The Start of a New Year!

Hello! I’m very excited to start off my newsletter here which will be running bi-weekly throughout 2024! If you saw the announcements posted to my Instagram and have followed through on the link provided there, this is going to be a bit more of an in-depth look at the plans we’ve got heading into the new year.

First off, I’d like to acknowledge how long this has taken to get up and running. Planning out all of these and preparing the material was a much heartier challenge than I had anticipated, but I’m glad the ball has finally gotten rolling! This newsletter is going to act as a way for me to communicate with people and maybe introduce them to my writing. I’m hoping to have several sets of topics, ranging from reviewing ongoing media, storytelling analysis, discussion about fantasy staples in writing, and personal updates regarding projects.

The last in those examples is what this newsletter is for! I dropped quite a bit of information in the vision board reel, but here is where I’d like to delve a little deeper.

Seven Series Book 2 Launch!

To get the big announcement out of the way, book two of the Seven Series WILL BE RELEASED near the end of March or the beginning of April! I had been planning this release much earlier, but in order to provide the best product possible, quite a few of my plans needed to be pushed back. This will be the first book I release where I will be trying to drop it both online and in Barnes & Noble simultaneously, and, unfortunately, those two processes take quite a bit of time to see through.

I feel as though Book 2 of the Seven Series (name still a secret) is an elevation in my writing from the first book (Sacrifice of the Light) which bordered slightly in the middle-grade genre. This also marks a huge turning point in the series, where things will shift into a much more young-adult genre.

Social Media!

Another thing I’m looking to improve in would be social media posts! More specifically, my Instagram which you can find here!

I’m hoping to start creating more reels and posts centered around my current projects, or around writing in general. 2023 was defiantly a rough transition into Instagram for me, and I learned a lot about how much I need to create opportunities for myself in order for my novels to grow.

Current and New Projects!

I’ve got a pretty ambitious lineup for 2024 as far as writing projects go! I’m currently working on a new standalone with series potential that has shown me a ton of promise in the early stages. It will likely be the first book in which I’ll query literary agents officially to try and pitch my book to publishing houses, which I’m incredibly excited about.

While that novel was planned to only be about 120k words, the early drafts suggest were actually looking at something a bit larger around 170k-180k words. It probably won’t see the light of day for a while, but as of right now, its the focus project for me!

Once the first draft and edit pass is done, I’m planning on shifting between a couple other books that I’ve got planned, including editing Seven Series 3 and 4, which are both completely past their drafting stage!

If things go well, I’m hoping to release one other book this year, but no promises!

Libraries!

While not quite there yet, we’re currently working on getting my first published novel, Sacrifice of the Light, into the Hawaii State Library system. Expect an update on that soon!

The Newsletter!

Finally, there’s the newsletter, which you happen to be reading now! This is a relatively new idea of mine, and as I mentioned, took me quite a while to prepare. I’m looking to release at least two per month, with an extra one whenever there’s a project update or important news regarding my work. I might also post things I’m learning, and try take you along the journey as I try and navigate the industry as a indie author!

Those are all the announcements I have for today! Until the next update, keep dreaming!

Sincerely,

Joshua Robello