For viral indie author Kate Stewart, who has garnered over 375 million views on TikTok alone for her Ravenhood romance series, as well as hit the USA Today bestseller list, the indie author’s transition to traditional publishing might seem surprising. After all, Stewart will be celebrating the 11th anniversary of publishing her first story this month – on her birthday. And, over this time she has established herself as a master of heart-wrenching, dark, sexy romances. But it’s exactly that emotional, red-hot storytelling along with the obsessive fanbase that attracted Kensington.
While Stewart considers her time as an indie “a blessing,” she acknowledges she’s limited as to the audience she can develop solo. “I waited years for the right publishers to come along,” she says, “and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the partners I’ve found in Kensington. For me the upside of working with a publisher is all about reader reach and hoping we can collectively get my stories into the hands of a broader audience.”
Last year Kensington picked up all three books in Stewart’s Ravenhood series, Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line as well as the first book, One Last Rainy Day, in her Ravenhoood Legacy series. This June 24th, after a two-year wait—a lot to ask of a fanbase known to tattoo quotes from Stewart’s books on their bodies—Stewart is coming out with book two of the Ravenhood Legacy series. Severed Heart: The Birth of a Warrior is the brand new book in the series, and the pent-up demand for it is real. Since Kensington released Flock nine months ago, well over a quarter of a million copies have been sold. The Kensington editions of the four previously indie-published titles have sold more than 680k copies to date. Sales for Severed Heart are expected to far exceed each of the previous installments as it is the first brand new release.
The spin-off Ravenhood Legacy, like the original trilogy before it, puts a modern-day twist on the classic Robin Hood legend – although that wasn’t Stewart’s intention when she began writing. She set out to create a story of modern-day heroes, and says, “they just happened to be stealing from the rich and giving to the impoverished.”
A prequel to the Ravenhood trilogy, Severed Heart: The Birth of a Warrior explores Tyler’s backstory as a Marine and is a tribute to service members and veterans. “My rockstars, my personal heroes, are not other writers, nor celebrities, but soldiers,” Stewart says. “I see those who sign up now as committing the bravest of acts. I truly can’t think of any humans more deserving of praise. I can only pray that I did my heroes justice in Severed Heart and will continue to do so in Birds of a Feather.”
The Ravenhood Legacy books while not overtly political do reflect the times. America’s sharp cultural and societal divisions are in part what sparked Stewart’s idea to pen modern-day heroes. “My fight in these books is for humanity itself,” Stewart says, “for us to think critically about the system we’re feeding into that has us at such odds.” Stewart’s hope is that the books encourage readers to “lift each other up and to examine the institution itself, so that maybe we can find a solution.”
The message appears to be working. Stewart’s devoted readers have proclaimed themselves the “Ravens” and formed chapters IRL to discuss the Ravenhood and even to perform acts of kindness. When Hendersonville, N.C., the inspiration for Triple Falls, was impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Ravens raised money for the victims. The Ravens also swarm Stewart’s events, selling them out in less than 24 hours, including her own Taste of Triple Falls convention. Stewart admits the experience has been surreal but says, “it’s the fact that they’re actually changing people’s lives in the name of the books’ message, community, and humanity that’s most touching.”
Fans new and old will be happy to hear the publication of the third and fourth books in the series has already been announced. Birds of a Feather, part two of Tyler’s story, will hit bookshelves in 2026, and the fourth book will follow later that year. The announcement, much like Stewart’s writing, is bittersweet. These will be the last books in the series.
After 11 years in the business, Stewart is now seeing all the pieces for an uber successful career fall into place. Her gripping storytelling is, of course, at the heart of it, but the passionate fanbase she’s attracted helped her rise. Now with the muscle of a traditional publisher behind her, Stewart is poised for stardom.
