Me, reading editorial notes out loud: … doesn’t currently feel like a strong enough reason for Maggie to go through this whole ordeal. Could we get a more emotional moment…
Gordon: Really? I thought it was strong enough.
Me: It’s not.
Gordon: Why?
Me, trying to rub away fatigue with my hand and failing: Because the X subplot is not in the draft.
Gordon: What do you mean?
Me: The challenge is in there, the resolution is in there, but the emotional set up isn’t.
Gordon: How? We talked about this. I remember writing this.
Me: Same. But it’s not in there.
Gordon: …
Me, listing scenes: We reference it here, in this paragraph, but it’s not on the page. As of now, there are zero reasons for her to do this.
Gordon: You’re serious? Is it in the first book?
Me, searching This Kingdom for the keyword: Nope.
Gordon: What if we do this then?
Me: Won’t work. He doesn’t know why she is there.
Gordon: And if we do this?
Me: Screws up the timeline.
Gordon: What the actual f**k…
Me: We have to insert it prior somewhere.
Gordon: It has to be X scene. There is no other place.
Me, pulling up the X scene: There is so much in there already. We’d need something really strong because otherwise it won’t stand out.
Silence.
Me: Guilt?
Gordon: Guilt.
Me: I need another cup of tea.
PS: Also, since the price dropped to $6.99, This Kingdom is back in top 50 on Amazon. Look.
This never happened before. Usually our books peak and fall off. Not sure why this good fortune came our way, but thank you! We will take it!
((Hugs)) You got this! 🤗
Support First! 🤗
Thanks, Mod R! I haven’t been first in a long time. Maybe today will be a good day! 🤞🏻
TKWNKM is also listed in Amazon’s Best Books of 2026 So Far list. Specifically listed as #4 of the Best Romantasies of 2026 So Far.
Yay for all the well deserved accolades! 🥳
We believe in you.
intense….. and using guilt, more intense
have fun… can’t wait to read the book and looking for this scene 😉
*HUGS*
Wait how am I early! 3rd?
Thank you for your mental exertions, authorlords! We REALLY appreciate them. 🙂
+1!!
+1
Hang in there! Big hugs!
I’m sorry this is so knackering for you both.
On a positive side as a BDH-er I’m just excited with either get a new scene or an extension of one. More words! Yay!
^^ Sorry you have to go through this, glad we get more words. I appreciate it especially because with you all, I never have to go back looking in vain for the motive I missed.
Or for anything else I missed, really, although on rereads it always turns out that I did miss things. But the things I miss the first time around are never critical to the plot; just Easter eggs and icing on the cake.
Thanks for the rock-solid craftsmanship you bring to your art.
This gave me a headache and stress…all the stress! 😆
::hugs:: I’m sorry you’re having to go through this and I’m happy we get more words! Emotional teeter totter 🤷♀️
The summer, my mom read Innkeeper one week and The Edge series the following week. New Horde member!
One of us! One of us!
Innkeeper was my first foray, too. Tell your mom it just keeps getting better! Hope she’s joined the BDH and haunts the blog with us 🤣
Give your mom tea and cookies!
And donuts. All the donuts!
Rejoice! The Horde increases!
I’ve never been able to comment this early! I am amazed at the wizardry that is your writing! Thank you for the glimpse behind the scenes. Thank you for the stories. Thank you, thank you! Survive, get paid!
My husband is not only a beta reader, he’s also my editor. He is not/was not a fantasy or sci-fi reader until my books and Murderbot (by Martha Wells). Our dinner conversations for a long while: Him: What is a grimoire again? Me: Book of magic. Like a cookbook only it details magic, how it works, how to do a spell. Him: Well, who writes those? Me: ??? Usually a compilation of older relatives through the years–grandmothers, greats and the like. Sometimes dragons.
Him: Oh. And these shape shifters. How does that work?
Me: This is going to take some time…
You guys are so good at details and character development and plot. I know how hard your work at it. Thank you for the great stories. We love them!
Interesting insight to the Author Lords writing process. Can’t wait to read the book and figure out which passage it is!
On the book bouncing back up into the top 50, perhaps it’s because many of us seized the opportunity to give it to our family and friends.
