Blog | Hannah Steenbock | Feel-good Stories. In Any Universe.

Progress Report January 2023

Posted on 13/01/2023 by Hannah Steenbock

This is the usual progress report, this time for the rest of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The image is an Artbreeder AI generated one. It is a poignant reminder that we’re set to loose almost all glaciers on Earth… but I’m digressing.

To be honest, not much has changed, although I do have a new book out. That deserves its own little paragraph of fame, because it has a bit of a story right there.

I’m also playing therapist tricks on myself (you may or may not know that I am a trained therapist), mostly to improve my mood and sense of self. It’s starting to work, I’m happy to report.

In addition, I’m using my new daylight lamp in the mornings (as much as I can with having to be in the office for two days a week for the day job). Need to resume the walks in the park, but the weather has been rather beastly for weeks.

New Book Release Progress Report

Okay, new “book” is a bit overblown, it’s a little short story I published this week after the rights reverted back to me.

“The Backup” is a sweet little SF story that I wrote in 2018 for Neil A. Hogan. Yes, the man running Alien Dimensions, among other things. He published it in 2019, in his “Fantasy Short Stories Anthology Series Book 2”. Don’t bother looking it up, it’s no longer available. Neil took it down after the rights reverted to the authors.

I was reminded of that anthology last week and realized I could publish the story myself. So I looked around on Depositphotos for an image I could use for a cover, found something awesome, grabbed it and did the typography myself. Here you go:

The Livingstone is in serious trouble.

Emmaley’s brain is handing her one scenario worse than the other. Unless they find oxygen soon, she’ll have to freeze the crew to survive. If they get back, she’ll rip the repair yard mechanic a new one. If.

Being a rogue out in space isn’t easy, but Emmaley has managed to get out of scrapes before. This time, however, it looks bad. Their only chance is an unknown planet, and the best they can hope for are some slimy algae. But how come it looks like Earth?

This is a hopepunk SF short story with an ecological twist. If you like a glimpse of an optimistic future, an environmental mystery, some native lore and a surprise ending, this book is for you.

Grab the book here: Books2Read buy links

Progress Report for the Winds of Destiny/Pillars of the Empire

I’m still writing Sky, although I’m moving in on the big showdown. And yes, there’s a certain black mule in the story, and poor Jeko is getting battered. Again.

I’m struggling with editing North, especially as the release date for her tale is coming closer. I’m still planning to get the book up early February, but I’m running out of time. The cover is commissioned, I hope to have it by January 20th, and then I’ll show it off.

In addition, I have to rewrite parts of Earth, but there’s still plenty of time to get that done. I’m planning to release that book in April.

I will admit that going to a release schedule of one book every two months is much, much easier on me than the Wolf series. This is especially true now that my writing speed has gone down so much – I don’t even manage to write 1000 words a day. (The plan is to get that back up, but it takes some time.)

Social Media Progress Report

Hey ya’ll, come on over to Mastodon. I’m serious. Best place on the internet if you’re a good person looking for decent human contact.

On the other hand, don’t bother if all you want is reach and to stir up the pot. That simply does not work on Mastodon, for a very good reason:

There are no algorithms. The only way to get reach is when people boost your post. All the Twitter rage building practices do not work there. People share with their friends what they like, not to build a bigger echo chamber. They mute or block what they don’t like.

That took me a while to understand.

By now, I’m so relieved and glad I made the choice to leave Twitter behind. I did check back in the other day (keeping my account, although it’s locked), and most people are simply going on, more or less cheerfully.

Serious moment warning: I cannot. I’m German. I know what fascism looks like, I know a lot of arrows are pointing in that direction right now, and I will not aid one of the tools dragging people there. I’m not adding content to Twitter anymore. That’s the dark side now.

And if you like me and if you want to keep our world as safe as possible – leave Twitter. Now. Come over to Mastodon. Support the good side, grasshopper.

Find me on Mastodon: @Firlefanz@WritingExchange. I’d be happy to see you there.

Proofreading / Edition Progress Report

I’ll be honest here: I could use a few more clients. I have one proofreading job coming up end of January, and then I have openings. Right now, you’re getting entry level prices.

Being German, with English a second language, I can actually pick out errors better than many native speakers. And I am very, very good with continuity. I will pick it up if your heroine’s horse changes color mid-story, or if your MC’s car switches from automatic to stick shift or vice versa. (Yes, I have seen that happen.)

Interested? Check out my offers HERE. Talk to me if you have questions, all right?

The Newsletter Popup (not a Progress Report)

We both hate popups. I know they work, but I won’t inflict them on you. This is what you get instead.

