Project Update September 2026

By Rare Hydrogen

My Soft War book project has been going pretty well! I stuck to my todo list and had my wife continue to give edits, made the cover edits, fixed the logo, continued my posting schedule and have just started my final read-through.

Plus, this is monthly update #2, so that’s even more consistency. Go me!

Finally Out of the Woods? Maybe?

Oct 1st and the deadline for my book get closer every day, but I think I’m in a good position to complete it and release it (nearly on-time). Right now, I have the following items done:

1. A cover
2. A draft
3. A list of edits to make
4. A website and product page
5. A purchase method

On the other hand, there are plenty of other things that I still need:

1. A finished EPUB file (y’know the ACTUAL BOOK)
2. A few beta readers to tell me what they think
3. Distributor accounts
4. Readers (lol)
5. Website tweaks, image gallery, little stuff like that.

So to me, I feel better organized, and that makes the woods seem less thick overall. So that I definitely appreciate. Also, I was listening to a podcast the other day talking about book publishing and monetization, and they talked about how:

• You use your second book to sell your first
• You use your third book to sell your second
• You won’t see real results until 90 days of marketing your book
• Putting all your hopes and dreams on your launch day is a recipe for heartbreak and premature failure.

Hearing these things from another living, breathing human being also reassured me that I am more out of the woods than I think.

A Brief Personal Note

I know about myself personally that I am an absolutist. I either workout every day or I don’t do it at all. So, if I even get a WHIFF of something going wrong, it’s like my number one priority to try and fix it. Or if I can’t fix it immediately, I put that thought in a little mixtape in my brain and play it on repeat until I figure out what I’m going to do eventually when I do fix it.

Alot of my issues in life I think stem from this absolutionist mindset, and the fact that I’m not a robot that can follow its own programming perfectly. I mess up. And then I get more angry at myself for messing up than I ever felt good for trying in the first place. The flesh is weak.

I wonder if part of this journey to building Studio Mystery is also just a journey of letting-go.

Goals for September

While I’d like to finish all 5 items from my previous list above, I think I’m going to have to taper my expectations. The thing I most need to complete, above all else, is:

1. My final, edited draft and EPUB file for Soft War.

If I can finish that this month, everything will be okay.