I'm sorry that I've been away. As far as I can tell, I've sort of been shut down with all sorts of blocks. For example, I had three dusty and crumpled duvet covers, one of which absolutely needed a wash. They literally blocked off my room, but I avoided dealing with them because I knew that I'd need to wash, dry and iron them and I was dithering between that and prioritising other washing, and I was pretty much at a standstill over it. Because I needed to wash clothes, some stuff that had been stacked and got damp, and the general day to day stuff, but the duvets were always lurking there, and I knew that I'd struggle to iron them because I struggle to stand, so even if I washed them, they'd probably just transfer to another dusty heap, possibly less crumpled if I folded them right. But I couldn't take them to a charity shop like that, and I definitely couldn't pass them on unless they looked good. I tied myself up into knots about the dratted things, then decided that the world wouldn't end if I didn't donate or reuse them, and threw them out.
I haven't posted on here because I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't done anything in the garden. In my defence, moving is interesting as I've done something different to my back, but I still feel in knots. I need to find the equivalent of throwing out the duvets. Right now, the garden is so overgrown that I feel that I could find a lost tribe, a secret temple and King Solomon's Mines in the tiny square outside my house.
One thing that has brought me joy - I used a book to bring my monitor up to a sensible height.
Yes, it's a real book. It's the old Gazatteer and I intend to access it regularly, just for fun!
Bear had a good holiday, and seems to be doing okay. I'm putting together another parcel for him, which I hope that he'll enjoy as he's got to the 'neck deep in exams' part of the university year. It's just bits like hot chocolate, biscuits and some hot sauce that he likes.
The rest of the post is about writing, so feel free to skip it.
Another block that I've had is that I wanted to do the proper thing and publish the novels from the White Hart at monthly intervals with all the ARC reading and publicity. I got myself tied up in knots there as well, and I decided that the equivalent of throwing out the duvet covers was just getting the dratted things published. I've paid out for new covers, the first two are current on Amazon, and I should have the lot of them out there by the end of the month. I need to do the updated links on my blog, but here is Tales from the White Hart
And More Tales from the White Hart
About Publishing - If you read a lot, and indulge in indie authors, this may explain why books are now not always available in the same way.
If I keep my ebooks on Amazon only, I can use Amazon Kindle Unlimited, and I can get more royalties that way. In fact, it's the biggest source of the very small income that I make. However, not everyone likes Amazon, and up to now, I could publish paperbacks on Draft2Digital. They would distribute to places like Walmart and Waterstones if my books were requested, together with all sorts of independent bookstores and libraries. Up until recently, it was free to publish. Now, however, Draft2Digital are charging $12 per year to any author who doesn't make more than $100 in royalties. Apparently, this is to weed out the AI books that are less than stellar quality and clogging up the bookstores.
By the way, that $100 doesn't mean the sum total of the costs of the books sold. It means the percentage paid out to the author as their cut. If you look at Cats in the Bible, the buyer pays $5.99, but I get $0.06, and it's the total of those $0.06 that needs to add up to $100 or I have to pay $12. My total of royalties, including stuff that goes back a few years, comes to $1.80.
I know there's a lot of chatter about it in author circles, and I suspect that quite a few are removing their titles. Now, as long as I earn more than $12, it should be good, right? I'll still have to pay, but I'll get more than I pay and I'll be able to offer the books to those who don't want to shop at Amazon. But on top of that, I'm having a bear of a time trying to get Tales from the White Hart uploaded there. I'm still thinking about it. Is it worth my time? Or is it just the equivalent of dusty and crumpled duvet covers?
Hopefully I get past all those discarded duvet covers and get back here with something a little more fun.
Hugs and good health to all.
