I’ve always tried to be transparent with my readers. I feel it helps other authors know precisely what they’re getting into should they decide to publish… and I feel it teachers readers there’s a LOT that goes into the 3-5 (or more) hours a book entertains them.
Today, rather than write, I did math. I did a lot of math. I math’d so hard my eyes crossed and I took a lie me down with Princess for thirty minutes to recover from the mathing.
The math basically worked like this:
I took only the very minimum to pay for rent, medical/health crap, and rare cool shit (like a camera or a good vacation every few years) while dumping the rest of the money into a vicious cycle of new book production.
Since starting my career, I’ve published something like sixty-six books.
I calculated how long (approximately), it took to completely prepare a book for publication plus the extra stuff that happens for a book to succeed, and I multiplied that number by $25. (My minimum living wage rate for my specific county/city.)
Am I worth more than $25 an hour? Yes. I’ve spent well over a decade busting ass to improve my writing, but… for the purpose of this exercise, $25 an hour is fine. (I’ll explain why shortly.)
The takeaway: If I were to pay myself for the unpaid hours, I owe myself approximately $95,000.
Oops.
I’m not going to pay myself for those hours. In fact, I’m wiping the slate clean because I can. Poof! Slate is gone. My spreadsheet mystically has no numbers on it for anything before payments received in August of 2023. The past is the past is the past is the past.
I have several “bills” categories that I am using for how life will work moving forward. They are as follows:
- Household
- Future Projects
- Audiobooks
- Staffing
- Advertisement
Per the Spouse’s Request, Advertisements will be done outside of the household / future projects scheme. In short, I will have a set amount I am supposed to spend on advertising every month. This amount will come out of my largest vendor payment consistently each month along with my basic monthly staffing.
Monthly staffers are staffers I pay, you guessed it, on a monthly basis to do things like graphics or personal assisting, etc, etc, etc.
The Future Projects fund will cover book specific things including my wage for the book (a set 350 hours per novel, and if I finish early, woo, if not… oops), editorial, advertising specifically for the book, and so on.
These are faked numbers because the real numbers are saddening, but it looks something like this:
Vendor Pays me $10,000. I put aside $2,000 for advertising, $2,000 for staffing. (These are tax reductions for me, so… I calculate the taxes based on these getting these reductions. I will not include this math because it’s painful.)
That leaves me with $6,000. For sake of discussion, $2,000 walks off with the tax man, leaving me with $4,000.
The household will get 60% of the $4,000, and the remainder will walk off to the Future Projects savings account, where it will be used once the total I need to completely produce a project, including pay me for my time, is done. The 60% going to household helps do shit like pay the rent, etc, although the payouts I will get for eventually starting a book (as money is sufficiently earned), will also go towards rent and life (and fun stuff.)
(That’s $2,400 and $1,600 for those uninterested in doing the math.)
This means that, as far as my books are concerned, no novel has to “earn back” when it is released. It has been fully paid for by the other books, which I clean slated as “just earning me money.”
In the case of audiobooks, 50% of the audiobooks earnings will go to the household, and 50% will go to the production of future audiobooks. If production moves faster than earnings, until the list of audiobooks under contract is completed, the future projects fund will be paying for those audiobooks so the household (aka me) is still being paid.
This is fair (really, beyond fair) for a myriad of reasons. 1: No more stressing if a book will be able to earn its keep. The book has already been fully paid for, I’ve been paid for it, and it can fly off into the wilds to succeed or fail as fate decides. 2: It isn’t the fault of the fans that other people don’t like a series. (It IS the fault of the fans if they go to another series and leave a nasty review because “I didn’t work on the series they wanted.”)
As a side note, I’ve been seeing a lot of that behavior lately from readers, along with readers telling authors how they should be writing their books.
Three words: please stop that.
If you have a pet peeve with a book’s author’s style… stop reading that author. Stop reading the books that don’t make you happy. That’s the only correct way to handle the situation.
If you’re the kind of reader who marks down stars to “punish” authors for not having written the perfect book… goodness, please don’t buy my books. Who wants that sort of person in their fanbase? Not I! (I’d rather make less money, holy fuckballs…)
I am a human and use human staff. The book is written by a human. The book is edited by humans. (Quite a few of them, actually.) Our shared trait: humanity.
We’re imperfect.
If you think you can write the perfect book… go do it and stop bothering the authors currently trying their best in a pretty harsh market. When you’re done writing the perfect book, publish it. There’s a huge market for perfect books. I’m sure you’ll find commercial success. Good luck. I mean, when you’re done, come back here and plug a link and tell us how perfect your book is. (Honestly… don’t do that. It wouldn’t end well for you or your self-esteem.)
Don’t forget to bring your perfectly imperfect characters with you along with a plot line. You’ll need those to go along with your perfect grammar and spelling.
