R.J. Blain's Blog, page 23

News re: 101 Ways to Die Pricing

Greetings, folks! It’s almost time for 101 Ways to Die to release in early June, hooray! The price will be increasing to $5.99 on roughly June 4th or 5th to account for the length with the short stories added. I doubt it will make it up to $6.99, but if that changes, I’ll let you know. (I’m writing the shorts right now because I am a rabid squirrel with my time management lately. Rabid squirrels have time management? Precisely.)

For those of you who have read 101 Ways to Die in the Dirty Deed...

Alert re: Audiobooks!

The Derp Hawk wishes to inform you that all male-recorded audiobooks from the Mag Rom Com series are being redone by the same gentleman who has done the Royal States series.

Once I have rights back for A Guiding Light, he will also be doing that one as well. (And I have approached the rights holder about doing a better version of the book, where I own the files but they are given distribution rights until my contract with them ends. This publisher is not all that smart, which is why they’...

The Vampire of Montana has released!

“What’s that you say?” asks the hawk.

The Vampire of Montana has released! You can buy now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, Apple Books, and Google Play. Yes, it is available in the Kobo Plus library!

Prefer paperback? You can buy the 4.25×7 (mass market) edition here (Barnes & Noble) and the 6×9 Trade edition here (Amazon.) To add further confusion, you can get the 4.25×7 (mass market) on Amazon as well.

Audiobook edition will be coming in the next few months. It was b...

A Quick Note on Native Languages… because relevant.

With the Vampire of Montana’s release around the corner, the author would like to take a moment to remind people that having a native language does not mean you are from the country of the language you speak.

Let’s use French as an example.

Those from French-speaking Quebec (Canada) speak, you guessed it, French! This does not make them French. They speak French, yes, but they are Canadians. Not French.

There are plenty of little girls and boys in the US who speak Spanish as their nativ...

I have a favor to ask of you.

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This is the Egret of Regret.

Now, onto the favor. Please rate the books you love. (Mine, any author’s… just… rate the books you love.) I was minding my own business (read: doing admin work on Amazon) when something came to my attention.

Wait… 2,319 ratings/reviews? Not 4.2*?

I live in a dark hole in the ground, where I eat food and pretend life doesn’t exist outside of my little hole. The inside is well lit, it’s comfortable. I’m more than a little pudgy, and often don’t wear sh...

Let’s talk about typos, please.

Hey, folks.

You’re probably tired of this subject. I know I am. It’s a daily (and hugely frustrating) part of my life. Every day, I have to log into my Amazon account to see if someone, who is likely trying to be helpful and is completely unaware of how harmful they’re being, has made use of their typo report tool.

Amazon is the only vendor that does this, and it’s hugely detrimental to authors.

Let me explain why.

First, Amazon tries to remove creative control of an author’s book fr...

Moon Tamed is now available in Audiobook format!

Coraline Patten enjoys nothing more than facing new challenges, but when she’s asked to evaluate Moonriver’s ruling faction, she worries she’s bitten off more than she can chew.

Allasandro Stephans has reigned since she’d been a child, unwavering in his dedication to Moonriver. His heir, Calden, has supported him every step of the way. Together, the shapeshifting widower and his son appear to be the perfect men for the job of preserving and protecting their home.

When Moonriver’s heir ...

The Complete Process of Writing a Book, From Concept to Publication! Case Study: Grave Affairs (Lilith Daniels)

Dear readers,

This is mostly for my fellow authors, but you are very welcome to join the party and read about how a book comes to life. I am going to showcase Grave Affairs (yes, that is a link to Amazon, for I have finally decided on a release date. It is April 5, 2024. Please note Apple will be slow to the game because they are poorly coded and does not realize that April 5 is a year away.)

Grave Affairs began with a premade book cover. This premade book cover.

I saw it, I loved i...

Kobo Plus is now in the US and the UK!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kobo Plus, it is essentially a service similar to Kindle Unlimited with a few important differences:

1: Authors are not required to be exclusive to participate.

2: Authors are paid by time spent reading the book versus pages read. (So, if you want to take your time and savor a book, that’s wonderful! Authors are actually rewarded for this behavior.) The math is complicated, but I make good money off the Kobo Plus service, and it’s one of my more rel...

I will be at DragonCon this year!

And for some good news, it is official! I will be attending DragonCon this year as a professional. Hooray!! If you’re in the area, I do hope you’ll be able to drop in and say hello! I don’t yet know what my schedule will be, but I will be in attendance during all of the days of the con.

I very much look forward to being able to meet you all!

Please note that I will not be selling books at the convention, so if you want books signed, please bring them with you. I’m happy to stop and sign yo...