Verfallen Updates

ALL the Series Updates

Another long post. I go over some small updates and share some insight into why Cute but Vicious isn’t my main WIP—for those who like behind-the-curtain author talk.

Verfallen Asylum Series

Cover Changes 📚

Recently, I decided to change the ebook covers of the Verfallen Asylum series. It was time they got a fresh look, and the hardback covers I already had were an easy choice.

Because of this decision, I need to commission a matching cover for Cute but Vicious. Which means they will all have separate hardback editions. It will take me a few weeks to get the Cute but Deadly hardback back up for sale (I need to wait for samples and make sure everything’s lined up). The paperbacks will remain the same model covers they’ve always had. And yes, I’ll be making a paperback cover for Cute but Vicious to match the others. (I’m the designer of the original covers, as well as most of my Beatrix Hollow covers… in case you ever wondered why there is often no designer mentioned in the copyright pages).

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Five Year Book Birthday 🎂

Cute but Psycho was published five years ago on April 14th. Although it was an idea for a much longer time. Originally, the story was going to be MF with just Bree and Orson. He would sneak into her room at night and drink from her, then make her forget. She was slowly going insane because of it, and this was part of the reason for her obsession (her subconscious remembered). Half the story was going to be about her stalking, with the lead-up of realizing he’s a serial killer. Then, in the second half, she was going to be at the asylum. But once I added that setting, I realized I wanted it to be a "why choose" book, because there were a lot of characters I had ideas for and then the changes pile up from there.

Anyway, to celebrate the book's birthday, I scheduled the ebook to be free April 13-15th.

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Cute but Psycho Re-Edit

I’m currently going through Cute but Psycho cleaning up the grammar. This has been a task I’ve wanted done for a while. I hired someone to tackle it a couple of years ago, but that fell through. So finally, I’m doing it myself since I’ve improved my grammar.

I’ve set myself a goal of editing a chapter a day. There’s been some hiccups, but I’ve completed 8/40 chapters so far. WHY DID I WRITE SO MUCH AND USE SO FEW COMMAS?!

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Series Updates

There is one more book planned for the Verfallen Asylum Series, titled Cute but Vicious. If you follow me elsewhere you likely know I hadn’t planned to make this a four book series, but I had to change plans when I realized there was too much content to cleanly fit into a single book (I don’t like stuffing too many acts into a book, I think it creates pauses that hurt the suspension of disbelief and cause reader exhaustion).

Cute but Psycho is not unpopular. It is, in fact, my biggest-earning book. The sequels, though, not so much. Although I hoped for something different, I’m not surprised, given multiple factors.

The read-through rate for the series is really bad. A good read-through rate from book one to two is 50%+. As you can see, Cute but Creepy is 6%.

This image is from Book Report, for those curious.

Part of that is because books 2 and 3 are competing with a book that’s been published for five years, but a bigger part is that they just aren’t popular. After crunching numbers and even factoring in an eventual omnibus, Cute but Vicious (4) can’t realistically be called “work” because it won’t make me money. It’s now a passion project.

It’s a frustrating situation. Assigning it as a personal project means it will take longer. However, I want to finish the series ASAP. For myself, and for those who have read the whole series thus far, and for trust.

I considered pushing through, but… If I stop working to focus on a passion project, I will burn out and suffer financially for a long while. After a couple of years of struggling to finish projects on their original timelines, I’m in a state where I need to rebuild my royalties (😬). So I have no choice but to be more mercenary in my writing choices.

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Cute but Vicious Status

Despite all that, I’m 33k words into Cute but Vicious-yay! I was struggling with some plot issues in the first act. I had a certain plan in mind, but it wasn’t working. Things weren’t flowing; something felt off, and the more I pushed forward, the more the issue seemed to grow.

I sat back and asked the question of WHY I needed to keep the plot I had in mind. So … I didn’t. The basic setup is the same (if you read Cute but Deadly, then you know what the characters have experienced up to this point), but I changed a lot once I reminded myself that’s allowed, lol. The planned outcome will remain the same, but the journey to get there will be different.

Now it all makes more sense, and the flow is back. There’s more depth to Nemo and Orson’s chapters, new issues that characters have to face, some fun world-building stuff I didn’t have before… I’m really pleased with the changes. I think part of what let me make these choices is deprioritizing the book. Now I’m not anxious about making changes that might require some rewriting or extending the word count … 👀

It’s hard to share stuff about the book without spoiling, but one thing I plan to explore is Orson’s origin story (I mean, we’ve already explored Baz’s and we experienced Nemo’s in book one). I discuss a little about Orson’s past at the start of Cute but Psycho, but I never got into how he became a vampire. I only imply it wasn’t something he sought out.

As of now, my goal is to finish and publish the book before the end of the year. 🤞