I’m trying not to bombard y’all with updates every day, but I’m also trying not to wait six months between updates. LOL But a lot happened this past week. I’m finally starting to feel somewhat better (again) from what my doctors are pretty sure was covid…which catching that on top of recovering from pneumonia isn’t ideal. UGH. But now I’m in a fibro flare, so I apparently am not allowed to win in any context whatsoever.
Anyhoo.
For starters: Acquainted With the Night is now in audiobook!
Eventually Everand (formerly Scribd) will push it to third-party audiobook sites. Everand is a monthly subscription service and they have several of my books in audiobook format, and have contracted several others they’re in the process of producing now. Why do I like Everand? Because they do NOT require exclusivity for authors, unlike KU does. and they have apps that work on nearly every device.
Edited to add–because of course I learned this AFTER I sent the newsletter this morning LOL–Diligence (Determination Trilogy 2) is now in audiobook!
https://www.everand.com/audiobook/719061525/Diligence
And that brings me to Kobo Plus. They also have a subscription service that benefits authors and does NOT require exclusivity. Nearly all of my Lesli Richardson books are available there. (I have no control over my Tymber Dalton books through my publisher–they control the distribution.) You don’t have to have a Kobo reader because, like Everand, they have apps!
Next!
Empty-Handed Heart (Suncoast Society 66) is back in print! This is the one with the sexy elevator scenes and the hypnosis. The idea for the book came about because my bestie and some other friends got caught in an elevator at a fetish convention. (The real-episode wasn’t sexy like the book versions, but the firemen that rescued her WERE haawwwttt.)
I also formatted Home at Last (Suncoast Society 40) for print, buuuuuut Amazon’s caught it in publishing hell right now. Despite having sent them the rights notice several times, it’s still stuck. It is available on B&N, however, and I went ahead and uploaded it through D2D’s print as well, meaning it should eventually make it to Amazon even if Amazon doesn’t get their thumb out of their ass.
Let me add how fecking frustrating this is because I’ve literally sent them THE SAME FORM several times in the past now, and there’s no rhyme or reason to when they hold a book for rights issues. Like, they put Empty-Handed Heart through with no problems, but Home at Last (which I did first) got caught by their system. It’s maddening.
(Watch them release it from hold as soon as I send post this newsletter. F’ers.)
I have started a Ream, but if you’re already subscribed as one of my paid Patreons, do NOT subscribe to my Ream. If you’re not subscribed to Ream or Patreon, please consider my Patreon instead of Ream. You get more through your Patreon subscription than you will through Ream for the same price.
Ream: https://reamstories.com/tymberdalton
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tymberdalton (Patreon also has an app!)
Like what, you ask?
Liiiiikkkkeee…. how about Suncoast Society and Triple Trouble books, among others?
I’ve decided instead of keeping those in indefinite hell status, I’m going to serialize them on my Patreon exclusively for my paid subscribers. The first two installments of One Week Last Summer are already up there.
I will use my Ream account exclusively to serialize my backlist books as Lesli. That way, if you use Ream and aren’t familiar with all my works and want to give me a try, you can do that there. Buuuut… for the same price of my lowest Patreon tier, you get more.
Lots more.
Why am I doing this? Well, there are many reasons, including I don’t know when some books will be finished. It’s better for me to start getting them out to y’all like this than wait possibly years. There’s other reasons behind that; you can read the updates over there.
You get more than that, however. Such as I’m currently posting A Bleacke Outlook (Bleacke Shifters 9) there ahead of publishing it. The final file version of all books I publish will be given free in digital format to my paid subscribers once they’re released. There’s other stuff too; you can go read about it. Like I’m going to be posting my backlist files there for free as well. Book 10 will also be going up as soon as 9 is out.
Look, life sucks right now for a lot of people. I write books, it’s what I do for a living. Frankly, with my health issues, it’s all I can do for a living. Now with AI garbage flooding the book retail sites, it’s damned near impossible to be visible. And I’m down to one barely working vehicle, and bills, and and and… Just like many of you.
So I’m trying something new. This way, I can earn money to, you know, live, and you get to read stuff from me sooner than you otherwise would. My first fiction book was published in 2008, and publishing has evolved SO much since then. This is the next iteration of it. Remember, I don’t use AI or ghostwriters–it’s all meeeee. I also don’t use AI-generated images for my covers. I use stock photos and I do my absolute best to make sure they’re not AI-generated images by looking at file upload dates (nearly always files before 2021 are not AI-generated).
I was just starting to get my mojo back after Russ’ death in 2021 when I got hit by pneumonia. I’ve literally spent most of this year so far sick. And that sucks.
And no, you don’t have to subscribe to it! I TOTALLY get it if you don’t want to or financially can’t, believe me. Some books will come out sooner than others. (Like Bleacke Shifters 9&10.). And they’ll be available for purchase once they’re finished. But this way, I can get more content to you faster, I can breathe a little easier knowing there’s steady income coming in every month, so it’s a win-win. The lowest tier is only $5 a month. I physically and mentally cannot churn out 1-2 titles a month like I used to. I just cannot. But right now on my computer I, no shit, have over 20 WIPs in varying degrees of progress in different series, as well as some random standalone stories.
Several of those WIPs are in series you’ve been wanting to see for…a while. And the plot bunnies are constantly breeding, so I am not kidding when I say I have HUNDREDS of ideas I’ve made notes for that I just haven’t done anything with.
So what I CAN do is start posting those WIPs and developing some of those ideas on my Patreon, one piece at a time (*evil earworms myself with that old song*) AND you can comment on what I post when it’s live! I’ll post polls periodically for a variety of things, so you might even find yourself giving me input on a story’s direction. I can put out shorter works, too.
If you don’t want to do that (again, totally understandable!) but you’re in a position to toss some extra cabbage my way, my Ko-fi tip jar is always open (and I am BEYOND grateful and appreciative for your generosity, no matter how small the tip).
Thank you for reading, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate you all!
If you made it this far, here’s puppeh tax of Buffett!
