sunny

Needless to say, my frankness about how royalties work and just how little many of us are earning from our labor has drawn the ire of a few people, even here on Tumblr.hell.

I'm not particularly bothered by this. In my view, they're the same people who won't discuss wages in the workplace because they don't want anyone else to earn what they do. They know the system is unfairly rigged, but they like it that way because they're scared if more people are educated about how things work, they'll lose whatever competitive edge they think they have, thus enforcing the status quo.

Needless to say, I don't care for this view.

I'm very much a "holy shit, two cakes" kind of creator. I also very firmly believe in pulling people up behind me and spreading the wealth of information that was shared freely with me by other like-minded individuals who also believe that the mysteries around publishing are gatekeeping bullshit and everyone deserves the chance to earn money from their creative endeavors, not just the people who can afford to.

Anyway, David Gaughran's 'Let's Get Digital: How To Self-Publish And Why You Should' is an invaluable resource for indie authors and provides great insight into how publishing and distribution work. It is available for free through the retailers listed on his website.

If you don't want to publish exclusively through Amazon, draft2digital.com does global ebook and also paperback distribution. (I've only used it for ebooks, but I'll be trying out their paperback options for my next book.) You can pair it up with a books2read account to create easy-to-post buy links. Draft2Digital also allows for distribution through library lending services like Overdrive. So that's neat. (NB: if you use d2d, you can't use Kindle Unlimited, so be aware of what links you have active and where if you decide to enroll in KU. You can always opt for wide distribution again once your KU time expires.)

D2D also recently partnered with FindawayVoices.com for audiobook distribution. You can find voice actors there, or you can upload your own files if you already have them. You can submit to Audible through them, too, but you'll earn a pittance more if you upload directly through Audible. Findaway also allows for library lending distribution through Libby and several other global equivalents.

If you need ISBNs, you can buy them cheaper in bulk from Bowker at myidentifiers.com

Individual storefront options like Payhip.com and Gumroad.com are also great ways to allow people to buy directly from you, though I soured on Gumroad after the whole NFT thing and their CEO harassing people on Twitter over it. Payhip is now my preferred storefront, and as an added bonus, they calculate VAT in European countries as well, so that's one less thing for me as an indie author to work out. As an added bonus, Payhip can be directly integrated into your author website if you have one. It's a feature I'll be implementing soon.

itch.io also allows for the sale and distribution of ebook files, though I haven't used it yet.

If you don't have the means to hire a cover designer or the means to do it yourself in photoshop, Canva.com has some decent-ish ebook templates. Just make sure the images and fonts you're using have the right licenses for commercial use.

Editing and formatting are also extremely important, though I know not everyone can afford them. If you can, I highly suggest doing so and shelling out extra to have them format your work across mediums. Ebook formatting is different from paperback formatting, and it can look very strange if you just try to format an ebook into a pdf. It is a skill you can teach yourself (plenty of youtube videos) if you really want to, but I prefer to throw money at my editors, who provide formatting as an additional service. Whatever you can afford to do to streamline the process is money well spent.

Also, do not be shy about using affiliate links to sell your work. Authors lose a solid chunk of money to places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc., in distribution fees. Whatever pennies you can scrape back through affiliate links for directing traffic to those sites is hard-earned--and it is literal pennies sometimes. You can also integrate any affiliate links you do have into draft2digital, so they auto-generate, which is handy.

When it comes to paperbacks, BookShop.org offers the best affiliate earnings, and a percentage of the sale goes toward supporting indie bookstores. They do not take that percentage from your earnings, they pay it themselves. Libro.FM is the audiobook equivalent of BookShop.org, and they also give a percentage of sales to supporting indie book stores.

Anyway, I hope that helps someone. Good luck out there.

I’m coming at this from the traditional side, admittedly, but I’ve got some indie background too. And in both worlds, who you know and particularly who likes you is a bigger competitive edge than any “trade secret”.

Because yeah, sure, if you give someone some help and the right tools, there’s a chance they’ll beat you for a top 100 spot or an award—but worst case scenario, the author in that spot is now your friend.

And suddenly all that traffic from that success is following them on Twitter, so when they help you hype up your next launch you get that traffic too. They decide to put together a collaborative anthology? Guess who gets an invite. They want to do a blog tour? Guess who’s on the list.

I swear I don’t mean to make it sound like friendships should be transactional, and friends never owe you their connections, of course. But if you run around making enemies, not only are you gonna lose immediate opportunities, you’ll lose opportunities with people they know. Writers talk. I know a guy in my trad circle who’s just a jackass, and he made an entire writing degree absolutely worthless because the entire network (the whole point of a cw degree!) knows he’s a schlub.

In indie terms, these tend to be the type of people who couch their writing advice in terms of "if you're not spending money on ads, you're not taking things seriously and don't deserve to succeed."

I pissed a few of them off a while back when Phangs broke into the top 100 Paranormal Romances on Amazon without paying a cent in ad revenue. That was a wild few (irate) radars to fall across.

Unfortunately, there are some people lower down the rungs who see this sort of behavior and seek to emulate it. I personally don't get it and try to ignore them wherever possible. But if they're going to come at me trying to start shit like this person was, they need to be prepared for the fact that I am unapologetically feral when it comes to not giving a fuck about what they deem as "the integrity of publishing" and I will retaliate by doubling down on being as helpful as possible.

