The idea for Puzzling Escapes struck me while I was busy selling novels at a comic con. I desperately wanted to sneak away from my table to check out one of the event’s unique attractions: an escape room. My desire to play an escape room quickly led to an urge to make my own. However, my talents lie in making books, not themed adventure rooms. That’s when it hit me: I could make an escape room book!
Print-on-demand was the most accessible and affordable means of publishing a print book, but it also introduced quite a few limitations. I had to be creative to overcome the constraints, and I wasn’t totally happy with some of the concessions I had to make. Color printing was too expensive, so I stuck with black and white. I wanted several sections for the different “rooms” of the adventure, hints, story elements, and more, and I hoped black lines printed on the edges of the pages would help readers navigate the books.
Since I didn’t have a lot of money to invest in artwork, I used free illustrations and only a few licensed stock photos. I did my best to draw the puzzles on my laptop, and for the most part, they turned out pretty nice. I am really proud of the product I was able to make. But putting out the best puzzle book I could on my own is only the beginning of the adventure.
A Brief History of My Publishing Journey
When I was a baby writer looking to publish my first book, I did a lot of research on publishing, both traditional and self. Although writing a book is freaking hard, getting a traditional publishing deal is a hundred times harder. But I knew my writing was good, so I decided to give it a go. I entered the grueling process of querying—sending carefully crafted pitches to literary agents and publishers, hoping someone would be excited about my story.
It turns out that querying requires insane patience and an unimaginably thick skin. Writers typically send out hundreds of emails, wait weeks upon months for responses, and then deal with rejection after rejection after rejection before getting a book deal. While I did receive encouraging feedback and a few full requests for my manuscript, the process ultimately took a toll on my mental health.
Totally bummed out and disheartened, I decided to take a different approach and pivoted to self-publishing. I didn’t completely write off traditional publishing but decided that instead of chasing established publishers, I’d wait until one approached me.
Opportunity Comes Knocking
As an indie author, I sift through more than my fair share of scammy emails—offers for fake promotions, sketchy partnerships, and expensive book reviews. I still read through all of them, always hoping maybe this next offer will be something real.
I was cautiously optimistic when I got an email from Melissa at Cottage Door Press. Instead of making a too-good-to-be-true offer or attempting to sell me on an expensive service, her message was short and sweet—only asking to set up a meeting to talk about my puzzle books. When I looked up the publisher’s catalog, it was full of books I had seen at my local bookstore.
In the meeting, I met Ellen, a creative director whose excitement for Puzzling Escapes mirrored my own. The publisher produced all sorts of specialty books and had the means and know-how to elevate the Puzzling Escapes adventures from simple bound paperbacks to interactive activity books. After the meeting, I was ecstatic, literally jumping for joy with my husband and kids. My puzzle books had caught the attention of a publisher, and they wanted me!
At the time, I was finishing up another Puzzling Escapes adventure, which I had already teased on social media. Instead of releasing it, I decided to hold off and see how negotiations would go. I was definitely interested in a partnership, and it made the most sense to keep the whole series together under one publisher. Ultimately, I made an agreement with Cottage Door Press to publish the four existing Puzzling Escapes titles along with the new one.
Reimagining the Series
Working with Ellen and her team has been an absolute dream. I’ve heard that some publishers take creative control away from the author, but they’ve kept me involved in the whole process. They clearly want me to be proud of the books, too. We brainstormed all the different things we could do to elevate the series and make the books more interactive. There are quite a few new features that I’m really excited about, including:
- Tabbed Dividers make it quick and easy to flip to the section you need.
- Concealed spiral binding, a common feature for activity books, ensures durability and allows the books to lie flat.
- Custom illustrations and full-color printing bring every scene and puzzle to life with vibrant, colorful artwork designed to immerse you in the story.
- Die-cut objects allow you to pop clues out of the pages, making it easier to collect them.
- The front storage pocket keeps all your clues organized so nothing gets lost.
All these changes will help make the books more immersive and easier to use, bringing the stories I wrote to life.
Since we were updating the books, I wanted to make some additional changes to refine the experience. We chose new, more thematic keywords and simplified the answer-checking process a bit to make that step more intuitive.
Release schedule
Fans particularly enjoyed the bookstore-themed and haunted house-themed books, so they are the first to receive new editions.
- The Haunted House Mystery will be published on July 1st (in time for Halloween)
- Trapped in the Bookstore will be released in mid-October.
Although Trapped in the Bookstore is my favorite Puzzling Escapes title, I’m also really excited for the cruise ship-themed adventure to get re-imagined. I couldn’t find or make good shipwreck images for the book, and I’d love to see what the illustrator imagines Pirates Cove might look like.
And, of course, I can’t wait to share the newest adventure! In Quest for the Lost Diamond, the puzzles unfold in a natural history museum and a bank, leading to some really fun new conundrums for readers to solve.
Get Ready to Escape
I know I’ve kept quiet for a long time about everything going on with the Puzzling Escapes series, so I’m thrilled to finally share these exciting updates! While the puzzles and stories remain the same, the new format and artwork make the new editions absolutely stunning. Even if you’ve already played through the adventures, I think you’ll love the upgrades.
These books are a dream come true for me, and I hope they bring you as much joy as they’ve brought me. Whether you’re solving them for the first time or rediscovering an old favorite, I can’t wait to hear what you think!
My newsletter subscribers learned about this exciting news first. Make sure to sign up for exclusive updates and sneak peeks!
Also, I recently revamped the Puzzling Escapes website. Go check it out! There’s also a tool on the site to check your answers while you play through the books.
I sold the last of my personal stock of first-edition Puzzling Escapes books at a craft fair in November, so I won’t have any at my spring events. However, I’ll have plenty of copies of the new editions in time for my fall shows—so stay tuned!
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