If you are thinking about saying, “But I can’t do that!” then learn to be kind. If you can’t say anything nice, perhaps don’t say anything at all. The world would be a much better place if the unrequested critics canned their unrequested criticism. (Reminder: Unrequested criticism is NEVER a constructive critique.)
So, this is the compromise I’m making. How often will books be produced? No idea. We’ll see. If books sell… fairly fast. If they don’t? Fairly slow. That’s in the hands of readers, and while I am investing the advertising dollars into the old series and backlist, ultimately… yeah.
Just like ratings can sink a series, so does money in general.
I will still be considering ratings and earnings of books to determine what is written and released next, although I will be focusing on finishing series.
And no, if you are one of those people who refuses to buy a series until it’s complete, you don’t get a say in what is or isn’t written. You cast your vote through leaving a rating. (You don’t even need to leave a review with words. Those are nice if you want to help convince someone else to try the books, though.)
As a reminder, here is how I view ratings:
5*: Good or great book, you are planning on getting the next book in the series. Planning does not mean you will…
4*: Good enough book, but you’re probably not getting the next book in the series.
3*: Meh. Not getting the next book in the series.
2*: Really didn’t like it. Not getting the next book in the series.
1*: Fuck this book and the horse it rode in on. You’re done with this piece of shit author.
(And honestly, if you leave a 1* review and you’re NOT done with the author… you’re quite possibly in need of a sign. I’ll let you read between the lines on that one.)
And yes, this viewpoint is due to experience and how people buy books.
64% of people marked Playing with Fire as 5*. 58% of people went on to buy Hoofin’ It.
Since people tend to go “omg next Bailey book?” and treat those like a trilogy… 64% of people marked Playing with Fire as 5*, but only 28.8% went on to read Burn, Baby, Burn.
Essentially… unless someone really truly loved a book and thought it was great, the odds of them going on to buy the next one are pretty slim, especially as a series progresses in age.
Let’s just say that if we had a 100% match between people who read Playing with Fire and Doggone Mess? The sell-through is only 11%.
Oh… and the number of raw 5* reviews on Playing with Fire vs the number of sales of Doggone Mess?
A much smaller difference than you might think.
So yes, an author can tell a lot about how a series will do based on the ratings.
And yes… in general application, 4* reviewers often don’t go on to buy the next book. (And yes, some of you are going to go “but I marked at 4* and bought them!” — the exception does not make the rule. Yes, there are always exceptions. That doesn’t mean my observations, over a sixty-six book career, are invalidated just because you don’t fit the mold.)
This is a numbers game, and when you’re playing a numbers game, you’re looking at the overall story, not at the individuals.
I have had a lot of messages to my patreon and similar venues (which is fine, thank you, I’m not at all upset about them, and I’m even appreciative, I’m just REALLY too exhausted to answer anything right now) asking how people can help, etc, etc, etc.
Here’s how: tell your friends about the books you like. When a sale happens, shove the link in their face. Booked for Murder is on sale for $0.99 right now, for example. (LOL at the 3.9 on Goodreads, though.)
When the Mag Rom Com series goes on sale soon, shove it in your friend’s face. Essentially, they’ll be able to get 12 books for $12, and considering their retail price, it’s not a bad deal at all. Some of these books have never been on sale before, either.
- Playing with Fire: September 25 to October 1, 2023: $0.99. ($6.99 after sale.)
- Hoofin’ It: October 2 to October 8, 2023: $0.99. ($7.99 after sale.)
- Hearth, Home, and Havoc: October 9 to October 15, 2023: $0.99. ($3.99 after sale.)
- Serial Killer Princess: October 16 to October 22, 2023: $0.99. ($5.99 after sale.)
- Whatever for Hire: October 23 to October 29, 2023: $0.99. ($6.99 after sale.)
- Owl Be Yours: October 30 to November 5, 2023: $0.99. ($4.99 after sale.)
- Last but not Leashed: November 6 to 12, 2023: $0.99. ($4.99 after sale.)
- No Kitten Around: November 13 to November 19, 2023: $0.99 ($6.99 after sale.)
- Blending In: November 27 to December 3, 2023: $0.99. ($6.99 after sale.)
- Cheetahs Never Win: December 4 to December 10, 2023: $0.99. ($6.99 after sale.)
- Burn, Baby, Burn: December 11 to December 18, 2023: $0.99. ($6.99 after sale.)
In December, push Whiskers on Kittens like it’s going out of style.
And, well, hum “We don’t talk about Bruno” when discussing the Vampire of Montana from now on, because as far as I’m concerned, that whole spinoff series is fucking dead to me.
I expect I’ll be bitter over this for a long time. And I would be lying if I said I still want to write the Trickster King, because I really don’t. But it’s already over 40,000 words long, so I may as well finish it.
But it, and the Royal States series, no longer bring any joy… and those who have read the series but pitched a fit over the accent or found it distasteful… have missed the entire fucking point of the series.
