Or, maybe re-read it. It is a relaunch, after all.
In Devon and Lenore’s world, magic is as common as turning a pot or fletching an arrow. What isn’t common is a man with thread magic. When Devon starts weaving prophetic tapestries, his royal family tries to keep it a secret.
But the family can’t stay in the shadows when Devon’s uncle is assassinated and he becomes second in line for the throne. Especially when he weaves a vision of destruction for the dragon lands.
Who is Broken Patterns for? It’s for people who love magic, dragons, and stories about people who don’t quite fit in. It’s a story about a boy who is clearly not his dad’s favorite, but holds within him the power to save a country. It’s the story of a young woman with the ability to bring light to the world, who has to fight against its darkest forces first. And, it has science wielding dragons. I cannot stress this enough, there are dragons doing science. I am so proud of that.
The journey from the start of this series to this point has been a wild one. It’s been ten years. Ten long years of learning, growing and watching the world catch fire around me. And I’ve never stopped being thankful for this story. I hope that you all love this new, updated version as much as I do.
Books go through several versions in the course of their lives. My books often look wildly different from rough drafts to finished products.
But once the book is out there in the world, the revisions might not be finished. Often different versions come out of the same story. For book collectors like me, this can be infuriating. I think we all have a few books that we consider to have ‘definitive’ versions. And sometimes those versions are just impossible to replace if something (cat) happens to them.
Or you get a copy of a book, and then you find out there’s another version that is so much cooler. But you already have one copy, and do you really need multiple copies of the same book? Then you decide it doesn’t hurt to have a few copies, and this is how you end up with five copies of Christmas Carol and not enough shelf space for this kind of foolish behavior.
There are several reasons a book might relaunch or come out with alternative copies. Some make a lot of sense, and some are regrettable. And if you are a self-published author, it’s something you might want to consider. Let’s talk about why.
Commemorative copies
Everyone loves anniversaries and milestone moments. Ten, fifteen and twenty-year anniversaries are a great time to relaunch a beloved book with a new forward, new cover, or extra content. Fans of books eat this sort of thing up, myself included.
While I wouldn’t necessarily do this for every book every ten years (that would be a lot) it can be a rewarding project for you to republish a book that’s meaningful to you on a big anniversary.
Movie and TV show tie-ins
I’ll be honest, this is my least favorite reason to relaunch a book. When content gets made into a show or movie, some wiseass in the promotional department usually suggests they relaunch the book with a new cover inspired by the new iteration. If I ever stumble upon a version of the Giver with the movie poster for its cover, I might set the damn thing on fire.
But, if you like the book and the movie, this might be fun for you. And if your story gets picked up for a movie or show, this could be fun.
New covers
Of course, sometimes covers just need to be redone. There are lots of reasons for this. While I love my covers for Seeming and You Can’t Trust The AI, they don’t match the rest of the series. Unfortunately, the fantastic artist who designed them wasn’t able to finish the series. And so I will, eventually, be relaunching that whole series with new covers that all match.
The other issue could be that the original covers are just bad. This isn’t usually anyone’s fault. I think we all want to give our books the best covers we can. But as we learn more, we can and should do better. I loved the cover for Station Central when I made it. But I think we can all agree that the one for Nova is a lot better.
Then, of course, there’s a situation like the one I’m in right now. I’m relaunching the Woven series, and one of the best things about that is giving them the new covers they’ve deserved for years.
And yes, a cover announcement is coming soon.
Expanded versions
Sometimes when books are traditionally published, they get cut by the editors because they’re just too damn long. Or maybe some scenes are perfectly fine, but offended someone’s sensibilities. Whatever the reason, sometimes good scenes get cut from books.
And sometimes, the writers this happens to get enough clout and respect to go back and correct those mistakes. This has happened with at least two books I enjoyed, The Stand and American Gods. I’ve read the original, and I’ve read the expanded versions. And I can honestly say I like the expanded versions better. But of course, when a book is good enough, it’s always too short.
New publisher
And of course, books will sometimes change publishers during their lives. Or international versions will come out under different publishers. Sometimes that means that someone else owns the artwork on the original cover. Sometimes it just needs updating for any of the above reasons and it’s just a convenient time to get it done. And sometimes the new publisher just wants to put their mark on the book, which is understandable. Marketing is important, after all, and building a brand is boring but crucial work if you want your company to continue to, you know, survive.
