Bit of a rant because I feel like I’m being stomped over and it is not pleasant.
It would be nice to end the year with sales!
I’ve given away more books than I’ve sold in the last few months. That’s not sustainable in any shape or form.

I think next year will be a year of NOT giving my work away and see how that goes.
Far too many people don’t grasp how fucking cheap eBooks are and still want free stuff from authors who need sales.
FYI – we NEED sales.
Sales beget sales.
There is no other way to do that.

It’s a pet peeve. Actually, it’s more than that.
It means no one values my work.
How shit does that make me feel? Stick around and you’ll find out.

I’ve been a very generous author and it hasn’t helped me.
It just means people know I will give books away so they wait instead of purchasing them. (That doesn’t help any author.)

The stupid thing is that I like giving books away but I need to stop.

Readers waiting until I offer books free or 50% off means they do not grasp the amount of work that goes into producing all those words/stories/characters … it’s not something everyone can do.
I can teach you the mechanics of writing a novel but it won’t feel right unless you have that spark inside you that carries a story.
If you do, then welcome to an industry that will wear you down and make you want to quit but you can’t because the stories won’t be quiet. Sound like fun?
Sometimes it is.
It is hard work.
It is frustrating.
It is satisfying.
It is terrifying.
It is everything and nothing.

My books are not expensive. A cup of coffee costs more than most of my books.
Want a free book?
Write it yourself.
Then you’ll find out exactly what goes into producing a novel length work and characters that breathe.

The Smashwords storewide sale ends tomorrow I think.
So if you want any of my books free or 50% off this is your last chance. (See pinned post on Facebook about that with every link there for you and instructions. The very annoying thing is people choose the free books, FFS. Clearly 99c – $8.99 is far too much for a fucking good story or a collection of fucking good stories.)

I’m not doing this again because it doesn’t help me or my family.
(Oh, you forgot I had a family … I do, and we can’t eat air, so …)

Rant over.
You can resume your day. Have a good year.
Buy a book and when you do, you can feel good about how that sale made an author feel that they’re worth something.
That all their work is appreciated.
That they aren’t rubbish.