Welp, the time of reckoning is at hand.
That sounds a little ominous. There’s a reason for that.
When the Vampire of Montana’s audiobook version released, and people pitched a fit over how foal was pronounced, choosing to call me a liar for… uh… (Checks notes) … having Texan audiobook proofers who used that specific pronunciation, I almost just completely canceled the pen name.
The crew over at Patreon rallied, and I decide that a certain percentage of the money that they bring in on the Patreon would go to funding the Royal States series.
Spoiler alert: that’s why the series is continuing, and as I’m a woman of my word, why there will be more frequent releases of these books until both series are finished.
But, there are consequences to the horrible behavior of some people over a word they disliked the pronunciation of. The consequences are beginning now.
As Patreon is the place paying for the books, I am no longer going to be mentioning this pen name on my blog, etc. I will be doing retail releases, but I will be doing them quietly. If you want news on the Susan Copperfield pen name, you will need to follow my Patreon.
That is the only place that will be receiving news on release dates, what I’m working on next, etc. You do not need to be part of a paying tier to get access to this information. (You can follow / join the free community to get the updates on the Royal States series.)
The books will be added to the Patreon retail store. (I need to put my entire collection of books up there, but it’s… tiring and I haven’t had a chance to do it yet.)
Please note that the Patreon retail store will have the same copy of the vendor (non-Amazon) version of the book; it will be the pre-release variant of the story (the same the Patreon users get), so there are usually a few bonus typos that are swiftly removed from the retail editions. But the bonus short stories will be present for the titles that have them.
So, you can read the update about the Royal States series on the Patreon here.
The Patreon post explains the why of it.
Since a lot of this discussion took place on the subscriber only posts, I’m going to spend a moment to explain how the Royal States / Patreon relationship works.
The Cindercorns / Spicy Ponies with Bite tiers receive read alongs of the Royal States books up until the point “Retail is happening” (I have fed them most of Iron Unicorn, and they have more of Iron Unicorn queued, but once they reach the end of their queue, they’re getting a different book for a bit. (They’ll be getting Grave Affairs for a while plus Murder Floof until Iron Unicorn’s retail debut.)
They get WIP read alongs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and it’s a bit chaos what chapter/scene they get.
The Cindercorns tier is $25 a month, and the Spicy Ponies with Bite tier is $100 a month. (I need to pack up swag packs for all my Spicy Ponies, but I’m waiting until my apartment is clean because I embraced chaos and clutter for the holidays. I’m very sorry right now…)
The Otters ($10 a month) get access to the books ahead of retail.
Essentially, half of my post-tax, post fee earnings from Patreon funnel to the Royal States series. Once the Royal States series is concluded (Yes, there’s an ending point, no, it’s not anywhere near in sight yet. I have mixed feelings about this.) I will have the Patreon subscribers pick which series will be funded by the Patreon. It might be an old series, it might be a new one… they will be given a poll and allowed to decided what gets funded as the “guaranteed” Patreon series.
This is fair. Sure, those who want retail Royal States are going to be irritated they’ll have to click the follow button on their favorite retailer (if it has one), but at least the series gets finished despite the strikes against it.
Without the Patreon, I would have changed the storylines for most things and ended the Agents series with Iron Unicorn, cut Prince of New York completely, and ended it with New Waters.
Instead, the series will continue on. It’s just continuing on in a new way: out of sight, generally out of mind, and in such a way where the third strike doesn’t happen.
To give you an idea of series length, I have covers in hand for six main series books. (This will very probably end the series, although I’m not necessarily against doing a few more. I just would have to do some thinking about how I’d want to handle it.) I have at least three more Agents of the Royal States books with covers in hand.
These are the minimum number of stories I will write under the Susan Copperfield pen name.
Once all of those titles are finished, I will decide if the pen name is done or if there will be any more stories.
But if Royal States is your flavor of the day, you will need to be part of the free Patreon community to follow the shenanigans, find out about release dates, and so on.
I’ve invested all of the emotional energy I am going to on retail for this series… and I’m tired of getting bitten.
So, I’m establishing my boundaries.
I know this isn’t the news you want, and I apologize for that. But the show must go on, and this is the only way the show is going on.
I’m not willing to be bitten again.
~R.J.
I’ve been wanting to share this but for the past 3 years I start every new year with rereading Royal States. Love these books, love that they’re continuing and love that you have your boundaries ❤️
Good for you for setting boundaries. You are right to protect yourself from the “people” who feel entitled to try to control your products. As a Royal States fan, I thank you for finding a way to still provide these oh-so-enjoyed stories to us. I love that Patreon is providing you with a stable income stream and providing us with continued access to favourite people and stories.
Boo to the entitled troublemakers… As a Patreon person, this doesn’t impact me and I already appreciate your continuing the series for us rabid fans *slightly embarrassed glance sideways at acknowledging my true level of fandom*. We love the Susan Copperfield books and re-read them often. I’m sorry that people are so ugly about accents. I have an audiobook that I’ve been trying to listen to that has a strong South African accent and I cannot understand it unless I give it my full attention, but that is a me problem that I’m addressing by waiting until I can give it my full attention and sneaking peeks at the print version when comprehension is beyond my abilities. I hope this stops the drama around inconsequential dialectical differences.
Thank you for finding a way to protect your sanity while not leaving us out in the cold. I love the series so much. I am a follower on Patreon, though I tend to set it and forget it, because I mostly like tossing a buck or two to people who entertain me, I’ll have to pay more attention.
Thank you for this compromise; I LOVE the Royal States books. (I love the rest of your books, too, though…) I’ve just been comfort re-reading my way through the Royal States – again.
I have not found a book that I don’t love by you. I have re-read most of them multiple times. I’m sorry jerks are making you “hide” your pen name. It sucks. But I’m glad that you’re going to continue the series, I’ve already followed you on everything. So I will still get the news even if I can’t be a patreon yet. Please continue your stories. Keep your boundaries. And keep being awesome.