I’m sure I missed some reasons why a book might be relaunched. I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Or, if you know of a book that has one definitive version, let us know that as well.
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Having my books available to as many people as possible is very important to me. And I know this one took some time, but I am so glad to see Man in The Woods no longer bound to one place.
And, the timing couldn’t be better. Because, in case you missed it on my social media, Smashwords is currently having its Summer Sale. And yes, Man in The Woods is included.
I hope that you get a chance to get your hands on Man in The Woods, my eerie little woods story. This story was so important to me, and I love seeing other people enjoy it.
And by the way, this isn’t the last launch of 2024. Stay tuned, I have a lot of exciting things on the way.
That’s the message I get often on social media. Especially Bookstagram. I have such a hate/love relationship with Bookstagram. I can feast my eyes for way too long on these gorgeous pictures of new hardcovers set next to luxurious steaming cups of coffee, shelves full of expensive editions and books with colored edges, and a fluffy chair just waiting for a lucky reader to spend hours in a fantastical world. Oh, and there are usually super cute girls with big swords and perfect manicures.
Of course, it’s not just social media that makes me feel like my reading is inferior. I just finished attending Nebula Con a few weeks ago. And it was a fantastic experience. I came away with so much knowledge and writing inspiration. I also came away feeling like a dipshit who eats crayons regarding my reading choices. It seems like everyone else is reading large, important, influential works while I’m over here reading young adult fiction most of the time. And I can’t even do that right. I never seem to like the popular thing. I’ve never read a single Sarah J. Mass book, for instance. And as a child, I hated A Wrinkle in Time.
I still don’t like it.
All of this is to say that I have been feeling down on myself for the books I read. And really, the way I consume stories in general. Because frankly, I watch a lot of TV and movies. I listen to a lot of podcast fiction. I even, gasp, read comic books. The amount of time I spend sitting down and reading is small compared to the time I spend doing almost anything else.
I am not the only one who gets down on myself for this, I’m sure. So, I’m here to ask all of us a simple question today.
What in the hell are we doing to ourselves?
I didn’t start to love reading as a child because I loved bookshelves and proving I was smarter than everyone else because I finished a long and difficult book. I wasn’t the little asshole reading Anna Karenina during recess. I was reading Goosebumps, Bunnicula, Babysitter’s Club, Laura Ingles, and Sweet Valley High (my mom had them and I was bored one summer). I read Calvin and Hobbs, Far Side, Harry Potter, every Roald Dahl book, and Power Rangers. Lest you think it was all fluff, I also read Tuck Everlasting, Bridge to Terabithia and Where The Red Fern Grows, Chronicles of Narnia and Dragon Riders of Pern. I didn’t read these books to impress anyone. I read them because they were fun to read. And reading for fun shaped a lot of who I am as an adult.
I don’t want to lose that love of reading for fun. And I don’t want you to either. So today I want to answer four questions you might be asking yourself about your reading habits. Starting with the biggest one.
Am I reading enough?
I get it. I like numbers that go up too. I like feeling challenged, and I sure do the Goodreads goal every single year. But I do that mostly so I feel like I’m accomplishing something when I’m reading, otherwise I find it hard to relax and actually allow myself to read.
Otherwise, I feel like I’m just slacking if I’m not reading something educational or reviewing it. And this, I think, is the true curse of adulthood. We feel like we must be productive in all things.
But we don’t. And we certainly don’t have to speed read through 100 books in a year to prove that we are well-read. First off, when would you find the time? We all have work or school. We’re all trying to survive in this late-stage capitalist hellscape. Most of us are taking care of other people as well as ourselves. And it would be nice if we saw the sun sometimes.
If your goal is quantity, not quality, you’re going to have a shitty reading experience. You’re going to shy away from longer books because they’ll take too much time. You’ll be skimming, not consuming the stories. And that’s just not fun.
I want to read The Stand and enjoy the gory, dark tale without worrying if I can still finish five books this month. I want to dive into a book and experience it, even if that means I don’t get through more than a chapter a day. And I want to continue to eat food, so I do have to do actual work sometimes.
