It's been an entire year since I began my self-publishing journey with Hymn of Memory and wow, it's felt like even longer! To celebrate, Hymn of Memory is 100% off/pay what you want today (June 27th) only! So, if you still haven't picked it up, you literally have no excuse now!

I also updated the EPUB to be in line with my other books (so there is a black and white version of the cover on the inside as well as its chapter decoration that was present in the physical copy is now in the EPUB copy), so if that's all you wanted, have at it! I'm just going to throw some words below here so if you're interest in my rambling and feelings, you can keep reading!

🌻🌻🌻

This year has been both enlightening and about what I expected. I'm a perfectionist so I sort of set myself up to feel like garbage every time since the numbers will never be what I want. While I know Hymn of Memory hasn't really hit any of my internal targets (it never would have given the kind of story it is & I'm incredibly forgettable in the grand scheme of things), I am still proud of who it has reached and the friends I have made along the way. One day, my work will find its audience!

Throughout this year, I published both Hymn of Memory and Born of Scourge. I'm proud of both books and the praise they have received. Forevermore and the Devil in the Woods were put together in ebook form and put out on itch.io too. Forevermore even got its paperback and a lot of people actually like it (which surprises me because it barely got any engagement when I serialized it). I want to give Devil in the Woods its paperback too, but I have a lot of things cooking (and it needs a new cover) and if Forevermore was sort of ignored while serialized, that 100% was, so it's harder to put time into it again.

And even though this is a lot of work, I'm still glad I chose to self-publish. With everything that's going on in the trad publishing sphere, I know in my heart, doing it this way gave me the best shot I had to do something true to myself. I love formatting. I love making covers. I love the process. While I would honestly like someone to do my marketing for me, it's not like I would have had that guaranteed if anyone had actually believed in me enough to be my agent. That's just how the industry seems to be at this point.

In any case, I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I'm still doing it. I know I'll never be a runaway success and more often than not, largely passed over for cooler things, but I'm glad to have done this and that I have touched those I have touched.

Thank you for reading my stuff! I hope I can continue to do this because oh boy do I have a lot of ideas just waiting to get into your hands!