My newsletter goes out once a month, always on the 13th. It usually contains some book news, a review of something I enjoyed reading, some special offers (ie. promo links) and of course, the Ember Tale (TM). Ember is my little red dragon familiar, and I only ever share the stories about her in my newsletter. Only way you can get them.

So here’s the deal: Fill in that form, confirm your email addy, and you’re all set for the next round.

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Posted in Progress Report | Tagged new book, Pillars of the Empire, Winds of Destiny, writing | Leave a comment

Progress Report December 2022

Posted on 13/12/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

Hey, I’m back for another progress report – the last one for 2022.

My inner life and my outer life do not match this month. I’ve been having a lot of successes, really, including making #1 in an Amazon category with my Wolf book. And making audiobooks for the Wolves.

Inside… it’s dark. Lonely. A hard place to be in right now, and it takes a lot of energy to just keep doing what needs to be done every day. Writing has suffered. I’ll climb out of this eventually.

So let’s move on with the progress reports.

Winds of Destiny / Pillars of the Empire Progress Report

I’ve been focusing on Sky – still writing his story since NaNo didn’t work out for me. About 10k left to do, so I think I can get it done this year. And then I’ll need to get North (Book 4 of the Winds) ready for publication in February.

I’m glad I gave myself some time with this series. I still have to finish Earth (Book 1 of the Pillars), which will probably happen in January.

In addition, I’m getting more of an idea for a Prequel, which will explain how the Pyramids and the Veil actually came into existence. I might even have found a point-of-view character for that, although he doesn’t have a name yet.

Oh, and I do have a giveaway for South in January, through my newsletter. You can sign up below.

Wolves of the South Progress Report

No, still no print books. That’s because I have to go back to the designer and rewrite the blurbs and ugh… I do not have that in me right now.

But I have great other news: There are now audioboooks!

That’s right, I made audiobooks for the Wolves (for now, book 1-5, the last one will come as soon as I find the energy to listen to the five hours it’ll take). There is a catch – unfortunately.

You see, the only audiobooks I can afford at this point are autonarrated ones. Yes, the scary and potentially amazing world of AI has arrived, and Google Play Story has allowed me to make audiobooks narrated by their text to speech system.

I have listened to them. They are okay. Not great but okay, and if you want to “read” my Wolves on a commute, they should work for you. Take a look at them on the Google Play Store.

In very exciting news, I had a promotion for “A Wolf’s Quest”, which led to over 1,000 downloads on Amazon alone. That propelled the book to #1 in the Werewolves and Shifters Suspense category – the free one, alas, which means no bestseller tag. But I got proof.

Social Media Progress Report

Mastodon is great. I’m very happy with my server and the connections I’m building there. It’s much more direct, clean and amazingly friendly over there. I can only encourage you to join me there.

In fact, I will be dropping Twitter. I’m posting less, but I do not want to give up my account for anyone else to grab. And I most certainly no longer want to create content for a deranged billionaire. To be brutally honest, my country has some experience with Nazis. Do not recommend, will not support.

Proofreading / Editing Progress Report

I’m full for December. I have a novel to proofread and three short stories to edit. I’ll have another novel to proofread end of January, but I can slide in something short.

I will pick out things that make me stumble and I have a good eye for typos, but I will never diss you. In fact, my current clients love all the encouraging comments I make.

Interested? Hop over to my Proofreading Page, fill in the form you’ll find there, and then we’ll talk.

The Newsletter PopUp

Yes. This is my way of doing pop-ups, since I absolutely hate them. But I have to remind you of my newsletter, after all.

It goes out once a month, and you’ll get a progress report, book deals, a review and most of all… an Ember story. That’s my dragon plushie, and she is both cute and cheeky. Sign up below.

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Posted in Progress Report | Tagged Pillars of the Empire, progress report, Winds of Destiny, Wolves of the South, writing | Leave a comment

Review of “How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villany – Miracle 1” by A. J. Sherwood

Posted on 13/12/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

I have to repeat that title, just because it’s so long: “How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villany”. Yes. It is a mouthful, and it’s actually the title for the entire series.

It is a good thing those books are on Kindle Unlimited. They are short, and basically, it’s one, single story broken into six books. Fair warning – you will want to read them all at once.

Just like the Mage’s Human Familiar books by J. A. Sherwood, this one is hilarious. It makes me laugh all the time. I guarantee it will make you laugh.

But first things first, so let’s talk about the main characters.

The Princess’s White Knight

That would be Devante Salvino, upright First Knight of the realm, devoted to protecting the land of Goodwine. He does not, actually, protect the Princess. This is an important distinction.

