January 2025 Update: What I've done in the 6 months since the Kickstarter

Besides put on a massive conference, have a baby, and other non-author stuff like that.

[If you are a Kickstarter backer, you already received this update through the Kickstarter platform. I’m posting it here as well because not all Kickstarter backers are subscribed to my Substack newsletter, and not all my Substack readers are Kickstarter backers.]

Dear readers, fans, and supporters,

It's been a busy six months since I started my publishing journey with the Kickstarter for The Pyromancer's Scroll! Here is an update on how everything is going:

• The professional substantive edit by my editor, Katrina, is 43% done.

• My final revision is 32% done.

• Recording and producing the audiobook is 28% done.

• The first 15 chapters (26%) have been released serially in print and audio format on my Substack website, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on YouTube, on Royal Road, and on WattPad.

• Here are the stats on how many views the released chapters have received so far:

  • Substack views: 3,269

  • Podcast listens: 717

  • YouTube views: 124

  • Royal Road: 370

  • WattPad: 17

  • Total: 4,497 (which means each chapter is averaging 300 views)

• CJ Madsen has finished composing all the background music for the audiobook. It is amazing! I'll be releasing the clips soon as tracks on YouTube. Kickstarter backers will also receive the digital files. For now, here are a few samples:

  • Zenitha's theme

  • Durrin's theme

  • Battle Music

  • Adara's Theme

  • Twigly's Theme

• The Mancery Mayhem card game is almost complete! I've test-played it with about 20 people, gotten the feedback of a university professor who teaches board game design, finalized the mechanics and card text, and am about halfway through doing the graphic design. Here is what the cards will look like:

• The highest-tier Kickstarter backers submitted a fantastically creative set of characters to fill Twigly's pirate crew. We have . . .

  • a Scottish clan prince who left his home when his older brother got the crown and the girl

  • a pair of Korrik sisters who are constantly bickering over what color to paint the ship

  • a skilled carpenter who has sworn vengeance upon the marauders who killed his family

  • a young man raised by griffins on the very edge of the world

  • a merfin who joined the crew out of stubbornness after her family told her that merfins can't fly

  • a tinkering snippen working to create the world's first terramantically-powered exo-suit

• I've used MidJourney to create over 50 images for my world and characters. These images will accompany the serialized release, the e-book, and the deluxe hardcover special edition. Kickstarter backers will receive the best ones as high-resolution digital files that they can set as their screensaver, desktop background, etc.

• I've launched a series of shorts—giving commentary on my story and writing process—that have gotten 4,700 views on YouTube so far.

• I have an intern! At an internship fair at the October LDSPMA Conference, I met and hired an amazing young publishing professional named Céline Taylor, who had just completed a publishing course at Oxford. She is helping to schedule the serialized chapter releases, create social media content, and pitch the book to podcasters and book reviewers.

What's Next?

We should be on track for our March 10 release date! The ebook files (and digital extras, like the music and desktop background images) will be sent to Kickstarter backers by mid-February. The audiobook files will be sent to Kickstarter backers about a week before the official release. The physical books (and physical swag, if applicable) should be shipped to Kickstarter by March 10.

For non-Kickstarter backers, preorders for the book will open in February, with the book officially available in ebook, audiobook, and print formats on Amazon and through my website on March 10.

I’m planning an epic launch party in Columbus, Ohio (probably March 8, the Saturday before launch), and a 3-months-after-launch party in Orem, Utah, in June.

Thank you for your faith in me, your belief in the value of clean fiction, and your support for this ambitious project! I would not be anywhere near this point if it weren't for each of you.

Sincerely,

Jeremy P. Madsen

P.S. Oh, and our third child was born three weeks ago!