The final installment of my Insurrection series is out!
Well, it was actually out last week except a bout of flu (another one, ugh) prevented me from announcing it. But yes! The series is complete at last! I’m really excited about it, not least because book four was published a little over a year ago so it was definitely time to bring you the conclusion.
This started out as a novella series however book five, Martyr, is novel length. I still priced it at $0.99 like the others though. Why? Because it drives me bananas when authors put a higher price on each subsequent volume in the series. Book one to book two, I can see a price increase since a lot of book ones are free or $0.99, but going from $2.99 to $4.99 for book two, and then another dollar or two for book three? Come on. I see the business angle of it but it has a nickle and diming your readership feel–at least, that’s how I experience it as a reader. At any rate, I’m not doing that. Every installment is $0.99, including the finale.
Lessons Learned
This was my first series as an Indie writer and it taught me three things:
1. I suck at figuring out deadlines — This is the thing I’m working on the most. I think a lot of Indies struggle to account for drafting and revision time to pinpoint exact publication dates. This is compounded when one has a day job and little ones and winter flu bugs that can throw life into a spin. My solution? I’ve decided to only announce a publication date when the book is just about ready. That’ll also save me wagon loads of stress.
2. Have the next installment done before publishing the earlier one — This goes along with figuring out deadlines. For the fantasy trilogy I’m planning I’ve decided to hold off on publishing book one until I have book two almost ready. This’ll enable me to create some sort of publication strategy since, um, I haven’t had one so much. Here’s to learning better ways to publish than flinging my work into the void.
3. It’s about the outline, stupid — Unlike with standalones, which I outline like a boss, I was a little less organized when putting together the series. I still ensured every thread and subplot was resolved but I made it harder on myself by going into it without a complete outline. Yeah, it gave me a lot of creative freedom, but I found myself having to go back over previous installments carefully to make certain everything synced up. This made the writing process take longer. Next time I’ll have an outline to lead all the way through (with some wiggle room for creative tangents — hey, I can’t contain the pantser part of me completely)
So, here it is, the last installment of Insurrection (SPOILERS in the synopsis for those who haven’t started it yet). Huge thanks to those who sent their support and words of encouragement as I pushed to finish it. The whole series started out as a dream. Not too shabby for my unconscious brain. I’m tempted to try getting more sleep at night to see what other ideas sprout up but *snort laughs* let’s not delve into impossible goals.
On the outside, Yaren appears human. A friend to the Albatross. A rebel ally. But her humanity is only skin deep, a means to hide her true origins. Her people have traveled long and far to find a new home and she has given everything to ensure nothing stands in their way.
As the Locust armada moves to eradicate mankind on Earth, Yaren’s task is to betray the human fleet’s position and strategy. She only needs to evade the watchful eye of an infuriating former inquisitor to see it done. Human notions of trust and friendship will not distract her. Nothing will, not even the doubts thumping in her borrowed heart.
Available on Amazon & Kindle Unlimited
Alina Sayre began her literary career chewing on board books and has been in love with words ever since. Now she is the award-winning author of The Voyages of the Legend fantasy series as well as an educator, editor, and speaker. Her first novel, The Illuminator’s Gift, won a silver medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and was a finalist in the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book competition and a semifinalist for the BookLife Prize in Fiction. All four Voyages of the Legend books have received 4- or 5-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite. When she’s not writing, Alina enjoys hiking, crazy socks, and reading under blankets. She does not enjoy algebra or wasabi. When she grows up, she would like to live in a castle with a large library.