He is also strong, fast, good-looking and has an intelligent horse called Dan. (Dan loves apples, cherries and roses. In that order. He doesn’t matter much otherwise.)

The Villan

Let me present Tanawat Ritthirong Shinawatra, Black Sorcerer of Grimslock, Tan to his friends. He has done a multitude of terrible things, such as creating The Void, killing a Narwhal and stealing from the Royal Treasury (that one is open to discussion). He can also annihilate entire groups of knights with one spell.

As you can see, Tan is powerful. The court mages hate him, of course. But Tan has a reputation of not killing everyone outright – which is why Devan seeks him out when he desperately needs a powerful sorcerer.

What the good knight doesn’t know is that Tan has a crush on him. And a plan.

Hilarity ensues. Serious, explosive, portal-hugging, snuggling hilarity. I love every page of it.

I absolutely adore this wry humor, and I very much envy A. J. Sherwood’s ability to write like this. (Some of it might have infused Sky with his… irreverent behavior. Maybe. Possibly. I will deny it.)

Here’s another example of that humor, so if you look up the series, make sure to expand the descriptions and read the tags.

Tags:
Black sorcerer, white knight, evil princess, oh my!, this whole story is crack, technically an enemies to lovers, with light angst, mostly as an excuse for cuddles, Tan is suffering from SCD-Severe Cuddle Deficiency, being adopted by a black sorcerer is like being adopted by a cat, you get no say in the matter, basically Tan took one look at Devan and went MINE, author no longer in control of this train wreck, I’m along for the ride like you are, Tan is a walking disaster, that we love anyway, Devan needs a hug, Tan volunteers himself as tribute, no forests were harmed in the making of this story, just a few hundred barbarians, magical shenanigans shall commence!
“How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villany – Miracle 1” by A. J. Sherwood

So go and grab the book with that Princess’s White Knight. Even if you don’t have Kindle Unlimited, they are reasonably priced. And a good laugh is priceless, right?

Grab “How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villany” on Amazon.

Newsletter Popup – without a Princess’s White Knight, alas

Yes, this is my annoying Newsletter Popup. Just like you, I hate the real ones, so instead, I blab about my newsletter at the end of every post. Sorry, not sorry.

I will inflict an email on you once a month, on the 13th. Yes, I love that number. *clears throat* The newsletter will contain a greeting, a writing update, deals both of my books and others, and an Ember Tale.

Ember is my little red dragon familiar, just as prone to shenanigans as Tan. You’ll get one of her adventures in every newsletter – and only there. Highly exclusive.

In order to subscribe, just fill in the form below. You’ll get some freebies as a welcome gift, too.

Posted in Review | Tagged A J Sherwood, fantasy, humor, review, romance | Leave a comment

Progress Report November 2022

Posted on 13/11/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

Progress Report November 22 Landscape from Artbreeder — ArtBreeder Image for Decroation

Once again, it’s time for a progress report on my writing.

Of course, November is NaNoWriMo, and that means I’m putting a bit (or a lot) more effort into actually getting words down. Writing 2,000 words per day is not really that hard, and it doesn’t really take that much time. However, it makes me stay up later than I like, simply because I find it so hard to get started. Late at night, the barriers seem to be lower.

No, that is not a good thing.

It means my entire schedule has been thrown out of whack, I’m getting up later to compensate for the late bedtimes, and that means I lost my morning walk in the park, because I still need to log into work on time.

(More or less, we have something called “Gleitzeit” in Germany, which describes that we have fairly flexible work hours as long as we get the time in. Boss does prefer us being around at the same hours habitually, but I can talk to them about work hours if something comes up. </German Work Lecture>)

Anyway, not having a good schedule for my days is bad because my neurodivergent brain frets over any change and lack of structure. So I’m struggling to find a better way to go through my day, and I need a lot of self-care and self-soothing to stay productive. Not a good use of time, but right now, that’s what it takes.

Wind of Destiny Progress Report

First of all, “East Roars” is now published and available in all stores and in print. I formatted it with Atticus, and I’m giving you a nice preview of the first chapter.

Screenshot of Chapter 1 of East Roars, showing the roaring lion head as a chapter graphic.

Doesn’t it look gorgeous?

Pillars of the Empire Progress Report

In addition to getting the books ready in the Winds Series, I’m working hard on the books for the Pillars. I’m almost done with “Earth Splits”, but I put it to the side for now, since I started writing “Sky Falls” for NaNoWriMo. It’s fun getting to know him, but he’s hard to keep as the lucky-go-happy kind of guy I want him to be. That kind of character doesn’t come easily to me.