Fascinating look behind the scenes. If you ever get to see down time again, I am now envisioning you two having tea with Deena and talking about what you, as authors go thru.
Drat the next thought that just came into my head was the Innkeeper series in an animated version, like what they will be doing with FireFly.
Did these thoughts come because you have already done the interview or a graphic book in the past?
Wait wait there’s going to be a Firefly animation? As in the syfy/cowboys/weird guys with gloves who are after river?Ahhhh. I love firefly tv series, the film serenity. I read some of the graphic novels but it wasn’t the same.
Also thank you Ilona and Gordon, I’m sure whatever you come up with will be brilliant and we will gobble it up.
Iirc most things are in place for it. The surviving cast members are involved and want to voice their characters, they have showrunners permission from the copyright holder and stuff but i think they are still looking for a streaming platform/network. So not 100% certain but a good chance.
This is my reaction, including the unstarred swear words! OK, possibly slightly more coherent than my initial reaction. If anyone knows where to find it, pls post.
We love the behind the scenes look at how y’all assemble your books! (Is anyone else picturing HA doing ‘Maggie2 assemble’ with arms raised and the pages and chapters flying together into book form? With a circling viewpoint, ofc.)
My mum has just started watching Castle and every time I happen to see Nathan Fillion on screen I’m like, it’s Mal! 🤣
Sadly not on Amazon UK where it’s still full price. I can live in hope though(Ok I want the ebook so my pretty hardback doesn’t get damaged, I read it by getting my local libraries copy so mine can stay pristine)😊😊😊😋
Same! Book trophies!
Love Gordon’s “what the actual fck” comment. So Maggie of him.
Oh lord, rewrites sound sucky. And sounds like you’ve got a great editor team too. Hang in there!
I think quite a few folks found the original price a tad high by the sounds of it. Congrats on the nice rebound!
You have this, but if need be go play a game first
Guilt would work for me. Catholic convent school education!
It’s also why I love the way you have created the different military factions in Kair Toren.❤️⚔️
you two outdid yourselves ❤️
It came your way because of your hard work! Y’all are amazing!
Hang in there. Let Mod R wrangle the Horde if the edits are getting crazy.
Yay to the book rebound! May it continue until the next Maggie book comes out.
Ohhhh. I feel the “I remember writing this.” Where are the words I distinctly remember writing??
May the word-wrangling continue smoothly.
And yay! The Horde is mighty! The Horde prevails in the lists!
You’ve got this!
And this is why your books are so good. You CARE about EVERYTHING. This is also why I fan girl so hard and whenever I hear a book is coming out I feel like I start waving my bank card in the air yelling “Please take my 💰” I am extremely chalant lololol
The demand is still strong (as it should be lol). One of the libraries I use still has 218 people waiting on 32 copies of the ebook. The other has a 22 week wait on their electronic copies of TKWNKM.
I had to wait 2 months to borrow a physical copy from my local library. The queue is still a similar size even though they went from 1 to 3 copies. The queues for ebook and audiobook versions are huge, though I don’t know how quickly they are moving.
Sorry the book is not in the top 50. Yesterday on Canada’s Kindle bestsellers Maggie was Number 8! That makes it a top ten ❤️
I have a theory about the anomalous jump in sales. (Probably a weird one, but it could have bit of truth to it.)
I always buy your books in hardcopy when it’s available. I also want the ebook for ease of transport.
There is still a little bit of sticker shock for me when the ebook is $14 or $15 (trade paperback price). Don’t get me wrong, Maggie is worth that price, and that’s what I paid for my ebook. There’s a psychological line when the book is $7 or $8 (mass-market price). I don’t even think twice about paying that price for an ebook.
Maybe, I am not the only one…
I don’t mind paying a higher price if it’s an author I read, read, and re-read. However, I balk at paying those high prices if it’s an author I don’t read and am just introduced to try out the book(s).
Prices are nuts. I realize that’s beyond the author’s control.
