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Blog 10: June 2026

Flowers Bloom and a New Book Does Too

Author Adelaide Acree shares her what's happening with Book E, planning for Books F, G, and H, as well as project managing her workload when she would rather be in the garden!

Hello, lovely readers!

Raise your hands if you love gardening and/or the outdoors?

I currently reside in the PNW and it's been sunny, warm, and all things the PNW isn't really known for. I planted seeds this year in my vegetable garden back in April and only now are they starting to sprout.

My most successful plant are my pumpkin plants. I had planted one last season and stored seeds from one that I harvested. I wasn't sure if it would germinate, but low and behold, three large plants grew. I decided to dig up a long section of grass and turn it into a pumpkin patch, so it will naturally grown up and along the fence. One blunder I made last year was thinking mildew was part of the plant's growing process! Once it got onto my squash plant did I reliaze my error of judgement.

I am excited that my flower seeds have sprouted after I placed it in the same area I added Preen Weed preventor. Gardening is a learning experience, and I'm glad to be part of it.

I also created my first garden path! The grass was quite sparse in the area. With the help of my electric cultivator and shovel, I dug up the grass, roots, and extra dirt, used paper bags for weed protection and laid out mulch around my cement tiles. I did lay out a lawn edge between the grass and mulch, but maybe it might have been better to place it where the tiles are, so they stay straight.

An Engagement at Eastbury Manor and Publishing

Book E is almost at the finish line! The manuscript is done and a line edit has been completed. It's now with a copy editor I've used in the past, before a proofreader will ensure it's publish ready. It was originally aimed for a publish date of May 25, 2026, so now I'm just letting it be published when it's good and ready. Definitely in July though.

The copy editor should have it done by July 7th, but I'll leave two extra days for delays. If I read through and edit on the 10th-12th, I can then get it to my proofreader on the 11th-13th. Another ten days would be the 21st-23rd, and final checks will have it published before months end. That's my thought process anyway.

This was my first time using a line editor. The person who did my editing is great. She also does promotional material as well as share or action my own social media posts after she completes your project. I used her previously for a beta read and was impressed with the output. Her IG handle is @hannahs_nextchapter if your interested in looking for a reputable service. She did make a lot of changes, but I still found errors or room for improvement (ChatGPT said either a line or copy editor could pick them up), which I think my copy editor would have picked up on. Unless my copy editors have been doing line edits as well, I think I'll skip the line editing process.

Breakdown in costs for this 80K manuscript

Beta Reader (x 2) $85 each
Line Edits $343
Copy Edits $250
Proofreading $495

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$1,173 is the amount I put in just to pay for ensuring my book is polish ready. I am confident with my book covers and interior formatting, so I am able to save money on that. I need to sell 400 books to turn a profit.

When I released Book D, I spent a similar amount. So far, I've sold 3 books. I even went the full 9 yards - ARC readers, Meta ADs marketing and mass social media posting. And on June 23rd, I invested in a Written Words media 5-day campaign where all my books are 99¢. The campaign costs $345 for a weeks worth of ADs and newsletter promotions. I'll let you know next month if I turn a profit.

For some reason, I sold 16 books on Apple Books on June 21st, so hopefully I receive just as many ratings and reviews. Apple and Kobo have been my most popular platforms to sell my books. Amazon gets a lot of views, but I think it's because KU users are hoping to get my book as part of their membership.

There is a small chance I may publish Book E to KU, but I have to leave it there for at least 90 days before going wide. I haven't made as much money as I hoped with my first four books, so want to test my theory to see if I make any money on page reads - and hopefully sell more wide books in the process. I'm just one of the few who are anti-Amazon and prefer to support small businesses.

Unfortunately, more and more are refusing to accept books that even have been edited with AI. I don't know how anyone else edits their books, but if you accept a Google Doc spelling suggestion, go with a Microsoft grammar change, or use a program like ProwritingAid, that is technically a form a AI.

When I was getting the Copyright Office to copyright my books, I had to explain how I use AI to edit my books. I think it was fantastic they asked me those questions. It is what separates authors like me who want to use AI ethically and other authors like Coral Hart or Jason Hamilton who make money by generating entire works. I love writing as it gets me excited where my brain and characters take me and using AI as a critique partner I think speeds the process up. I also use AI to do my first initial beta read, and plan the book out to ensure my developmental edits don't have any plot holes. Again, this in addition to my human editors and beta readers.

Recently, I read one reviewer's comment on another Historical author where they said they automatically deduct 1.5 stars because it is genre fiction. From all the research and studying up on how to grow as an author, reviews and ratings are essential, so automatically deducting a point seems unfair. I'm stilling trying to weigh if it would be better to receive the 3.5 stars and it could skew the average ratings or not receive a rating at all.

