Newsletter | July 2018

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since I sent out a newsletter/post to you, but unless there are special announcements or thoughts I feel inspired to share, I try to keep my newsletters from spamming your inbox.

Today’s post is just a recap of the month gone by and any announcements for the month oncoming.

Well, my first book, Crooked Raven, released at the end of June (crazy!) and so July has been mostly spent promoting it as well as keeping up with other writing projects. I donated a copy of my book to a few local libraries in the area, sent out review requests to some fantastic bloggers, and I even designed some cool Crooked Raven-themed bookmarks to give away! (More on that later)

Before my book was out in the world I did some digging on the internet for ways to promote it locally. It’s simply a fact that “local” and “independent” are trends right now so I was hoping this would work in my favor when it comes to promotion (not to mention I can’t afford national conventions or ads). And Google didn’t disappoint in my search. I found quite a few independent book stores and festivals around the area in which I live however then I hit a snag. They don’t take submissions from self-published authors. Some allow wiggle room for those who used a hybrid publisher, etc. but explicitly no Amazon/CreateSpace self-published books. Yay me. The one event that was willing to have me participate (my local library hosts a Local Author Showcase each summer that I somehow never knew about) decided that I’d missed the deadline and even though I have a stock of books to sell/sign/giveaway I’ll just have to wait until next year to have my own little table in their annual showcase. (By then I’ll have four books published which is bizarre to think about!!).

I’ve got to say that being a self-published author can be rather disheartening at times. While, yes, the self-published market doesn’t discriminate in either experience or quality (*shudders*), there really are some wonderfully talented authors out there who simply wanted more creative control or felt determined to forge their own bookish fate, and it feels unfair for them to not get even half the opportunities as traditionally published books. Of course I’m sure with some when their success rivals even traditional authors then bookstores might be willing to consider pushing their product, but most remain unmoving with their self-imposed law of no self-published books. Self-published authors are, generally speaking, the riffraff of the literary world haha.

Right now I’m a newbie. A total newbie. I have only one book on the market and still no reviews other than those from a couple friends on Goodreads. As it is I have nothing to back up the quality of my product (quality that I at least hope I have haha). But what’s a bit disappointing is that even if I did, no one would want to sell my book simply because I don’t have one of the Big 5 looming behind it.

And that’s fine. I get it. It’s just business, nothing personal. When it comes to money, we don’t play around. And I refuse to get worked up over it. Maybe writing won’t ever feed or clothe me, but I’ll be damned if the narrow-minded industry can take away the freedom I feel while crafting a story. No one trusts self-published books (unfortunately with good reason as the market is saturated with unedited, unproofed, unfortunate attempts) and I don’t have the energy to care. It might take a miracle to get me into a book festival or conference (especially since right now I can only afford local) and my books may never be sold in a bonafide store, but so long as readers can find it then good. Let’s embrace this elite little club of outcasts then. Below I’ll add a list of some of my own favorite self-published authors (a couple whom now dance the line between indie and trad.).

So that’s really it for July. Just my attempts at nudging the right people to give my book a chance both online and in person.

Well, that’s not true actually. That’s it for July with regards to Crooked Raven. I’ve also been spending this past month working on the sequel, Carrion Crow, with my beta readers, formatting and doing final edits on Alarum, the first book in a post-apocalyptic series of standalones, and writing the second book, Solus! And on a non-book related note I’ve been learning Welsh and brushing up on my Spanish. So yeah, I’ve been busy.

My brother agreed to help me with the covers for the Walking Shadows Saga (the post-apocalyptic series) which I’m incredibly excited for and hopefully I’ll have it by the end of August. Next month I hope to also have finished writing and editing Solus so I can send a draft out to beta readers. And I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll have a few reviews for Crooked Raven trickling in by then. I’ve also got planned for August/September to finalize my outline for the last book in the Otherworld Trilogy!

So. Much. To. Do. *faints*

Well that’s it on my end! I hope you’ve had a chance to read Crooked Raven and if you want to give me the gift of a lifetime, if you could take a couple minutes to leave a review on Amazon (and Goodreads if you have an account there too)?

Thank you, O kind readers!!

Stay tuned…