I’ve heard of this site before but I assumed it was something like Nielsen book scan and' didn’t pay it much attention. But an online discussion about marketing and publicity for trad pubbed authors led to THE Andrea Stewart tweeting me to recommend Edelweiss as a good source of industry info for such matters.

I was curious so I visited the site for the first time and made a free account. It’s not very user friendly and I’m still working out what things mean, but I started searching for books that I knew had major marketing campaigns because they were everywhere, mainly The List of Suspicious Things and The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. Both debuts popped up on my timelines often even before I followed either of the authors, and I got to see the numerous window displays, book tours, massive central London launch parties, Waterstones Q&A’s and whatnot. They both hit the bestseller lists. I didn’t get to find the information I was looking for, so as a laugh I searched THE REAPER and…

But it’s the description beneath the listing that made me burn hot and cold, because…

Del Rey's big debut of 2025, THE REAPER is a pacey, sexy ride through the underground fantasy world of London

Amy is an empath, able to sense the auras of the supernatural creatures that stalk London at night. But sorely lacking in knowledge, she spends night after night searching for answers.

Gerald is a Reaper - a weapon for hire - on the verge of his Awakening. Of coming into his power and becoming the man his family need him to be. The man they demand he be.

When Amy stumbles onto Gerald one night, she notices his strange aura, unlike anything she has seen before. And so, against her better judgement she helps him. In thanks he makes her an offer she can't refuse: become his partner and he will introduce her to a world she has only ever felt the shallow surface of: the underworld.

And their first mission together: find a girl who vanished into thin air.

Key Selling Points

DEL REY'S BIG DEBUT OF 2025: REAPER will be Del Rey's big debut of the year, with a marketing and publicity focus to make Abi Jackson the next big name in British fantasy

BLACK BRITISH AUTHOR: Fantasy is sorely missing Black British writers, and Abi fills that space wonderfully.

FEMALE-LED URBAN FANTASY: Urban fantasy is a beloved genre, but fans are looking for the next generation of writers, and the future is female.

PERFECT FOR FANS OF: Ben Aaronovitch, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher and Benedict Jacka

I was mortified reading this! I couldn’t believe it — they even wrote me a blurb! Comped me with Ben Aaronovitch! Charlaine Harris!!! This was supposed to be a joke, I didn’t know I would be THERE YET.

I’ve been slowly planning my peaceful exit from social media. I’m sensitive and I don’t take criticism well if it’s not constructive. As a reader, I can impose my own wants and desires onto a text and dislike the whole thing because the author didn’t do what I liked. I know I will struggle if I stumble upon such harshly worded reviews for THE REAPER, so I have no intention to stick around too long on twitter and Goodreads where I’m likely to encounter people trashing me and my work.

Recently, someone in my 2025 group shared this article about Colleen Hoover, where she candidly (and bravely) admits to her anxiety when writing a new book because she knows there’s a whole online subculture dedicated to making content about their hatred of her books, that there are people who actively follow her career in order to highlight her failures and the “problematic” nature of her romances. There’s a weird expectation for authors to be cold and unfeeling, to just accept abuse and slander as part of the territory, to have skin as thick as iron, and admitting to being impacted by negative feedback is a major faux pas, showing a vulnerability and a weakness that goes against the unwritten author code. I deeply respect Colleen Hoover’s honesty in this interview and I hope it opens the way for more authors to prioritise their mental health.

That being said, the listing above filled me with all sorts of anxiety because it’s just so positive, and now I’m worried about failing and not meeting Del Rey’s expectations. I have nursed a healthy scepticism about THE REAPER being a lead debut because all of the recent articles and discussions about the debut experience, especially for Black writers, has been so unbelievably dire that I didn’t want to take my publisher at their word. It just seemed better for my mental health to shut away any talks of lead debut unless I saw tangible evidence that this truly was their intention — but here it is in black and white, and I’m a nervous wreck!

What do I do? I’m trying to stay positive and look forward to the fun side of the publicity. We’ve already spoken about podcasts and my editor did mention using my being a Londoner and the books being set in London as foundation for some cool events to do, and she invited me to Del Rey’s summer party. It all sounds like a lot of fun! Very authory, very professional. But I’m the most unserious person I know. Head’s always on cloud cuckoo land. I need to sort myself out, immediately!!

FYI the Edelweiss listing prompted me to change the website for a more professional feel. The animanga section is a review archive now and can be accessed via the top navigation bar. I won’t have time to update it monthly as I used to, but I would still like to write reviews as much as I can. I even added a newsletter signup form, as I heard authors are supposed to have those. This is so crazy. I’m a mess.