Going All In On The Newsletter

Greetings to one and all! We have made it to the end of January, and into February. Here in VA we had a wicked bad cold snap a couple weeks ago, and other than causing my electric bill to jump, I tried not to leave the house, but that thing I call a day job (insert depressed groan here) made me. Granted, there was one day where I had to work from home because the roads weren't the best. Looking forward to some warmer weather. Not Summer, but just mild weather. The kind of weather where you can open the house windows during the day, and burn a nice fire in the pit at night. That kind of weather.

January also saw the return of my monthly newsletter. If you received it, what'd you think? It wasn't anything special, but I think it was a good way to re-introduce myself to my readers. If you haven't read it yet, you can head over to the archive on my website and read it. Do note, any freebies or coupon codes in archived newsletters have expired, so there's no point in clicking on them or trying to use them.

February's newsletter will be a lot more entertaining. As the title of this blog post implies, I'm going to be going all in on my newsletter because social media is a nightmare, and I'm leaning more towards it being my primary mode of interacting with readers and supporters of my work. I think it'll create some interesting interactions. So, to roll out this interactive newsletter I'm going to be accepting questions from people, and will be publishing my favorite questions in my March newsletter. If you have a question, you can send it to me via email or you can use the contact page on my website. I plan to publish all selected questions without names, but if you really want me to shout you out for the question just let me know.

Another thing, and you'll want to click on this link the moment you read this, but I'll be distributing a teaser of my next book Outside The Game in February's newsletter. If you don't want to miss out on this opportunity, go head and click that link I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph so you don't miss out. I'm almost done with the second pass through of the manuscript, so I feel really good about releasing this teaser.

The next newsletter is going to be released on February 15th just an FYI for those interested in getting that sneak peek of Outside The Game.

So, I've been reading Reappearance of Summer because I found myself wanting to revist it. And, to be quiet frank, while the story is good, there are some issues with it. I mean love the book, the characters, and the world I created within it, but one thing that annoys the piss out of me, are all the minor errors that I'm coming across while reading it. A lot of it is my fault because I didn't have a good grasp of stylistic choices vs. grammar rules, and clearly I have learned since then. I've actually taken time to study The Chicago Manual of Style on top of re-learning grammar rules, and so during my re-read of Reappearance of Summer, I've come to realize a lot of my mistakes could have been prevented by having a copy editor. This is probably true for most of my books, and I do plan to hire one for Outside The Game, but I'm going to need help getting one. 

I've set up a goal on my Ko-Fi page. It's a lofty one of 250 USD, but I'm curious to see how it goes. It'll probably be up for a while. If I don't make goal, I'll keep it up but change it to where I get a copy editor for one of my older books. Yep, that's right, I'm finally going to go through my backlist and re-do the editing on them, update the formatting, and possibly get new covers for them. I haven't decided on the cover thing yet. I want to commission someone to make art for them, but I also just want to refresh it on a basic level. Plus, I'm super finicky about my art. We'll see which way I land on that one.

Anywho, this blog post got away from me. Remember newsletter subscribers will be getting a sneak peek into Outside The Game, I've got a goal on my Ko-Fi page, and if you want to have a question featured in next month's newsletter, you can email me or do it on my contact page.

Don't forget to leave reviews of the books you read, especially the ones by indie publishers and self-published authors.

Until next time...

-DJ Small

End of July Post

August is, literally, days away. Isn't that crazy? Hopefully everyone had a good July—ate some good food, went on vacation, and enjoyed the AC.

With July ending it means the official countdown for the release of Murderous Profession begins. Pre-orders went on sale on the 7/24 at Amazon. The book is set to be released on the 8/26, so go pre-order your copy and you can have the book delivered to your device at the stroke of midnight. I'm going to redo my pinned tweet because I think it fell a little short. It's a learning process this self-promotion thing. Barring any major complications, like network failure and my computer shitting the bed, the book is set to be released on time. Which is a major thing for me since I have an issue with keeping realistic deadlines.

Paperback copies of the book will probably come a week or two later. It depends on some formatting and printing issues. I always strive to get the best version of the book out to everyone, so I'm not going to put out something I wouldn't buy myself.

