Comp Titles, TED Talks, And Book Sales - June 10th, 2025 Newsletter
Hello, readers!
It’s June! We’re halfway through 2025!
I feel like this year is going by slowly at first, and then a bit quickly since April. The passing of time can be a strange thing to keep track of as a writer (and as a person in general). I have a lot to share, so let’s get into it!
Harlow Mystery BIRTHDAY SALE!
All ebooks in the Harlow Mystery series are 25% off throughout all of June 2025!
Purchase "Winner Takes All" (Book 1): https://books2read.com/u/4EL8ro
Purchase "Engagement To Die For" (Book 2): https://books2read.com/u/38Wn7V
Purchase "Bloody Fantasia" (Book 3): https://books2read.com/u/38veQa
Please note: The sale doesn’t apply to Amazon, but it does apply to all other retailers (including Itch.io, where I have a discount sale bundle for all three books).
The sale ends at the end of June (June 30th 2025)! Let your fellow murder mystery readers know if they’re looking for a new book series to read! Thanks for your support.
What Am I Writing Recently?
I’ve finished writing Draft 2 of Book 2 of the Unusual Adventures trilogy!
Fortunately, nothing was chronologically out of order. I didn’t ahve to worry about rearranging which scenes happened in which chapter. Unfortunately, I had to spend much of the time adding more details, filling in extra scenes, and…well, the new draft is much longer than the first draft.
Draft 1 of Book 2 was 78 pages. Draft 2 of Book 2 is about 147 pages.
The page increase partially happened for formatting reasons. I doubled the spacing between sentences to make the story more readable. But I also added in extra scenes and more physical details this time around, so that also added a lot more pages.
How long will the final version be? I have no idea.
As for other projects, I’ve been steadily writing that housesitting fantasy book that I still don’t have a title for. Progress is slower than I would like, unfortunately.
I’m also writing Draft 1 of Book 3 of the Unusual Adventures trilogy, which is also going slowly (but not nearly as slow as the housesitting fantasy book).
And then I got writer’s block on the above two projects. As you can imagine, I was not pleased by this.
After some deliberation, I decided that instead of twiddling my thumbs and hoping I could “power through” writing whatever words there could be written on the above two projects, I would focus on writing Draft 2 of a book that I had more motivation for - specifically, the Infinity Nikki-inspired book that I finished writing Draft 1 of back in December 2024. Pictured above is one of the stock photos I used to help me visualize what one of the secondary characters would look like in the book.
I’m also looking for possible comp titles that would align with the book aside from Infinity Nikki (for marketing reasons). For those wondering, “comp titles,” also known as “comparitive or competitive titles,” are titles of media (usually books) that are supposed to be similar to the work they’re being compared to. This is a marketing tactic that many authors, filmmakers, and game devs use to advertise their work. An author of a murder mystery book (like me!) might use works of a different author who writes in the same genre (like Agatha Christie for example) to advertise their own work.
When it comes to a book like the still-untitled Infinity Nikki-inspired book, however…that’s a bit more difficult to find comp titles for. Dress-up games aren’t historically the most popular genre when it comes to gaming (though they have a strong fanbase, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to fantasy adventure games or cozy games even). It’s not like I can just say that my book is like the hypothetical/definitely-doesn’t-exist “XYZ Fashion Game II: The Sequel,” for example. So, I’ll likely have to find more fantasy adventure books to use as comp titles.
What Am I Watching Lately?
I’ve been watching a lot of TED talks. You’ve probably heard of TED talks through their black and red branding colours, the big stages where people often stand on and speak for 20-50 minutes (sometimes longer or shorter), speaking in depth on various ideas including the future of the tech industry, improving self-esteem and self-confidence, and many other topics. Many of the speakers are often long-time professionals in their respective industries.
However, there are also TED talks where students and recent graduates get opportunities to speak, and those are actually quite fun. Similar to normal TED talks, these talks are given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format, but are independently organized by local communities. Those are the types I watched more of, lately, and they are also insightful to watch.
The Value of Unplugging in a Hyperconnected World | Kristy Saad
The future of creativity & the arts in the age of AI | Jenny Do
What Have I Listened To Lately?
I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Second Nature” by Commons. Commons is a group that works to “empower people to make more sustainable spending choices,” according to their website. I do think they have some insightful episodes, and those who are looking to get more involved in environmental action will probably enjoy listening to the podcast.
Episodes I recommend include:
“We Need To Talk About AI” (May 28th, 2025 episode)
“Why Don’t We Fix Things Anymore?” (April 23rd, 2025 episode)
“What Actually Happens To Your Clothing Donations?” (April 2nd, 2025 episode)
What Am I Reading Recently?
My most recent library trip had me borrowing 14 books (I deliberately borrowed less books this time as I’ve had a very busy beginning of June) and then promptly finished reading (or DNF’d) 9 of those books in 3 days.
Fortunately, my library haul wasn’t a complete disaster. One of the books I borrowed from the ebook catalogue, “The Lost Story” by Meg Shaffer, was really good. Rafe and Jeremy is officially one of my favourite fictional romances (and no, it’s not a romance book, but the subplot is very present). For those that enjoyed reading books like the Chronicles of Narnia series and Bridge to Terabithia, I highly recommend reading “The Lost Story.”
Other books I read include:
“Noodle & Bao” by Shaina Lu
“The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands” by Sarah Brooks
“The Journey To Atlantis” by Thea Stilton
“The Phoenix Of Destiny” by Geronimo Stilton
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).