It's been a while since the last update, so there will be much to summarize. For the third book, a new story arch with widespread consequences was added, involving a country threatening the peace within the Hendvlask Coalition. Ultimately, Rhinesvelt gets involved, and the results are not pretty to say the least. There is also more information regarding a past war that gains considerable importance by the end of the book. All that is left is completing Lucas's journey to and from Almyros, and adding more chapters showing Frederik's actions behind the scenes. I would say there are five or six more chapters to edit/write.
I have since turned my attention back to the second book and plan to release it by next month if possible. I am currently rereading it and editing certain parts so that they go into more detail about certain events. I just finished reformatting the book for the ebook release, and now I'm just working on making it more exciting than it already is while editing and redistributing some of the poems.
I have also put a considerable amount of time into changing up the website and most of the pictures on it, including the maps that will be present in the books. The first book will also receive an update soon, featuring a new Skiven map and an updated back cover for the physical version. Once I'm sure the map is finalized and the black and white version looks good enough, I'll be updating the Amazon store page with the new content. This should happen within the next two days.
I've long considered whether or not the first book needs more content, given its length, but I'm still under the impression that it would just become filler (given I've already added 10,000 words since the re-release). Given how much I've improved the overall story after planning and writing the future novels, it's not impossible that I'll think of something new to add to the first book. However, it appears to do its job just fine, acting as an exciting springboard for the rest of the books. After all, the third book was originally the first, highlighting the primary plot device that drove the story.
Finally, I want to find the best method to open up a merchandise store. For a long time, I've wanted to distribute bookmarks to market the series and already have front and back designs for two of them. There are a few print on demand websites if I want to distribute the physical copies myself, but I'm hoping to create a store page where I can just sell them for a few dollars along with a few other things. I've done this sort of thing before, but the old website I used wouldn't be the right fit for all of my needs. That being said, I'm hoping to have something set up by the time the second book is released next month.
