1000 REASONS WHY I'M AN UNTAPPED WRITING GOLDMINE

The numbers and reviews don't lie. So how do we make shit happen?

Apr 23, 2024

Two weeks ago today, I hit 800 subscribers to this crazy train ride of a blog. We’re still using the word blog, right?

Anyheez, today I reached the very major milestone of 1000 subscribers! In just two weeks, two hundred more of you showed up, and thank you so much! Substack made special images for it and everything!

A circle of chairs is a sweet image, like we’re doing Book Club together. Which we are, kinda!

I’ve gotten some great new reviews for The Sound of Settling in the last couple of days which make me very happy.

Short and sweet, just like yours truly. But seriously! “An amazing author,” wow!

“A captivating storyteller” would be a great blurb on the back of a proper mass-market paperback.

That last line, wow! I may have cried the first time I read that.

So, that’s pretty awesome. She’s in love with a character I created. Yes, Grady Donovan is based on Dave Grohl, but not just Dave. There’s a lot of Butch Walker thrown in there as far as how I see Grady in my mind’s eye. But Grady’s personality is based more on my ex-boyfriend, aka the love of my life, who taught me a lot about what love should really be and what I deserved.

All of these reviews, along with the others, are so incredibly gratifying. I was terrified to self-publish after three solid years of agent rejections, so to have people repeatedly say the same things in their reviews—they couldn’t put it down, they connected emotionally with Grady and Lila—means so much to me.

Those reviews were posted just as I got another agent rejection. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve gotten, but it’s got to be around 75 at this point. Let’s look at it, then discuss.

That’s about as personal as the full-on AI rejection I recently got.

We know that’s a form rejection just based on the mismatched fonts. You can almost hear the AI-generated robo-voice reading my name and hers in a different cadence from the generic body. There’s no mention of my book’s title, plot, or anything else that identifies it. She didn’t read my submission at all, because not only was I seeking representation as an author, but as a political commentator as well. No mention of that, as you can see.

So, that’s fun for me three days before my birthday. Whee!

However, I’m not giving up on this book because I never will. IT’S IN POWELL’S, FFS! Powell’s!

As of this writing (Tuesday morning, 10 am PST), I’ve sold 623 books all by myself via relentless self-promotion on the socials. All I want for my birthday (aside from peace in the Middle East and a Trump conviction) is for The Sound of Settling to finally go viral so someone recognizes this untapped goldmine and signs me to the proper publishing deal my beloved book needs. The follow-up, Heavy Meddling, is pretty much ready to go. I’m starting to adapt it into a screenplay for the streaming series we all want, which is sloooow going. I need to work with someone who knows how to write episodic television. I want to collaborate with people who have the energy and drive to tell my unique story.

There are now ONE THOUSAND OF YOU, which is 377 more than the amount of books I’ve sold. Being able to brag that I’ve sold 1000 books would be pretty awesome, although I’m also capable of managing my expectations at this point.

HOWEVER, if you haven’t yet bought a copy of The Sound of Settling, that’s what I’d like for my birthday. It’s free if you have Kindle Unlimited. I do get more royalties from Kindle than the paperback, but I’m happy to have anyone read my rock and roll love story in any format. You can also order it from your local library and indie bookstores!

I’d also love it if you’d share The Sound of Settling on your own socials. My pinned tweet is ALWAYS about my book.

There’s also plenty to share from my TikTok, but if you don’t have it, here’s a handy dandy link you can share.