Consider the Royal States, after the Trickster King, to be on hiatus. Because if you can’t handle a Texan foal from a narrator who has read the story and understood the Texan influence on the world and their love of foaaaaaals, you certainly can’t handle the ups and downs that were planned for the rest of the series… or, heaven forbid, characters of colors and origins not just like yours. (And if one word is enough to have started this shit show… holy fuck, you definitely can’t handle New Waters or the Prince of New York.)
Consider that Star Wars whatever show where people say, “This is the way.” Look at how people adopted that into their linguistics.
Her choice to use the Texan foal is essentially the same thing. She saw how Texans influenced the world stage, and how Texans are horse crazy. So… it literally tracks in how people think and adapt their speech patterns.
The more I think about it, the more right my narrator was to use that flare. And I’m still pissed off I caved and changed the audiobook, but it is what it is. (Not that it matters, since it’s only on Audible atm.)
And no, don’t go on a positive rating spree on the Royal States or whatever. I’m not asking for that. But when an entire series is dedicated to change for the better, and the readers cannot accept things that are different from them and find them unnecessary… they are not capable nor ready to accept the rest of the series.
And so the entire series goes into time out.
Please don’t feel you need to show support for the Trickster King if you don’t believe in the book nor the series. That’s not what this is about. Every reader should only buy the books they want to buy and support.
But let’s face it… I’m a Taurus, and this shit goes with us to our graves. And we may only detour long enough to stop at the fridge for a snack. To add to it? I’m a water pig.
But… let’s just say I’m still here doing the writing gig because I’m a Taurus water pig with a bone to grind. (Literally, some asshole who went by the name of “Zero” on the internet told me I had no chance in hell of ever succeeding at writing. Take my 5+ times on USA Today and shove it up your ass, Zero. And I hope you choke on it.)
Let’s just say water pigs take being pigheaded to a whole new level, and we do not have quit in our vocabulary.
The take away: don’t fuck with a Taurus water pig. Not only do we take shit to the grave with us, we will eat snacks on the way. Then we will dance, dance, dance. Probably badly but with much joy.
And as I have cleaned the slate… the Royal States’ debt situation is cleared off as well. And yes, I could just walk away from the potential losses because of the shit reviews on Vampire of Montana and just post the audiobook back for sale.
But frankly, with how badly the so-called fans burned the book because of an accent on a single word?
Why should I even be bothered? Like, seriously? Why should I invest 350 hours per book when something as little as one word’s accenting in an audiobook format caused me so many problems? And that’s even before the recording time and investment on that front. The audiobook was changed because the prejudiced won.
And yes, you can try to answer that in the comments, if you can do so civilly. (If you can’t, your comment will be deleted, probably with a roll of my eyes.) If someone presents a good enough reason or argument, you might just change my mind. Just remember you are dealing with a Taurus water pig.
If you don’t know what a water pig is, look them up. Just focus on the bits about stubbornness.
As I do believe in libraries and accessibility, I did use the basic library systems (non-retail, so no kobo, etc) to see if Findaway can fix the Vampire of Montana. (The technical difficulties are… significant. They have no idea what’s wrong with the book, so they requested I attempt distribution to some markets so they can look closer at what’s going on. I can’t edit the book files at ALL anymore, and this is a problem.)
But yeah… if people can’t handle the invasion of a Texan accent on foals in an audiobook, there is no way in hell people can handle the rest of the series.
There’s just no fucking way in hell.
Or like that meme of the guy with the microphone says, “Not unless everyone gets real cool about a bunch of stuff really quickly.”
And to those who did acknowledge the issue as something they are guilty of, I see you and your honesty is appreciated and noted.
It’s the rest shitting in the pool, and nobody can swim with a bunch of feces floating around.
On that not so happy note, I’m off for the night. Take care, find a good book to read, and may you have the Midas touch with everything excepting your friends, family, and pets. (They’d be no use to you turned to gold.)
At least the first part of post is fairly positive, and I was able to find a way to clean the slate. Now just to get people to just stop shitting in the pool already so everyone else can swim…
Damn that really sucks about Royal States. I love the series. But I support you in whatever you need or want to do. Just know you got one little guys who loves your books for exactly what they are.
I used to love the series, but yeah, not after this fiasco. It is what it is. Maybe someone will come up with a good argument, because I haven’t been able to think of a single one to justify doing it if something as simple as foals being spoken in a Texan (and apparently far-reaching) accent is this much trouble? Snort… riiiiight.
