Packaging and First Drafts

Two things happening in parallel right now, and they couldn’t feel more different.

Book Two: Done Being Written

The beta feedback for Calculus of Trust has been mostly incorporated. Hoping to get more but so far, so good. Then there’s one more pass to check the remaining notes and make sure everything holds together before the manuscript is declared locked down.

After that, the creative work stops. What follows is production.

Cover design is already in motion—I’ve sent a mood board to my cover designer and we’re working through the concept. Formatting comes next: the epub and print versions have different requirements and both need attention before anything goes near a distribution pipeline. ISBNs need to be registered, retailer listings set up, and once a print proof arrives I’ll need to go through it physically to make sure the layout holds up on the page.

None of this is writing. It’s infrastructure—the work that turns a finished manuscript into something people can actually buy and read. It’s necessary, it’s finicky, and it’s about as far from drafting as you can get.

August/September is still the target. A lot of pieces need to land in the right order to hit that window.

Book Three: About to Start Being Written

At the same time, Book Three is approaching the point where the first draft can begin.

The chapter-level notes for the first two thirds are far enough along to draft from. The remaining third still needs to be mapped out—but that work can run alongside the early drafting rather than ahead of it.

The first draft of any book is deliberately rough. The goal isn’t to write well—it’s to get the story down in enough detail that the next pass has something to work with. That’s the phase Book Three is about to enter.

It’s a strange thing to be doing simultaneously: finalising one book for publication while starting another from scratch. The headspace required is completely different. Production work is checklist-driven, methodical, detail-oriented. First drafts are loose, exploratory, and deliberately tolerant of mess.

For now, both are moving. That’s the job.

Enjoyed this? Get the science behind the story → Join the list