In December, I’ll finish Earth, revise North, and then finish Sky. I have so much more to write, it’s not funny.

Social Media Progress Report

The biggest news first: I’m on Mastodon now. And to be honest, I love it.

It’s just as text based as Twitter, but it’s much less of a dumpster fire, especially now. There are no algorithms to please, so what you see is who you follow, plus the federal and local server timelines. It’s about conversations and connections, not about screaming loudest.

A very nice change.

Screen Writing Progress Report

Not much happening. I finished the class and didn’t continue. I think I have dialog down fairly well and the final class was about marketing my script, which didn’t feel right because my first ever script is so far from being done it’s not funny.

So I’m stalled out on that for now.

Proofreading Progress Report

I’m filled up for November with two stories from an awesome author and friend. In fact, I’ll probably take a bit of a break for December, but I’m open for more manuscripts in January. If you want to work with me, fill in the form on my Proofreading Page here on the website.

And please, be honest. I had to turn down one person who only wanted some feedback on their manuscript and had no intention of paying me for any work. That’s not how it works, folks.

The Newsletter Pop-Up

Yes, this is my version of it. I know you’re just as fed up with pop-ups as I am, so I won’t inflict them on you. I still would love to see you on my newsletter so you can join in on the fun.

What you’ll get: I’m sending out my newsletter once a month, on the 13th, because that’s an awesome number. In it, you’ll find writing news, book recommendations, new releases and of course, the charming Ember tale that you will find nowhere else.

Sounds good? Fill in this. You’ll have to confirm your subscription, though, fair warning.

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Posted in Progress Report | Tagged Pillars of the Empire, progress report, Winds of Destiny, writing | Leave a comment

Review: A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars – awesome, hilarious fun

Posted on 13/11/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

First, you need to know that “A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars” by AJ Sherwood is an M/M/M romance. Which I don’t usually read.

Having said that, this tale is so unbelievably cute that I just *had* to read it. I had to glomp on and breathe it all in. And review it. And read it again. Seriously.

But first things first:

Bel is a mage, blessed (or cursed) with demon eyes. That means most of his magic goes to protect his body from his eyes – which can see everything. And yes, really, everything.

Of course, a mage like that, who can’t really protect himself while looking at *everything*, needs a familiar to help out. In this case, a human one.

Enter Nico di Rocci, Army Ranger, one of those high-energy, danger-loving adrenaline addicts, bouncing, running, looking for fun. He becomes Bel’s familiar and rolls with it, easy peasy. But he’s not really a good bodyguard, preferring to go on the offensive, and so he brings in his former boyfriend Garen, Secret Service, who is one.

From that moment on, they are rolling, except everyone has baggage and worries and libido, and there are ROUS in a mine, and skeletons in a cave, and poor Bel is getting more and more frustrated.

Now back to why I love this book so much: It is CUTE. The voice is hilarious, the characters are quirky, the magic fun, and the story itself is much less important than the relationships. There are also so many quips and jokes and movie quotes (and lightsabers!) and did I say CUTE? And watch what you drink while you read, because that’ll be a danger to anything nearby. One example:

“Password must contain a symbol, a number, an emotional arc, a centralized theme, an epic soundtrack, a male lead struggling with inner demons, and a strong female character.”
(A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars, by AJ Sherwood)

Seriously, even the sex is cute and not porn-y. Once they get there, that is. Ahem.

Want to grab A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars?
It’s on Kindle-Unlimited, even: Amazon Link

Newsletter Pop-Up

Yes, sorry, not sorry. This is what you get instead of a Pop-up, so no moaning, all right?

If you like what I do, write and share, please consider signing up to my newsletter. It goes out once a month, always on the 13th, because that’s an awesome number right there. You’ll get book news, book deals and fun stuff.

It also has a cheeky little dragon familiar, Ember, and her adventures that can be found nowhere else. Feel like checking it out? Newsletter-Signup.

Alternatively, sign up right here. You won’t regret it. Promise.

Posted in Review | Tagged fantasy, fun, review, romance | Leave a comment

Beautiful Bookplates! Get yours through Patreon!

Posted on 08/11/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

Bookplates are the best thing right after physically signed books.

Unfortunately, sending physical books all over the world has become an expensive exercise in frustration. Much as I love giving you books signed by yours truly, it’s no longer really an option.

So I asked my awesome brother what he knew about creating stickers that I could send out – commonly known as bookplates or ex libris – so I could have some printed. He’s working in graphic design making flyers and handling websites and such, and he’s good. (Shameless plug.)

