Just Flapping Ye Olde Gums

It's a pretty disturbing idiom, isn't it: "flapping gums"? It's like -- YIKES, I can't unsee it! But it means to talk idly, so I'll hang on to that. Damn idiom. Can't get it out of my head now.

Anyway, like the gross post title says, this is just me blabbity-blabbing away in lieu of, you know, solid updates.

So firstly -- revisions for Doppelgänger are going disturbingly well. I should be done with the first round by the end of this month. Even a weekend before, come to think of it, but a lot of the work happened during the holiday weekend, when I was forced -- yes, FORCED -- to stay home for a four-day weekend. I wanted to go to work, people, but post-Christmas work is always light, and I had to redirect my energy. At least I got that done, and I'm happy with the results so far.

And that segues into another publishing calendar update.

I'll now have the chance to work an extra day here and there on my WiP (whatever it might be), which means another adjustment on my calendar. If things continue to go down this road indefinitely, I might be back to a more frequent release schedule -- like every 4 months instead of the target 6. The sweet spot would be every 5 months for the more frequent releases, to be honest, so I'll need to re-calibrate my brain into following that slightly tweaked rhythm.

I mean, there's a big difference between 4 and 6 but not so between 4 and 5. It's common sense, so why the hell am I overthinking stuff again? 

Secondly -- I've updated this site with the appropriate links to my Payhip store but didn't take out the old ones for Books2Read. My Book List page, in particular, have individual book links to their Books2Read pages, but the general link is now for Payhip. My site's navigation bar has been updated as well, and I'll leave it like that for now. 

Essentially my Books2Read store is still up and running, and I won't be pulling my books from any of the listings there; however, I'll no longer be using that for my primary store site whenever I advertise a new release. I understand that many folks prefer to buy books from their favorite online stores, and I'm not going to force their hands, but the focus will shift elsewhere. 

Thirdly -- I tried, but I gave up on the Dresden Files novel series. I read Storm Front and enjoyed it enough to want to read the rest of the books that are available at the library, but the next book I picked up was disappointing. I guess I'm not the audience for the series even though the premise sounds fun. But having the hero spend the entire book getting his ass handed to him while lusting after every woman he sees frustrated the ever-loving hell out of me. 

I did check out a couple of ghost story novels which I look forward to reading (The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill and This House is Haunted by John Boyne). We'll see how those pan out. The great thing about the public library (one of the great things, I mean) is that there are thematic lists put together by library staff from different public libraries, and I get to check out the more obscure titles to enjoy. I bookmarked the page of recommended titles in the same vein as those two I mentioned.

There's the rub, I think. Super popular books like the Dresden Files (and I've read a good number over the years) end up disappointing me while books overlooked by the most vocal readers stick the landing. So it takes me longer to find the books I end up enjoying, hence my refusal to use Goodreads for that. Well, I deleted my account there ages ago, and I can't say I miss it.

And I guess that's it for now. I'm still tweaking my Payhip store, appearance-wise, so there may be small changes happening whenever you visit. At the moment it's simple and functional, and that's all I need for the time being.     

New Store Now Up (with 60% Coupon)

I finally have my Payhip store set up! 

It's going to be my main store front from this point on, and it takes both Paypal and credit cards via Stripe. There are no sign ups to purchase directly from me, and the benefit here is, of course, special sales available only through this store.

click the logo to go to my store

I've noted in my previous blog post that Draft2Digital is changing not only payment thresholds, but also royalty rates from their Smashwords store front. Plus their print book partner is raising their prices as well, but I'm not raising mine as a result since Print on Demand is way more expensive to begin with for customers compared to bulk printing, which I don't have.

So if you'd like to support me and cut out the middle man, buying my books directly from my Payhip store will significantly help. 

And for the rest of January through the end of February, I have coupons set up for my Curiosities, Arcana Europa, Masks, and Miscellaneous collections. All books in those collections are 60% off with specific coupon codes. You can buy as many books as you'd like, of course. I ain't stopping you. 😊

As another perk of buying direct, this store will be the only one where I'll be offering future discounts, which involves the rest of my collections save for Grotesqueries since those books are already steeply discounted at a flat 99 cents. In fact, all of my 99 cent books from all collections won't be on sale for that reason.

FOR KINDLE USERS: Please note I'm only selling DRM-free Epub files. You can still purchase my books, download them (you own them, after all), and send them via email to your Kindle email account. When Amazon receives the files, it'll convert them to their proprietary format so you can read them from your Kindle device or app on your phone. Easy peasy. 

I no longer offer Mobi files since Amazon's discontinuing that format (unless they've already done so), and Epub is the best format to use for any device. 

For print books, I added a link to Bookshop Org on the navigation section of the store. That'll take you to a general page for me where you can look for stores where you can purchase print books. Whenever you can, please do support smaller indie stores though my books are also available through Barnes and Noble, etc., if you prefer. 

I'll be adding my store links to this site this weekend, but for now, feel free to peruse the store. And as always, thank you so much for your support!

