Which means I'm very tired.
I'm going to need to focus on the book the first half of October since its release date is the 15th. And then scramble with the unpacking since GK and his family will arrive the following week.
I'm so excited to spend Adorable Spawn's first Halloween with him.
Even better, I found a replacement for my skeleton dragon lawn decoration, and it should be here on Friday!
That's not counting the series I took down last year to rework or the short story sales I made to trad publishing markets. Some of my indie-published stuff are short stories and novellas, but the majority are novels.
At some point, I'll break everything down for y'all and include the trad published numbers. But damn, that's a lot of books!
I think I need to keep track so I can celebrate when I hit 100!
I got stabbed for the flu yesterday. Unfortunately, my doctor also ordered me to get a COVID-19 booster. Our county's infection numbers are shooting up because the Delta variant is rampaging through the area. Too many unvaxxed folks are on ventilators. There's only two hospitals in Hancock County so there's a limited number of beds.
I don't want to be one of them because break-thru infections are happening. I really wish some of my friends and family took this disease more seriously. I don't want to send out any more sympathy cards. I don't want to lose anyone. And I don't want to die either.
Take care of yourselves, folks. Get your shots if your doctor recommends them. Remember...
Winter is coming.
1) The first issue is the supply shortage. All companies are suffering this, but for publishing, the printers are having trouble getting paper.
We went through a similar paper shortage in the '90's. That coupled with the collapse of a major distributor triggered a rise in prices.
This time, the companies producing paper are looking at their own supply shortage of raw material thanks to lockdowns, illness, and death from COVID-19. Then they have their own problems staffing their facilities.
Unfortunately, shortages drive prices up. I use Ingramspark for printing my own books. The CEO of Ingram sent out a notice that they are initiating a 6% increase in printing costs because they're having to pay extra to get paper. This means I, as a publisher, have to increase the price of my books to cover my overhead. It sucks the big one for my readers. Since I use POD printing, the cost is already higher than a Big 5 paperback.
2) The second issue is staffing. Just like the factories that produce pulp for the paper mills and mills themselves, there's a major shortage in employees. There's a combination of factors: deaths from COVID-19, people with health issues thanks to long COVID, quarantines because of sick family members, employees forced to find other jobs do to shutdowns, etc. Ingram is facing the same low staff problems as every other company, which was why the CEO told his own customers to get their orders in early.
Ingram isn't the only printer having these issues. The shipping companies are also having staffing issues. Ports don't have enough people to unload ships coming into the U.S. There's a shortage of truck drivers, warehouse workers, and delivery drivers.
The Big Five are especially sensitive to these problems. As a result, even if an author's book is selling like gangbusters, the major publishers aren't bothering to reprint those books. So if a bookstore owner has a zillion requests for whatever book is the new, hot thing, they can't get it!
In a way, I'm lucky being a small cheese publisher. I have some print sales, but not enough to start fretting about the shortages. Yet.
However, I will have to adjust my calculations for my proposed Kickstarter in case the paperbacks become a big reward item that backers want.
The hardest part is estimating the overhead. The Kickstarter fee is easy enough. But it's the physical rewards that are a mess.
Loren recommends keeping it simple for your first Kickstarter and only use digital rewards. The problem is I know several of my readers prefer paper. I'm not even trying to do something new like hardcovers yet. That will come next year.
I'm looking at my basic trade paperbacks. The shipping in the U.S. is bad enough right now. But there's also my overseas readers who want paperbacks.
I've already ordered magnets and stickers as promo for my new series in preparation of the Local Author Fair in November. And a part of me wants t-shirts to wear at the fair, so if I'm going to order them, why not offer them as a reward on the Kickstarter.
It's all something to consider and calculate and make sure shipping is covered.
Budgeting and accounting makes my head ache.
Now, there's a pile of bills to be dealt with, and a ton of writing to do.
Hang in there, my friends. Entertainment is coming your way.
Instead of posting a new chapter of my current work-in-progress over on my main website, there's a new short story under the Free Short Story tab. (Or you can click this link.)
The Trickster Priestess and the Demon is set in the Justice universe. I hope you enjoy it!
Known Coronavirus Cases in the U.S. -- 41,547,621
Known Coronavirus Deaths in the U.S. -- 670,527
I've heard variations of the words "You don't matter" all my life.