I normally don’t comment but I am a Taurus too my stubborn heart feels deeply. I am saddened the Vampire of Montana got such bad reviews I LOVED it! I listened to it on repeat 4 or 5 times when I first got it. I have listened to all your books multiple times and have just finished Balancing the Scales series to prepare for the new book. To those who feel it is necessary to say something unkind please remember she works hard to entertain us. If you don’t like an audio then just read the book format. I know that my imagination has imposed all kinds of voices on certain characters that work for me. We live in a great big world of diverse human beings…think outside the box. Life is filled with possibilities… PLEASE DO NOT RUIN IT FOR THE REST OF US! It is hard to find authors that poor their hearts in their works and share it with us. I’m saddened by this news but feel you always have to take care of you first. Thank you for putting the Inquisitor and Blood Diamond to audio. Peace and blessings to all.
I love your books, can’t wait for the next one, and while I’ll be sad for any you find you can’t continue I do understand and want you to do what’s best for you. I hate that people are so negative and understand why you are frustrated. From the person who is rereading water viper for probably the 10th time
Omg I wish she’d write a third in that series!!! I’ve read and reread those 2 books quite a few times as I’m Jones in for that third book that I’ve given up hope will ever be written
It’s on the short list for the book to be written next after the books up for preorder are finished. I’ll be rolling a dice to see which one of the set goes first.
Here’s the list since you may have missed it in a recent post:
Nature of the Beast (Sean #2)
Wolf Hunt (Declan #3)
Fox Witch (Jade #3)
Client from Hell (#2, #3)
Jesse Alexander (#3, #4. Anthology will only be done after all four books in series earn back.)
Vigilante Magical Librarians (#3, #4, #5)
Yay! I’ve been trying to be patient and I guess I missed that tidbit on when it would be even in the works!!! I’m so excited!!
Well, I need to keep track of the sales and buy books for friends.
I loved Vampire of Montana. I love the Royal States. But just like Ilona Andrews’ Edge Series, I will mourn the end but keep reading whatever else you write.
On a side note, thank you for bringing so much joy to Luther and I. Yours were the first books I started reading aloud to him. Now that he has passed, the memories of all those nights still comfort me.
Thank you for finding a way to “clean the slate” in a way that allows you to be more comfortable going forward with your writing which gives us, your SUPPORTIVE readers, the knowledge that we will still be able to get our “RJ Blain fix” in the coming weeks/months ahead. I do understand that the Royal States series has been tainted for you and am selfishly disappointed since I do truly love the characters and “world” you have given to us but I will look forward to the stories you craft in the future. Your imagination and creativity are amazing. I wish you a future completely free of trolls
I really enjoy your books and reread them many times when I need a lift in spirits. Don’t let the naysayers get you down. You do you and I will keep buying your books. I am re reading The Water Viper right now. Maybe we who love your books don’t say it enough but you are great! Keep it up.
I can’t say that I love all of your books. I can say that I still buy them and read them. I enjoy the journeys they take me on. Some shine brighter than others, but even if I like one less, I still continue on the journey. I love the Royal States. I love The Magical Romantic Comedy with a Body Count. The Bernadette Franklin books. I really enjoyed Dead Weight and I will work hard for patience for the next book. I have the Vigilante Magical Librarians’ series. I’m hoping there’s more to the Lawrence Vampires series. I don’t have everything, but while I am a voracious reader, I also have a job that at times demands 20 hour days over the course of weeks. I do what I can, when I can. I try to support the writers I enjoy because the way artists are paid is capricious at best. I’m always afraid the stories I enjoy will fade away, incomplete, and a large percentage do. I recognize it is hard. The amount of research, skill, dedication and perseverance needed is awe inspiring. (Which is why I write an occasional rude song parody, but only to entertain my children and myself. Then I am tired and done.) I want to beg you to please, please continue. But I don’t have the right, particularly if it is killing you physically and the emotional drain is even worse. We all have bad days and spurts of bad temper. One tiny little thing can set off a whole train of bad decisions and just meanness. I work hard every day to stay off that train. I’m hoping those who seem to enjoy it will ride it over the horizon. Maybe they’ll come back with a better attitude. I hope you don’t give up. And I’ll figure out Patreon sometime. And continue on the journey. Thank you for the escape you give me. I wish I could do the same for you.
I love your books, read each one to see if I like it and usually reread tons. My favourite are Royal States, Jessie Alexander and Seeking the Zodiacs. I just hope that the series I love continue (and understand you have the final say to put them on pause!), get excited when they do, and discover new books! Support you always!
Sorry.. I’m a country girl and did not find anything wrong with Vampire.. I enjoyed it very much.
It almost seems like you are being targeted by someone with a huge issue of some kind. Is there any way to trace those comments back to see where they originated from? Time consuming no doubt but if can find the originator perhaps can resolve and move forward.
Alas, it was numerous people.
People tend to have a huge problem with accents that aren’t just like theirs. You see this often in the customer service field. It’s linked with prejudices.
No matter where you live in the US, and no matter what your own accent is, their entertainment (mostly TV and many movies) have a bland, uniform accent not reminiscent of anywhere in particular. Since they do not actually recognize their own speech as having an accent, they expect everything they hear to be in generic entertainment/TV-speak.
