Farewell to Amazon

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Today I am pondering an important publishing relationship. I no longer wish to continue self-publishing through Amazon.com. This comes about after recent revelations that Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, intervened to prevent the Washington Post from endorsing a presidential candidate. Without getting into the thicket of our varying political beliefs, or even the validity of newspaper endorsements, this greatly concerns me.

With this election, it seems evident that the United States is teetering between freedom and tyranny. And, per the eminent scholar of tyranny, Timothy Snyder, the worst thing institutions can do is obey tyrants in advance. It teaches them what they can get away with.

By interfering in the editorial process, that is what Bezos has done. He is obeying a tyrant in advance. I’m not interested in guessing his reasons or impugning his character. They are irrelevant. My personal standards are to resist tyranny as much as I may. My immediate means of resistance is by withdrawing my books from Bezos’ platform.

This is not easy. Amazon.com was the foundation of independent publishing. Beginning more than 20 years ago, they provided the means for authors to produce our own books, and the platform to reach potential readers. Amazon is still the leading e-book seller and a familiar touchstone for the audience.

At the same time, Amazon has changed dramatically from the plucky online book seller it was then. They sell everything now, not just books. With that success, Amazon became a massive target for book fraud and with AI the scamming has only become worse.

Looking at my own financials, between 2021 and 2023, I see that sales on Amazon were between 1/5 and 1/3 of my annual writing income. Getting off that marketplace could really hurt me. But so would an authoritarian takeover of the United States, which puts a number of my immediate family at risk.

Ironically, the technology Amazon pioneered means that there are other platforms now. Indy authors don’t have to go through them. I’ve already had an established relationship with Draft2Ditigal, which gives me access to Smashwords as well. That means I can now do paperbacks through D2D. I didn’t like their terms as well, but I like enabling a dictator even less.

Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have a WIP at the moment. It’s going to take time and patience to disentangle myself from Amazon’s platform. But in keeping with my personal standards, I can no longer do business with Amazon.com.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Finishing Touches

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The ebooks for Acorn Canyon are pretty much set up for Kindle and Epub formats. Pre-orders will be open soon on Books2Read and Amazon. I do have the cover put together, so I can start making promotional materials.

My current task is to lay out the paperback. This is a lot more fiddly, and it will take some time to get it just right. Previously I did my paperbacks through Amazon. However, Books2Read now offers paperbacks, too. Amazon’s paperbacks have been acceptable, but it’s always good to review my options. I’m going to take some time and compare their offerings.

The time pressure is that I’d like to have printed books for Fall Folk Festival in 3 weeks! So I can’t fool around with it for too long.

Of course it will be worth it to hold those beautiful books in my hands!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

New Publication

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I have a new story in print! “Transformations” is in the October issue of The Lorelei Signal electronic magazine.

What’s it about? A dying witch’s spells are coming undone. Only one young woman understands that it isn’t a joke, and steps up to the challenge.

I hope you’ll take a look!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Woman at Work, October 2024

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What’s Happening? The spooky season is here! I always enjoy Halloween and this year should be no different. Besides which, the new Dragon Age game, Veilguard, is releasing that night. I’m super excited for that!

What I’m Working On. I’m waiting for reader feedback on Cleodora, Book 1: Acorn Canyon. Once I do those final revisions, I can start on book layouts. It will release in mid-November, as planned.

What’s Next? I’m not really sure! I could jump into revisions on Cleodora, Book 2: Willow Lake, but my husband hasn’t even seen it yet. I’m hoping a short story idea will turn up.

Where I’ll be. This month is Teri Polen’s blog event, Bad Moon Rising. My appearance was on October 4th, If you’d like to take a look. The featured book was The Tale of the Drakanox, and I included a section on Wyrmflight the following day.

Fun and Games. While I wait for the Veilguard release, I’m playing Animal Crossing and Subnautica.

I hope your Halloween will be haunted in a good way!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Con and Cover

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The event last weekend was very nice. I must have been tired, though, because I forgot to post about it here! Oops…

Anyway, it was a small crowd, but I knew everyone there, so that made it homey. Two of my panels went well and one was a bust. My reading was great, though, and I sold a number of books. So I call that a win!

As a matter of fact, I sold all but one of my copies of Aunt Ursula’s Atlas. That clears my way to update the book with a new cover. Last spring I released Aunt Anne’s Archive, and I want this new cover to match it more closely. I’d like to have books to sell at Fall Folk Festival, which is in November. I expect I’ll have artwork to show off before too long.

I’m also working on the final revision of Cleodora, Book 1: Acorn Canyon. That is also scheduled in November, so I’d better work fast!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Preparation

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I did finish a second draft of the anthology story, the one with the superheroes. That clears me to start working on the final text of Acorn Canyon, which I’m excited to do. But first, I have a convention!