You’re not alone… Physical book prices going up because of printing costs, paper costs etc. makes sense, but eBooks are just digital files and it costs the same to sell 10 copies or 100,000. Retailers like Amazon take a cut but eBooks could absolutely sell for cheaper and still be profitable. Also, I swear ebooks were way cheaper a few years ago
I absolutely want to support IA’s work and buy different formats (and have), but where I live the cost of the ebook is only around 7 dollars cheaper than the physical hardcover which just feels wrong since it’s not as permanent and this sale reduced the price by like 2/3rds (which is crazy). It also means I can’t buy nearly as many books as I used to because all the formats are so expensive 🫠
tl;dr – I get it, and I feel the sticker shock with ebook prices. (And I know since this is traditionally published IA has no say in the matter)
love learning about the writing process! you two are amazing! looks like influencer reviews are probably driving up sales again. congratulations!
Thank you for all of your hard work!
I saw the sale and promptly went to Amazon to buy and send to friends. They loved the gift and will let me know what they think. 😁
Okay, maybe I am missing something here. How exactly does one buy an ebook on Amazon (a Kindle version because that’s all Amazon sells(?)) and send it to someone else rather than having it end up in your own Kindle library?
Here you go 🙂 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GVWGP284MQ6ZRM59
How to Gift Kindle Books to Others
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GVWGP284MQ6ZRM59
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GSNK9JBA8BAUD5UK
you will need your friend’s email address, and they need to be in the same country as you.
Ah! Now I see the problem! Unlike Amazon US and Amazon UK, Amazon Canada does not HAVE a “Buy For Others” option on its Kindle ebook purchase pages…
Apparently, while Canadians can buy and send copies of physical books or other items to other people’s physical addresses, Amazon simply does not expect us to want to buy and distribute ebooks to friends and family…
Weird. Also annoying…
So I phoned Amazon Ca and asked — and they confirmed that that option is available in the UK and US (and maybe elsewhere) but simply is not allowed in Canada…
The jump is probably because many of us have it in Hardback and/or Audible (I had both) but was waiting for the drop in price for the ebook because we had it already and couldn’t justify the extra money out. And the lovely part is by having Audible with the ebook is listening to some of the passages to punch up the impact.
Just cannot express the admiration I have for you two. What you do it amazing. Period.
Sounds like you have a great editor! Making your story even better!
I cannot waiiiiiitttttt hehehe, I’m re-listening to the innkeeper series, and I love it so much. thank you for all the wonderful books!
You’ve got this! The words will be appreciated regardless and the Horde will wait for them to arrive.
I’m currently trying to indoctrinate my cousin into the Horde with Innkeeper, but she’s distracted with fighting a realtor so I’m wondering if she’d appreciate Kate Daniels instead. Specifically the scene with the real-estate office that keeps spam calling them.
YAYYYY for the jump up in ratings!
More Sales!
More Fans!
More BOOKS!!! ALL THE BOOKS!
ALL THE WORDS!
Oh my goodness, pardon me, my chalant is showing! I will endeavor to be nonchalant. Really. I mean it.
(I don’t, I can’t, I won’t)
Sigh…. I’ll go sit in the corner with Steve.
Steve’s corner is where the most fun is at 😂
I’m right in the corner with you and Steve. 😁😂
Steve’s corner is best corner 😂😂
It’s a well-populated corner…section. Bring snacks…
Hopefully, a remedy will be found, you got this!
I literally can’t wait for the next book in this series. I love your writing style and that you write as a team. Thank you for all the editing nonsense that comes up. Have all the tea and know the Horde will continue to cheer you on.
“what the actual ****” is a quote beloved by everyone I know who has written masters and doctoral level theses, and had just gotten back the first editorial/critique of the first draft. My job was to provide reassurance and an offer of either tea or alcohol, depending on the writer’s beverage preference.
BDH people have been talking up The Book and after some are retrieving their D*maged copies, are refusing to Lend them, with the reduced price, others Not Yet OF The BDH membership are just now getting the electronic version. I wouldn’t be surprised if physical copies then increase the sales numbers Again.
Not everyone is good with handling Other People’s things or even their own; my own spouse bends books, a thing I stopped doing by age 14, which was horrific once it lodged in my mind, and is most disturbing when witnessing to this day.