Oh, that IS an accent type. It’s a Midwestern accent. There’s not a removal of accent, that IS the accent. Accent is just a fancy word for how people talk. They just uniformly use a midwest (Chicago, etc) accent.
That was just the “chosen” accent.
Please ignore the crappy jerks who feel the need to bring everyone down with their negativity. and pretty pretty please don’t stop writing. I understand if you do decide to stop but I’d be soooo bummed because I love reading and rereading a lot of your books over and over! They brighten my mood and make me laugh even when having a crummy day. Anyhow just thought I’d say I’d be happy with less books over longer periods of time or paying more for your books rather than no books ever again. And you do you and just keep working on whatever helps your sanity and mental health as you have a lovely gift for spinning tales that are enchanting and help us mere mortals transport to other worlds and away from our problems for the few hours we can read your books. Wish you all the best and can’t wait to read more of your adventures!
If your name (or pen name) is on it, I’ll buy it. I’ll read it and I’ll love it. I’ll buy the next one, and the next one, add infinitum. I try to review them, but am guilty of forgetting for some. I have never given less than 5* and never will, cause I’m aware how the ratings can cause financial problems for authors. Worst case, if I don’t like, I don’t review and don’t buy the next book.
Having written that, I own many of your books across several platforms. As in, the same book through Amazon, iBook, B&N, etc.
Keep up the fabulous work, but take time for you to be you. Trust me, I’ll wait for it.
I too am disappointed in the Royal States news. I was sooo looking forward to Chicken & Yams. But seriously, you have hidden so much about social issues in there, that it seems unfair that you are being pressured to give up your platform by some of those very issues. Booo on them. Just, please, please, please, don’t quit writing. I’m looking forward to finding some more diamonds in the schist!!
Yep… and these people who pitched a fit because of the accent have completely missed the ENTIRE point of the series.
It’s very upsetting, but… maybe I’ll feel better about it down the road. I’m still doing Trickster King, but yeah. It’s been hugely soured for me because people have missed the entire point.
I’ve had several people tell me to my face how the whole book was ruined for them, how they feel I was being “unnecessary”, etc. And yeah, I don’t forgive without apologies, and I certainly don’t forget.
Nor should I.
I just love your books and will read anything you write
I’m sorry to read that you will not be continuing the Vampire of Montana series, I happened to really enjoy the book and was looking forward to the next , but you gotta do what you gotta do …It’s not going to stop me from throughly enjoying what you will write next . I love your writing style, I’m always waiting with strained patience (like no patience what so ever😈)for your next great read !!
Thank you for what you do
Michelle
Lemonade: you can collect your rightfully outraged posts and your experiences, and create a trilogy about a ****** who ******* and then she *******and it was a ******* (see no specific recommendations you might have to pay for later 🤪)
Ahahahahahahaa This wins the internet today.
I just finished reading “Life Debt”. I cannot wait for the next book in that series.
The thing I enjoy most about R.J. Blain’s writing is that each series (pen name) is different.
I haven’t read all of her series(most but not all).
I’m looking forward to the Trickster Ƙing and the next book in the Lowrance Vampire series.
<3 <3 <3 I like allowing myself to showcase my various interests and tones via different pen names... Like... Bernadette is unrepentant shark jumping in contemporary romantic comedy. Audrey Greene is "finding that warm, fuzzy feeling with a sci fi flavor" and... well, G.P. Robbins is "let the bodies hit the floor while giggling hysterically over it while ALSO having a mysterious puzzle to solve!"
I like diversity... in people and in my books. <3
I am an avid reader of all your 𝑛𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑠, and so far I’ve loved them all. No, they aren’t perfect and once in a while I get somewhat bewildered by someone’s motivations, but I don’t care – I like your books and read them all, and pre-purchase when I see a new title pop up. I’m not part of the hue and cry over pronunciation because I very rarely do audio books – they are too slow for my taste. I mean, I fully understand why they’re slow – I used to read books out loud for my husband some years ago and it takes a LONG time to say all those words! I stopped because it was actually hurting my throat. So … props to the people who create your audiobooks.
I’m really, really sorry that you’ve soured on the future of the Royal States, because they are some of my favorites. I’ve been known to start a new re-read any time I start to get unhappy with the world as it is. While I recognize that the plotlines include a few of life’s cruelties, the general tone is pleasing to my mind. I think The Captive King is the only one I don’t completely read – I tend to start AFTER she gets teleported to Alaska. I already know the part I’m skipping, I just get too annoyed by what’s happening. Well, I do always read chapter one first. Then I skip.
