On Doing Things Imperfectly, National Library Week, Birthday Shenanigans, and... 💖⚙️📚
Last day to get online tickets to DemiCon and more panel news!
Hello! As I’m writing this, I’m under another tornado watch and listening to Stormy Weather by Etta James. Going by the radar, it looks like my area is going to be fine, but I’m still keeping an eye on things. (If you’re in the path of the storms, I hope you’re staying safe.) This week has been wild with both weather and book industry news. More on the latter soon because the news has impacted every indie author that I know, including me. (Spoiler alert for anyone anxious: I will be fine. I’m not changing anything at this time, but I still want to bring attention to the matter.)
On the positive side, my birthday was on Monday! I spend a few days celebrating with amazing food, LOTS of books (the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher, Year of the Mer by L. D. Lewis, Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by by Emily Krempholtz, and The Dreadfuls by A. Rae Dunlap), and a new tattoo inspired by the gears and flowers motif in the banners at the Fair in Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast. It was a much-needed chance to unplug for a bit.
(If/when my amazing artist, John, posts pics, I’ll share the link to my new piece from his shop’s page. He just returned from a tattoo convention and is catching up from everything, so there could be a delay in posting. 😊)
Last Day to Order Tickets Online for DemiCon!
DemiCon is coming soon and I’m so excited to be back as a pro guest! I shared my panels and vendor hall hours in last week’s newsletter, but I wanted to make sure for anyone who wants to get tickets before the convention in May that today’s the cutoff for online tickets. After April 17th, you can still purchase tickets at the door. Here’s the link for more info about DemiCon!
DemiCon: Outpost 37
Des Moines’ 37th Annual Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Gaming Convention
Holiday Inn & Suites Des Moines–Northwest, Iowa
May 1–3, 2026
On Doing Things Imperfectly (and a Poll!)
I know I’ve been talking about the possibility of putting my panels on YouTube instead of just sharing the slides from my presentations for a while now. Recently, I was asked again and it got me to seriously consider it.
What has stopped me in the past is concerns that my office set up is less than ideal for recording. I work in a converted dining room (meaning I don’t have a real door, just an epic steampunk curtain with an opening for my cats, and no soundproofing), and I have children and cats at home. I have a neighbor who mows and uses a leaf blower three to four times a week. I WISH that was an exaggeration. There’s also the consistent worry that I’m going to pronounce something wrong, the frequent curse of being an early advanced reader. When I was growing up, I was reading well above my grade level, which meant I was often reading words before hearing them.
But.
I love paneling and giving presentations at conventions. I recognize that not everyone can afford or is able to travel right now. We live in interesting times. If I can make my panels more accessible, I’d love to do so. (If you can attend conventions, please keep doing so. Volunteering is definitely an option for many conventions to get weekend and day passes!)
I’ve thought about streaming from the cons I attend, but that is dicey for a few reasons: I don’t have anyone tech savvy who could moderate for me, wi-fi connections can be iffy at best, and some events may not want outside streaming.
So, I’m going to do the next best thing. Slowly. I’ll periodically upload a version of my talks recorded from my desk to YouTube, just as I’ve done as a guest for podcasts and live events. This might mean interruptions from my cats, Hazel and Willow, but at least they’re photogenic. 😂
My question is, which of my panels should I test this with? I’d prefer to debut the new ones at the conventions first, but I have a few popular panels that I’ve been asked about:
Strange Happenings at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
Monstrous Women (the original version from DemiCon last year)
What if? Alternate History in Media
Something else? I’ve paneled a lot!
I’d love feedback about this! Either vote in the poll or let me know in the comments. Thank you for your help! I appreciate it.
Library Distribution and Indie Authors
I prefer drama to be in fiction, not my career or personal life, but I think since this news affects so many authors, I should say something. A widely used distributor, Draft2Digital, has made an announcement this week about changes to their system. For those of you unfamiliar, Draft2Digital is best known as a distributor for authors like me to get their books into storefronts and libraries. I use them to make sure my ebooks are in libraries (and I use other distributors like Ingram for making my print books available everywhere else like bookstores.)
In the announcement, Draft2Digital is going to start charging authors additional fees for their services. They already receive a percentage of every book sale or library check out. With this new rule, authors that make less that $100 a year on their platform will be charged a yearly $12 fee. While $12 doesn’t sound like much, I’m not happy that it only impacts authors below that threshold. Anyone making more than that won’t be paying that fee. This feels terribly unbalanced to go after newer authors or those who are still learning. (I could go on about more reasons this is a bad look, but I’d rather not dwell on it too long. I do think it’s important to share this because I know authors who are considering terminating their accounts over this on principle.)
As for me, I won’t be pulling my ebooks from the library distribution system. I am frustrated that it hasn’t even been a year since I had the option to have my ebooks be both in Kindle Unlimited and libraries. Though my books have had plenty of checkouts, I’ll be paying Draft2Digital’s fee from my book sales literally everywhere else (print books in stores, Kindle, and conventions.) Even though I added my books back in September on the same day, Monsters and Machines is STILL not available on Hoopla, but Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast is. If your library uses OverDrive or one of the other library ebook systems, you can access Monsters and Machines.
Despite my annoyance, I’ll keep my ebooks in the library system as long as it’s feasible. It feels wrong to pull them now, and especially since…
National Library Week is April 19th-25h!
The Central Iowa Libraries have come together to celebrate National Library week April 19th through the 25th with this amazing map (similar to the one for indie bookstores around here.) The maps are already available and I can’t wait to pick mine up! You can find out more details about everything the libraries are up to this week here. Sign up for a library card while you’re there if you haven’t already and request books you’d love to see stocked on their shelves!
Happy reading!
Happy library week!