Looking Into 2026 and Beyond

I've been self-publishing since 2016 (and with a small press from 2008 - 2016), and while I've been pretty satisfied with where I am currently with Draft2Digital, I am considering going back to selling direct via Payhip, which I tried to do a few years ago. While it's true that I'm more likely to enjoy success selling direct if I were a more popular writer with a massive and loyal fanbase (I'm not), I still would like to offer that as an option to readers.

The main reason for this move is my royalties, which are very, very small. Draft2Digital also takes a percentage of my net sales, which leaves me with pennies at the end of the day, especially with my preferred prices for my long novellas being only 99 cents. They also recently added a threshold to their payments, which will delay what little I already earn by a month or two months or whenever my sales cross their new threshold. 

Recently their royalty rates via Smashwords shrank, and it affects authors across the board. Then their print platform also raised prices on printing each unit, further shrinking another income source (for what it's worth) for me. I rarely sell print books, really, and the argument for just ditching it as something that isn't worth the trouble is compelling, but I still would like to keep that option available.  

Draft2Digital is a business first and foremost, and I don't begrudge them this. They have the right to make these changes even if those don't benefit writers on the lowest end of the sales spectrum like me. 

So if I'm only going to be making a couple of dollars here and there, it's best if I were to keep as much of the sales as possible. One great thing about selling direct is that customers don't need to sign up for an account in order to access the books. I can also offer sales exclusively through that platform, and there's no need for sign ups or anything. 

It's going to take a while for me to get my store up and running, and when it's done, I'll post about it here. Maybe I'll end up pulling my books from all bookstores while keeping them available to check out from library services and simply selling them directly through Payhip. I've toyed with the idea again and again, and arguments can be made either way, but I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there. 

'Doppelganger' Now Done!

And I frankly would celebrate if I weren't laid low by the flu. I've been sick since Christmas Day, and my temperature went all over the place -- hell, I still had a low-grade fever before bedtime last night. I don't have any now, but I'm also in that post-flu phase where I still feel sluggish and not too keen on food. I was forced to call out yesterday, too, hence the book's completion.

I only hope the final chapter reads sensibly since I worked on while in the grip of a fever. Bleah. I'll have time enough to double-check it on New Year's Day.

And to further emphasize my post-flu malaise, I'm keeping this post super short. 

Happy Winter Solstice!

 

art by Cynthia Reece from Pinterest

And so we've reached the point linking my two favorite seasons (Autumn and Winter), which means the night will be growing shorter and shorter from this point onward. Bah, humbug!  

Doppelganger has turned into a quieter and subtler ghost story, which echoes the season -- however, don't be fooled by this. The backstory's kind of heavy and tragic. The projected completion of the first draft still stands, and then I'll be back to arguing with myself over moving release dates yet again. The most problematic thing about my brain when it's in full creative mode is that it keeps spinning idea after idea until I've got so many unwritten books lined up that the calendar's looking like a decade's worth of publishing. 

All right, so I'm not quite there yet, but you know what I mean. 

Anyway, I do believe I have a new title for the-book-formerly-called-Eidolon. I'm leaning more and more on Liminal Child for it, but I'm still on the fence as to whether or not to change character names since it's going to be an overhaul with the plot turning down a completely different direction. It's also going to be scheduled after A House of Profane Gods, which means not for another couple of years -- depending on whether or not I mess around again with my calendar. 

In other -- more mundane -- news, I've been abusing my library card left, right, and center the past few months. I used to be so timid when it came to that, checking out one book at a time and also feeling guilty for borrowing two books. No more! I've been borrowing 2-3 books at a time and renewing the due date for my queue since I average a book a week (or a book and a half sometimes), and to keep my momentum going, I've been putting multiple books on hold as well.

It's been a terrific way of removing myself from my entrenched world of gay romances in my e-reader app and rediscovering a wider world out there. It's good for the creative juices, you know, because I'm starting to feel like my go-to stuff is calcifying. There are popular authors and unknown ones whose books in my favorite genre are keeping my brain fed and inspiring me in ways I've never considered before. There are also those classic books that were on my reading bucket list, and I'm trying to get to them while I still can. 

The War of the Worlds is one. I'm not a sci-fi fan, but I love me some Victorian sci-fi (or, ideally, Victorian steampunk!). I haven't gotten around to exploring that genre as I've been fully immersing myself in ghost fiction anthologies, historical mysteries, and urban fantasy like the Dresden Files. 

With all this library borrowing, I'm also turning to print books for that purpose and retraining my attention when it comes to reading. Digital books are great, yes, but it's easier for me to focus on the printed page when I read, and I think my ability to block my environment in order to sustain a lengthy focus on text needs further exercise. Or beefing up, however you look at it. At any rate, it's another good variation for me, and it helps me find balance after X number of years reading nothing but digital books. 

Of course, in the meantime, I'm adding to my digital library whenever a site-wide sale comes on at Smashwords, and the list is slowly growing. I won't be short of choices when I decide to change tack and take up the next e-book for reading. 

But, man, I love how books are just everywhere. May 2026 be just as bountiful -- or more so.