The time has come! Voting is now open for a limited time for the Indie Ink Awards! This is your chance to choose your favorite indie books and have them recognized. There are over 400 books nominated. Two of my books, STARS AND SOIL and SMOKE AND STEEL received enough nominations to make it to phase two of the Indie Ink Awards.

Last year, A LAKE OF FEATHERS AND MOONBEAMS and SHADES AND SILVER both made it to the final round. A LAKE OF FEATHERS AND MOONBEAMS was a finalist for the “Writing the Future We Need: Trans and Non-binary Representation” category and SHADES AND SILVER was a finalist in the “Writing the Future We Need: Disability Representation by a Disabled Author” category.

Here are all the nominations with links to the categories so you can vote! You can only vote for one book in each category, and I've highlighted which book of mine I believe deserves the vote the most, but please use your own opinions when casting your vote.

This year, I publish SMOKE AND STEEL as well as taking STARS AND SOIL from being a Campfire exclusive to publishing it widely across all the major retailers and many smaller ones! Thank you to everyone who has supported me this year and picked up these books, and a special thanks to everyone who has left a review!

And an extra, extra thank you to everyone who nominated both books for the 2024 Indie Ink Awards!

This post is dedicated to Ladz, author of one of my newest favorites, Cradle of Eternal Night. They asked over on BlueSky about marketing when there are no big releases on the horizon and while I provided some quick examples, I want to expand on that here.

I know you've written a bunch about marketing for indie authors and I was wondering if you had a thread or a blog post anywhere for how to market in lull years because I don't have anything planned for 2025 and I'm getting the Sunday scaries about it

These tips and suggestions work well for anyone, trad or indie, Amazon Exclusive or Widely Published, but as a widely published indie author, these tips are coming from that perspective.

Here are my suggestions and advice for marketing when you have no new releases coming up.

Not familiar with Itch.io? It's a platform started for and by indie game developers but has recently expanded to welcome artists, musicians, and authors! Indie creators of all kinds are now welcome to use this platform to sell and promote their creative works.

Today is Black Friday, a day when major retailers and small businesses rake in the dollars. But not Itchio. For Itch.io, it's Creator Day. For today, Itch.io gives the full amount paid directly to the creators. They are not taking their own cut of the profit.

If you are looking to support indie creators today, check out Itch.io first to see if you can find their works there.

Specifically, looking for queer science fiction and fantasy books to support? Don't worry; I've rounded up some of my favorites that are discounted or bundled!

While the Plethora of Queer SFF Books bundle is only on sale today, most of the rest of these bundles and sales last through the rest of the weekend!

The Plethora of Queer SFF Books – $35 USD

This bundle was put together by Claudie Arseneault and contains books from 16 creators!

We're back again with another guide for your potential journey to spreading your wings and going wide. In Part I, we discussed the why and the basic mindset you need when being a “wide” author. Part II, we discussed aggregate publishers, the other major retailers, and library services. In Part III, we will go over smaller or niche retailers that might be suitable for certain readerships as well as going over some of my favorite choices for selling directly, and getting really excited about things like VAT and Merchants of Record. Sounds complicated, and it is at first. But once you know what you're looking for, it becomes a lot easier.

Niche or Smaller Option

Aside from the major retailers, there are many smaller ones that cater to specific genres or offer unique features that you won't find elsewhere. Having your books available on these retailers can help you bring in readers who are looking for something a little more unique! This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does include only smaller retailers that I have direct experience with and feel confident commenting on!

If you've read part one, thank you! I hope it was helpful, and I hope that Part II and Part III will help you further in your decision-making process.

I mentioned briefly that going “wide” means taking a different marking approach a is a bit of a mindset shift. A lot of people in KU spend tons of time on PublisherRocket trying to find the perfect keywords for their book in hopes of climbing the Amazon Best Seller Ranks, making it to the top of search results, and getting into the “Also Boughts” of their “competitors.”