Just-A-Con is a relaxacon coming up September 20-22nd. A relaxacon means instead of intensive programming over the full weekend that keeps everyone super busy, there will be just one programming room and a gaming room for people to dip in and play or talk about whatever they like.

I don’t have a firm schedule yet, but there are things I’m committed to be part of. The major one is a “galactic emporium” where people can swap their books, games, puzzles, etc for other ones. There’s a panel on Saturday morning for speculating about the forthcoming Dragon Age game, Veilguard. Of course I plan to do a reading, which will be Saturday afternoon. On Saturday night, there is the possibility of a memorial for a couple of local authors, M. J. Engh and Bruce Taylor.

I also offered to host an Animal Crossing treasure hunt on my island, for Sunday morning. I might make it a costume challenge! Those are always very fun.

So this weekend, I need to start preparing for Just-A-Con. There are swap items to pack, signs to print, and my reading to choose. But I’ll still peek in on Acorn Canyon when I get the chance!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Pacing

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Over the summer, in addition to revising Cleodora Books 1 & 2, I read back through a couple of older novels from the 1990s. Mostly ones by Barbara Hambly, who was one of my must-buy authors in those days. I also read a couple of Martha Wells’ early novels. I’m struck by how different the pacing is from books written in the 2010s and ’20s.

Mostly, it’s that the plots extended farther than we write them now. I get to the 3/4 mark or so and think the story will start to wrap up. But then another complication is introduced and I find myself thinking, “this is taking too long.” It’s not that I think the authors were padding the stories to be paid per word. More like, readers had to get more story for our dollar?

Another thing we do differently now, at least in some cases, is the approach to love scenes. In these novels from the ’90s, the curtain is drawn between the reader and the lovers. We come back to them afterward. The effect, at least to me, is that their emotions are blunted. The lovers’ passion is more of a plot point than a dynamic part of the story.

This might sound like a complaint, and it isn’t, really. At the time these books came out, this was how a proper fantasy novel was written. And I think it connects to the intermittent grievance in SFF circles about “too much romance” in genre fiction. If you expect the romance to be just a plot point, then emphasizing it might be jarring.

But at the same time, I can see why so many readers went for urban fantasy toward the end of the ’90s. The sexy nature and the faster pacing would definitely attract (LoL) fans who wanted a more emotional reading experience.

Just an odd thought for your Sunday morning.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Woman at Work, September 2024

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What’s Happening? We are just in the first week of school here. I’m in the thick of helping open the Resource Room, putting things on the walls, organizing files, and all of that.

What I’m Working On. I have an idea for a short story I’d like to write and just need to have the mental space (see above) to get started. In addition, I am working through the cover creation process for my next book. Cleodora, Book 1: Acorn Canyon should be coming out in November.

What’s Next? I need to start the final revision on Acorn Canyon (see above).

Where I’ll be. Just-A-Con, September 20-22, in Spokane WA. It’s a relaxacon — a free flowing SF convention with only a modest schedule so people can socialize more. My part is mostly to monitor a table for swapping books and games.

Fun and Games. In addition to Animal Crossing, I’m playing Landsnama, a strategy game based on historic Iceland. Not supper high energy, but definitely challenging.

It is Labor Day and I’m going to the lake!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Willow Lake, Part 2

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I did it! I completed the first draft revision of Willow Lake, the finale of Cleodora’s story. It came in at 42,600 words, a good length for middle grades.

There is still a part of the ending I’m not happy with. The antagonist faces a reckoning there, and I feel it lacks drama. I could re-write it, bringing it more to a climactic moment, like in movies, where the bad gal screams and their head blows up. Very dramatic! However, both of the novels have been very much NOT heads-exploding content. So it might be sort of the expected thing, but it wouldn’t match the story as a whole.

We’re planning a short trip this week. Perhaps I’ll print out those pages and take them with me. The drive time should give me a chance to ponder some possibilities.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Willow Lake

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Well, my husband gave his feedback on Acorn Canyon. It’s all positive, except I think he does not prefer cozy fantasy. He likes a darker plot with faster pacing. Even so, he asked when will the second one be ready to read? So I guess I’d better get on that!

That second book is Willow Lake. I am about 3/4 through the revisions on it. This book needs significantly more work. Currently I’m at a key scene that begins the race to the end. Two characters had to be taken out, and the scene is happening in a different place. It’s been tricky to make all the adjustments as I go along. I want to take my time and do it right, though.

I’m hoping to get through it before next week, when we’re going on a short trip. Don’t know if I’ll make it, but let’s find out!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.