I have been waiting for the Trickster King for years, and it pains me that you’ve begun to hate working on it. I adore Pat Laycal and Jessica, and really, that whole dynamic in their family. Plus I’m a bit horse-mad myself. I do believe that you need to work on what makes you happy, so I can grit my teeth and tell you if you want to just stop, then do so. Then I’ll go off into a corner and cry. I mean, yes, the fans of a series can have a reasonable expectation that the author won’t just walk away in mid-sentence – but I’ve known more than a few who, for reasons that may or may not become known, never write that last bit of a series. It’s like an unscratchable itch at that point.
I like your books, and I’ll continue to buy whatever you put out, however often you do. I’m sorry some people apparently live to be Karens, and chomp on your tail.
I mean… I don’t want to write a perfect book. I want to have sloppy, messy characters who sometimes don’t make sense because they have mental illnesses, I want to have the freedom to, well, do something outside of the set beats and formulas a lot write.
I also want it to be obvious *I* wrote the book.
Will I completely stop Royal States? Probably not, when honest with myself. But right now? I’m really unhappy with the close-mindedness of some people who just happened to be very loud, obnoxious, and easy to dislike.
And because my job, as an author, is to hide wtaf I’m personally feeling when writing my books, I’ll do my best to make it look like the book sparked joy even when it didn’t.
There’s generally only one exception to this mentality for me, and that’s the Balancing the Scales series.
Karma: Times were hard, and people got sick.
License to Kill: Times were harder, because those people died.
And so those two books I allowed myself to go to particularly dark places so book three could be a book about them healing.
A lot of people hate those books (and me, as an author) as a result… but I went into them KNOWING this would be the probable outcome.
I was not expecting people to show me just how ugly they could be about a book where a character gleefully kills terrorists while securing herself a husband worth taking home to momma. And that matters.
I am just here to say, I love Balancing the Scales books. I thoroughly enjoyed that the darkness is not l’art pour l’art, that there is a raw honesty about people being imperfect, and the world sometimes being a shitty place. And still there is power in the heroine without cruelty. I adore those books, even though I forst got to know you through the RC series.
TastesLikeChicken, thank you for describing the Balancing the Scales books the way you did. I have never found the best words to describe why I love the series. The way you described it sums it up well. I love that the books take me through the world being a shitty place in a honest way about imperfect people and makes you feel all the emotions that Karma is going through. It’s an emotion and stress cleansing book and I adore the series.
Thank you RJ Blain for writing the series along with every other series. Each one hits the spot for the feel/genre you go for and I love it! You are one author that covers all the different kinds of books I love and I reread them all the time/
I came out of License screaming Noooo! Don’t reconcile, think of your future fox babies and the mother in law from hell! I cannot *wait* to read the next one. (And then I realized that these were part of a larger world series and now I have a crush on Declan.)
I love your books. They make me laugh and cry. Please keep writing them, they brighten my day. I from NZ. They are just great.
(GASPS in HORROR!!!!) Oh, my stars and garters!!!!!!! (looks around in SHOCK!!!!!!) HOW can you so CASUALLY CONFESS that you actually write of characters of colors and origins not just like MINE????? (OH, I must go find my pearls to CLUTCH!!!! And then hie me to mine fainting couch!!!!!)
And … with the snark taken care of, let me say how sad I am that the Royal Agents have been cruelly slain by ignorami of the above sort. I loved ‘Vampire’ and was looking forward to the rest.
Like others, I buy all your books and any audiobooks that are published. I love your sense of humour (yes, I am in the UK so have those extra ‘u’s in some words) and totally realise that accents, sentence structure, idioms, and any other newfangled words that come up differ from how I was brought up. I don’t care. I love your books and will always eagerly follow wherever you lead me. ❤️
Why would I argue with you when you’re right?
Much love,
The Aries Fire Dragon 🐲
You go, girl!
And actually, I’m w Bill G on loving the Vampire & looking forward to the rest. I’m one of those who tend to buy all the books from authors I like. Nonstop…I didn’t understand how ratings work, but in all honestly, almost never rated anything, I just read. Voraciously. So, am going to have to go back & rate things, which is annoying as it interferes w my reading…. LOL
Same lol I started going back and rating even if it’s just the stars because of how RJ stated it affects sales of books. Which I don’t understand at all because I read the synopsis and then if it’s a new author get the sample and read the start to decide from that if I’m going to buy a book. Because let’s face it, most critics are just irritating blowhards. If I don’t listen to what people think of movies, why would I do the same for books????
Yep, people often forget that variety is the spice of life and every human is different. The average is hugely influenced by the ratings and reviews… they’ll gamble on something with no reviews if the writing looks good enough, but if they see a book with poor ratings? That’s it. They don’t consider them.
I… don’t either. I won’t even look at books with below 4* ratings, because I don’t have a lot of reading time, so I’m automatically weeding out books that way.
The Royal States are my favorite series. I really enjoyed Dead Weight as well. I do buy all your books with a few exceptions. Some I enjoyed immensly and some not so much.
