If you did not know, I've been releasing a serial titled THE LAST PAGE on my Ream. This actually started off as a novel, but it had a TON of subplots and it was just too much going on all at once. When I discovered the serial format, I knew that this story was meant to be a serial, not a novel. And upon reflection, I am realizing that STARS AND SOIL might have been better suited as a serial, too. Here, I am gonna take a few minutes to explain why I believe some of my stories would be better told as serials and give you a rundown of how I have been plotting my serials in case you, too, wish to use this storytelling structure!
This is the second post in a blog series I am calling “Things I Didn't Know I Needed to Know!” In this series, I will speak to authors about their research process for their novels and the strange things they found themselves searching the internet for at 5 am!
Today, I am hosting Ingrid Moon, author of THE HANDLER'S GAMBIT and discussing the side quest she ended up embarking on involving quantum mechanics and astrophysics as she wrote the Saxen Saga.
SMOKE AND STEEL follows the journey of Saritrah, a princess who seeks to reclaim her crown from violent insurrectionists who are determined to spread dangerous ideas of freedom and equality to the people. The Oracle promises the power needed in order to secure her reign and ensure prosperity, but only if she can find an ancient artifact in a lost mythical city.
This is 100% inspired by Xena: Warrior Princess and follows the redemption arc of a violent and power-hungry warlord trying to overcome the traumatic past that made her as violent as she is.
If you are not already signed up for my newsletter, you better get to it! That is where I will be announcing the go-live date for my direct store, and my newsletter subscribers get both a discount and the ability to order on my store before it's available elsewhere.
If you really, really can't wait any longer to read it, join my Ream today! I've been releasing early draft chapters of it, and all members get access to the final edition even earlier as part of their membership!
Great news! All of my books are now available on Google Play! Prior to 2020, it was a little bit of a pain to have books listed on Google Play; they would randomly put people's books on sale without telling them, which would cause every other retailer with your book to also lower your book's price for price-matching. This was especially bad as lowering the price on Amazon would drastically decrease your royalties. So it was more of a risk than a reward. But no more!
I got the most amazing email the other day! Indie Ink Award staff messaged me the following:
Hello! We’re delighted to tell you that your book A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams has made it to the finals for Writing the Future We Need: Trans or Nonbinary Representation. Also, Shades and Silver qualifies as a finalist for Writing the Future We Need: Disability Representation by a disabled author.
I am so honored that so many of you took the time to vote for my books! I can never thank you enough! Please use the code INKFINALIST on my shop for 75% off of Shades and Silver and A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams now through the end of the month!
If you have these books already, purchase them for a friend and spread the word! Thank you so SO much for all of your support for me and my writings. I am nothing without my readers!💜💜💜
If you want updates about things like this before anyone else gets them, make sure you sign up for my newsletter!
This is the first post in a blog series I am calling “Things I Didn't Know I Needed to Know!” In this series, I will speak to several authors about their research process for their novels and the strange things they found themselves searching the internet for at 5am!
Today, I am hosting Liz Sauco, author of Lost Blades and talking about the many, many rabbit holes she jumped into.
If 2023 was me dipping my toes into the lake of “trying new publishing things,” then 2024 is me diving into the deep end.
I chose indie publishing for freedom, and yet I’ve found that I have unnecessarily shackled myself to an ideology. I kept my books in Kindle Unlimited/KDP Select because that was “where the readers are” and what was supposed to make the “most sense” from a money point of view, too. But Amazon slashed KU payouts and there is just a constant low rumbling threat that they will do so again. IngramSpark decided to force upon authors a larger wholesaler discount and their shenanigans with returns have made it a risk for authors to accept returns, which in turn leads to indie bookstores not wanting to carry our books.
I threw off the shackles of traditional publishing, thinking I was embracing creative control. And yet I then locked myself down in a cell with Amazon and IngramSpark and believed that this was “the only way.”
But then Campfire added monetized stories and I also found Ream Stories. Some part of me was still determined to define “success” as an indie publisher as Amazon Rankings or Bestseller List. But isn’t that the kind of ideology that I wanted to escape when I decided against traditional publishing?
Exciting news! Several of my books have been nominated for the Indie Ink Awards! Voting opened yesterday and runs until December 31st!
In celebration of this, you can purchase A LAKE OF FEATHERS AND MOONBEAMS directly on my webpage and using the discount code INKAWARDS when you hit the “Buy Now” button! This discount is ONLY available on my website!
I've found a cool way to set up direct sales on your own website with minimal effort and basically no coding. But my personal website is all hand-coded by me, and so I decided to take it one step further and integrate it with Middleman and how I use the yaml files to keep my website organized as my catalog grows. Read on to learn more about my setup combining Lemon Squeezy's Checkout Overlays with yaml and ERB in my favorite static site generator, Middleman.
