Ivy's Inkwell: My Break-up with KU
Volume 1 Issue 4: Rowena's Song e-book is now FREE to all folks in the US and Canada thanks to the Indie Author Project!!!
Hello and welcome to another newsletter from soon-to-be-famous Indie Author Ivy. Well, soon-to-be-famous if you are willing to help a girl out, but I’ll get to that in a minute 💚 We’re in the midst of summer now and Leo season is in full swing. My fibro body is not a fan of extreme heat, so I’ve spent my days reading, writing, and drinking a lot of caramel flavored iced coffee. From my office window, I look out onto my cottage garden which is a riot of pink, yellow, purple, and blue.
Life can be pretty sweet.
Taking the time to focus on what matters led me to make some changes to how I making Rowena’s Song available to you, the readers, as I continue to write books two and three.
Breaking up with KU
One of the thing I strive for is being mindful of how my actions affect others. I choose to shop local and thrift whenever possible. And yet, when it came to publishing my debut, I was really intimidated to do it all on my own. In an attempt to achieve my goals without breaking my bank account, I believed the best path forward was to start my indie publishing career like so many others—using the tools provided by Kindle Direct Publishing aka Amazon.
That has never sat well with me. I really don’t like what the billionaire class is doing to the planet—that’s putting it mildly. And because I refuse to give them one more cent by paying the publishing platform to also advertise for me means sales have been lackluster.
Despite the disconnect between my heart and my mind, I made Rowena’s Song available on Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s subscription service for e-books, in an effort to be discovered and, hopefully, garner positive reviews. Romantasy and romance are extremely popular on the platform, and I really believed I would gain traction once I had a few reviews.
But I did not do the other things to make that happen, because I don’t like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok either. We all know those platforms are bad for our bodies and minds. Short form content gets us addicted to constant hits of dopamine while also ruining our ability to concentrate. Like, we all know cigarettes are bad, so we have warning labels on them saying “Beware—causes cancer.” But somehow these companies are allowed to pump all sorts of negative content into our faces 24/7 that ruins our brain and society, and there’s nothing done to stop it.
I don’t want to be part of the problem, nevermind the fact it means I’m limiting my earnings potential.
Then again, money is not the reason I write. Rowena’s story needs to be out in the world and shared with those who resonate with her song (and are looking forward to having a series in the world where the FMC becomes a mom and is still a bad ass).
In an effort to be true to my heart, I removed Rowena’s Song from Kindle and embraced my librarian roots.
Introducing the Indie Author Project: A FREE Platform for Readers and Authors
What what what???? That can’t be correct. Nothing is actually FREE.
Actually, that’s partially true. The Indie Author Project is free for readers and authors, because it is funded by several sources including libraries that subscribe to the Biblioboard platform, government funding, and cultural grants.
This platform pays authors on a per read basis, just like KU. And readers in participating libraries can read with their library card FOR FREE.
My librarian heart is so full of joy!!! Zero billionaires profit from my fictional works. I love it.
Here is where I need to make a big ask of you all.
Every year, the Indie Author Project has a contest to find the Indie Author of the Year. The books that win awards are chosen by a committee of librarians, but they also look at the number of check-outs on Biblioboard.
HELP A GIRL OUT by clicking the above link today! Plus you get to read a really a romantasy set in the world of the Anglo-Saxons. Be one of the early fans and say you knew me before I was famous!!!
Indie Author in the Wild: Galena, IL Girls Trip
Since becoming a mother over 21 years ago, I haven’t had the opportunity to take a girl’s only trip. Even so, my spring break girls trips weren’t exactly wild, considering I stayed with my grandparents who lived near Ft. Meyers, Florida. This trip wasn’t wild either since I need to be in bed before midnight, but fun was had nonetheless as we celebrated my friend Stacy’s 50th birthday.
Three Gen Xers rented a cozy little cabin just outside of the picturesque Galena, IL and had a delightful weekend shopping at local mom n’ pop shops, eating some really fantastic freshly made foods, hiking with goats, and singing off-key to Bon Jovi.
YES—you read that right. The author of Rowena’s Song cannot carry a tune. LOL.
My very favorite part of the entire weekend was re-creating this picture from 34 years ago. OH MY!!! I miss that sense of vitality I feel coming off those girls. But also, cheers to lifelong friends!
Media Matters
As much as it pains me to admit it, I had a bit of a reading slump this past six weeks. I started several books that ended up getting DNF’d. I won’t mention them here because that is really rude. What I did finish, however, I enjoyed. Hopefully I’ll hit my goal of reading 10k minutes this summer.
