June Newsletter
Hi hi hi!
Just a quick newsletter this month because I’m drowning in deadlines around all the travelling for events I’ve been/am doing, and time is not my friend of late. But I wanted to get this out to you because there’s a few important (and exciting!) things in it.
I’m hoping that by next month I’ll be able to return to my usual newsletter rambling (ft. my unrelated random tangents, naturally), so that’s something you can all look forward to (*awkward laugh*). But until things calm down a bit, you’ll just have to trust that I’m working reeeeeeeally hard to deliver you the best book I possibly can (for my next fantasy, I mean — the one I’m announcing VERY VERY VERY (VERRRRRRY) soon), so I figure if a brief news-only newsletter is the sacrifice for a solid book, you’ll all be okay with that compromise! (Or I hope so, at least!)
So! This month you’ll find:
The Prison Healer deluxe editions (with a signed/personalised offer, including international shipping)
Brand new Box Set of The Medoran Chronicles
Events: Sydney and Perth (including a full panel schedule)
Penguin Fantasy Fest — Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney — and a tease about what I’ll be a.n.n.o.u.n.c.i.n.g. at all 4 cities + what you might find in the goodie bags 👀
My first ever international event — in Europe!!
Q&A — 5 of your questions answered
Let’s dive in!
The following note has been added after I finished drafting this newsletter:
Surprising no one, I totally and completely ended up tangenting! *Hides face* So further below you’ll also find some insight into how much money authors make per book on a % royalty agreement, and some other related industry tidbits for those interested in the ins and outs of publishing!
THE PRISON HEALER — DELUXE EDITIONS
In case you missed it on social media, The Prison Healer series is getting some stunning deluxe hardcover editions, coming this November — the 4th, I think, but don’t quote me on that! Either way, it’ll be well before Christmas, which makes them the perfect pressies for yourself (or, you know, a friend, but definitely yourself!!).
These beauties are going to be made out of a gorgeous (and very high quality) hardcover casing with gold foil on the front, on the back (there’s quotes!!!), AND on the edges. They’re going to shiiiiiiine and I can’t WAIT to see them in person! I was also just sent a look at the (coloured!) endpapers, and omigosssssh these books are going to be spectacular! I’m so excited!!!
These deluxe editions are being released by my AUS/NZ publishers which I know makes things tricky for international fans, but if you’re willing/able to pay for shipping, I’ve compiled a list of Aus retailers who offer global options here.
OR! For anyone, anywhere, wanting signed and/or personalised copies, my local indie bookstore Harry Hartog is partnering with me to make this happen, so you can order directly from them (they also offer global shipping for people outside of Australia). For this offer, pre-orders must be in by September 30, so you have some time, but after that point, that’s it, so set yourself a reminder to keep from forgetting!
The signed/personalised deluxe editions can be pre-ordered by clicking here.
THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES — BOX SET
I’m so thrilled to share that for the first time ever, all seven books in The Medoran Chronicles series are combined in a box set edition! Look at how pretty they are together!!
These have only just released (this week!) and they’re exclusive ONLY to Big W — you can grab them in-store or online here. I’m not actually sure how long they’ll be available, but at a guess, I’d be thinking it’s until stocks run out, so if you’ve been wanting to start the series, or you’d just like a pretty new set in a collectable box, then grab one of these before they’re gone!
Also, that price point = ooof. I’m very happy for you — seriously, snap them up before they’re gone at that price!! And grab some for your friends!! — but not so much for me, hahahaha. Authors don’t talk about this enough, partly because it feels like a bit of a taboo subject, and partly because sometimes we’re not allowed to, but maybe we should be sharing more candidly about how much (or rather, little) money we actually make from book sales. A lot of people assume that if a book sells for $20, then the author gets $20 — or close to that, at least. But the reality is very different.
As an idea, at best, we can get up to about 10% of the RRP (Registered Retail Price) of a physical book, which, sticking with that $20 example, equals $2 per book in royalties to us — but again, that’s at best. (We also usually have to earn out an advance before we see any royalty payments, but that’s a different discussion for another day!) If the book is sold at discount, or through a department store instead of a bookstore, or for any million of other reasons, that % royalty we receive goes down, sometimes as far as to 5% — and that can even be 5% of the discounted price.
So you do the math with this box set. Or, actually, let’s do it together, but as a hypothetical since I’m actually unsure what % royalties I’ll get on these, since they fall under a different category to individual books. (And contractually, I wouldn’t be allowed to share that info anyway!) But as an educated guess, if the set is selling for $40 at a discount through a department store, and I’m (hypothetically!!) getting somewhere in the vicinity of 6%-10% royalties on each sale, then that means for the full set, I’ll be receiving $2.40-$4.00 — for each set. And that’s in AUD for international folks, which equals around US$1.56-$2.60 or €1.37-€2.28 or £1.15-£1.92 — for all seven books combined. (And just to add, that number changes if the royalty % is calculated on profit rather than RRP (in that case, it’s usually % net (ie. after deductions are taken out), not % gross (ie. before deductions), but there’s always exceptions), which can make those $ go down even further!)
