I have the gold foil bookmarks, and they look just gorgeous! (Scroll to the bottom to see gifs that show how shiny they are!)
Gold Foil Bookmarks!
These bookmarks are thicker than regular bookmarks and feel so good in the hand:
Close-up side of the bookmarks
I will be ordering the rest of the bookmarks next week, and I’ll update you with pictures of those when they get here!
Book Update
Editing is going very well!
I am working through the last major section of my edits before I send this to my professional editor. My alpha reader has gotten through 4/5th of the book (and he is loving it). He’s giving me some great feedback, much of which I’ll be implementing to improve the story.
I am also working on cutting words, because Ødiri’s Board is currently quite massive for a YA novel.
While the edits are not yet finalized, I recently had the opportunity to format and order a paperback copy of the book to test out a lot of things, including some of the interior designs!
The interior!
With the gold foil bookmark:
Book with gold foil bookmark
OH! And I forgot to send out an update regarding the winner of the book cover poll. The original cover has won! This means you will all receive an exclusive BackerKit special-edition cover, which will be different from the publicly sold copies.
Backerkit Exclusive Edition Cover
Thank You!
Thank you all so much for your patience! I never expected it to take this long for me to get the book out. But I really want to honor your trust in me and give you something good.
The good news is that it’s getting really close! I’m hoping to get it printed late this summer.
The new cover art is in! I mentioned in my last update that I was working with an illustrator to make a new cover that would better fit the direction this book is going in, and the new cover is done!
I love both of these covers so much.
I plan on using the new cover for the upcoming wide release, but for you, the backers, I am leaving it up to you to decide which cover you will end up receiving. (i.e. which cover will adorn the “backer-exclusive edition” of the book.)
I am getting so close with these book edits! To make things easier on myself I’ve split the book into four parts to edit separately, and I’m mostly done with part 3 and also working on part 4. After that I just have some end chapters to write, then it will be off to the editor! I have a beta reader going through the first and second part while I wrap up the other parts of the book, so we can get this book as polished as possible! I am aiming to get Ødiri’s Board published this spring and will do my best to get it to all of you before then. I just want to make sure that it is as good as I can make it to honor your trust in me.
Thank You
You all have been so patient waiting while I take way longer than planned to get this book finished. Thank you so much, I appreciate you!
In an age when AI makes it so easy to create things instantaneously (and I am steering clear of AI for my story), I am so incredibly grateful for all your patience!!
Thank you Robot
UPDATE
I have been spending a lot of time working out the timeline, distances, overall consistency, character depth, and character arcs throughout Ødiri's Board. This has been taking longer than I originally anticipated, but the good news is the book has improved SO much, and I’m getting closer to being able to send it to the professional editor!
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
As I’ve been editing my book, it has changed from what it originally was when I started writing it years ago. It’s gotten deeper, more emotional, and more impactful. With that, although I absolutely adore the original cover, I’ve realized that the cover and series name don’t fully reflect the updates.
So, sometime this month, I will be working with an artist to design a new cover with the new series name that will better show what we want to convey. (The book title will still be Ødiri’s Board.)
The new series name, instead of “Otumpi’s Game” (which seemed confusing) will be “Game of Immortals.” As I've been going through updates, I feel that this better captures the overall story and the new direction the series is headed.
If you’re panicking because you like the original cover, no worries! Once we get the new one, we'll send out a poll for you all to choose which cover you would like to receive.
THANK YOU
Thank you once again for your patience. I hope to have another update for you soon! Have a great day!
It's been a bit since my last update, and I wanted to keep you in the loop with everything!
Writing Update
We are still working through the editing process. It's going well. We are currently working through what should be the final major edit, which is about 67% done. Once that’s complete, the rest of the editing process will go much quicker, and then we’ll be able to send Ødiri’s Board to our professional editor! 🥳
Surveys / Shipping
You may be wondering where your surveys are. These are mostly ready to send out — we just have a few minor tweaks to make on them, but our plan is to get the surveys to you closer to when the books are ready to print. The benefit to doing it this way is that we’ll ask for your shipping address at that time so we can make sure everything is as accurate as possible. So, in case you’ve moved, you’ll be able to give us those details, and we’ll be able to charge for shipping then, and you won’t be overcharged.
Once we send those out, you will also have the opportunity to snag any additional add-ons, should you want to.
Thank you all so much for your patience. We’ll hopefully have more updates for you soon!
