Starlight Jewel

 Excerpt from review by Editors Weekly: "The novel is vast and edited immaculately - it constantly world-builds, introducing the lore of the past, and doesn't shy from treading into the violent but engaging histories of the people that populate the land of Norge. Axly explores the different landscapes within, encountering new characters and those familiar to her, and this keeps the novel moving forward."

Excerpt from review by Jamedi (JamReads): "The worldbuilding is extensive, and probably the best aspect of Starlight Jewel. Outside of the Hybrids, we can appreciate how the relationship between the different human factions and cultures is complex and makes the world feel alive. Dialogue is used as the main delivery system of this info, so the pacing doesn't get affected by excessive info-dumping."

Excerpt from review by Tom Kiefer (a Vine Voice on Amazon): "Starlight Jewel may be one of the more interesting worldbuilding settings I've read in a while. The cultures and relations of sprygans and humans and hybrids (oh, my!) felt very well thought through and well rendered, resulting in a world of nations and cultures with a lot of interesting complexity while still not difficult to grasp enough to understand the setting of the story."

Excerpt from review by Steven William Hannah (MyPaperQuest): "There was a moment early on where our main characters dance in an underground lake, their senses enhanced to feel everything around them. It was about this time that I realised I was in for an outstanding read. Its a hell of a length, but a LOT happens, and I never felt like the author did not respect my time and attention. The prose is beautiful. The plot kept me on the hook and really surprised me (as well as absolutely shattering my heart, Lyons, you monster).

Starlight Jewel has been out for over a year now, and the sequel will be coming out in a few months. In that time, I've sold 325 copies and given many more away, including through a LibraryThing Early Reviewers promotion. The book has only recently begun to get traction, and 25 of those sales are from December alone.

I have an active Twitter where I have around 2,000 followers with good engagement on most of my posts. Prior to this summer I was not as successful there, but have improved how I use the platform, blocked all bot followers, and am now getting more traction. I also have an Instagram and am involved in many bookish Discords. The Fantasy Fellowship is currently doing a buddy read for Starlight Jewel, which has 29 readers participating.

Getting reviews has been a challenge, with only 18 reviews on Amazon US (a few others in other countries) and 20 reviews on Goodreads. None of those reviews are from family or friends, none are paid for, and it's currently at 4.8 stars.

I entered Starlight Jewel in both the SPFBO and BBNYA contests this year, and made it to the second round of the latter. I did one book tour over the summer, and plan to do another after I release the new cover sometime in the next six weeks. I'm part of a large indie sale that'll take place over the holidays, and have made a good number of connections in recent months to help promote my books. It is on the TBR of several more prominent members of Twitter's book community now, including Dominish and Boe Kelley. I have gone on a number of booktube channels to do interviews, have recently opened a merch shop with custom art for the series, and have a professional website, LyonsPen.com, where readers can learn more about the series and my journey.

I've gone to great lengths to ensure that the book is available globally, including in Australia and New Zealand. I have a statement in the copyright clarifying that no AI was used in writing the book or in the art.

My plan for the upcoming year is to release a new cover that better reflects the subgenre (dark epic fantasy), professionally rewrite the blurb, have a special edition cover made, and start applying for more book promotions. Alongside that I'll be doing a great deal to promote the sequel on social media and in interviews.

Unfortunately, ads have not been very successful for my book and are quite expensive, so I stopped doing those early on and don't plan to start ads again until the series is complete (three books).