So if a reading goal helps you give yourself space to read, that’s fantastic. But don’t let it consume your reading joy. Don’t let it make reading just another burden.
Am I reading the right books?
Let me tell you a tale of two books. One is This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. The other is Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Both won Nebula awards. Both came highly recommended by other SFWA writers. Both were getting a ton of love online.
I read Time War in a day. Granted, it was a novella, but still. It was fantastic. I’ve never read anything like it.
I didn’t finish Light from Uncommon Stars. It seems like a good book, but the story wasn’t grabbing me. I found myself making excuses not to read, which is always a kiss of death.
I think my dislike of the book stemmed from the romantic plot. While I like a little romance, it bores me quickly if there isn’t something else to catch my attention. And for me, there was too much romance and not enough sci-fi in this sci-fi story.
I think a lot of us feel like we aren’t reading the right books. We don’t know the classics. We aren’t reading the right authors. We aren’t reading things that are challenging enough, impressive enough, or thought-provoking enough.
My problem with this is that nothing is going to be thought-provoking if you’re not provoked to read the damn thing.
Yes, we should read out of our comfort zone. We should read indie books, books that we’ve never heard of before. Books that everyone’s talking about and books from authors no one recognizes. We should certainly read books by people who don’t look like us. We should read old books and new books. We should read banned books. We should read books we might not even agree with.
But just because you try a book doesn’t mean you have to finish it.
Stephen King gives an example in Hearts in Atlantis. Reading a book is like priming a water pump. You have to give it some work before it kicks in, but you wouldn’t keep pumping if nothing is coming out. He suggests getting ten percent of the way through a book. At that point, you can give it up if you don’t like it. My latest book is 250 pages. If I don’t have your attention by page 25, then the story isn’t for you. And that’s fine!
We all have different tastes. We should absolutely try new things and expand our pallets. But just because you try something doesn’t mean you have to finish it.
Am I consuming stories the right way?
This is the one that upsets me the most if I’m being honest. I cannot stand it when people put down movies and TV shows. Granted, some are hot garbage. But so are some novels. I don’t think someone who reads Twilight is intellectually superior to someone who watches Dr. Who, for instance.
Stories are stories, no matter how we tell them. TV and movies are just another medium. The same goes for comic books. I started this year reading Bone, and it was a good time.
The worst thing I’ve seen, though, is people who put down audiobooks as being somehow inferior. First off, that’s a privileged argument. Not everyone can read a physical book for many reasons. Vision issues, certain neurodivergent problems and physical health can all be boundaries to people reading. But it could also be a lack of time. I can listen to a book while I’m cleaning, cooking, or walking Oliver. All of these are things I have to do, so I can consume a story while I do it. I am not choosing to listen to an audiobook over reading, I am doing what I have space for in my life.
(And yes, before anyone points this out, I know that my books aren’t yet available as audiobooks. It’s expensive and time-consuming and I am working on it. As much as I want to provide my stories to people who can’t read a physical book, I also need to make sure that I’m creating a quality product that I’m proud of, paying people for their time and talent, and not overworking myself in the process. There’s a reason most indie books don’t come in audiobook form.)
This post has already gone on long enough, so let me finally answer the question we came in on. Are you reading right? Well, if you’re enjoying the story then the answer is, and will always be, yes. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. Not even yourself.
Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what we do here, please like and share this post. You can also support us financially on Ko-fi.
Man in The Woods is now available on Smashwords and almost everywhere!
It is summertime, and I hate it. I hate this season so much. It is too hot, it gets dark too late, light too early, and everyone is outside. So going to the park with Oliver, or to do witchy things, or to just read, is a miserable experience right now. My electric bill is through the roof, and I cannot bake anything without wanting to die.
So I might as well stay inside and read.
Here’s what I intend to read this Summer. Some of these books are ones I failed to read in Winter and Spring. Some are witchy books. Some are writing books. Some are coming out this Summer and some have been around for a while.
Will I get to them all? Probably not. I might get distracted and re-read From a Buick 8 for the seventh time. But I am sure as hell going to try.
Rainbow Magic by Molly Roberts
This book isn’t the sort that you sit down and read through. It’s a project book. And I am excited to get started on these projects. Expect lots of color projects shared on Instagram and some color-inspired poetry. Everything Roberts does makes me want to just explode with creativity. She makes me want to be a better, messier, happier witch and writer.