+ i want to kick and scream for you to hear me. i want you to be as pathetic for me as i am for you

Taste is a convention that shockingly few writers use in their work. It is, in part, due to how limiting it can be as a descriptor. However, there are plenty of workarounds that will keep your readers immersed and help them understand your meaning.

Use texture

One of the most important parts of any food is its texture. Many of us (myself included) are very sensitive to texture, and it is the first thing we notice when we try a new dish. So, when describing what a character is eating, describe how it might feel. Is it chewy? Tough? Smooth and runny? Dry? Crumbly? Is it warm or cold? How easy is it to chew? While this can make readers uncomfortable if used at length, a few quick descriptions can help make your writing more realistic.

Figurative language: the simile

Has a friend ever told you that a dish they ate "tastes like chicken"? You can use similes like that in your writing, too. Maybe an exotic fruit tastes "as sweet as a grape," or "feels like chewing on leather." Both of these are great examples of simile and give your readers a better understanding of what you're trying to describe.

Emotional/physical reactions

Sometimes, a food is so bad that it elicits a strong physical or emotional response. If you eat something that tastes like dirt, your first instinct might be to spit it out and complain about the bad flavor. Realistic characters can respond this way, too. The same can be said for delicious foods. Your characters might close their eyes while savoring a food, vocalize their delight, or use another physical signal to explain how they feel.

Try it yourself!

If you're having trouble writing a character's reaction to a particularly strong-tasting food, try eating it yourself! Or, if you don't have access to the specific food, eat something that you think might elicit a similar reaction. I don't recommend eating something you despise, but if you're truly desperate, it can be a quick solution.

This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it a set of rules. Lots of my suggestions are things that have worked for me in the past, so maybe they'll help you, too! As always, do what you think is best for your writing. Let me know if you try any of these!

The tragedy of needing to grieve and not knowing what or who you lost or why. The angst of having trauma and being denied the awareness that it's trauma. The suspense of being different somehow and left to wonder how and when. The tension of knowing that something is off and you can't find where it hurts. The Adventure Zone gets it. Kingdom Hearts gets it.

howdy there!!

AHHH THANK U SO MUCH!! you have no idea how much this ask made my day :') !!! u are so, so sweet!! i try really hard with these playlists lol so i'm soooo glad!!

progress is going good!!! I have all of the prologue coded!! i had the thought just to drop it this week to let everyone have a little sense of the tone of the story, but I do want to add a few more things to it since the pro really is only a page.

i'm wanting to try composing somewhat of a soundtrack for the game, so that'll take me a bit, but the pieces won't be overly complicated because music theory is mine enemy >;(

it is not my first time developing an interactive story!!

Tell Me If There's A Way Home was the first story i ever posted online and something i first started writing in 2019 and posted here on tumblr in 2021. it's, like, literally the story of my heart. so i've spent the better part of 5 years (!!!!) trying to get it right. i reformatted tmitawh from an interactive novel to an actual real life novel that i'm currently trying to query to literary agents. (trad publishing is HELL) while i've been working/waiting on this, i've been doing something stupid and making a game about it (???) idk perhaps more to come on this later. the reality of trad publishing is that your book just may never be sold, straight up. so i'm preparing other ways for everyone to be able to witness this story just in case.

The Mouths Of Elysium is currently my OTHER IF that I'm (still!!) working on. a small demo for this is available here! this was inspired by my terrible brain's obsession with Jim Henson's Labyrinth and also my desire to see women be terrible and twisted because i think it's hot. i am not sorry about this >:-)

This Grave Calls You Home hit me like a lightning strike pretty much immediately after watching Interstellar. in the past, I've also posted something about a post-apocalypse story after humanity fled to the stars, but felt that this too was not right and so I took a break from this to figure out the story a bit better. it came to me 2 years later in the form of this story!! i was compelled by this idea of a lone astronaut. they're literally like cowboys, just in a different setting. loneliness is the singular thing that scares me most in this world, above anything tangible and not. space is the epitome of loss, of loneliness. nothing exists and therefore, you do not exist. i became so very nearly feverish with this idea of an astronaut lost forever in space, the memory only barely surviving the absence and then the implications of this as well.

i also love media where the narrator of the story is not the main character and more of a witness. of course, the MC of TGCYH changes the story based on the choices you make while reading, but in truth The Astronaut is the protagonist of this story. this story doesn't exist without The Astronaut.

like lani in my new ARG serial named themselves after the laniakea supercluster. for them it's a way to identify as something meaningful but not explicitly human, which plays a huge part in their character arc.

in songbird elegies, aleph null is technically a bigender hivemind that was once two people. they picked a new name for themselves and ended up choosing a mathematics term for the smallest infinity.

edgar ends up keeping their name, because they do kind of like it, but they mainly go by the middle name they chose (goldfinch) because of its significance in the culture they were excluded from for most of their life. ollie also kept her name - i imagine she finds it androgynous enough to suit her tastes. i actually don't think anyone knows fern's legal first name and i doubt they will every tell anyone.

jeff, katy's youngest sibling, named himself after jeff bridges because the last unicorn was his favorite movie growing up. a lot of people have given him shit for choosing such a normie guy name. he likes it. he stands by his choice.

on identity