I have started working on the first "Muderous Interlude." I think the interludes are going to consist of five little stories between each book, and as of right now, I have five books planned. The interludes are going to run the same as my serials. They won't be longer than 10k, but they'll connect with the books and other episodes. These aren't going to be big plot driven stories. They're just meant to delve further into the characters and learn more about them. If any real drama happens it's only to progress things with them. I'm excited for this because I have a few ideas that I'm really anxious to write because they're different.

Speaking of my serials, that will be a 2020 project. and I'm hoping to have the first two episodes up on my Patreon in January. New episodes will be released every two weeks. Each season will have about 10 or 11 episodes. The Adventures of Swift will be the first series I'll be putting up, but I will have another serial up by the end of the year. I'm toying around with a serialized prequel for Reappearance of Summer, but we'll see.

This now brings me to my next point. I have a deviated from what I was originally going to do. The "Murderous Interludes" and my serials were supposed to be posted on my Ko-Fi, but I didn't like the way their text editor worked, so I have re-signed up for Patreon and everything will be on there. Currently there are no tiers, but I'm thinking about creating two of them. I'm also going to start posting my teaser chapters there to get some traffic and I'm going to drop Wattpad so everything is one convenient location. All teaser chapters will be free on my Patreon, so there are no worries there.

Yes, there are a lot of changes afoot, but honestly it's just me minimizing the number of things I have to think about.

I have some good news, and it's for all you Avery Lawson fans.

A few days ago, I finished draft one of the second book. Whoop-whoop!! I'm currently taking a break from it, so when I start editing it, it will basically be new to me. I'm not sure how long the editing process will be. I want to make sure everything from the 1st book carries over gets resolved while also making sure the story is consistent. I'm certain I screwed up on a few things while writing it, but such is life. I'll get it all ironed out before it comes out. My fingers are still crossed for the December release.


 Okay, so check out my Patreon, pre-order Murderous Profession, and sign up for the newsletter. The first one came out in July and though brief I think we're off to a good start. August's edition will be a crapshoot. I haven't compiled my thoughts on it yet, but I've got some time. I think.

I am done here, and please be a dear and review those books you read from indie and self-pubbed authors like myself. May seem like it does nothing, but it actually does a lot. All right get out of here you wacky kids, and enjoy the rest of your summer.


-DJ Small

It is time.

Who is excited? This guy, and hopefully the rest of you are as well.

After several months of writing and editing, Murderous Profession has a release date. Insert drum roll gif...




August 26th is the release date for Murderous Profession. Pre-sales for eBooks will being 7/22 on Smashwords and Amazon. Super excited for this book to come out. Now that we know when it will be coming out, I'll also let you know that there will be a series of standalone stories that to accompany the series on my Ko-Fi.

The standalone stories, which I have been calling "Murderous Interludes," will be—for the most part—light and they'll tackle the in-between moments between books because my main characters are complex people, and I feel like there is much more delve into, but it's too much to put into a single book, hence, the standalone stories.

The first story will be free and the subsequent ones will be available to those that buy me gummy bears. Yes, on my Ko-Fi I have customized it to where you are buying me gummy bears because I don't drink coffee, however, I digress. Monthly contributors will have the option to download each chapter individually. I do have a plan to compile the standalone stories, but I need to see how many I come up with before I do. At the moment I just have two.

Okay, so new book is on the way, and pre-orders start on the 22nd. You can still reserve a signed copy if you are a US based reader on my website up until the book is released.

Obligatory mention of the second Last Pureblood book.

Okay, that's it.

I kid, I kid. I have a title for it! I just need to remember what I titled it because I forgot. Oh!I remember! The title of the second Last Pureblood book is Fate Unseen. I'm in the midst of finishing the first draft because it keeps getting longer for some weird ass reason, but I should have it done by the end of the month.

I'm not sure where that puts us for release wise. I'm still shooting for a December release, but we have to see what happens because it has gotten a bit long in the tooth. Can I use that here? I'm going to.

Okay, so that has been today's blog post. Remember, be a pal and review an indie author's book. Oh, and if you haven't signed up for newsletter, you can do so here. All right, now I'm done.

Until next time....

-DJ Small