It is why in this household there are multiple duplicates of books: my copies, which if you ignore age related discolouration of the paper look pristine enough to go back on a bookseller’s shelf, and my partner’s and/or child’s copies, because no, I do not and will not lend out my copies, not even in the same household 🙈
I’m disturbed just reading about this book abuse. My spouse handles books well, except it is very bad if we r both reading the same physical book, beyond just the obv physical limitations. As he reads he will play with and eventually pull out any bookmarks in the book. I’ve watched him. He just gets lost in the book and absently plays with/pulls out the bookmark. Then eventually looks and realizes he has my bookmark in his hand, resulting in a look of horror/guilt. Sometimes if the bookmark is a tiny scrap of paper and he is ahead(so he doesn’t pass me), and the scrap is pushed in nearly even with the pages, he can successfully read without messing with it, maybe. We shared some of the Harry Potter books, with obv difficulties. I was home with the new baby and could read at naptime. He would read an hour or two in the evenings. He had gone to a professional conference a couple weeks before the book came out and won an early copy in a raffle. We ended up with an unexpected houseguest for a week, who happened to b British, so I’d ask him questions in the evening like ‘what snogging mean?’ He read it as soon as we finished. It was fun, especially once I started writing down what page I was on.
haha, I bet it would be quite the experience watching you two write!!
congratulations on being back in the top 50, I’m not surprised because I’ve seen so many people talking about it!!
Because people are realizing they want ALL the formats… it’s just that good.
True dat!!! I’ll probably end up with at least 4 once the trade paperback is out.
One of my friends just finished TKWNKM & asked which HA series she should read next. We decided she should try Innkeeper. Another BDHer in the making!
Passing along the price drop to others. 😃
You need a cup of tea, maybe even a biccie, just take a little breather and you’ve definitely got this. 🫖☕
I will buy it again to drive up numbers if it helps you focus.
Hey, I jumped right on it because I can highlight and make notes in my kindle, and I don’t want to do that with the precious hardcover you both signed in Lexington! ❤
I have 4 copies of the hardcover, with the non-Tor books with the pretty edge copies shelved spines in so I can admire the pretty pages. I also have a Kindle copy. I’m waiting on Graphic Audio for the audio version.
I figure while I will never see 25-35-45… again, I have enough time for it to come out. I just listened to Magic Strikes, and Curran’s voice is the best! I also like Kate shrieking in that book. I’m very excited to see what other series get continued before Maggie 3 sucks up all the time in the world. Maybe it will go faster, but Maggie 1 is a HUGE TRIUMPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs and sympathy for the missing X. I envision a mischievous young lees giggling at the missing words, unaware that a reckoning is coming…
I have twice in two days seen two other authors touting Maggie on their feeds, as must-reads, so may be part of the boost and not just the sale price.
Jip guilt is a good motivator 🙂 Happy writing!
I’ve just finished TKWNK, makes me so happy to hear it’s back in top 50 and getting the attention it deserves.
Now off to start a Kate Daniels re-read. Thank you for the beautiful worlds you create!
If it makes HA feel any better, this sounds a lot like the kinds of comments that I get from my reviewers as a design engineer. I’ll stare at it and go, I could swear that I did that/thought about it/talked about it – and maybe I did! But it’s not in the version I sent to the reviewer.
It’s good to know that even experienced, competent people in other fields catch head-slapping mistakes. It definitely helps my imposter syndrome to know that HA has similar experiences.
My library, Cobb County Public Library, initially only bought 5 copies. But the waitlist was so long, they bought another 6 copies – it is uncommon to get over 5 copies of a book in the system; now we have 11. All of them checked out. The waitlist as of today is 24 people.
It is a really, really good book.
I’m currently reading TKWNKM with my nieces, expanding the horde 😀 Their English isn’t great yet so by my rough estimate our reading speed of circa 2 pages a day will keep me nicely busy until the next book comes out. A nice bonus!
It has happened because this book is incredible! I’ve read it twice back to back and I’m itching to go back to Rellas already…. Such wonderful characters and I just love the plot it is so good!!! Thank you for writing Maggie into existence!
As a general sentiment, not a criticism of you or of Maggie: guilt is way overrated 🙂
Not sure why this good fortune came? Well we sure as heck know! You wrote a fantastic book!
As for the missing reason, that’s unfortunate but I’m sure you’ll tease that back in there in just the right spot!
We, the hoard, have faith in you!
