That’s right. If you’ve been following my Twitter updates or returning to look at the natty graph below, you’ve now that Steam Highwayman II: Highways and Holloways passed 1000 passages in draft a short while ago and has been accelerating onward.
I’m not planning on going on forever – in fact I mean to complete a few large quests that will help tie the whole book together and then call this draft finished.
What does that mean? Well, I’ll be putting the book through an editing, proofing and checking process after that and then proceed to lay out the book interior – one of the jobs I enjoyed the most during SH1. I’ve also been discussing and commissioning a cover design with Ben and have seen his first sketches.
A lot of what I used to get Steam Highwayman 1 published is still standing: I even have an ISBN number reserved for SH2. Today I’ve been going over the numbers to plan a second Steam Highwayman Kickstarter to run during this summer. Exactly when… will depend.
The Kickstarter will run much like the previous one, allowing keen backers to help contribute to the costs of the project, receive a written acknowledgement in the book and a copy ahead of general release. However, I am discussing extra reward levels with Ben and am hoping to be able to reveal a particularly exciting way you could play a part in the book quite soon. If there are things you’d like to see as part of the campaign, please let me know.
I’m hoping that a good proportion of my backers from KS1 will be keen to fund the sequel so they can expand their adventure, but I’m also hoping to broaden Steam Highwayman’s appeal to new readers, who will be able to receive copies of both books as rewards.
I received a nice message recently from a member of the online gamebook community who has been on a bit of a spree and bought SH1 online: his picture of Smog and Ambuscade and his comments really made my day. If you’ve enjoyed volume 1 – and particularly if you bought it online – please recommend it with Amazon’s review system. You don’t have to write a lot and you don’t have to have bought it through their shop, but online reviews are a really crucial part of increasing the project’s visibility.