Project Stargaze Update
Publishing timeline, ARCs, and more.
Life has been incredibly busy over the past couple of months, and I haven’t had the chance to provide updates as frequently as I’ve wanted to, so I’m doing it now!
I will start by promoting the Project Stargaze Patreon! At first, I didn’t really have any plans for a Patreon, but as me and my team have continued working towards publication for my first book, we’ve come to realize that self-publishing comes with a lot of out-of-pocket, up-front costs. Therefore, we started our Patreon back in August! Our Patrons have already received most of these updates–that’s one of the perks of being a Patron! If you subscribe to the Patreon (currently there is a $1 tier and a $5 tier) you will receive exclusive updates before anyone else. So far, this has included information about the process of publishing the book, as well as some behind-the-scenes photos and other little perks like access to the Spotify playlists that I’ve created for the book. If you wish to get more frequent updates before I post them to my socials, please consider subscribing here! As we get closer to publishing, I’ll be sharing even more content, like book excerpts, the first peeks at the book cover, and more. I will also make posts updating Patrons on exactly where their money is going; so far, their contributions allowed us to make promotional business cards that we passed out at a book festival!
The next big update I’ve been wanting to make for anyone keeping up with my book is that me and my team have determined that it is necessary to push back my publishing date. This may come as no surprise if you’ve kept up with my instagram; I’d originally been advertising for a fall release, but we are coming to the end of fall now. When I originally set the publishing date last year (I had settled on Friday, October 13th, and we’re well past that now) I chose it somewhat arbitrarily; I just knew that I needed a finite date so that I could keep myself motivated and on track. We’ve stayed to the schedule for the most part! But we decided, as a team, that we’d rather make sure we’re putting out a book that we’re all proud of instead of trying to stick to a concrete deadline. I finished the second draft a little over a month ago, but there are still some things that I am not entirely confident are up to my standards, therefore making publishing before the end of the year impossible. Some parts of the story don’t feel entirely fleshed out yet, and I want to do justice to the story and its characters. The bones of the story are there, but there are other areas that I think deserve a little more attention, and making that happen takes time. Me and Amberle are well into editing for draft three, and already I can see the final pieces falling into place. It’s so exciting! But I know that this final, big pass is going to take a little bit more time. All I can say in the meantime is how much I deeply appreciate the people who have kept up with this journey! The interest and support so far has really helped to keep us motivated and eager to share this book with you. All that said, we are hoping to publish around spring of 2024! I have a rough time frame in mind, but things can always change, so for now I won’t try to be any more specific than that.
With all of that out of the way, I want to tease the opportunity for Advance Reader Copies! ;) As we finish up this edit, I’m thinking more and more about giving people the chance to read the book early so we can start getting some feedback! This will help us with any final edits that need to be made as well as give us an idea for our audience and how we’d like to market things going forward. I will make an ARC specific post once we know when we'll be offering them for sure so that people can start applying, but I’m hoping to start offering ARCs around the end of winter. The ARC would most likely be a PDF copy. If you’re interested in getting your hands on an ARC, please follow my Instagram @kirstienicolewriting and keep up with my website for more updates to come!
I want to thank you again, everyone who has kept up with this journey. I love this book. I believe in this book. And I can’t wait to share it with you. Thanks for reading :)
Meet the Main Characters
Meet the main characters from the debut novel by Kirstie Nicole!
Template designed by Amberle Phillips
What I had long before I ever had a plot for this book was these characters. They have remained the driving force for the story as I’ve written draft one and am working on draft two. These two are two of the biggest reasons that I’ve been able to stay so committed to this project; because I love them, because I believe in them, because I want to see them evolve and watch their relationships with other characters grow or implode. These two have such a special place in my heart, and I hope they will in yours once you get to know them, too. But first, I have to introduce them. So here they are: Blaire Days and Ira Stone.
In another blog post planned for a later date, I’ll be discussing what influenced me to start writing this book entirely, but before I ever expanded the story into anything that made sense, I just had these two, begging me to help them express themselves. I started with Blaire and Ira and I did nothing but write short scenes that weren’t about much in particular and had nothing to do with the novel as it exists now. I wanted to build a dynamic between them, watch them interact and fight and work together. It was a type of relationship that I wanted to see, but couldn’t find in many places in media, at least not to the degree of which I was hoping. I realized that I had to create them myself.
Blaire Days is very intelligent, headstrong, and determined. She’s a problem solver. She’s a bit awkward, but she’s also a hopeless romantic and loves romance novels. She loves a puzzle.
Ira Stone is a lover of life, art, and companionship. He’s outgoing, goofy, and animated; he loves to entertain and make people feel welcome. He’s in touch with his emotions and isn’t afraid to demonstrate that.
Thank you so much for following along on this journey with me. The character descriptions are down below, and I hope that you come to love Blaire and Ira just as much as I do.
There will be much more to learn about Blaire and Ira as we get closer to the publishing date. Stay tuned!