You always figure out the best way to tell the story … just like life, it may be a winding road to get there, but that’s why …
…when I went to make sure I had TKWNKM in Kindle (of course I have a couple hardback copies so I can share) … all Ilona Andrews books came up as ‘in your library’!
Hope you get to enjoy the weekend, too!
First, so sorry about the missing text and the work that must be re-done(?) because of it.
Second, I want GraphicAudio on board here immediately. I have print, ebook, audio versions. It is time for GA to get involved, too. I will now go to GA and request with politely strong language for them to get moving on TKWNKM.
I’ve never written professionally, but I can imagine myself in a similar situation, and I would probably be freaking out. Luckily, you are both very talented and committed, so I’m sure things will work out. Crossing my fingers here… Not so much for you to figure this out (’cause I know you will!), but for the satisfaction of finding a solution to be at least twice as strong as the anxiety this caused.
Edits, edits, ugh! But good editors find those glitches. Can’t wait to read the finished book. Thanks to HA a glimpse into the world of writing.
Oh and Maggie deserves more time at the top!
it’s a great book and guessing that those who are not yet addicted or short of funds were waiting for the paperback pricing. congratulations and in solution to your dilemma… would the publishers accept a longer chapter where it needs to go because the Horde will devour it and not care if the technically to long, we just want all the wordage!!!
+1
The way that thousands of people would stop what they were doing to make you that cup of tea for your beautiful brains
Damn these missing and removed scenes doing what they want.
Maybe check the drawer that was used by the first Kate Daniels book so successfully? O:-)
And thanks for the look behind the curtain. Best of luck.
Boy, I hate it when you cut something you need. I know you can resolve it — you always do.
I love this behind the scenes work on Maggie! Thank you!!!
This good fortune came your way because your amazing and deserve good things
Joining the others in the BDH sending hugs your way.
I know you’ll figure this out but maybe taking a few minutes off for that cup of tea will help.
This will all be worth it in the end! You got this 👍
If I remember correctly, I received a notification on my Kindle app about deals on previous Editor’s Picks and it was like the third or fourth book in the list, but I don’t know how long those last.
Feel the pain, glad you are back in the top range , I’m too impatient to wait for price drops , have to have the books immediately .
Wow. This is really challenging. I don’t know if I could cope with that bell curve, lol. Glad it is going back up. Prices on everything are so increased that it is appreciated when they go down for something we love. And we love reading you both. Keep the faith.
I gifted one copy and talked someone else into buying one just so I could have somebody to talk to about it!
I gave it to my niece, I’ve not heard back… I’ve NO ONE to talk to about it… no one. I’m not on social media… so its me screaming and talking at myself ….
I have somewhat recently fallen down the vast and endless hole of social media book reviewers, influencers, etc. I think it’s not an understatement to say that this book has been brought up in increasingly more posts. All their reviews have been glowing. Which I agreed with, because I read your gorgeous book right after it was available! Anyways, this might be part of the movement you are experiencing. Just a thought.
You all have taught me that so much of good writing is in the editing! Wishing you strong tea, inspired insights, and excellent sleep!
HELP!!! I’m running out of Innkeeper books.. what next???? I’ve re-read Legacy, Edge, Innkeeper, Kate is always on the go… what what what? I’ve read TKWNKM THRICE!!!!… what can I read to keep the momentum going…. okay Fourth re-read it will be…. rthis hangover from Maggie, will not allow me ANY other authors…
Sounds like you haven’t given the Kinsmen series or The Inheritance a go yet 🙂
Here is a full list of House Andrews books so you can see any other titles you may have missed https://ilona-andrews.com/release-schedule/#booklist
And a link to the Free Fiction page on the website for all the extras: https://ilona-andrews.com/free-fiction/
Fantastic and congrats!!
Werewolfs please. The story of the Poets of Auul is a lovely backstory and imagine the size quests with mixed martial arts, half forms and galactic gizmos.
I listened to it when it first came out! Then I was searching for something else to read at the end of summer and found several blogs/recommendation sites that listed it as one of the best reads of 2026. So you’re getting lots of of traction elsewhere. I’ve relistened a couple of times this summer alone.
Guilt is a great tool.
Just ask most of the major religions. Or my Mom.