Hello, hello! It's nice to change things up this time of year, isn't it? Whether you have students in the house going back to school or are just observing the migration patterns of birds, the northern hemisphere is getting colder, and my friend in Australia should be enjoying weather warming up again soon. Everyone wants to do sales in anticipation of the holidays. New seasons of sports are starting up.
That's why I decided it was more than high time I spruce up the website. Echo Sight's been out for just under a year, and I've been working in the background getting a new round of things ready.
Dear friends, I have some exciting news (just like in the title)!
First off, fellow author MN Bennet has put on a Queer Pride Promo for the next two days! Each featured book will be discounted to under a dollar, including Echo Sight (on Itch-io & D2D; Amazon made it too difficult to change on their website; sorry, Kindle folks). So if you were looking to grab an extra ebook copy for any fellow bookworms, now's a great time to do it! Just don't wait too long or it'll be gone before you know it.
The second bit of news is a doozy: Echo Sight is coming to print! That's right! You can hold it soon!
I'm so stoked.
Because it costs money to print things, I'm doing this First Edition Initial Run through Backerkit as part of The Book Bazaar 2026 event, and if you don't know what either of those things are, let me explain. No, let me summarize.
- Backerkit is a crowdfunding website similar in essence to Kickstarter. Creators have a monetary goal, and backers (that'd be you, if interested) pledge on "tiers" for different amount of rewards. So, say, all my tiers come with a hardcover 1st edition (signed), but you also want the bookmarks and stickers I designed. And the short story. And the (in-design-progress) tarot character cards. You can choose what all you want, and proceeds go to printing x-amount of hardbacks. Everyone's happy.
- The Book Bazaar is a bi-yearly event organized by Aimee Cozza (another fellow author; you should read her books if you like robots or like the idea of queer robots) where a bunch of indie creators band together in a collaborative effort to get each other's projects funded. This is done through cross-promotion and additional goodies if you back more than one project! You can read the details HERE and browse to your heart's content by genre. There's a ton of interesting books involved in this year ranging from romance to horror, so don't be shy about poking around!
The Book Bazaar 2026 is a unique opportunity for me to not drown myself in up-front print costs and will allow me to have physical stock to take with to local in-person events, signings, and Meet-the-Authors while I'm finishing Book 2. I hope you'll follow this project and see what I have on offer for you from October 29th - November 19th, 2026. It's gonna be great.
Alt text: A glowing phoenix flies over a body of water under an alien sky. There are lush green islands in the distance. A banner for the Book Bazaar pops up stating the start date, along with a mockup of the hardback and the words, "Mycelial monsters. A city in danger. Can one shapeshifter save Akert before the moons go dark?" Credits: I drew these frames myself in Clip Studio Paint
Alt text: one of the two sets of stickers for my Backerkit campaign. Cavid, Enaka, and Theso are drawn in chibi animal forms, and there is one falcon feather, as well.
Last but not least, you're probably wondering by now where Book 2 is. It's been a whole year! Don't worry; I'm in the middle of drafting, and it's far from forgotten. I'm anticipating getting it out in the world as much as you are. With that said, novels take time to write, and all my work is 100% slop-free, forever, from idea to printed word. There's no point in outsourcing art. Art's a connection with people. It's supposed to be a gift from one living creature to another. And I have lots of ethical concerns about LLMs in the first place. But I won't rant about that here.
Instead, I can assure you that Book 2 is plodding along but is on its way, and Scent of Smoke's tentative release is currently set in May 2027. Why May? Because that's my birthday month, and I already released Echo Sight then. Why not keep that pattern rolling?
I'll start promo-ing it and releasing more details as it gets closer to completion. So stay tuned!
Whether you're new here or whether you've been around since the ARC days, I want to thank you for dropping by and reading this far. I appreciate every reader who gives a new indie voice a chance, and I aim to exceed expectations with everything I do. Being a writer is something that's been part of me from the beginning, and it wouldn't be the same if you weren't on the other side to read it.
Thank you, and I'll see you next time, friends.
Sincerely,
Verati
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