I'm a female so I don't matter.
I don't have a college education so I don't matter.
I have a college education so I don't matter/
I like Star Trek so I don't matter.
I live in rural America so I don't matter.
I live in urban America so don't matter.
I'm not an athlete so I don't matter.
I'm a bookworm so I don't matter
And I could keep going, but you get the gist.
It's tiring, right? Except now, I have some measure of peace in my own home with a flower garden. But what happens to the people who can't find that peace. The ones who can't escape all the voices and actions that scream they don't matter.
Social justice warrior is a dirty word in our society. Those against it want to cling to their fragile illusion of power. But it's power based on cruelty. That cruelty is wielded to break all the bonds of fairness that people are trying to weave together. How nasty can we be to our fellow humans before we break inside?
I do matter. And so do all of you.
With the Delta variant of COVID-19 surge, I don't dare go places I don't have to. So I have to resort to phone calls, texts, e-mails, and various social medias to keep in touch with friends.
The need to distance is chafing my psyche, even for someone as introverted as me.
We bought a house with a guest room, added some awesome furniture, and yet none of our friends have been able to visit.
Heck, I haven't even had a chance (or the bravery) to shop for patio furniture and a barbeque grill. I only wave to the neighbors. And it looks like I'll need to figure out how to incorporate medical masks with my Halloween costume.
Maybe Psycho Surgeon?
Anyway, for those of you who don't like shopping Amazon, I've been uploading the files on the other e-book retailers as I get them from my formatter. In regards to the paperbacks, I'm uploading files, but Ingramspark is also behind due to employees out with COVID-19. So far, only one book out of five loaded have made it through the gauntlet.
In the meantime, I'm trying to finish A Very Hero Wedding in between file reviews. And I'm really hoping to have a very special announcement soon!
After years of funding other people's projects, I've been studying fiction Kickstarters for a while now as a new way to introduce my books into the world. Here's a couple I'm studying:
A friend of mine Matt Herron, aka MG Herron, has taken the plunge before me. His Kickstarter for his space opera trilogy, Relics of the Ancients has been been going like gangbusters. He's got some awesome things as rewards. Things I've considered like stickers, bookmarks, and t-shirts. And some things I haven't like little models of his series' starfighters. It's a super-awesome campaign, and you should check it out!
And once again, WMG Publishing is running a Kickstarter for a new Kris Rusch book. It's the first novel involving her Spade and Paladin characters. *SQUEE*
However, the better part are the classes WMG offers for writers as part of their rewards. The awesome part is a lot of these classes are aimed at mid-level writers, i.e. those of who have a novel or 60 out in the world and are trying to fine-tune their work. It doesn't mean newbies won't get anything out of these classes.
Anyway, both of them give me ideas on how to handle my own Kickstarter when I'm ready to dive in.
Known COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. - 659,316
Yeah, there was a spike over the last week, thanks to the Delta variant of the damn virus. Just in the last week, COVID-19 cases in our county have doubled. What the average Joe and Jane don't seem to realize is that with every infection, the virus could mutate again.
Even when it's a break-thru infection for someone who is vaccinated.
The folks not getting vaccinated are setting themselves up to help create an even more deadly version of COVID-19. Why, oh, why is the human race so suicidal?
This is one of my Halloween wreaths, the current one hanging. I thought the green and black was a little too garish for my front door.
By the way, a red door brings good fortune under the principles of feng shui.
I got very behind over the last two years in getting paperbacks out. So far behind, a couple of readers contacted me to find out if I was still doing paper versions of my novels.
Ironically, just as I'm getting caught up on that end of the production, Ingram is having problems with file reviews, production, and distribution thanks to the Delta variant of COVID-19 that's currently sweeping across the U.S.
I've got to finish A Very Hero Wedding and buckle down on the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse series, not to mention finish revisions on the Millersburg Magick Mysteries series.
I also need to finish unpacking the boxes in the living room and get everything put away before the kids bring Adorable Spawn here for Halloween.
I also need to shop for new Halloween decorations and a new area rug for Adorable Spawn to crawl on to replace the few things I lost in the unintended indoor pool situation.
However, it's September 1st, which means I WILL hang one of my Halloween wreaths on the front door this evening!