Well… before I even knew it, he came up with a complete design when I was just thinking of getting my little horsie on there somehow. And I took it! As you can see above.

How can I get my Bookplates?

You’ll have to ask me. Nicely. (#joke)

They are included for free in the upper tiers on my Patreon, where you can get one per month. You’ll still have to tell me (I need your mail address, for example) and let me know what you want on it in addition to my signature.

I can also send one out on request for a fee. Right now, I’m thinking about $4, and I need to set up something for that. Maybe Kofi or such, I’ll let you know. This is merely an announcement, to be honest, testing the waters for this.

Of course, a book with a special signature by me might make a nice present, and the season is fast approaching. Just saying…

Bookplates and my Newsletter

Yes, sorry, not sorry. This is my alternative to the ugly pop-up that everyone hates.

If you want to never miss a new book by me, if you want updates, book recommendations, links to awesome sales of even more fantasy books, and last but not least the monthly Ember tale – *takes deep breath* – then sign up to my newsletter!

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Posted in English | Tagged bookplates, books, signed books | Leave a comment

Review: Unveiled by Audra Trosper – great tale

Posted on 13/10/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

Unveiled is the first book in the Raven Daughter series by Audra Trosper, a fast-paced adventure with a slow-burn enemies to lovers trope. The series – a trilogy – is complete and ready for binging.

What happens in Unveiled

Jo (never call her Josephine) is rather shocked when she finds out that she’s not entirely human, that in fact, her absent (and criminal) father was an angel. And that there’s a world beyond the Veils that’s actually her home.

However, that world not just populated by the descendants of angels. That realm contains demons, soul eaters, monsters, and a lot more between Hell and Heaven… and nothing is as it seems.

Jo ends up as a Reaper and gets to wear a black cloak, among other things. Her job is to escort souls and defend them against attacks. So far so good, and she’s not bad at it either. In fact, she’s shockingly good.

Then things go south. (Yes, Audra said so herself.) Of course, they do, or there would be no story, right? And Jo ends up in a team with Caius, a half-demon, both of them tasked to find out what is going on with all those souls getting Lost. His good looks are not lost on Jo, but as a demon, he’s her sworn enemy. Until the situation gets beyond desperate…

Why I liked Unveiled

I really enjoyed this book (and series) because Jo is such a no-nonsense character with an indomitable sense for the absurd. She pushes herself way beyond her own limits, she’s snarky, she’s reliable, and she remains undaunted even by gods. But even she has to learn that she cannot do everything.

I also liked how different this series is from all those angels and fallen angel books. Here, the world is messy, gritty and often gray. There are demigods and even gods (later on). And not all of them are on the same side, either. Audra plays with the tropes and then twists them upside down.

Often enough, the plot takes a sharp turn to the left and tears off into uncharted territory. This is definitely not your usual angel stuff, and not your usual romance, either. If you like action and adventure with a dash of ancient lore and a pinch of sweet love, this book is for you.

What is special about Unveiled?

The book is told strictly from the Point of View of Jo. However, Caius does get a say, in the shape of a little quote at the end of each chapter. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this in a book, and it’s charming, wonderful and sometimes… foreboding. It’s very well done.

Where can I get Unveiled?

Audra likes to make her books available for everyone, so you can get Unveiled and the entire series through many different distributors. Here’s a link where you can choose your favorite store: Unveiled by Audra Trosper

(Books2Read links are very useful, and you can set them to remember your preferred store. They will also take your to the store in your country. I love using them because they offer options to all readers, even audio and print. You’ll see them for my own books, as well.)

Yup, you’ll find this not-a-pop-up-paragph on every post I make. So here it goes:

If you don’t want to miss any review or new release of my books, sign up through the form below. You’ll receive a newsletter on every 13th of the month, together with an Ember tale, a story about my little red dragon sidekick. And you’ll get a free ebook as a gift, too.

Posted in Review | Tagged fantasy, review | Leave a comment

Progress Report October 2022

Posted on 13/10/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

Time for the October Progress Report, and it’s a good thing I always do these for my newsletter so I post at least once in a while.

Thing is, there is little to report.

I’m struggling with writing, getting a few hundred words every day. It’s frustrating that I’m not nearly close to the 2k I used to be able to write last year. I’m trying to add to the marketing, and that’s working to a degree – I gave away over 2,000 free books last month. Remember, three of my first in series are free (Dorelle’s Journey, Decoy, and A Wolf’s Quest).

