A Decade of Writing

Ten years ago today, historians generally agree, I released House of Blades on Kindle.
 
The actual date is somewhat disputed by the academic community. Some sources record House of Blades’ release date as the second of June instead of the first, but these are lies intended to defame my good name.
 
I uploaded the manuscript on the first of June, Anno Domini Two Thousand and Thirteen, but it took Amazon some hours to build the book’s landing page correctly. By the time I had made my first sale, it was already June the second.
 
But it was June first on which I published a book for the first time.
 
Seriously though, it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years. Even harder to believe that Cradle is about to turn seven.
 
I feel like there have been three major eras in my writing career so far: the Traveler’s Gate era, the Elder Empire era, and the Cradle era. Going by feel, I would say that the Cradle era was about half.
 
As in, five years for Traveler’s Gate and Elder Empire (at least, the first four books of EE) and five years for Cradle. But it’s actually 7 years for Cradle and 3 for the others.
 
That doesn’t sound like that much of a difference, but it feels weird for me. 70% of my writing life has been focused on Cradle, and now it’s about to come to an end.
 
Crazy times.
 
As you’d expect, my family and I have been reminiscing about the last ten years during our nightly mind-melds, and we have a lot to be thankful for. I would describe our overall emotional reaction as “Overwhelming gratitude.”
 
We wanted to thank you, so we’re doing what we can, but it’s hard to beat you guys.
 
Yesterday, we gave away about 485,000 ebooks for free. We’ve done this kind of giveaway three times in the past (we’ve done a lot more giveaways than that, but only three of these big ones).
 
Yesterday, more people got more free books than in all those other three giveaways combined.
 
You know why? Because of you. You all push these books so hard we’re giving more and more away each time. You’d think we would run out of people by now.
 
You fans are great. Not only are you the reason why I’ve been able to keep writing for so long, but it’s you all enjoying the books that makes the journey fun. The lengths you’ll go to get people to read Cradle truly astonish me.
 
I thought firing paperback copies of Unsouled through people’s windows with a T-shirt cannon was a little much, but it was when you rented an airplane and began raining copies from the sky that I started to wonder if you’d gone too far.
 
 Thanks for making it a great ten years!
 
Especially those of you who have been fans from the beginning. I don’t know how you found me during House of Blades or why you stuck with me for so long, but some of you were there from the very beginning. Special shout-out to you, for having patience with me for ten years.
 
The main thing we have going on this week, of course, is the release of Waybound in less than a week! But to celebrate that, we also commissioned a sort-of-but-not-quite-recap comic of the Cradle series so far, illustrated by u/meadblossom* (who did the Reaper comic too).
 
I say it’s not quite a recap because it doesn’t really summarize the story. It’s more like a selection of highlight moments from Unsouled all the way through Dreadgod. Some of the coolest scenes, or just Sam’s favorites, illustrated and strung together for your enjoyment.

(This hardly needs to be said, but SPOILER WARNING for all of Cradle so far, Unsouled through Dreadgod. Nothing from Waybound in here, but you know, it's a comic of all the series highlights. If you haven't read the series, there will be spoilers. Also, it won't make a ton of sense to you.)
 
Read the comic here!
 
You’ll hear from me again before Waybound—and we’ll have my usual pre-release stream on YouTube this Sunday night at 6 PM Eastern—but I’m looking forward to your reactions!
 
I hope the finale to Cradle lives up to your expectations, and that you’ll continue on this journey with me to The Last Horizon and beyond.
 
For ten whole years, thanks for reading!
 
-Will
 
*(That’s her Reddit username. Also find her at @bloomejasmine on Instagram and @keithbday on Twitter.)