Why yes, change IS hard
From an older version of my brain, to yours.
Musings
Some might say I shot myself in the foot (ugh, English idioms are so violent, whyyyy?) when I migrated from mailchimp and right now, I can't really disagree too much. I have an extremely modest subscriber pool--that's you, lovelies!--but I used to have a higher-then-modest open rate for my mid-monthly missives.
After I switched over to buttondown, however, I'm afraid that open rate has plummeted. Given the timing, it seems likely this is because these buttondown emails are getting caught in spam filters. Which I can't definitively determine because, well, I'm not even certain you're reading this right now anyway because this might also have been filtered out from your inbox.
(Btw, if you haven't read my February newsletter, please check your spam folders? It'd be around Feb. 6th. I rolled out a new thing called The Q&A Corner!)
Let's be honest: it's exhausting relying on things outside of our control, isn't it? I mean, I chose an industry where 91.7% (not a real stat, but it's up there, trust me!) is entirely out of my hands. I can write things, and edit them, and polish them until they shine, but the rest isn't up to me.
Here's an example: I worked hard on multiple drafts of one book, but after 18 months of effort, my editor still didn't care for it, so I had to start fresh on a whole new book idea, all in order to fulfill a contract I signed in spring 2022. If you know how publishing contracts work, you might recall that also means I won't receive the remainder of the advance until my editor approves a new draft of this new book. Which means I have to draft it first.
Fast forward (or is that "Back up"..?) to now. I'm about to send my editor an overview of this new book, so she can get a sense of the plot, themes, and character arcs. Based on that, she will either give me a 'go ahead' or a 'let's chat' or a 'try again' or 'never mind.' That last option would be the least likely, thank goodness. We've chatted once already about this new book and I think (I hope!) we're both excited about it.
Anyhoo, this is the nature of the beast. I can only do what I can do, and at the end of the day, there are so many factors I don't even know about, to take into consideration. I think what keeps me mostly on an even keel is knowing I've done my best, no matter the thing. That goes for every aspect of my life, really.
Including this newsletter, apparently! LOL
The Q&A Corner
I'd love to get more interactive with you all, lovelies, so check out this handy dandy form and send me your questions! Treat it like an Ask Me Anything: publishing, writing, baking, cooking, movies, books, TV shows...it's all up for grabs. What strikes your curiosity?
This month's question comes from Ryan R.: What made you choose the path you wanted when deciding between publishing models?
The short version: No agent wanted to try selling a second book in a series, and no editor wanted to buy it. I know I wanted to keep publishing the Lola Starke series, so I chose to self-publish. This was back in 2014. In 2018, when the idea for In The Dark We Forget came to me, I knew it was a more commercially viable book, so I decided to try the traditional publishing waters again, and I started querying agents. I hoped that working with a trad publisher would boost my profile higher than staying as an indie could. I hoped, eventually, I could publish both ways, with each feeding interest for the books published the other way.
The slightly longer version: The editor who had acquired Die On Your Feet (which I'd submitted without an agent) left my publisher-at-the-time. The second Lola Starke book got lost in the cracks and though a new editor was assigned to me, she didn't want the book because Die On Your Feet didn't sell well enough. Fair enough. I know I'd made some mistakes in my marketing and promotional efforts, as had they. While I wrote and self-published In For A Pound and then Devil Take the Hindmost, I worked to get all my rights back to Die On Your Feet. It took six loooooong years. By the time I did get those rights back, I was already working on In The Dark We Forget. I'm slowly learning how to keep writing in multiple genres whilst marketing and promoting whilst volunteering for my community whilst meeting my contractual obligations, etc. etc., so Lola's books have frankly been on the backburner. But I 100% intend to keep writing her stories.
Thanks for your question, Ryan!
Who's next? Want to see your question answered in next month's Q&A Corner? Fill out this form.
In Other News
I wrote a new Crescent City short story!
It's called "Dearly Departed" and it's part of the upcoming Festive Mayhem 4 Winter Holiday Crime anthology. You might recall, I wrote the story "Pipe Dreams" for the original Festive Mayhem collection, back in 2020. This time around, we're doing a Kickstarter campaign and it launches next month. Rewards include signed ebooks, print editions, special collections, and even exclusive bonus short stories and novels.
Please follow our campaign to stay updated and to back our collection!
"Dearly Departed" centres on Betta Ha, a Healer who appears in all three Lola Starke novels, and is a close friend of Lola's late father. I wrote a draft of this story a few years ago, actually, spurred by a desire to delve deeper into the healing magic in the Lola novels. Betta was an interesting character to to me, as she's so self-contained and reserved in the novels. I wanted to explore her background a little more.
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Last but not least...
Remember you can Ask Me Anything!
I hope to have an update on the romance book next month!
A little beauty every day: here's something I shared on Bluesky (which you don't need an account to read)
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