The Santara After Action Report: Book 1
My journey in writing and publishing my second Substack serial.
Last week, I have officially published the final chapter of Book 1 to my fantasy series: The Santara Commentaries. If you missed it, feel free to read it here:
Or if you have been behind in your reading, check out the Table of Contents here:
But anyways, I have a lot to say about this. Strap yourselves in. Don’t worry, this article will be spoilers free.
How it Began
When I first started the year 2024, The Santara Commentaries was not on my radar at all. Instead, I had other projects in mind. I listed them in an article published last year:
As it turned out, however, most of these projects were either delayed or never came to being. The Santara Commentaries was the reason for this. Clocking in at about 38k words, this is currently my second-longest work I have put on Substack, just behind Inquisitor’s Promise. But it was an impromptu thing. The serial only came to being because
launched his weekly Substack event called Warrior Wednesday. Of course, Santara as a concept had existed for years; I even posted a map of this fantasy archipelago last year. However, it was one of their Warrior Wednesday prompts that prompted me (hah!) to write the actual story.That said, I ended up diverting from the actual story prompt given that I wrote a whole novella out of it. In many ways, I felt like I had been taken somewhere I didn’t intend.
Yet Another Serial
I will be honest: I didn’t expect to write another novel-esque Substack serial after Inquisitor’s Promise. In fact, I said somewhere on Substack Notes that I wouldn’t do something like that again.
But I’m used to eating my own words by now.
My initial plan for 2024 was to write a novel that would be a sort of sequel to Inquisitor’s Promise. I laid out my plans in a post released in the beginning of the year:
I wanted to release the books, named Inquisitor’s Task Force, straight to Amazon but that project came to a halt after I finished the outline, and I don’t see myself coming back to that any time soon.
Despite that, I’m not complaining since I do like my foray into the fantasy genre after having been writing science fiction. Also, this story is an addition to the Holy League Universe. And strange as it may sound, I want my stories to be spread apart throughout the narrative instead of clustered around one or two time periods.
The real issue for me is whether or not I’m reaching anyone with this serial. I will be honest, sometimes it felt like I’m just yelling into the air with each post, wondering if people actually read what I wrote.
But I got a pleasant surprise two Sundays ago when I visited the church I attended as a kid. During a sermon, the pastor gave a shout-out to one of my articles during his sermon. It was a shock, and a great honor. While we had our theological differences (I’m a Catholic, he’s a protestant pastor), I’ve always held him in high regard; in a way, he made me who I am today.
That just shows that you never know who you reach. So don’t presume that no one is reading just because you’re not getting any visible engagement (likes, comments, and so on).
Anyways…
I’m glad that I’m able to get at least Book 1 finished. I’d like to think that I had wrapped up the conflict in the Santara archipelago nicely, despite the cliffhanger I put in the finale.
Getting to the Finish Line
I don’t feel much of anything after I published the final chapter. There’s a bit of relief, but it’s nothing visceral. Maybe it’s because I’ve done it before, and some more. But another thing is that I’ve been very busy with personal things. If you’ve been following me on Indonesian and American, then you might know I was in the process of moving to Indonesia. It was a long and complicated process, but I’ve finally made it to Jakarta:
Safe to say, I have been neglecting the Notes part of Substack. The only reason I was able to have a consistent posting schedule in Germanicus Publishing was because I already had a backlog of the chapters for The Santara Commentaries. And while fantasy Indonesia had been an afterthought in my mind, real life Indonesia took center stage, as one can tell from my Substack Notes feed and the articles I’ve posted on Indonesian and American.
I hope people are not sick of me talking about Indonesia, but it’s kind of my niche at the moment.
Moving Forward
With Book 1 of The Santara Commentaries out of the way, at least as a Substack serial, I have many ideas moving forward. After what happened this year, I’m cautious about publicly laying down my plans. But I’m fairly confident I can get these ones done…
Next week, I’ll start with the release of a dystopian sci-fi serial: The Iniquity of the Federation. It will be three chapters long, so nothing big like Inquisitor’s Promise or The Santara Commentaries. At some point, I will also work on Book 2 of Santara.
There’s also Bima Sakti, my joint project with
. It’s been at the back burner, but I hope we can put more stuff there for fans of that Substack.As for the non-fiction side of things, I still have some things to say in Indonesian and American. So if you’ve been loving my takes about Indonesia (and how the country relates to the US), keep an eye out on my secondary ‘Stack.
But also, I ask readers to leave a review or comment for The Santara Commentaries, whether here in Substack or at Royal Road. I have some big plans for Germanicus Publishing, and that includes turning the serial into a proper book like with Inqusitor’s Promise.
So I want to know what works and what doesn’t. Positive or negative, I would greatly appreciate any feedback, as long as it’s honest. I want to continue to improve my craft.
Do it for this stray cat:
I hope you have enjoyed Book 1 of The Santara Commentaries. I am so honored that I have an audience of people who read my stuff, even if it’s not even close to being mainstream.
Until next time, Michael P. Marpaung
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