I’m so sorry that some people are making you feel this way. I just want you to know that not all of us agree with them. For me, your books are just what I need. My job is stressful and your books keep me sane. Please know that the few bad apples are not a representation of us all. Thank you for your wonderful stories.
That royally sucks. I don’t understand how someone can approach fiction and then get upset that the fiction doesn’t reflect their exact real, non fiction world and expectations.
I genuinely love your books, they’re my comfy jumper retreat and I reread one at least once a week. Royal States is definitely one of my favourites, vampire of Montana was class. As an English lass, I may be a bit biased though.
And for anyone who isn’t sure about Lowrance Vampires, read the second book! I put off reading it, it was just sat in my kindle library and when I did read it – I kicked myself for waiting. I loved it. It’s got more of the.. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s got that much more pronounced feeling about it that I love about her books.
I am sorry you are so disheartened/ angry by people’s issue over Kiera Grace’s pronunciations in Vampire of Montana. I’m very curious as this isn’t the first time she’s read a Royal States novel so why are these listeners going insane over one word that she has said in other books. Royal State is my favorite book series but I’m one of those people who don’t leave reviews – I just buy books. If you don’t go further with the world and I don’t find out if Deidre and Eddie end up together and Ian gets his woman, I’ll survive. Nothing is worth your mental health.
People have always been awful to narrators; I have noticed this from the day I started audiobooks.
People really need to learn to sit down and stay quiet about their criticisms… especially when they lack the skills to do the work themselves.
World would probably be a better place.
I agree with you 100%. I’m in awe of the worlds you create and wish I could live in the Royal States – even with it’s flaws. Cameron Hill is one of my favorite readers – in fact, he’s my night night go to because his voice is so soothing when he voices Pat.
Unfortunately, people say, “I could do better than this, but I’m too busy so I won’t” and just complain instead. And we all know they CAN’T do better, or they would be out doing it (and running into people complaining about THEIR work). Because … people.
And honestly, I’m going to be very much more up front about telling the complainers if they don’t like how I did something, to go do the thing themselves and sell it… and if they can’t or won’t, to keep their unrequested criticisms to themselves. Unless I ask for it, I don’t want to hear it at this stage.
Sometimes, thick skin is telling people to pack up their commentary and go bother somebody else. My decision to write a book does not entitle them to anything other than paying money or a subscription fee or going to the library to access the book.
And I very may well take away the accessibility to me as a person and limit access to precisely that.
Too many of my lines have been crossed lately, and readers need to remember there are boundaries.
I think for your own sanity you should take away the access and let someone else have you notified about good comments for awhile. But then I’m also shamelessly taking advantage of commenting to you here so wth do I know, right? 😜🤷♀️🤪
Yep, I already don’t read the reviews, and most people have either read the comment policy or have learned I don’t tolerate bullshit on my blog. (I will remove the comment and block the commenter with zero issues.)
Please do not stop The Royal States of America. They are my favorites of the books you write. I tend to reread them when I need something to read if I have nothing new. I have pretty much read everything you write and enjoy most of it. I don’t leave bad reviews if I don’t like something since I may not like that particular book because everyone’s tastes are different.
I’m so sorry for the meanies. I loved Vampire of Montana.
I am so sorry that you have problems with your readers. I love your series and reread them often. I haven’t read any of your books that I didn’t like. In saying that, I do have my favorites. I hope to be reading your books for a long time. God bless, take care of yourself and family and know that there are those of us out in the reading world that would be very sad if we couldn’t look forward to each new book that you write.
I LOVE your books so PLEASE continue to write them!!! It’s hard to listen to bullies but that is what some people are and they need to go for an attitude adjustment with the other assholes I’m sure a beautiful snow leopard could do a wonderful job on them. So please try to push them out of your life and write more of your wonderful books. Good luck on your new works of art!
KEEP UP YOUR WONDERFUL WORKS OF ART!!
Really good blog from Ilona Andrews on their blog about audio book readers not being indentured servants ( https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-beauty-of-the-audio-performance/ ) and why people need to chill out.
“I wish that in the listener conversations regarding the audio books, more attention would be paid to the really important things, like how well the narrator delivered emotion and action instead of how they pronounced a certain word. How did the performance make the readers feel? Was it successful overall? Did it deliver the story?
One of our recent audio narrators almost quit when she was hit with a barrage of negative feedback over stuff that was so minor, that I literally said out loud, “Who cares?” when I was reading it. That book is our best selling audio book to date. It is beloved by majority of listeners, and we all collectively almost missed out on her future performance. Unfortunately, it is human nature to leave negative reviews more often than positive, so every time I see someone compliment that book, I send it to her, because I don’t want her to quit. She is ridiculously talented.” Ilona Andrews Blog April 5 2023
Don’t let the critics wear you down and leave the trolls under the bridge.
I think the math as you have outlined it here makes sense and will be better for your well being. Thank you for explaining the thinking behind it.
