Hello friends!
I just thought I’d write a quick update. I finished the Potion Dealers LATE last night, after some very rigorous line editing. It took much longer than I expected. I’ve been very MIA. Remind me never to assume I can edit a Hidden Lands book quickly!
I also have a line editing video upcoming, with the 15 things I look for in line edits!
Today I was so relieved, because I had recorded four Youtube videos the other day and all I needed to do today was edit one of them, post it, and take a day off! That was when I learned that the audio was unredeemably bad on TWO of these videos. Gyaaah. GYAAAH. The only ones left were the members-only video and a video scheduled for a sponsor in May, so no video today, except for members! But I am planning to drop three this upcoming week because there will be a bonus release-day video for the Potion Dealers with some final thoughts.
I also set myself a challenge to dip my toe into BookTok, Instagram Reels, and Youtube Shorts, for 30 days to promote the book. Today I spent 3 hours drawing and coloring five little sketches and making this teaser video. This is me operating on Stupid Ideas Challenge Mode, because there is ALMOST no way there will be a payoff even close to the time spent, especially since I have barely done art like this in 15+ years and I also have barely used TikTok, so I’m just making allll the mistakes.
But what is also true is that I just had fun making the sketches. My entire goal for this era of my life was to reclaim my playfulness and let marketing come secondary to that. Because I am having so much fun and everything is coming from such a place of fun, every little preorder and interaction just means 20x more.
Please enjoy 3 hours of my life in 30 seconds!
Anyway, remember to take some time out to have some fun with your art! It’s worth it!
xo,
Lidiya
My life seems to perpetually run on Stupid Ideas Challenge Mode (interspersed with periods of Doing This Thing I Know Will Work Even Though I'm Tired And It's Boring Because I Gotta Pay Bills mode) 😅
I saw the video on YouTube, and thought it was catchy. I know the sketches are simple, but I think that your target audience will appreciate them. They're obviously hand-drawn and have a nice, authentic feel that makes them stand out in a world of AI slop and overly-filtered content.
Gyahh!
As a fellow writer, I feel this.