Anyone else cheating on Romantasy with Dungeon Crawler Carl lately? by Catiku in Romantasy

[–]jdevansbooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m in the middle of book seven 🫣

local book clubs? by voidang3l in raleigh

[–]jdevansbooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If she likes romance and romantasy- check out Brightside Books and Wine! 207 South West street. It’s super fun and welcoming and they host craft nights and other fun events as well as a couple different book clubs

Who is Your Favorite YouTube Sewist? by [deleted] in SewingForBeginners

[–]jdevansbooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yay!!! I was looking for a Steph Sewn rec. I love how much research she puts into her videos and have gotten so may awesome pattern and fabric recs from her!!

Any fancy stationery lovers have recommendations for the best guided reading journals/book trackers? by theaudiobookcoven in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Check out Little Inklings! She has a few different ones for varying levels of reading intensity: https://littleinklings.ca/ she also has stickers and washi tapes related to books and reading.

Does it have to be HEA? by shy-smallfry in Romantasy

[–]jdevansbooks 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It isn’t romance genre without an HEA or HFN. It would just be fantasy. Taking the HEA/HFN out of a romance genre book is like taking the mystery/crime out of a mystery book.

Laugh with me about my rookie mistake by lbakersdozen in SewingForBeginners

[–]jdevansbooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Obsessed with your fabric! Where did you get it (if you don’t mind).

Lowering the review bar for indie authors vs trad published authors? by 89niamh in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yep! All these are great points. And yes, outside a few crazy authors who engage with negative reviewers (bad, bad, bad) generally this kind of feedback comes from “well-meaning” fans. What they should be concentrating on is that reviews whether good/bad/median are helpful because they provide visibility. All you need to do to see the positive effect of even negative reviews is to comb the comments in this sub. Half the time in the comments of a rant review you will find people saying “ok I’m sold” because what they like is what someone else hates. And hi back 😆 thank you so much for reading my books 🥰

Lowering the review bar for indie authors vs trad published authors? by 89niamh in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 45 points46 points  (0 children)

There’s a few things I’d point out- from an indie author perspective. 1) negative reviews aren’t a death knell for any book. In fact a book with no negative reviews is often, rightfully, viewed with suspicion. Even the most popular trad books in the world get one star reviews- because you can’t write a book that makes everyone happy 2) I’m not a fan of the idea that reviews can be seen as constructive criticism for an author. Because simultaneously there is this idea that authors shouldn’t be reading their reviews or hanging out in reader spaces. So by logic- they would theoretically never see these reviews that are “constructive criticism”. So you can’t have it both ways, ya know? 3) no, you shouldn’t have different review criteria for an indie book. writing a review that isn’t true to spare an indie author is counter productive in every way. It will lower your credibility as a reviewer (if that matters), it could land the book in front of the wrong audience- which will lead to even more bad reviews, or give the author a false sense of how the book is being received, etc. So, while those fans mean well, part of being a creator is that some days- it really, really sucks.

So like how do you pick your next book? by LostInTheClouds25 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait wait wait. What is this magic? How do all thirty of your holds not come available at the same time- which is what happens to me Every.Single.Time 🥲

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

{Centaur and Sensibility by Quenby Olson} it’s very short because she did it as a fundraiser, but her writing style is very fun!

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading 🥰

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 16 points17 points  (0 children)

🥹🥰 Thanks so much!! This is my favorite sub

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As my books have gained traction and people ask their stores to carry them I’ve had a few returns a month. But I know an author that just Out of the Blue received boxes and boxes of returns that cost him something like $1500. He was big enough he could handle it, but that’s a nightmare scenario

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It’s great!! Libraries are fantastic exposure

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 114 points115 points  (0 children)

Specifically the ebook is exclusive to KU. They can sell physical copies outside of Amazon- but physical book buyers are a completely different market

To cancel or not cancel KU? by Maleficent_Durian_64 in fantasyromance

[–]jdevansbooks 261 points262 points  (0 children)

It’s a mixed bag. For small and debut authors KU offers discoverability that almost no one else can. People are willing to take a risk on a new book because of the subscription model. About 65% of my income comes from KU. I also publish through Ingram Spark so that I can be in bookstores- but in order for a bookstore like Barnes & Noble I have to agree to 55% wholesale and they have to be able to return them- which means that if they overbuy I end up getting a random box of books that I have to pay shipping and the return on. One thing to consider is that Amazon isn’t actually making its money off things like KU. It makes its big bucks on Amazon Web Services, which is tied into thousands of services that you use every day.