The Cruel Prince: This might truly be the best YA book I’ve ever read—actually this is the best YA trilogy ever. (Divine Rivals is the best YA duology I’ve ever read.) The premise: After witnessing the murder of her parents, Jude Duarte and her twin sister are spirited away to live in the High Court of Faerie. Jude has dreams of becoming a knight despite being a mortal who is mercilessly mocked by the other fae, including the cruel and indolent Prince Cardan. As she does all she can to not only survive by thrive in Faeire, Jude finds herself at the center of dangerous court intrigue. I finished the second book, The Wicked King, in less than 48 hours and started The Queen of Nothing less than 10 seconds later.
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: This should be mandatory reading in high school. This is a modern classic, and I am salty that my library doesn’t own the second half of the duology called The Parable of the Talents. The first half of the story takes place from 2025 to 2027. US society has nearly collapsed. There are a few very wealthy individuals that own corporations and the politicians, and then everyone else. Climate change has decimated the farming industry, and protagonist Lauren Olamina is surviving with her family in their small armed compound. Please keep in mind this was written in 1991. It is eerily prescient, and I wonder if I need to learn how to make acorn flour.
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann: It’s been a while since I dove into a nerdy non-fiction book. However, after my trip to Mexico, I have wanted to learn more about the people and cultures that were here before the horrors of colonialism. I was very surprised to learn that much of north and south America were not untouched land, but rather, was cared for in such a manner as to create food forests that allowed all walks of life to survive. Fascinating! Also, more acorn flour. Huh…
A Reaper at the Gates and A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir: After eating up the first two books in the Ember in the Ashes series, I had mixed feelings about the last two books. It pains me to write that. I had started reading the books because I was smitten with Laia and Elias’s romance. The amount of pages it took for them to finally get to a good spot in their relationship was far more pages than I’d normally give any other author.
When I wasn’t screaming, “If you call yourself the Soul Catcher one more time I’m going to throw this book out of a moving car”, I did enjoy the friendship that developed between the women in the series. However, having the MMC devolve into such a stupid man was a real turn-off.
Oracle Card
In my corner of the interwebs, there was a lot of discourse surrounding August 8th (8-8), also known as the Lion’s Gate. Whether you believe this is a portal that allows you to embrace your inner strength and manifest your dreams or not, I started writing this article on the 8th of August. When I checked my number of subscribers at Romantasy Realms…well, you can’t make this stuff up. 888.
The Lion’s Gate may also have links to ancient Egypt. Every year during this time, the star Sirius appears close to the sun. This astronomical signal foretold the coming of the annual Nile flood and the return of abundance and fertility. As such, I was inspired to pull a card from a small Egyptian Tarot deck that only contains the Major Arcana. I feel like there aren’t enough cards in that deck to do a full tarot reading, but they are perfect for my monthly Oracle card practice.
As always, I asked the universe as I shuffled for a message that would resonate with me and the readers of this newsletter. Card X The Wheel (of Fortune) flew out of the deck.
I laughed out loud to see the sphinx, a creature that is part lion, part eagle, ruling over the imagery.
My eye was drawn to the sphinx standing regally atop a platform that does not move despite resting atop a wheel. This version is different from the figures and symbols on the well-known Rider Waite deck, which I find intriguing. Rather than sitting with a sword at rest, this sphinx is active, spear in hand pointed directly at the green creature with wings trying to claw its way up to the top. The wheel has spun a second, wingless creature down towards the twin snakes at the bottom.
My takeaway: Fate is not passive. Even if we are destined towards a certain outcome, we should work towards that goal. Show the universe that you are an active participant in your life, and act with joy instead of thinking you are entitled to good fortune. Perhaps there will be roadblocks (hopefully not in the form of a spear pointed at your head), but that makes the achievement of the goal all the sweeter.
The small glyph in the upper left appears to represent Mercury. In astrology, this is the planet of interpersonal communication, intellect, mind, and logic. The symbol on the right is similar to Virgo, the sign ruled by Mercury that is known for being organized, down to earth, and dedicated to routines. Since this newsletter is read by a bunch of writers, I can’t help but laugh.
You can be a brilliant writer, but if you don’t sit down to do the work, you’ll never have the good fortune of getting your book published!
Finally, I cannot tell you the meaning of the hieroglyphics on this card. The guidebook was of no help. Indeed, this card only got one short paragraph. “Destiny turns under the impules of the Wheel: Ermanubi (the genius of goodness) grows while Typhon (the genius of evil) falls headlong. Change, opportunity, cyclicality, and measurable time.”
Does this message hit home with you during the month of August? I hope so.
Finally, don’t forget to head over to the Rowena’s Song ebook by clicking the link above. While I don’t know the secret sauce behind how the Indie Author of the Year is going to be chosen, certainly a book with some traffic will do better than one that is lonely. And there are tons of other free books to enjoy as well, and who doesn’t love free books????