Yikes, I’d better get cracking on writing my next book to help keep a roof over my head! (Kidding! I mean, not really, but I also am! I’ve always, always, always told aspiring authors to never write for money, for fame, or to get published, because there’s no guarantee about any of those things. (Indeed, they’re much more on the unlikely side of the scale, especially the fame and money parts!) Instead, write because you love to write — because you have to write — and for no other reason. The rest will just be a pleasant surprise if it ends up happening.)
Important note: I’m a traditionally published author, so everything I’ve written above is in respect to my own experiences with various traditional royalty agreements. I can’t speak to the self-published side of things other than to know that self-pubbed authors would receive a lot more than 5-10% BUT they also have to cover all the production costs themselves, like editing, cover design, typesetting/formatting, printing, distribution, marketing, publicity, etc., none of which is cheap. (Conversely, traditionally published authors don’t pay for any of those costs — our publishers do.)
So the moral of the story is, whether authors are traditionally published or self-published, please support your favourites if you want us to keep writing. If you can’t afford books, don’t download them illegally(!!), but instead, borrow them from a library, because authors can still make money from those borrower numbers — which means we can continue to create more books rather than turn into creative pudding and never write another word. Pudding is delicious. Creative pudding, not so much. Help us out by staying on the right side of the law! And, you know, morals/ethics. (AND help us out by boycotting AI in the arts, because that’s an increasingly no good, very bad, terrible problem we’re all facing at a scarily advancing rate.)
To finish this unscheduled TED Talk, I just want to be clear that I haven’t shared anything above to make you feel bad for me or authors in general, or to push you to buy from certain stores for our sakes (though as a wider note, please do try to support your local indie bookstores when possible so we can all help keep them in business!).
In regards to this box set in particular (since that’s how I went down this rabbit hole about royalties), to be completely honest, I’m actually really, really stoked that this set is available at the price that it is, since it hopefully means a heap more people will be able to find and fall in love with this series (yay!). And in this instance, it’s ONLY available at this one store, so it’s not like you can get it anywhere else for a different price, anyway! So definitely don’t take what I’ve said here as a reason not to get it — instead, stock up for Christmas and birthday pressies! (That’s actually a really good idea, come to think of it… *Note to self*)
Wow, so much for me not tangenting in this newsletter and keeping things brief! Clearly I’m VERY BAD at sticking to just the news! *Face palm*
Onwards!
SYDNEY & PERTH — SUPANOVA
I’m heading to Supanova Comic Con next weekend (June 21-22) for Sydney, and the following weekend (June 28-29) for Perth!
You can find my full schedule below (tap on the image to zoom in if your spidey vision is struggling), including my panel sessions and signing times, and some FAQs. Tickets can be purchased here.
I’ll also be interviewing the international guest Lauren Roberts (author of the Powerless trilogy) at her in-conversation event in Sydney on the Monday night after Supanova, so I’m sure I’ll see some of you there!
If you have any questions for Lauren, you can submit them via the online form here and I’ll ask her as many as I can on the night! (Handy hint: the more interesting or creative your question, the more chance you’ll have of Lauren’s team picking it from the list and giving it to me to ask! Put your thinking hats on!)
As for Perth, I’ll be Lauren’s in-convo partner for her solo session at Supanova on the Saturday, which should be fun!
Actually… Perth is just going to be fun in general! I’ve had 6 books release since I was last there, and I’m so very excited to see you all again! Eeee!
PENGUIN FANTASY FESTS
I’m so excited to be attending Penguin Fantasy Fest next month alongside some incredible Aussie fantasy authors: Sophie Clark, Lyndall Clipstone, Keshe Chow and Lauren Jackson!
You’ll find me in all four cities — Brisbane (July 21), Sydney (July 23), Melbourne (July 24) and Hobart (July 31) — and, and, and …
*whispers*
I just might be (finally!!!!) announcing something at these events that you’ve all been very patiently waiting for news about for over a year! (There may even be a few extra surprises for attendees, including a sneaky special something from the ridiculously talented artist Dominique Wesson! Goodie bag, anyone? 👀😉)
Grab your tickets asap (here) because we anticipate these going FAST — some cities may have even sold out by the time you’re receiving this newsletter, and if that’s the case, sorry to anyone who missed out!
