Firstly, thanks for visiting my website, or signing up to my mailing list, however you are reading this! I promised to keep mailshots to a bare bare minimum and don't worry, I will. I just don't have the time in the day to be uploading weekly blogs or constantly bombard your inbox! Any newsletters that get sent to my subscribers will then be posted on my website a day later, so by signing up, you'll always be the first to know.
But all that aside, I wanted to give an update on how things are coming along with The Nesting Room, and offer a little peek behind the curtain as to what the mid-process of publishing looks like. Before I get into it, if you don't know much about my debut Young Teen novel launching in spring 2027, you can find more about this dark fantasy book and the wicked magpies who inhabit it here.
We are now in the fourth rewrite since I signed with my publisher in November 2025, slowly making our way towards a fifth. It's been really interesting working with the publisher and having new fresh perspectives shaping my book, especially with the view of a target audience and market in mind. We've gone back and forth a couple of times and have settled on a final vision together, and it's almost there! The word count has gone from around 44,000 words to an impressive figure sitting just over 57,000! For the curious, the typical novel length for a book in the Young Teen age bracket is around 50 to 60 thousand words. It's really interesting to think that this thing once began ten years ago as a short story of just 10,000 words. I feel so lucky to be where I am today, and to have had so many smart and talented people lend their hand to helping craft this story into what is soon to be it's final form. I love how it's shaped up. We've got high stakes, new scenes, a clear magic system and a new character who's quickly become a fan-favourite. I can't wait to share it all.
And, the part that all authors look forward to: we have a front cover! I've seen 2 slight variations on the design and we're waiting to settle on a final version, but it's really thrilling. It's not what I had initially pictured in my head, but the more I looked at it the more I loved it. I can't share more at this stage, but I hope the words foiled letters excite you just as much as they do me.
Also, if there is anyone extremely dedicated out there who happens to be following my website and social media with keen eyes, you may have spotted a change in dates. When we first began, The Nesting Room was scheduled for publication in September 2026. However, once we got our teeth into the developmental edits, it became clear that we needed more time. Myself, my agent and the publisher are at the whims of printing schedules, and we weren't quite ready for things to align in time for printing and publication in September of this year. However, we all agreed that we would much rather take the time to perfect the manuscript to the best it can possibly be without worrying about arbitrary launch dates. This has given us much more time to give developmental edits the time and focus they need, and once we sign off on the final version of the manuscript, we'll have plenty of time to pour into marketing, generating hype, and preorders! This means that we should be ready to launch in time for the London Book Fair 2027, which is very exciting.
So what's next?
The final version of the manuscript will be complete before the end of the year, possibly within the next two months. Once this is done, I will receive the final instalment of my advance, and my contract will be fulfilled. The next update I will be able to provide will of course be the cover reveal! Those of you who are signed up to my mailing list will be the first to receive a preview in your inbox before it goes live to the rest of the world, which is pretty exciting if you ask me. However, the work is far from done there. You may have heard the term "earning out", which means that the amount an author was paid in advance has been earned back to the publisher in book sales. Once this amount is hit, the author then starts to receive a royalty amount per book sale straight to their pocket.
This means that the absolute best way for a book to succeed in today's market is through preorders; signing up to purchase a book ahead of the official launch date. So as soon as preordering becomes available, I will be back to bother you to let you know how to order, and to ask you to spread the word to as many people as possible. I'm also hoping we can put together some sort of exclusive merch for preorders, so watch this space. From there onwards, it's all stuff that still sounds so abstract and unreal to me like official launches, signings, events and more. I have every reason to look forward.
Thank you for keeping tabs on my journey so far, the success of this book depends on the love and support of those around me, and I'm immensely grateful to everyone who wants to support me and follow along with my debut experience.
Until next time,
Soph/ S.J. Montgomery.
