Three ways to read The Path of Mysteries

The Path of Mysteries is Book Two of The Artifex and the Muse speculative fiction saga. Book Two is available for beta readers now, will be available summer 2023 for ARC readers, and will be available for any reader to purchase by October 2023. Scroll down for more about how to read Book Two and how to join my beta and ARC reader teams.

Read it here

1. Join my beta or ARC reader teams

I write my novels the same way my alter ego builds technology products: iteratively and with as much user feedback as possible.

You would be an excellent beta reader or ARC (advance review copy) reader if you:

  1. enjoy participating in the feedback cycle for an in-progress manuscript,

  2. are willing to read non-final drafts a manuscript, and

  3. can provide candid feedback to me about your reading experience.

Beta readers provide the earliest feedback on an in-progress manuscript and may read anything from early drafts of a few chapters to an early draft of a full manuscript. Beta reader feedback may cause me to make major changes to plot points, characters, and the overall story or help me improve the story in more subtle ways.

ARC readers provide feedback on a manuscript that’s very close to completion, though the manuscript may still need polishing at the line level or minor edits for clarity and consistency. Because ARC versions of the manuscript are very close to the final version of the book, I ask ARC readers to consider leaving early reader reviews of the book in exchange for their early access, since having public reader reviews available on the day a book launches are essential to my book marketing efforts.

If you are interested in being a beta or ARC reader, I would love to work with you! If you sign up for my author newsletter here, you can reply directly to your welcome email to get in touch with me. You can also DM me on social media (@audreyauden on Twitter and Instagram) to get in touch.

2. Read the interactive version of the book right here!

I love interactive media and AI art, so I create beautiful interactive versions of my stories that incorporate author-created illustrations and author-suggested music pairings for many scenes. If you enjoy reading online, you can read the book right here on my author website by signing up for any of my paid subscriptions.

Paid subscribers receive full access to the complete interactive version of The Voice in All, the in-progress author-narrated audiobook of The Voice in All, and the in-progress beta reader interactive version of The Path of Mysteries. All proceeds from your subscription directly support my work writing the series and producing related content, like audiobooks.

The Path of Mysteries (interactive)

I’ve included a few sample chapters of the interactive version of The Voice in All for free so you can try out this format. If you like what you see and would like to read the rest of my stories this way, simply hit the subscribe button anywhere on this website, and that will unlock all the paid content for you.

3. Pre-order from your local independent bookstore

If you love your independent bookstore, please tell your local store owner you’d like to pre-order the book. They can pre-order the paperback and hardcover versions of The Path of Mysteries on your behalf from my international wholesale distributor, IngramSpark. I’m currently expecting print copies to be available for bookstores to order in October 2023.

When you purchase from your independent bookstore, you support businesses and jobs in your community. Yay! (You help me with word-of-mouth marketing, for which you have my deep gratitude.)

4. Pre-order from your favorite online book retailer

If the first two options don’t work for you, you can pre-order the ebook version of The Path of Mysteries on Amazon. No judgment. They just make it too easy, don’t they?

Paperback and hardcover versions will also be available to pre-order on all the top book retailer websites by October 2023.

The Artifex and the Muse is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.