Please note: I will NOT be signing books at these events.
EUROPE VISIT
Eeeee!!! I’m SO EXCITED to be heading to Europe for the first time EVER later this year! I’ll be attending Humbook Festival in Prague on November 29 and I truly CAN’T WAIT to meet readers in the Czech Republic and talk all things books! It’s going to be AMAZING! (And cold! I’m from the tropics(ish)! BUT I loooooove snow so I’m not-so-secretly hoping I’ll see some, AND I’m arriving right in time for the start of Europe’s famous Christmas Markets so… did I mention how excited I am? This festival is going to be MAGICAL!!!!)
This is me holding the Czech editions of both The Prison Healer and Akarnae — I can’t wait to sign some of these for readers!!! It’ll be the first time I’ve ever signed any translated editions of my books, let alone met readers overseas! My excitement is SO REAL!!
Q&A — YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Normally I only answer 3 questions, but these ones are pretty quick, so I’m giving you 5 this month! (Again with me being terrible at keeping this newsletter brief! I TRIED, OKAY! But… I also know how much these monthly reads mean to so many of you (because you tell me, and a lot of your reasons hit me right in the heart *cue sobbing*), so I feel bad whenever I keep things on the shorter side. This is clearly something I need to work on!)
Q1. When it comes to writing multi-book series, do you have the whole series planned out before you start writing?
Lol, no. I barely have the first book planned out. (Seriously.) I usually know the start and the end and a few plot points I want to hit along the way, but the rest is very flexible. I like to let the characters have room to breathe and take me on the journey with them, so to speak. This is more challenging when I’m writing books with plot twists because I like to add in foreshadowing as I go along, and it’s even more difficult when characters do things that surprise me, especially if they create new plot twists outside of my control — like basically the entirety of The Blood Traitor, since NONE of that was part of my plan for the series! One day I’ll release the full series synopsis I shared with publishers when the first book was on submission so you can see just how incredibly different my early intentions were for TBT compared to what ended up being written. (I mean, there were no magical rings in my original plans! No quest! Not even a northern king and his relatives (IYKYK). Soooo much of TBT changed from when I began writing the series to when I reached the final book!)
Q2. If Alex wasn’t the main character in The Medoran Chronicles, who do you think would be instead?
Oooooh, this is an interesting question. I love the idea of writing/reading it from Aven’s perspective (ha, can you imagine?!) so that’s something I think would be super fun to experience!
Q3. If Kiva wasn’t the main character in The Prison Healer, who do you think would be instead?
Hmm, this one is tricky. It would be a different story in a lot of ways (including a different romantic partner, etc.), but I think Cresta would be a great character POV to write that series from. Or Tipp would be super cute — imagine the narrative being in his voice? Sweet baby angel! Tor is another choice that would work, too. Actually, fun fact: in the early days, I had planned to give Tor some POV chapters from book 2 onwards, which is why there’s now the bonus scene from his perspective (since I later scrapped that idea and kept things to Kiva’s POV only). If you haven’t yet read it (or the others), you can find the bonus chapters for The Prison Healer trilogy here — including the original beginning of The Gilded Cage from Tor’s POV.
Q4. What’s something you always forget to bring when you travel and then regret not having?
I have checklists upon checklists for when I travel, so I’m very careful not to forget anything. That said, the one thing I don’t have on my checklists is “clothes” because that’s an obvious thing to pack — BUT it did get me in trouble last year when I forgot to pack socks! (You may remember me putting a call out on social media asking what stores were open early enough for me to buy some before my event started — in the end, there were none nearby, so I had to wear my fluffy bed socks beneath my boots that day. So classy, hahaha.) I learned my lesson from that, and have since added “socks” to my checklist!
Q5. What’s one thing you always take when travelling on a book tour?
My pillow! I get quite a lot of pain when I’m travelling, especially in my neck and shoulders from carrying tension, and in my middle from autoimmune inflammation and whatnot, and hotel beds can be hit or miss (and their pillows definitely miss), so I make sure I travel with my own pillow so that I can at least try to get some semblance of a comfortable sleep and avoid waking up with a cricked neck the next day. It’s a lifesaver, I’ll tell you. And the same goes for Fiseocrem (a natural pain relief gel that has that cooling-burning feeling that goes deep into your muscles), which I also always travel with!
That’s all for this month! Pretty please send me all your good vibes for this editing deadline I’m on — I’m going to need all the help I can get!
Catch you next time!
I LOVE THESE NEWSLETTERS!! Also I’m literally so excited for the new fantasy book!! 🤭
I’ve already been to one of your events, hopefully I’ll be able to go to the next one! EXCITED FOR THE FANTASYYYY❗️✌🏼🎊❤️💕💕