Oh, here is something fairly awesome to share, after all. My book “A Wolf’s Quest” hit some bestseller lists in the free Kindle ratings in October, so that was rather fun. Have some visual proof:

A Wolf's Quest Category Screenshot — Ranking from October 2nd, 2022

And even better, my dragon book “Dorelle’s Journey” made #1 in two categories in September. I’m very proud of that, although I’m not sure whether that entitles me to calling myself a best”selling” author, since it’s a free book. But take a look here:

Ranking Screenshot from September 10th, 2022

Sorry about geeking out like that. This is author candy, you know. I’m also rather pleased by the many ratings and the awesome averages. So feel free to grab the books and see for yourself whether it’s worth your time. (And if you keep reading the sequels, you’ll have my gratitude.)

Winds of Destiny Progress Report

I’m getting East ready for formatting and publication, but right now, I’m going through feedback from an awesome beta reader, Mette Holm. She really puts me on my toes.

Even so, I will be able to make the release date on November 10th. I also hope I can share the new cover with you soon. My awesome cover designer is on it.

And well… East is the polar opposite of West in many ways. He’s angry, and it takes him a while to turn that anger into something productive. And when tragedy strikes again and again, that anger almost destroys him.

I still love him. I love his strength, his determination and his basic goodness. I’m really glad he decided to come back to me and share screentime in the Earth book.

Pillars of the Empire Progress Report

I’m still writing Earth, book 1 of the follow-up series to the Winds of Destiny. It’s slow going, but with help from a friend, I figured out the big, final showdown and how it’ll work out. It’s going to be fun to write, but for now, I’m working hard to even push them on the road. They feel much more comfortable hiding out in Holy City. (Idiots!)

Here’s a funny little tidbit: I took a voice lesson yesterday, and suddenly had an inspiration for Moon (book 4 of the Pillars/ book 8 in total). No, I won’t spoil it, but yes, it has something to do with voice. She’s going to be so cool. But it’ll be a while before I can write her story.

Screen Writing Progress Report

I finished the class and learned a lot. Seriously.

Unfortunately, my mind has been wrenched into dealing with a lot of administrative stuff (including a real struggle to simply get some signed books into the mail!) and that stress has left me with little energy for my Wolf screenplay. It’s waiting for me to come back to it and fix the beginning, the character descriptions and the formatting.

Do you know anyone in the business? Drop me an email and help me connect with them. Because I already know that a nobody from Germany will have a hard time even finding a reader for the screenplay.

Yes, this is my pop-up that’s not a pop-up.

If you want to get regular updates, release news and Ember tales, fill in the form below and sign up to my newsletter. It comes out once a month, on the 13th. Oh, and you get a free ebook as a gift for signing up.

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Posted in Progress Report | Tagged bestseller lists, fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

Amazon vs Google – which is best for Indie Authors?

Posted on 17/09/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

In this article, I want to compare Amazon vs Google Play Store with a view to what they offer to indie authors. But let me get a few things out of the way before we dive into details:

You probably know that I’m an indie-author, i.e. a writer who self-publishes her books (yes, even though they mention a publishing house, which I run in my name for my books only). You might have seen that my books are available on Amazon (of course!), but also on Google, Apple, Barnes&Noble and several other stores, including the Tolino.

That is called “being Wide”.

Now, I’m Wide mostly because of principle. I dislike being beholden to one store or one source of income. I also prefer giving my readers lots of options. It is possible I’m leaving money on the table because of that, but you know, never put all your eggs in one basket and all that.

Why I only compare Amazon vs Google

All of this gives me ample opportunity to compare the stores, with an important limitation:

Amazon and Google Play Store are the only vendors I go direct with – which means I go through their interface and upload my books into their system directly. For everything else, I use a distributor called Draft2Digital.

All right, now we can take a closer look at what those two stores do for authors.

All of us know Amazon, of course. By launching the Kindle, they single-handedly created an ecosystem for authors that made self-publishing possible. Without that, we’d still be stuck with practices of traditional publishing that are stuck in the 1940s or worse.

The Google Play Stores developed much later, and for quite a while it was basically unusable for indie-authors because they played free and wild with the prices, triggering endless price-matching wars with Amazon. Once they stopped doing that, things got a lot better, and now they are quite a good alternative to the big river.

So here’s what I want to look at and show how each store handles it:

Pricing and Royalties Amazon vs Google

Amazon long ago decided that ebooks are best priced between 2.99 and 9.99, in either US Dollar or Euro. They reward authors who price their books within that bracket by paying 70% of the price in royalties. Outside that bracket, they only pay 35%. Oh, and if someone from a third country (let’s say, someone from Panama ordering from the COM store) buys your book in an Amazon store, you only get 35% regardless of how you set your price.