Inspiring Creativity by Astrea Taylor
This book was recommended to me because of my love of Molly Roberts. So, I thought I’d check it out. It is another book about ritualizing your art. I’m very excited to read it.
A Rather Haunted Lifeby Ruth Franklin
I’m a big Shirley Jackson fan, if you can’t tell my constant Haunting of Hill House references. So I am excited to learn more about her life. Though, based on what I already know about her life, this isn’t likely to be a light read. But I think it’ll be a good one.
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink
You might be surprised to know that I’ve never listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. It’s on my list but there are so. Many. Episodes! And I am not the sort of person who can just listen to the recommended ones, I have to read them all. But, this book seems like a good introduction to the world. And, Joseph Fink wrote Alice isn’t Dead, which was a fantastic podcast and book. So this one should be right up my creepy little ally.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
It wouldn’t be a book list from me if I didn’t have some Gaiman on it. This one is apparently about the faie, so Summer seems the best time to read it.
Grimoire of the Thornblooded Witch by Raven Grimassi
This book comes highly recommended by people with good taste. It seems to be about Earth magic, but I haven’t cracked into it yet so I don’t know.
Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine
Valentine is becoming a buy-on-sight author for me. She wrote How to Survive Your Murder and Delicate Condition, both of which were fantastic. This book comes out near the end of the month, and I am stoked to read it. Watch Haunted MTL for the review.
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
It’s becoming a Summer tradition, me and the newest release for Moreno-Garcia. Last year it was Silver Nitrate, the year before it was The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. This one is about a dark history and Hollywood in the 1950s. I cannot wait.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
It also wouldn’t be a book list from me without an inclusion from the King. And this might surprise you, but I’ve never read any of The Gunslinger series. But it’s referenced in Hearts in Atlantis and From a Buick 8. And I loved both of those books. Actually, I think it would be easier to list the King books I haven’t liked. So I’m going to give this a try.
Where The Gods Left Off by Sara Raztresen
If it wasn’t already obvious, I am a Christian Witch. And I am not the only one. There are dozens of us. Dozens!
Raztresen is a great educator. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but I watch her YouTube videos and follow her on Instagram. I am eager to see how much knowledge she has to give in print form.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
I meant to read this at the start of the year, but I have been having a hard time finding it. But it seems like a great sci-fi murder mystery. And, of course, I love Mur Lafferty.
Let The Whole Thundering World Come Home by Natalie Goldberg
I have read so many of Goldberg’s books, and every one just feels like a hug. Her writing style is so gorgeous, showing the beauty and sorrow of everyday moments.
Now I want to hear from you. What are you reading? What’s on your Summer Reading List? Do you want to yell at me for hating Summer? Let me know in the comments.
Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what we do here, please like and share this post. You can also support us financially on Ko-fi.
Man in The Woods is now available for preorder on Smashwords!
If you’ll recall, last year I got the rights back to a whole bunch of my books. I immediately set about relaunching the works myself, starting with my eerie short haunted woods story, Man in The Woods.
This is a great story if you hate those massive planned neighborhoods that seem to pop up like fungus. It’s a great story if you’ve ever thought you saw someone standing in the woods when there shouldn’t have been anybody there.
It’s a great story if you like things that sing in the night with malicious intent.
Until now, it hasn’t been a story for anyone who doesn’t like shopping on Amazon. But on July 5th, that’s going to change. Because The Man in The Woods is going wide.
The story will be available on all major retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and the Google Play store. It might even soon be available on Hoopla, though I have to confirm that.
I’m so excited my spooky little story will be available to everyone on July 5th. And if you haven’t had a chance to read it already, I look forward to you meeting the Man in The Woods.
This book took me so long to write, and took such a wild, winding path. I am truly humbled by everyone who read this book already when it was posted here. And I hope that everyone who gets the book loves it as much as I loved writing it.
And if you’ve never read any of the Station 86 books, don’t forget that you can get book one, Seeming, for free on Smashwords.
Thank you all again for reading, for showing up here, and for supporting the work I do. You truly are the reason I keep showing up every week and at my desk every day.
Please enjoy the first episode of Station Central, the story of a vacation gone terribly wrong. If you like it, you can grab the whole story now on Smashwords.
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