My last email of the year

Maybe. Or maybe not. But this is the last "news and updates" one.

Happy almost end of the year!

I’m sure your inboxes are absolutely flooded with emails, so this will probably be my last note to you until January. Unless I have urgent news to share, which . . . I might, actually. And also unless you’re a paid subscriber, in which case you’ll get your December email soon. And also also I might send a Knit Night email soon; I keep meaning to gather up some photos and write something.

Okay so there are a couple exceptions and a potential exception.

Just a few notes this month:

Something to read

Last month, I sent an email on DAWNBREAKER day with a space held for a Teen Librarian Toolbox guest post that wasn’t up yet. It is now. It’s called “This is How We Save the World” and you can read it here.

Would you like to take a survey?

I also have a survey here, to help me get to know folks better. It’s just a few questions about what you want from this newsletter, whether you’ve read any of my books, and how you found either of them. The answers are all anonymous, so please feel free to be honest. Your answers will (hopefully) help me deliver better newsletters to you in the new year.

Right now, I send about four to six emails a month: one for the news and updates (this section!), one for paid subscribers, and one or two for the writing and publishing section. The knit night emails happen only occasionally. (As you can see if you follow the link, the last one I sent was in August.)

But that’s not really a schedule, is it? And maybe it’s too many emails or (somehow . . .) not enough? So depending what the answers are, I’d like to establish an actual schedule next year.

Posts you may have missed

I know your inboxes have been busy lately. (Mine have, too. In addition to all the holiday and political emails, I have also been getting job-search emails for at least two other people who failed to use their own email addresses.¹ I truly hope they all find jobs soon.) So in case you missed my recent writing/publishing emails:

• What to do when no one shows up to your event (based on a true story)

• Five tips to trim your book (also based on a true story)

• How to lose reader trust (and how to get it back)

• Dear algorithm . . .

My books

The holidays are nearly upon us, and books make great gifts! Last I heard, One More Page and The Book Dragon still have signed copies of NIGHTRENDER and DAWNBREAKER (though you might email/call to be sure, if that’s important to you).

I recommend reading MY LADY JANE before the show drops next year, so you can brag about having read the book first. And if you like that, we have a bunch of other books about Janes and Marys done wrong by history.²

If you’re in the mood for dragons, as I know many of you are, grab a set of the Fallen Isles books (starting with BEFORE SHE IGNITES), which features a lot of different kinds of dragons, but notably a tiny shoulder dragon whose name is LaLa.

• One More Page

• The Book Dragon

• Bookshop

• Barnes and Noble

• Amazon

And if you’ve read any of my books, it would be an enormous gift to me if you would leave a review on a retail site, particularly Amazon. DAWNBREAKER especially could use it, and NIGHTRENDER’s count is sitting at 99. Won’t one of you be 100? <3

Paid subscription discount

If you’ve ever thought about becoming a paid subscriber (thank you for even thinking it!), now’s a good time: through December 4, you can get 20% off for the next year. That includes an extra monthly email with everything I’m reading and watching, sneak peeks about what I’m working on, and priority requests for what kind of posts I write and send.

Most folks subscribe to this newsletter for my writing/publishing posts, which is great! I want to help educate authors so they can better advocate for themselves — and understand what is “normal” in this industry. I'm committed to sharing free, honest posts about real life as an author.

However, those posts aren’t free for me to write; they take time away from paying work. Paid subscriptions help make it more sustainable.

I absolutely do NOT want anyone to put themselves out for a newsletter, though! But if you can swing it, and it’s something you’re interested in, now’s a good time. Here’s the link.

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I hope you have a peaceful December, friends! And barring surprise emails with news that cannot wait, I’ll catch you in the new year. Happy reading!

1. Yes, I’ve been unsubscribing from them. There was one site, actually, that wouldn’t let me unsubscribe from emails without deleting the account, though, so I left that one for a month or two before I couldn’t take any more.

2. Note: you can read them in any order, but since MY LADY JANE and MY CONTRARY MARY are in the same universe and the same time period, I’d suggest reading Jane first, then Mary. But you do you.