Note: I do NOT consider other authors to be my competitors, no matter how closely they align with my niche—sapphic thigh high fantasy. Readers can read my books in 10 hours. I cannot ever hope to write, edit, format and publish a book in 10 hours. Other sapphic thigh high fantasy authors are who I send my readers to so that they can keep getting their fix while I write the next one, but Amazon encourages this “competitor” mindset, and this is a mindset you have to break out of if you are to be a “wide” author!

“Going wide” in industry parlance is a choice that not many indie authors make and one that is often seen as less lucrative that enrolling your book in Kindle Unlimited.

Yes, right now, most readers are on Amazon, and many of them are enrolled in KU and rarely look for books outside of that. But read that sentence again, paying close attention to that dependent clause right at the start. Right now.

What is happening right now, however? Many readers are considering ditching their Kindle Unlimited subscription and taking their business to non-Amazon places. Honestly, I do not blame them. I have never been a KU subscriber myself; I am more likely to get my books via Libby and Hoopla using my free county library card or purchase the book outright.

Yes, I have had readers tell me they are disappointed that my book isn't in KU since they only read KU books. But since I am wide and do not, therefore, have to abide by an exclusivity clause, I can tell that reader, “Would you like a free copy? You can request a review copy from this link.” I get a review, a reader gets a book for the price they are willing to pay. We all win.

But you know what? I've had more readers thank me for having my book available on (retailer of their choice). More readers have thanked me for having my book on Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Fable, Everand, Apple, Google Play, etc, than have expressed disappointment that I am not in KU.

And I have made more money in royalties being “wide” than I ever did when I was in KU.

I like to celebrate my birthday properly: giving gifts, rather than receiving them! I've cajoled several of my friends to celebrate with me and I've got a spectacular giveaway with over a dozen physical books to gift!

If you don't already know. I am an author. With multiple chronic illnesses. I love using Notion to craft the exact dashboard I need in order to keep track of all the things in my life—medications, doctors appointments, and OH YEAH, my writing!

There's more to being an author than just writing, though. And it's all the other things that can be hard to keep track of. I've been using the HB90 system for goal setting and quarterly project management. I made a few modifications to it to suite my own needs as someone with chronic illnesses and disabilities. I love the system and the way it helps me stay on track with my eye on the prize.

I designed a huge section of my Notion around merging my health tracking and my goal tracking and I am making it freely available for other authors with chronic illnesses.

The following is the first episode in my ongoing serial, The Last Page. The Last Page is a loving romp through the otome isekai genre, but with tons more GAY. I started writing it as a way to wind down after a hard and depressing editing session with Smoke & Steel. My brain needed some sweet candy, and this is the result. All my favorite tropes — sheepish sapphics, in love with the villainess, dethawing the ice queen, pretend or fake engagement / dating, forced proximity, unlikely allies, and lots of magic and mystery! If you enjoy this episode, you can read more on my Ream page. Follow me on Ream—which is FREE—and you will get one new episode per week, every Friday! If you want even MORE, you can become a paid subscriber for $4.99 and get early access and TWO episodes per week! As of today (5.8.2024), Followers can read up to Episode 11 and paid members are at the start of Season 2 (Episode 43!).

The darkness presses in, suffocating her just as much as the coarse rope digging into her neck. A shadowy figure looms over her, its features indistinct yet hauntingly familiar. Calloused hands tighten the noose, each tug more merciless than the last.

Ein claws at the restraint, her nails digging into the rough fibers. She tries to scream, but only a strangled wheeze escapes her lips. Panic seizes her chest as the world around her grows dim. The figure leans closer, its breath hot against her ear. A raspy voice, both strange and intimate, whispers something into her ear, but she has no clue as to what.

Drenched in a cold sweat, Ein jolts awake; her heart thunders in her ears as she gulps down mouthfuls of air. Trembling fingers clutch at the silk sheets she has tangled herself in.