Blog
Behind the scenes of Eden's Rise: worldbuilding, craft, and updates from O.E. Bruening.
Illustrator Spotlight: Roberto F. Castro
I spent countless hours scrolling through ArtStation looking for the right illustrators for Eden's Rise. Hundreds of portfolios...
Illustrator Spotlight: Greg Rutkowski
Greg Rutkowski is one of the most recognized fantasy artists working today. His paintings have graced book covers, game cinematics, and gallery walls...
Illustrator Spotlight: Pascal Wijnberg
Eden's Rise introduces creatures that have never existed before: animals that evolved entirely underground, shaped by darkness and stone...
Illustrator Spotlight: Audrey Rouvin
One of the quiet challenges of self-publishing is getting readers from the physical book back online: to leave a review, explore bonus content, sign up for updates...
Narrator Spotlight: Michael Kramer & Kate Reading
When I started thinking about the audiobook for Eden's Rise, I had what seemed like a crazy idea: could I hire not one, but two narrators?...
Cover Designer Spotlight: Spiridon Giannakis
A good cover changes everything. It is the first thing a reader sees, and for a debut author without the backing of a traditional publishing house, it creates a challenge...
$0.12 a Book: The Unit Economics of an Indie Author
Here is a number that'll likely surprise you: for a $17.99 paperback of Eden's Rise sold through a bookstore, I make $0.12. Not 12%. 12 cents!...
Going Indie: Why I Chose to Self-Publish
When people hear you've written a novel, the first question is almost always the same: "Are you going to get it published?" What they mean, of course, is traditionally published...
Certified Human
Today my work was certified as human-created. Not that there was ever any doubt about it. I finished my very first draft just around the time the first (terrible) version of ChatGPT became available...
800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 1
When I started writing Eden's Rise during NaNoWriMo in November 2022, I thought it would take six months. Maybe a year, if things got complicated...
800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 2
Throughout the writing process, I tried to keep a diary of the progress and what went through my mind. Here is a timeline from the early idea to the final version...