Closing down Ream and Some Other Updates…

Greetings, folks!

First, I have shut down my ream stories account today. There are a myriad of reasons I made this decision, but my inability to be twenty bazillion places at once is one of them. Right now, the site has issues… its discoverability leaves a lot to be discovered, there was not much interest in readers for such a model, and it can’t (and won’t) compete with my Patreon.

I’d hoped to turn it into a web-based reading catalogue for those who wanted access to older books on the cheap, but the reality is… the platform itself just isn’t ready for prime time.

(Fun fact: I couldn’t even discover me when looking for me on the site. It’s like I don’t exist unless I go directly to the page or I use my name as a search option. And you can only find me if you include the . in the initials.)

Simply put, it’s currently non-viable, and I don’t want to waste people’s money.

I refunded those who had paid within the past like 10 to 15 days, and I removed all subscribers along with taking down the tiers. (If you got a message about being banned, it was toggled on to off so I could drop your subscription so you weren’t charged again, as their site indicated you’d still be billed despite having removed the paid tier.)

So… that’s that. Onto other things.

Outside of a dental appointment I do not want to participate in next week, things have calmed down quite a lot on the life front, which is a nice change. I’m still a chaos bean, but at least I’m now in a mental headspace where I can start trying to fix all the shit that’s going wrong in life.

After the Findaway Voices idiocy, I will be likely publishing audiobooks exclusively to Patreon for the first two weeks of the audiobook’s life. This rewards those willing to buy direct from me, gives me a MUCH better chance of being able to pay the audiobook’s bill off earlier, and so on.

Let me phrase it this way:

I have no ability to control pricing at audible, and generally, I’m paid $2.34 per audiobook sold. (That is less than the royalty I’m paid for the ebook edition, and it costs twice as much to produce the audiobook….)

At Patreon, I’m paid $10 for a $12.99 audiobook. Please buy and download using the website and NOT the app. The app is not your friend with Patreon shop; you may end up paying 30% more due to app fees outside of my control.

Use the website! Use the website! Use the website! (Downloading, etc, also works MUCH better on the website.)

(Please buy audiobooks through Patreon. You get the files to load in your mp3 player of choice, and nobody can take them from you. I also get paid fairly for the audiobook.)

I am in process of uploading all of the audiobooks to Patreon.

Yes, Audible will still get the audiobooks, but it’s definitely not my favorite vendor in the world. The whole “paid less than the royalties for an ebook copy despite it being twice as expensive” thing factors in that.

Here is the current list of audiobooks available for sale on Patreon:

• Karma
• Winter Wolf (New Release)
• Bat out of Hell
• The Run Around
• Up in Smoke
• Outfoxed
• Ginger Snapped
• Hypnos
• Beneath a Blood Moon
• Steel Heart
• Water Viper
• Booked for Kidnapping
• Booked for Murder
• Silent Stalker
• Blood Bound
• Unawakened
• Dawn of Dae
• Vampire of Montana
• Runaway
• Cold Flame
• Bonds
• The Captive King
• Null & Void
• Taken
• Storm Called
• 101 Ways to Die
• Moon Tamed
• Claustrophobic
• Blood Diamond
• Inquisitor

I will be trying to upload five audiobooks a week (one a day) moving forward in a feeble attempt to preserve my sanity.

In good news for everybody, as a general rule, I turn around and hand over all the audiobook earnings into production of new audiobooks, which means my limitations are more about actor and actress availability rather than money. This means you’ll get a steady stream of audiobooks without them breaking my bank account/wallet. (This is a win-win for everybody.)

On the writing front, I’m in the final editing stages of Iron Unicorn. (It goes to the third editor sometime tonight, after which I will do my final proofing pass through.)

On the print front, I’m going to be trying to go through all of my recent releases and get the files sent over to my designer to do the print spreads. With the huge hike in print costs, the print editions don’t sell well, so it just hasn’t been a priority, especially with the amount of stress involved getting them ready, etc, etc, etc.

But, it’s on the to-do list, so hopefully those will be done sooner than later.

Amazon has the Trade Sized, B&N has the smaller mass market, just as a reminder of where to get what.

On the audiobook front, Dead Weight (GP Robbins) is currently being recorded, and Tracey Rooney is working on something… And Keira is also working on something… something… something… (Read: I have no idea what’s being recorded right now. They’re in pre-production and production, and I let them sort out what’s going on. I just wait for the files and pay the bills when they arrive.)

But there are three audiobooks in production at the moment. Hooray!

Please note that I will NOT be updating the published audiobooks; those will be staying just as they are. The new versions will only be available at Patreon.

On the health front, I currently weigh 195 pounds (and I’ve lost a few pounds), and I’m doing 30 minute walks 6 days a week. Yesterday was my rest day, and it was glorious. GLORIOUS.

The 30 minute walks may as well be torture, y’all. (My path consists of flights of stairs to improve my basic leg strength, and I WTAF swing my arms to help with the tendonitis issues I have. It’s really irritating how overly swinging the arms helps keep the muscles looser. I look like a walking hobgoblin, possibly rabid, when I’m doing my exercise…)

But let me tell you y’all, those stairs suck. Today is stair day, where I deliberately subject myself to extra flights of steps until I cannot climb them without having to haul myself up with the help of the rain.

My current record stands at 8 flights of steps in a single path go. (Walk like 200 steps, take a flight of steps, rinse and repeat, so I get minimal rest between flights of steps.)

It IS working, but boy does it suck…

One last thing… if you aren’t following on my Patreon (for free) and you like the Royal States series, please do so! Just click the membership tab and make sure you’re freeeeeeee. I mean, unless you want the perks, in which case…

For what’s currently going on at Patreon:

• Grave Affairs read along (Cindercorns, Spicy Ponies with Bite)
• Storm Called Listen Along (Sirens, Cindies, Spicies)
• Hoofin’ It Read Along (Pixies, Otters, Sirens, Cindies, Spicies)
• Memento Mori (Erratic because rewriting the scenes/editing them is ROUGH and very time consuming, but the next scene should be going live soonish. Otters, Sirens, Cindies, Spicies)
• Partner in Crime read along (Cindies, Spicies — currently languishing in some sad hell because I slipped in Iron Unicorn’s release…)

There are a bunch of other projects that might show up for Cindies and Spicies.

Audiobook releases (new audiobooks) are given to Cindies and Spicies as they release. (They receive a post with the audiobook files attached, and they can download it; post stays live for about a month before it disappears. Yes, Winter Wolf is currently available for Cindies and Spicies.)

Okay, I think that’s everything. I hope. And if not, I’ll hopefully remember by next week.

Have a great weekend, y’all.