Dahlia Part 2 releases today! You can click that link or head over to my store to purchase a copy!
self published
Open for Business!
My store is ready! I’ve got most of my short stories ready for sale and I’m thinking of moving the longer books there, too.
I’ve still been doing some needlework, that I sell here, and I may post them in the store here as well but I kinda like my existing needlework shop. But, we’ll see how much I can get done.
For now, I’m going back to prepping for NaNoWriMo and I’ll be posting more consistent workout updates.
Get bent, Bezos
Ok, even the possibility of my stories being available on Simily for free (you get 4 free reads before you have to pay) is enough for Amazon to flag them. So, I pulled every single one of my short stories that were on Simily off of Amazon and I’ll be setting up an ebook shop page on this site. I’ll be offering my short stories in multiple formats; including .mobi – the file type for Kindles. This will give people a chance to support me directly rather than going through any vendor but you can go to Barnes and Noble or Kobo if you want. If you go to my website, there are even more options. Just click on the Books2Read link to see all available retailers.
For now the Amazon links are still up on my website but I’ll be taking them down once I have the store set up. My longer works will still be available on Amazon since Simily only takes short work. You may ask why I’d ditch such a large retailer but Amazon is a terrible company that abuses it’s workers, dodges taxes, and has a history of stealing ideas to make a cheaper version to undersell the original creator. Not only that, but my last payment from Simily for just the last couple weeks was ten times as high as what I got from Amazon; which was literal pennies. They won’t miss me and I won’t miss them.
I won’t judge anyone who shops there. This is a stance I’m taking because I have the privilege to take it. Just like with Walmart, I have my stance and choose not to spend my money there because I have options. If you still shop at Amazon, that’s fine and is why I will be making the .mobi files available to people who have Kindle readers or apps. I have no intention of shutting those people out.
In addition, I am thinking of adding my stories to Smashwords as another platform to sell. When that’s done, I’ll update you all. The wider I cast my net, the more likely I can cobble together a livable wage from doing what I love.
New Release! Dahlia 2
On the heels of Amazon playing games with me, I have a new release! The next part of the Dahlia trilogy is currently in pre-order and will be released on October 26th! You can support any of your preferred retailers by clicking here, and all my books will be available via my blog as I am in the process of building a store here. I’ll probably end up selling more than just my ebooks but we’ll see how much I can get done.
Oh, Amazon thinks they’re funny…
This morning, I wake up to this lovely email:
Hello,ÂAmazon blocked your book titled Fruit of the Dead – Season One: Episode One stating they found it freely available on the web.
They are asking for proof of rights, rights reversion letters, or contractual statements showing you have the complete rights to this work. As part of the sign up to add content to Amazon through this site, you were notified that no portion of your book can be posted freely available online, as it causes Amazon to question the copyrights. I will include Amazon’s email below for you to read through.ÂAmazon only gives us a few days to comply with these requests. Please immediately respond to this email with any documentation you have available as proof of copyrights and confirmation that the content posted on https://simily.co/all-stories/fiction/lightinash/fruit-of- the-dead-season-one-episode- one/ belongs exclusively to you. You will need to sign (physically sign) and send us a form that states this that we can forward to Amazon.Â
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This is some bullshit because Simily, while offering 4 free stories for a user to read, is a paid subscription site. Meaning my story is NOT freely available and I’ve made more money from Simily in the last month than I have from Amazon. My only reply was to say Simily isn’t a free site and that’s it. They can take their documentation and shove it.
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If they decide to be a giant fucking bully and pull my books, I will have no fucking problem selling the digital copies direct from my blog. I’ve been thinking about putting a store on here for awhile and every day we find out how shitty Amazon and Jeff Bezos are. I’ve been actively shopping at alternative places and I only buy from Amazon if I have no other choice and I get gift cards from Swagbucks or any other of my points sites. I’ve had ethical debates in my head of having my books on there at all because I dislike them so much. So, not that they will give a shit, but I don’t care if Amazon pulls my stuff. Call my bluff, guys. Ya’ll won’t miss me anyway!
Announcement!
If you were looking for another way to support my work without supporting huge publishers, I have posted my stories on Simily! Not all of them are available but I’m slowly adding them.
This doesn’t mean I’ll be removing my stories from other platforms. I know there are people who don’t want to or can’t use Amazon or other big retailers for various reasons. It’s a subscription type site so there are plenty of other authors to see as well! Click here to check it out!
It’s here!
The first part of “Dahlia” is all done and ready for purchase! Click here or the picture above. Here’s the quick blurb:
Dahlia has a peaceful life working for a recycling company and coming home to her loving wife. But when that peace is shattered, a new terrible world is opened up, a dark past is revealed, and a dangerous quest begins.
I’m super excited to put this one out there. I hope you enjoy it!
Website Update!
After publishing a bunch of new stories, it was high time I updated my website. If you want a one stop shop for all of my work, this is the place to go. I can’t believe how many I’d missed but it’s all there now; including the forthcoming “Dahlia: Part One.” Feel free to check it out!
Writing Update: Yeah, remember? I write books.
It’s been a while since I’ve done an update but I have been working. I haven’t published since Djinn 2 and Fruit of the Dead 2, but I have been hard at work re-writing and expanding a short story I wrote in college called “Dahlia.” Instead of a couple-page drabble, I’m going to turn it into either a full novel or a multi-part series. I have to see how the writing goes.
As you can see from the picture, I’m 7k deep and the story is progressing nicely. I hesitate to give a timeline because that totally depends on if I hit a roadblock or have a particularly productive streak of days. I do already have a cover for it but I’ll hold off on posting it until the story is close to being published. I’ll probably have to tweak the design a bit once more of the story is done.
Hopefully I’ll have a release date soon!
New Release!
It’s ready! Just click here to purchase! If you’re looking to start from scratch, click here for part one!