Getting what you pay for is not always true.
Back in 2020, I took two short stories I had written and merged them into one manuscript, which became a novel.
Story one was about a person through various events, was touched by magic, and his third eye was awakened. He suffered his death in the line of duty as a cop and saw things as an out-of-body experience. He returned with unique abilities, including seeing people's auras as good and evil. He could also see the orbs of the dead and communicate with them, which helped him with some police cases.
The second story was about a translator who was used to transcribe ancient Sumerian clay tablets for a museum. He uncovers lost secrets of reincarnation for all and that the governments and religious groups are controlling the will of the people. He starts telling people, and it causes an uproar. He is in hiding as they are hunting him down to silence him.
Once merged, these two stories became the basis for "Truth Dreamers." I then added an immortal priest who was a soul eater.
After finishing this manuscript, I signed up with an online company in May 2021 that would edit my work, help get a cover, and publish it on Amazon as an eBook and paperback. A lot of money later, the book launched in December 2021. I was crucified by how poorly the editing was done. I found out the company used offshore freelancers to edit the book. English was their second language. Yes, I was too excited to monitor their progress. Since they did this for a living, I expected a professional job. I learned.
I got a second editor, and we returned to my original manuscript because huge chunks had been deleted or rewritten to make no sense from the first company. I revised my work and updated my KDP files with a new cover. I launched again as a "Truth Dreamer," but I felt the stigma already existed.
I returned and added a new character who was in the second book draft. His story was now the opening of Book One. This required adding much new information about aliens not mentioned in the first book. Only the Anunnaki were originally in the first book. I added the alien Greys, Reptilians, and Reptoids. I added about ten thousand new words. I rebranded it as "Messenger of Dreams" with a new cover and ISBN. It replaced "Truth Dreamers" as book one of the series.
This book was much better received, but some of the original poor editing needed to be redone on the pages. It just went through a light scrub to make it more straightforward. So Revision 3.1 is now the newest version. If you purchased an older version, email me proof of purchase, and I will send you the updated PDF version by email.
So now you know the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of book 1 of the Dark World series.
Thanks for following.
D. G. McCool Jr.
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