NOVEL NEXT The Future of Manifest War
Hello!!
I know it's been forever since I last posted anything about Manifest War, but today I finally have some exciting updates!
What the hell took so long?
Well, originally I had Book II ready to go in March, however I felt that it needed to be refreshed. A lot of the issues that plagued Book I were fully present in Book II (Grammatical stuff, dialogue issues, Other issues that many of you all pointed out when I first started positing on RR). It made no sense for me to release it in the exact same state as Book I without first cleaning all of that stuff up first.
So in my spare time over the last two months, I've reworked and cleaned up the entire book. I'm sure there are still some things to tweak (I'm still very much an amateur at writing stuff), but it'll be in a much better state than Book I was when it first released. NOW, with that being the case, I also decided to make a significant change to the series as a whole!
What's the big change?
As I was approaching the end of my rework, I realized that Book II was almost 700 pages long. A lot happens over the course of this part of the story and it's getting to the point of being too big for a single book. The first book also has a similar problem, clocking in at a little over 600 pages, and Book III will have an even larger count as well. My goal is to eventually release these with physical copies, but their page counts are just too high for casual reading imo (especially if I want to go back and tweak/add things before release).
So, I have decided that this will no longer be a trilogy and will be splitting them up into volumes. Instead of releasing Book II all together, I'll be breaking it up into three, 200+ page volumes and release over time. Essentially, this trilogy will be turning into a ten book saga. Refer to the image below to see how things will be broken up!
This change will not only make this series more manageable for me in the future, but it'll also allow me to add more content and create more depth without making a single book super bloated. Plus, this means more content for you all to read and less downtime between releases since I won't be making changes to 700+ pages at a time again. Sure I could release as I write, but I really don't enjoy doing that. I like having a surplus of chapters finished and ready to go, helps me with keeping a consistent schedule.
Also, once Volumes 4 - 6 are posted on RR, I will circle back and separate Book I into Volumes 1 - 3 as well as make some significant changes so their structure/style matches up with all of my new releases. I don't anticipate that taking long, but then again who knows what life will throw my way as I go through this process lol.
Okay, but what are you releasing next and when?
The next part to release on RR will be MANIFEST WAR VOL IV - Secrets of LaVeda and the first chapter will be releasing on JUNE 7TH, 2024!
Yirien is working on it's cover art as we speak and I should have it within the next two weeks, barring any setbacks of course.
What is Volume IV about?
Secrets of LaVeda picks up about seven months after the events of Book I. It revolves around Carmen's acceptance into the prestigious Vesta academy known as LaVeda University. She attends the school with hopes of showing her worth and strength among other Vesta's her age. However, Carmen is woefully unprepared for how this academy operates and the darkness that permeates throughout it's distinguished hallways.
Not only does Carmen need to fight against her own, newly acquired arrogance, but she also has to navigate the many harsh cultures and realities that reside within LaVeda. Carmen will either fold under her own pressure or she'll flourish and rise the ranks of LaVeda University.
This portion of the story will be heavily focused on character growth and skill/ability progression. We'll start to see Carmen "grow up" in a sense as she realizes that life away from royalty isn't peaches and rainbows. You'd think she would've figured that out after all the BS she went through in Book I, but alas, her youthful ignorance continued to rear it's ugly head lol.
Combat will also be a heavy focus during Volume IV and V. There are probably more fights in these two volumes than the entirety of Book I. So if you enjoyed that aspect of MW, then you'll be in for a treat.
Also, since the setting is mostly within the school, the overall scope won't be nearly as grand as Book I. Yes, we will still visit some new locales, but the story is much more focused this time around and not stretched across multiple nations. Volumes 7 - 10 will return to the grand scale adventure, involving the entire continent and a much bigger threat.
There are some new main characters (one of which will be featured on the cover), some old favorites, and a few surprises that I think will shake up Manifest War's universe quite a bit.
With all of that being said, I hope you guys join me for this upcoming ride. I truly think these next three volumes are some of the best story content I've written yet and I can't wait for you all to read it! As we approach the release date, I'll be posting updates and other Manifest War related content to get the train rolling. If you have any questions or concerns about anything, feel free to leave a comment. I always love to hear from you all, positive or negative!
Until next time!
- Z4NE