I’ve been getting this question a lot since Tidepool’s release. And don’t get me wrong: I appreciate it. I like that people assume there will be another book, and that they’ll want to read it. That’s great!

The answer: I honestly have no idea when my next book will be out. Zero. I have almost no control over when—or if—this might happen. 

Let me explain:

I’m finishing up a second round of edits on my YA horror novel The Keeper of the Key and will be returning it to my agent Max shortly. Once we are both satisfied with the manuscript, she’ll begin submitting it to publishers she thinks might be a good fit. I’m hoping that process will begin no later than early 2022.  

It might find a home quickly. This is highly unlikely. Almost nothing in publishing happens quickly. 

It might take a year or two—or more—to find a publisher. I queried Tidepool with small publishers for about a year and a half before connecting with Parliament House. 

Or…it might never be picked up at all. That happens too, for many different reasons. 

In the happy event that my next novel finds a home with a publisher, there will be yet another waiting period. I signed the Tidepool deal with Parliament House in August 2019 (it was announced in October). The book came out two years later. That’s a pretty standard stretch of time. The publisher will have their own round of edits, and it takes time to do things like design the cover, develop a marketing plan, figure out the most favorable time to release the book, and work on getting advance publicity. 

Almost all of that is out of my control. 

What is in my control? The book after that one. I have another novel I drafted during NaNoWriMo in 2019 and then revamped significantly, and in 2022 I’d like to get it to a point where my agent can look it over. Experienced writers will tell you to always be working on something else, and publishing’s very long waiting times are why. It won’t do to get too caught up in the fate of one book. This industry is too unpredictable.

I’m very much hoping that within a year or two, you’ll be able to read and enjoy The Keeper of the Key, or that I’ll at least be able to tell you when it’ll be available. (Fair warning: It is very, very different from Tidepool.) But I just can’t say for sure.

But hey–if you enjoyed Tidepool, please talk it up and leave reviews on Amazon and elsewhere! My first book doing well increases the chances that a publisher will want my next book.