Category: Uncategorized

Waiting for the end of a series might kill the series

Who hasn’t felt this heartbreak? You get introduced to a series, and it’s love at first sight. The characters, the plot, the execution. Everything is just hitting that spot.

And then, you finish the first book or first season. So what is there to do but wait for the next one?

So you wait. And you wait. And you wait. Finally, one day, the dark truth is revealed.

Your series was canceled.

So many, many good series have been canceled before their time. Or, there’s so much time between one book or season and the next that it feels like it might as well have been canceled. And it sucks! I could just start listing off series that have ended without an ending for the rest of this post, and I’d run out of room before I ran out of titles. Just a few that still tear me up are Limetown, The Numair Chronicles, and of course the infamous Firefly.

No, Serenity doesn’t count as an ending.

And don’t even get me started on the extensive times between books or seasons. The last season of Stranger Things came out in 2022, and the next season isn’t expected until next year!

With all that being said, I understand why some people choose to wait until a series has ended before getting invested in it. Doing so would have certainly saved me from the heartache of the Santa Clarita Diet ending. And I didn’t like it, but I know Song of Ice and Fire fans probably wish they’d skipped the whole damn thing after waiting thirteen years and counting for the next book.

Here’s the thing though. Waiting to read a series or watch a show until it’s done, is just increasing the chances that it’s never going to get done at all.

The publisher is going to nope out

The publishing world is a business, like any other. And it’s going to produce what makes it money. Not what’s good, or what the editors like, but what sells. The same can be said for streaming platforms and TV networks. If enough people aren’t watching a series, there’s little chance it’ll get picked up for season two, if it even gets a chance to finish season one.

This is one of the things I hate most about the field. Storytelling is cutthroat, and I hate that creative endeavors have to be so. It’s like knowing fennec foxes will fight to the death with each other. It shouldn’t be in their nature, but it is.

The money is going to dry up

Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist society. And because of that, sometimes we have to make shitty decisions. So even an indie writer, like myself, might have to cut a project if it’s not making enough money to be worth the time.

Again, most people don’t want to do this. I love writing my stories. I want to see how my series ends as much as everyone else. Probably more. But when creative work is what’s putting food on your table and keeping the lights on, you have to make sure what you’re producing is what’s selling. Writers and creatives have to have some income from book one while they’re working on book two.

No one likes playing to an empty house

Okay, so what’s my excuse, you might ask. I don’t write for TV and I’m not traditionally published. I have a day job, so I don’t depend on my writing money to eat. So what’s stopping me from writing anything I want?

Nothing. I can, and do, publish whatever I want whenever I want. But what I want is to write stories that people read. Or listen to, in the case of AA.

If I didn’t care if other people read my work, I’d just publish it for fun and move on to another project. I certainly wouldn’t waste time promoting my books. I wouldn’t invest in cover art. I wouldn’t waste time with beta readers. I would just write whatever the hell made me happy.

But I want to put out work that other people enjoy. I want to put out work that people value. And the only way I can tell that people are valuing my stories is if they’re buying them. And if people aren’t valuing my stories, I’ll move on and write a different one.

To end today, please understand that I get the challenge. It is awful to have a story without an ending. And yes, if you jump on a new series right away, there’s a chance it might not have an ending. But if you never start, there’s even more of a chance that the story will never be able to end.

If you liked what you saw here today, please consider liking and sharing this post. Or you can support the site financially on Ko-fi.

Broken Patterns is available now for preorder! You can order it now on Amazon.

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Broken Patterns is now available for preorder

This post was almost just me typing look at this cover! in all caps. Because this cover is, let me tell you, astounding.

Isn’t that freaking gorgeous? Thank you so much, Getcovers, who did a fantastic job.

All of that to say, Broken Patterns is now available for presale. You can get it right here now, and be among the first to read it on September sixth.

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.

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Why should you consider relaunching your book?

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.

If you liked what you saw here today, please consider liking and sharing this post. Or you can support the site financially on Ko-fi.

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Man in The Woods is now available Wide!

Today is the day. Man in The Woods is now available on Smashwords, and most other book platforms! 

Hurray! 

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.

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Are you reading right?

You’re reading wrong. You’re not doing it right.

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!

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What I’m reading this Summer

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 Life by 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!

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Man in The Woods is going wide!

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.

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It’s Nova’s Launch Day!

The time has come! Nova, book five of Station 86 is available now on Amazon in both e-book and physical!

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.

And yes, book six is coming.

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