Planning my F Book

My whole series is revolved around a single spreadsheet. I have finetuned it as I go along, but it keeps me thinking forward and guide where my characters need to go to ensure my stores are moving forward in line with the overarching mystery and connected world.

As you'll see in the above image, this is how it starts. I know which month the book takes place, the book title, where the story sits within Season. The colors actually match the romance tropes, thought I should change them to match the book covers. Each book has a romance and mystery idea. I chose the top four romance tropes I enjoy reading. Since I had two letters left, I decided to label them as holiday romances (here's looking at you letters H & T).

I don't use AI to generate my novel (whoever does misses out on the joy of writing), but it is definitely a useful productivity tool. By selecting some of my favorite mystery tropes, AI was able to help me understand in which order the mysteries should go. For each romance trope, I have an overarching mystery that spans the six novels. I then have six standalone mysteries that connect to the overarching mystery. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but so far it is working and I won't really know if it succeeds until I get to books W, X, Y, and Z.

This spreadsheet has 72 rows. I won't go through them all, but it helps me consider what should be in the story, including what is their GMC (goals, motivation, conflict), the character's circle (who is their family, friends, enemies). Then there's the mystery of who is the villain, what did they do and how did they do it, as well as why they would commit such a crime.

Once we have a sold idea, we then need to break down the book. If you're a plotter like me, I'm sure you have your own way of planning. Throughout my career, I have relied on the handy spreadsheet for all my projects, so don't think I'll ever stop (also, much easier than having to scribble or white out an error.

Below, you'll see what I did for book A

This spreadsheet only has 25 rows, but again, we are breaking down the chapter to get in indepth view. I want to know the arc of change, what we learn, and how this chapter makes the reader want to keep going into the next chapter. I based it the Romance Beat Sheet and try to stick to female/male alternating povs.

This is where I'm up to with Book F. I'll be traveling next week, but once I get my marketing and admin done, I can start with chapter 1. If I have the whole day free, I can write up to 10K words. If I don't, I aim for at least one chapter. My novels have ranged from 25 to 28 chapters, so it usually takes three weeks to complete my first draft. I should have this book to my copy editor by the end of July or early August and hopefully published end of August.

Paperbacks & Audiobooks

I am having a war with Draft2Digital on my book cover template. They keep saying my book cover size is incorrect, but I've checked and double checked and eveything seems to be in order. I've raised a ticket and hopefully it can be resolved shortly, so I can finally publish print books!

Question of the day: Would you rather read a paperback or listen to an audiobook?

The next step is to publish my audio books. I was thinking of going the AI generated route. I found out to profesionally create an audiobook is in the thousands. With five books released (almost), and three more on the way, I don't have the funds. The other option to go the cheap route is to use my own voice, but I would need to invest in a good mic and make my tone less monotone.

I must admit, my chosen platform is Google Play Books. When I read an ebook off that platform, a lot of times I will use the read aloud feature. I don't know if it is because my voice is a British male, but I don't notice its a robot. I think this Google feature predates the audiobook era.

Social Media

I've been good about creating my posts a week or two ahead. It's hit and miss, but I range from 40 to over 150 views, but enjoy the process of creating new content. I have a Creative Cloud membership, so leverage Adobe Express to create my content. I also paid for an Epidemic Sound membership, so can some upload unique content. Though I just realized the song file name doesn't upload to social media, so will need to figure out how to acknowledge them. Maybe I can create a credits page on my website?

I have reached over 300 followers on IG, which is my main source. I started a Tiktok account and now have 15 followers. I thought I'd have a lot more on Facebok, but currently only have nine followers. I'd like to build up a following on YouTube, but with Adobe Express, you can only post directly to FB, IG, and TT. I tried adding the extra step of downloading the reel and then manually uploading to YT, but it's an stress I want right now.

The only thing I'm sad about is the reels or posts where I put a lot of effort or spend a whole day or days on don't get as much traction as the popular posts usually seen across the social media platforms. I'm not a big fan of being onscreen, but I do enjoy non-face content. Another way to save on costs.

Other News

I've been traveling a few times this year between L.A. and SEATAC. I drove in January, but since gas prices have skyrocketed, I've been flying ever since. I tried to catch a train in March, but the tracks were closed last minute, so they canceled my trip. I am trying again this time around, but only from California north this time. Like Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling, I hope my juices will flow for Book F.

Finally, I am on my summer break for my MBA. I decided to take the summer off to concentrate on my business. I don't think I'm popular enough for a book signing, but will start looking into markets or festivals to get my name out there. I'd like to join the RWA conference, but that will really depend on if my LA business gets finalized this month.

Until next time…

MNP xx