Son of the Thunder Goddess Celebrates Six Months!
A review of highlights and small wins
Andrew LiVecchi is a humanities professor and author of epic fantasy inspired by a lifelong obsession with ancient and medieval history, mythology, and classic literature. His debut novella, Son of the Thunder Goddess, is available for purchase here.
Hi everyone,
It’s hard to believe, but it’s already been six months since Son of the Thunder Goddess was first published!
Today, I’m pausing to look back at the journey so far and sharing highlights, behind-the-scenes insights, and a glimpse of what’s coming next.
In this newsletter:
Highlights from the first six months
Writing update
What I’ve been reading
Link roundup
1. Highlights from the first six months
These first six months have been an incredible journey so far. I’ve learned a ton about publishing, marketing, working with bookstores, signing events, and more. While it’s a lot of work, it’s been truly rewarding and surprisingly fun.
Here are some highlights from that journey.
📖 Copies Sold: 102 — I reached 100 copies just about a week ago!
I’ve sold far more copies in paperback than ebook, with pretty negligible Kindle Unlimited page reads.
Paperback: 76
Ebook: 26
KU Page Reads: 628 (potentially translates to another 5-6 copies)
This is the breakdown of copies sold per month:
March: 42
April: 11
May: 8
June: 12
July: 9
August: 20
Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy!
🌎 Countries represented
These are the countries where at last one reader has purchased my book:
Canada
United States
United Kingdom
Australia
Germany
⭐ Reviews & Ratings
Amazon.com: 11 ratings — 4.7★ average
Amazon.ca: 9 ratings — 4.8★ average
Goodreads: 14 ratings — 4.36★ average
Thank you to everyone who left a review. Your feedback has been invaluable!
🎤 In-Person Events: 5 total
These have been way more fun than I expected. There’s something really refreshing about getting away from the screens and chatting face-to-face with readers. I’m planning to do about one of these every month.
Best: 9 copies sold at Indigo Brant!
Worst: 0 copies at Bookfest (you can’t win them all)
📺 Media Appearance:
1 BookTube interview on Nicholas W. Fuller’s channel
🏪 Local Stores Carrying the Book:
Over the last few months, I’ve reached out to stores in my area to see if they would be willing to carry copies of my book. So far, this is a list of places where you can find Son of the Thunder Goddess:
StudioComix in Kitchener
Indigo Cambridge
Indigo Brant
Rookery Books in Cambridge
C&C Gamebridge in Cambridge
If you’re nearby, feel free to drop in and pick up a copy!
2. Writing update:
I’m afraid I don’t have anything nearly as exciting this time around as last month’s twin announcement. The twins are still pending and I’m still writing!
Working on Rage of the Raven Queen has really stretched me as a writer. It’s three times as long as Son of the Thunder Goddess and contains two POV’s, so there have been a lot more moving pieces to fit together. But I’m really happy with how it’s turned out and by the feedback I’ve received from my early readers. I think this book contains some of my best writing yet and arguably the most epic subject matter.
By now, I’ve heard back from all my beta readers and am just about finished incorporating their feedback. This month, I’ll be handing off my manuscript to my editor, and working with my artist Lukas on the cover design.
Publication is still set for Winter of 2026, hopefully either January or early February.
I’ve also started the very early stages of plotting out the third Athewain book, which is very exciting, but it’s way too soon to reveal anything yet.
In publishing news, I’ve removed Son of the Thunder Goddess from KDP Select, meaning that the ebook is no longer exclusive with Amazon and, consequently, no longer enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.
This means that you will now be able to purchase the ebook at any online store (Amazon, Kobo, AppleBooks, etc.) rather than being limited to only Amazon. My hope is that this will make my books more accessible to you all, especially those who prefer not to give more of their money to Amazon.
3. What I’ve been reading:
Recently finished:
I haven’t had a lot of time for reading in August, so I actually only completed one novel: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. I mentioned last month that I was half-way through and really enjoying it, and now that I’m finished, I can confirm that it is excellent. The beginning is a little slow if you’re used to faster paced modern writing, but the story is gripping, and Williams’s world and characters are where he truly shines. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
While I didn’t get to read much fantasy, I did read a bunch of books related to indie publishing and marketing. I tend to go through phases of consuming a lot of writing-related content on everything from craft to publishing and marketing. These books are probably of limited interest unless you’re also interested in being an indie author, but I’ll list them for anyone who’s curious:
How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market by Ricardo Fayet
Strangers to Superfans: A Marketing Guide to The Reader Journey by David Gaughran
Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert by Tammi Labrecque
The Indie Author Mindset: How changing your way of thinking can transform your writing career by Adam L. Croft
Note: if you do find this kind of content interesting, let me know. I have accumulated (and continue to accumulate) a large hoard of writing resources that I’d be happy to pass along.
Currently reading:
Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne. This is book 2 in his Bloodsworn Saga.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Book 3 in the Stormlight Archive
I’m also doing a very slow read through a collection of Robert Browning’s poetry. Since graduating university, I haven’t spent much time on reading poetry, and it’s a practice I’d like to get back to. This book has been sitting on my shelves for a long time, and I figured I’d start with a classic, familiar author to get me out of my poetry rut.
4. Link Roundup
The Mead Hall
In case you missed it, here is the most recent series of articles from The Mead Hall:
Five of the best medieval monster stories
If you enjoy myth, folklore, and complicated monsters, you’ll enjoy these posts.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Whether by purchasing my book or reviewing it, your support over the past six months has been a huge encouragement. If you haven’t yet, you can still grab Son of the Thunder Goddess here:
Here’s to the next six months!
Andrew LiVecchi
