Looking Back, Looking Forward: Reflecting on Substack

Working Title: What I've accomplished, where I fell short, and my goals for 2026

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Hello dearest readers, and welcome to my last post of 2025. I hope you will indulge me as I pull the curtain back a bit on what I’ve loved about writing this Substack, where I’ve struggled, and my dreams for the future of Romantasy Realms.

Looking Back:

This platform started in October 2023 as an extension of my coaching business. When I began working with clients, I was open to a wide variety of genres, including romance, fantasy, historical fiction, erotica, and YA. However, my heart already belonged to romantasy. This is the genre I write my fiction in. It was quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon, and my business coach was encouraging folks to dive deep into a particular niche rather being known as a jack of all trades.

As the new kid on the block, romantasy also had a lot of haters (and still does). My inner momma bear was ready to defend the authors I admire. Trolls on every platform insulted my favorite books, attacking them for being poorly written or for lacking a plot.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to say something is garbage, and on a quick video, no one expects those opinions to be backed up by evidence. By looking at an overview of those who complain about romantasy, it is clear they are simply regurgitating stale themes at the heart of the patriarchy. Stories that feature strong female characters, the different facets of feminine desire, found families that help each other heal, incredible stakes, wonder, emotional literacy, and themes that speak to the dangers of life in the 21st century challenge their worldview and source of dominance.

It’s easier to hate something than to think deeply about ideas that run counter to your programming.

Part of the reason I’m here on Substack is because I’m ready to live in a world that shares my values. Those values—my truths—are often at the heart of the romantasy books that have appealed to millions of readers. And if I can help other writers get their stories out into the world just like my mentors have helped me, all the better!

My Successes:

I am really proud of what I have accomplished in 2025. As of today, I have over 400 subscribers sharing this journey with me, and I am grateful for each and every one of you beautiful readers! I suffer from quite a bit of anxiety, and showing up on any platform is really hard for me. Being an eldest daughter who was raised to keep herself small and take care of everyone except myself, I excelled at keeping my mouth shut for decades. One reason I am no longer as silent is because of romantasy. Not only did I have to find my voice to write Rowena’s Song and Romantasy Realms, but I had to find the courage to attach my actual name to everything I do AND stand behind it.

The girl I was is incredibly proud of the woman I’ve become. In 2025 I’ve:

• Revised Rowena’s Song and republished it with the open door scene I was too afraid to put out in the world in 2023

• DOUBLED the number of subscribers on this platform

• Attended my first in-person book fair as an author

• Got my novel into an independent bookshop

• Published 33 Substack articles at Romantasy Realms

I did all of this while working 30 hours a week as a perimenopausal assistant librarian with fibromyalgia, celiac, and Hashimoto’s disease!!! There are days my body is like, oh hell no. That’s why there are 33 articles instead of 52. That’s why I SUCKED at staying on top of my DMs. But friends, when I tell you I am putting my all into this, I mean it.

Looking Forward:

As happy as I’ve been with my progress so far, I’m ready to take this community to the next level. My plan is to plant those seeds in 2026. I see the successes of other writers on Substack as they create spaces for their audience to connect. Tara Green of The Romantasy, Lori Lothian of The Pluto Chronicles, and Cae Hawksmoor of Pagewake have inspired me to transform Romantasy Realms into a place where writers support each other as we craft our very own romantasy stories to share with the world.

And it’s oh so handy that I’ve already established Romantasy Realms Publishing. My publishing house will be putting out Rowena 2 in 2026 and Rowena 3 in 2027. Starting in 2028, I am looking forward to adding up-and-coming novelists from our community to my list.

EEEKK!!!

Since I am a Scorpio rising with Mars on my ASC, I wanted to start this project yesterday. But I’ve reached the age where I’ve learned it’s better to listen to muse Athena instead of muse Ares. I have a second novel that needs to be written, a client that is still in the middle of a major revision/rewrite project, and I haven’t done any research on yet on the best platform for hosting a virtual writing group.

In the meantime, I will continue to keep Romantasy Realms a free publication. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback that my articles have been helpful to writers in the indie publishing space, and I want to continue to assist my peers (and stay on top of my teaching craft—a win-win.)

If you are a romantasy writer, please make sure you are subscribed so you can be with us from the very beginning when this transitions into a writing group. I will keep you all posted on my progress with both the writing group and Rowena 2. I’m also overhauling all of my social media to have a bigger presence in the online world. Look for links to those sites in the coming weeks as well.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best in 2026. May your TBR pile have as-of-yet-undiscovered favorites, may you find the time to work on your manuscripts, may your muses show up when needed, and may your book boyfriends help you on the days when reality is a dumpster fire.

See you on the other side, dear ones!

xoxoxo,

Ivy

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Rowena’s Song is available to read on Kindle and KU!!! Help support an indie author AND get swept away in a lush, Anglo-Saxon romantasy legend retelling.

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