Google doesn’t care about a price range, making things extremely simple. They give authors 70% royalties, no matter what the price or where the books sell. That means that I earn more than double on a 99ct book on Google than I do on Amazon. And Google allows me to set a book free, which leads me to the next aspect.

Free books Amazon vs Google

I will admit that this is a very sore point for me right now, which I’ll explain a bit further in.

You see, Amazon does not truly allow authors to give books away. In the pricing interface you cannot set a price lower than 99ct.

So how do we indies set up free books on Amazon?

There are two options: Either your books are in Kindle Unlimited and you use those 5 promotion days you get every 90 days to give away your book, or you email KDP support and ask for “price-matching” after setting the book free in competitor stores (aka Apple, Kobo, B&N, or Google). Because Amazon WILL price-match your book with other vendors rather aggressively (except for free, you have to ask for that).

If you want offer your readers a free book through Amazon, you have to work for it.

Even worse, their algorithms will revert that book to full price (99ct, at the very least) about every two months. The exceptions are the US and the UK stores, but even that is not guaranteed. They did so in the middle of a paid promotion for a free book I ran last week. (Yes, I’m still miffed. *grumbles*)

Now Google just gives you the option for pricing your book at 0.00 in whichever currency you want, no questions asked, no judgment. Easy peasy.

Giveaways on Amazon vs Google

I already mentioned those 5 days where you can give away your book on Amazon, if – and that’s a big if – your book is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. Five days in a period of three months (90 days, to be precise). If your book is not enrolled, you cannot do free, except by asking for a price-match, as I explained above.

Google on the other hand took an idea that Smashwords originally pioneered and now offers Coupons (Draft2Digital is working on those as well, now). You choose if a coupon covers the full price of a book or allows only a reduction. That means you can give away your books to people and choose exactly who gets them. Or how many you want to give away.

Even better, those coupons do not trigger the price-matching algorithm of Amazon. (Yes, they have web crawlers that look for your book on other vendors. Better believe it.)

Worldwide Reach Amazon vs Google

We all know that Amazon has stores set up all over the world, best known are those in the US and the UK, but also in several European nations. In addition, there are stores in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and India. That’s not really bad, considering this is an American business. (You also need to know that authors often only earn 35% of royalties in those “exotic” stores.)

Google doesn’t really do stores. They just offer my books in their Play Store, and I’ll simply take a screenshot showing where my books are available through them, because I’m too lazy to type it all up. Yes, they even sell in Africa. And the royalties are the same everywhere, 70% of the net price.

World wide availability Amazon vs Google

E-Readers Amazon vs Google

Okay, this is where Amazon still wins. Their Kindle is a very comfortable E-Reader, one that I actually like taking to bed with me to read on.

Google offers their reading App for phones and tablets (and PCs?), and that’s great. But I don’t enjoy reading on my phone (I’m getting old and my eyes aren’t what they were…) and I really don’t want to take a tablet to bed with me. So there’s that.

It does make me wonder if and when Google comes up with a cooperation for a dedicated E-Reader. Care to make a bet?

Subscription Service Amazon vs Google

Amazon does have Kindle Unlimited, and yes, that is a very good deal for avid readers. I’m almost ashamed to say that I caved earlier this year and signed up for it.

Now, Google does not have a subscription service for books, and I haven’t heard of anything in the works, either.

Having said that, subscription services are usually great for a reader and less than great for authors. The biggest drawback for Kindle Unlimited is the exclusivity – i.e. your books must not be available anywhere else. (Which is why I will not put my books into KU, sorry, readers. But I price mine low.)

It also took Amazon a few years to actually create a system that doesn’t allow massive scamming, and it’s far from perfect even now. Hardworking authors finance scammers even to this day.

This is it so far with direct comparisons. Below, I’ll go into some pet peeves of mine where I believe Amazon is absolutely failing me as an author and you as a reader and customer.

Sideloading books on Amazon looks awful now

I need to take you on a little side-tour here, because you may have heard of “sideloading” books to Amazon, maybe through a service called BookFunnel or by actually dropping them into your Kindle (or the App) on your computer, phone or e-Reader. That has become much easier since Amazon stopped using the mobi-format and switched over to epub, which everyone else had been using anyway.

Since then, those side-loaded books have started to look absolutely terrible on the Kindle, because Amazon strips away their cover. Instead, they get this cute graphic that looks like a Word document, with the title written below. This is how they appear like in my library in the Kindle App on my PC (and they look the same on my Kindle reader):

How side-loaded books are displayed on the Kindle Reader and App.