Thank you for the reminder of the book sales and dates, I don’t feel guilty about re-buying the books on kobo or smashwords then.
I honestly don’t know about people anymore. Between treatment of authors, work, social media, life in general…I just don’t understand what happened to the 2 biggies – (1)treat others how you’d like to be treated and (2)if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.
Was sad when people attacked Runaway and then you tried again with Vampire and it was worse. I’ve read and listened to that series over and over. I love that the characters are aware of the issues in their world (and ours) and trying to fix them. I love that Daphne used her talent and skills to right and prevent wrongs and also got her man.
I hope that time spent in other worlds brings back the joy in the Royal States. And if not, so be it.
I just don’t get it, why are they reading if it’s not for enjoyment. If I don’t enjoy a book, I make a mental note and move on. Fiction is my escape and I love “suspending my belief in reality” and “turning off my inner critic (who is usually too busy criticizing me to spend time on someone else)” so I can enjoy what I read.
Since I don’t use social media much anymore and haven’t wanted to jump into Discord, thank you for keeping us informed with these blog posts and patreon.
Fingers crossed that you make more than minimum wage in your future publishing adventures.
NO ONE deserves to be criticized and browbeaten EVER and hopefully the armchair critics will quit reading your books if they can’t enjoy them.
All I can say is I’ve bought every single Mag Rom Com book and have read each multiple times and am currently rereading my way through the series again. I’ve bought the Witch and Wolf series, Pack Justice, Balancing the Scales, The Fox Witch, Vigilante Magical Librarians, Client from Hell, and Lowrance Vampires. One common thread between them all is if they were paperbacks they would literally be falling apart from how many times I’ve read and reread these books. I’m literally obsessed, and now I’m hooked on Magic, Mayhem, and the Law series. Thank you for all your hard work and the giggles I get every time I read one of these books
As an example…I have been reading books that I had not read yet, but got years ago on my kindle. If good, but not really want to keep I remove to cloud. [making room for new stuff!] I just tried a David Brin book (I like most of his stuff) but could not get into it. I removed from kindle without finishing, partly because a new book I DID want to read had arrived, and partly because I just could not get “into” the story. Did I tell David, nah. It was not badly written, just did not appeal to me. So far I have not ready ANY of your books (no matter what pen name you used) that I did not like. And As long as you write them I will buy and read them!
See, I would not remove from the cloud because I bought it… from the device, sure…. but I didn’t think Amazon limited how many are in your cloud in the slightest.
I think Lee Dalzell meant remove from the device to the cloud (remove to cloud). At least, that’s how I read it but my English reading skills have been questionable lately due to sleep deprivation.
I do it too, if I tried a book on kindle and didn’t like it, I remove from device but I won’t return it.
That said, I have all your books on Kindle and Apple iBooks and paperback. It is my way of supporting you besides leaving 5* ratings on all the books I have read of yours (which is all so far).
Yeah, maybe just misunderstood but plenty of people do completely delete. I am the definition of exhausted at this point, though.
Gah! One of my favorite remarks has always been “If they can’t take a joke, F ‘em!” If they don’t like the book, put it down and move on, no need to be nasty.
I love your creativity and your ability to put it on paper. I tried long ago, in school, to write a short story, and it is really hard to write! Not everyone has the mind for dialogue, humor or world building, etc., that it takes, especially for a whole book, let alone the mind space for a continuing series!
I have all your books, I will continue to buy whatever you write and talk up your writing to my friends online and pre-order whenever they are posted.
When these idjits give you a hard time, take a deep breath, and keep on doing what you do best and ignore them. They’re not your people!
I just recently, like the last month, found your books, and have bought the entire Mag Rom Com, the first Royal States, the Vampire, Client from Hell, and the Dead Weight book. I LOVE unicorns and dragons, so I adored the Dead Weight book, and I about fell out of my chair several times laughing over the MagRomCom and Client from Hell books. Haven’t quite decided on the Royal States or Royal Agents yet. They were good, but I’ll need to go back and read them again to decide if I like then enough to continue.
Oh, forgot the Zodiac series, loved that first one, absolutely died laughing about the bomb incident!
I really do love your books. I am a Pott head but you are now my favorite author. My whole family listens to your books, and I think I’m only missing 1 physical book. I’m sorry people are a-holes. I promise to continue to get your books. I am also a high school teacher and talk about you all the time, though I can’t hand out your books since parents don’t like swear words (supposedly). Please feel the love. 🤟🤟🤟🤟
LOL that’s funny, especially as I’ve gotten quite a few parents thanking me for writing because the books ARE accessible for their teens. They hear a lot worse on television and in movies.
I loved the Vampire of Montana and that whole series. I love Pat and I want to hear more about New York. Ignore the haters, you rocked it out with the Royal States. (and clearly the haters have never lived in Texas.)