. But, if El Niño is kind (when it arrives), we should be able to work outside by the time we begin revising the first manuscript—no later than mid-May, gods willing.
What’s the weather been like where you are? Have you been seeing signs of spring, or have the extremes in weather got you buried under snow? Sweltering in unseasonable heat? It would be great to know, in a general way, where you are—give me a shoutout in the comments!
Cute Cat Alert!
Michael has definitely gotten into a great groove on Instagram. He’s created and developed a cartoon-character spokeswoman named Jessica, and has been posting reels (short videos) about Menelon and our stories at least once a week. If you dig IG, you can find him there using this link.
And because it’s been way too long since I’ve posted a cute cat picture, here’s one of Libby being adorable.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I think I’m going to sneak in a behind-the-screens snuggle break with my kitty. Take care of each other out there, and by all means, keep reading!
–Alesia
p.s. What are you reading these days? Share the name and author of your latest favorite book with us---in the comments, of course!
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