Series Update

Apr 25, 2025

Series Update

I've decided to re-release book one of The Demon Cleaner. Even more than that, as I'm editing, in doing an update to the story, re-imagining the story. Fact is, in the time since I've written it, I've written multiple short stories and another (incomplete) novel. In that time, I've come to understand the story differently. It's weird. I wrote the story. Spent years working on the plot, the characters, everything. But it's all of the secondary material that helped me really get into who these people are and the world I'm creating.

With that being the case, there's a need for a ton of rewrites. I'm not sure what the book will look like when I'm done, but I know it will be more focused, more fun, more professional, less vague. Might end on a cliffhanger, but it'll be worth it.

Also, as I'm study marketing deep lately, I'm learning the importance of writing to market and writing to satisfy a niche. Two things I didn't understand before. I was always worried that “writing to market” would cause my work to be formulaic. I understand now that's not the case.

Writing to market will help me answer the question “who is this for?” I've always answered the question with the broad “people who like vampires. People who like magic.” But it's more than that. It's a murder mystery. It has to have the elements of a murder mystery while being an urban fantasy. Short stories are weaved into the larger story. Those stories need to be better written. As I'm going over the story, I'm seeing a lot of areas that simply must be updated. The amount of knowledge I've learned in the two years since I published Power of the People needs to be reflected in the rewrites.

The series niche is Black woman led urban fantasy murder mystery. That's what I need to think about as I'm writing.

Tropes are important. MC Lillas Mikkinnan is a former orphan with a found family. She's the most powerful player on the board, giving her “chosen one” status. There are several more. Knowing which tropes my story is using is going to help with marketing. Genre readers love tropes. We recognize them. “Ope! He's gonna run, but get dragged in anyway.” (The reluctant hero trope.) “They're gonna breakup over a ‘misunderstanding’.” (The breakup then reunite trope.) Regardless of what you think of tropes, if you're a genre writer, you'll be using a few. If you plan to make a living as a writer, it's best to know your tropes so you can market to your audience easier.

Mind you, these are things I'm learning as I go. I'm not a marketing expert. I'm relaying to you, my reader, what I've learned in the months I've been reading marketing book after marketing book. As indie writers, as business owners period, but definitely as indie writers, we need to be marketing experts. These are things we need to know. If we want to be successful writers and publishers, we have to be successful marketers, too. That's reality.

All of that to say, I have taken down Power of the People. That won't exist. There won't be a new version with the same title. New title. New writing style. New cover. New situations. Everything. Same case though. We still got nine dead bodies someone has to answer for. The core of the story is the same.

I may not be writing articles as much (or at all) while I'm doing this. I'm working on a close deadline. So, I gotta focus and put the gas on.

Thank you all who subscribe and follow me. You're gonna like what's coming. I promise.

In the meantime, I’ve written a book of ghost stories. Check it out.

The Demon Cleaner

Series Update

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