Big News: The Blue Beacon goes to market

Our story is now available in all formats.

Cascadians, thank you for opening this message. I trust you are transitioning smoothly into the cooler days of the years. I have very big news to share!

Let’s get right away to our top story:

The Blue Beacon is now on sale in all formats.

That top button will take you to our own proprietary store, where you can buy the full-color paperback, stickers, the map (though we’re still waiting on a restock) and whatever other merchandise we dream up in the future.

Regarding merch, there are now new sticker designs featuring The Blue Beacon’s two cutest characters. You can order them along with your copy today!

(Note: the Print Edition is also available on Amazon, but for the same price. I’d encourage you to buy the book directly from us. And please let me know if you plan to buy in bulk!)

Today I’m especially excited to have the Audible Edition up, because I had a ton of fun reading my own book aloud. Wow, what a day! A new story is officially brought to market. I can scarcely believe it. But I can thank God.

Thank you, God.

The target audience so far digs the tale.

Bringing The Blue Beacon to market was an Orlo the Granite-sized burden for my artist self, and I feel relief at having this product finally, fully on sale.

What’s uplifted me through the marketing phase, though, is ongoing reader feedback. I know this is a strong story, and the 330 copies I’ve printed so far are like seeds scattered, and they’ll take time to find roots. I expect slow growth. This week, however, a handful of parents informed me their middle-schoolers crushed the book in a day or two. Some of them aren’t even big readers! Well, this is simply the very highest of praise because that’s who I wrote The Blue Beacon for.

I also wrote this novel for my neighbors, and one of them, Carla Asplund, listened to the audiobook recently on a road trip and raved to me afterward that her only disappointment was the story ending so soon. This could be an issue with the architecture of the story, and I have made a note to spend more time on the end of Book 2. Still, I suppose it’s wise to leave readers wanting more. Thank you for the support, Carla!

Now I hope for word-of-mouth to spread like fire, for Gladwellian tipping points, and for those fallen seeds to grow roots which reach water and good soil.

And I pray for a great story to tell in Book 2.

Updates on what’s ahead for the Cascadia Chronicles

With regards to Book 2 and and my Inner Artist’s boredom with marketing, last week I took a walk along the path of the first chapter, gleaning details from the landscape and buildings. Especially the trees in that golden summer light. The timing for this research is super-convenient since The Blue Beacon takes place in late summer and Book 2 will pick up where Book 1 left off.

My next goal is to write Book 2 quickly through the rest of the year. I plan for the second novel to be longer, so I’ll loosely aim to have the manuscript finished by Spring 2024. Maybe sooner. I haven’t finalized a plan yet, though that’ll be part of my work over the next few weeks.

And when Chapter 1 is ready, you folks in this Substack will be the first to see it. Until then, thank you—as always—for following this journey. What a joy to go this far!

Now onward, little book! Godspeed.