go off queen

The first kind is that they buy a license for a pre-determined amount of check-outs. I'll just make some numbers up for the sake of illustrating what that looks like: Let's say $20 for 20 borrows. When the ebook has been checked out 20 times, the library has to renew the license and pay more money in order to continue lending out the ebook. The author gets a cut of that $20 as their royalties.

The second kind is literally paying per borrow. (Again just making up numbers here) Let's say the library pays 50 cents every time the book is checked out. The author still gets a cut as their royalties. Is it just 10 or 20 cents per borrow? Yes, but that adds up! AND it means that people who otherwise wouldn't have been able to read my book at all are able to read it, which is great! AND it means that the library is thriving and being used, which is also great!

So yes, authors DO get paid from library activity!!!!!!

i don’t want to go into the nitty gritty of it all or try to dissect all the many things that have gone wrong because i’ve already done that and no amount of missteps that i’ve personally made rival the Big Reason We All Know: i’m an indie artist and designer that is dedicated to creating size inclusive, ethically made clothing in a world that seems determined to make that impossible for someone who is not already independently wealthy.

i haven’t talked about this publicly until now, but this year devin and i had to take substantial pay cuts just to keep the business running. we even skipped a few paychecks and seriously cut into our savings to make sure the business survived, and it’s still a struggle.

money is tight for everyone (me included) and the online attention economy is the worst it’s ever been—and for a small business that relies almost entirely on internet word-of-mouth to makes sales and pay the bills, that is a disastrous combination.

i’ve honestly reached a point where i feel bad even trying to post about my store because of how bad things are. it feels wrong to try to sell non-essential items in a world that is so hard. even if i love and believe in them. even if i know they are a net positive in the world.

everyone deserves clothing that makes them look and feel good, and that was made to last by people who were properly compensated to make it, regardless of their size. that is my core ethos running this store, and that’s what keeps me going. because i love and believe in what i do, even when it’s a struggle.

it feels silly, sometimes, to have so many big feelings about clothing—but i guess it’s normal to care about something that has made up the majority of your life for an entire decade.

i don’t really know where i’m going with this. a more astute sales person would probably include some photos of their wares at the end with a call to action and a link to their store, but right now even thinking about doing that here makes me feel gross.