It makes me very angry because those authors have gone to the trouble of finding and paying (!) for a cover for their give-away books, and Amazon makes them look like drab documents, killing any hope of branding or recognition. It’s just awful.

The infamous Amazon Delivery Surcharge

Now this is something that Amazon can get away with because they are still the biggest seller of ebooks. And maybe this is something you didn’t know about because it only affects authors behind the scenes.

You see, Amazon charges every author money for “delivering” the ebook to the customer who bought it, when they essentially just send a copy to another server, if at all. The actual amount depends on the file size for the ebook, and especially for those of us who price books low, it can wipe out a part of our royalties. At least they don’t charge it for those books earning only 35% of royalties.

Google doesn’t do that nonsense. And honestly, I believe it’s just a way for Amazon to make more money from authors, and they do it because they can.

Those famous Amazon search algorithms? No longer good.

Ah, but we all know that Amazon is best at giving customers what they want, right?

Not anymore. Now I get handbags and jewelry in my search results, even when I tell Amazon to search for a specific book in Kindle books. And if there’s even one typo in the author name? Forget it.

Now, Google’s back bone is the search algorithm – and they do really well in putting books in front of people’s eyes. You do the math… ahem.

Conclusion Amazon vs Google

At this point in time, I’m starting to believe that Amazon is no longer the best opportunity for authors. It costs us more to do business on Amazon than on Google. The reach is less. Amazon hobbles our marketing. And the restrictions are much worse. Alas, Amazon is still the biggest store.

So, I don’t believe Amazon will go away anytime soon, nor will authors stop selling books through them. All I’m saying is that there might finally be competition around that possibly could impact Amazon.

In fact, I am hoping that the competition that Google is shaping up to be could actually force Amazon to abandon some of their business choices that are actively hurting indie authors now. Only stiff competition can do that, and for the first time ever, I can see it on the horizon.

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Posted in Musings, Writing | Tagged indie author, self-publishing, selling books, writing | 2 Comments

Progress Report September 2022

Posted on 11/09/2022 by Hannah Steenbock

It’s time for another Progress Report, and yes, I do have quite a few things to talk about. Stuff happened, life went on and stories grew.

And I need you, dear Readers. More about that below.

Winds of Destiny Progress Report

West Flows, Book 2 of the series is out, and this pleases me a lot.

What would please me even more (actually, it would make me cry happy tears, really!) would be finding some readers for this tale. Because I love my West to bits.

The other day, I looked up what a “Cinnamon Roll” hero is because a friend of mine uses it all the time to describe her hero. Well, turns out that describes a good guy, someone possibly a tad naive and definitely somewhat emo (like me).

That’s West.

He does something rather inane and very emotional at the beginning of his book, escaping his fate of being sacrificed on top of a nasty black pyramid. Yes, he expects to die. No, he doesn’t, because clearly, there wouldn’t be a story if he did. Or at least not the kind of story I write.

After surviving (much to his own surprise), he decides to find a mentor. There actually is someone (South, from book 1, to be precise) and so he sets out to get to her. Not an easy task, as you’ll find out – and then Madu kicks him out.

Now West is between a rock and a hard place and makes a fateful decision. And yes, I am mean enough to make you find out what he does on your own. (Hey. Don’t look at me like that. I’m a little meany deep down, or I wouldn’t be able to torture my chars as much as I do.)

Anyway, West Flows is now up in all stores and you can grab the book here:

West Flows (Books2Read link)

Pillars of the Empire Progress Report

In further news about the Winds (and the Pillars), I’m currently working on Book 5 (or book 1 of the Pillars). This one is called Earth Splits, and to be honest, it’s a difficult one. It needs more action or at least tension, but I’m in the process of setting up a nasty trap for my heroes.

I’ll torture East a bit more… or, hey, why not Earth? (This is me having a plot inspiration as I’m writing this. It happens.)

Anyway, there is progress and I will finish the series. I’m already getting glimpses of Sky, who will be the hero of Book 2. He’s a trickster, escaping an endless number of impossible situations. I will have much fun with him – and he will challenge me in different ways. I’m hoping to make him my NaNo project. (Book Title: Sky Falls)

Screen Writing Progress Report

"A Wolf's Quest" the first book in my werewolf fantasy series Wolves of the South

Yes! I finally have something to report, after not looking at the Wolf script for months. It’s not that I don’t want to work on it, it’s that so many things keep coming up – and that my brain has been on a bit of a burn out and demanded a Romance spree.

But! I bought a screen writing class and as soon as I post this report, I’ll go and take care of the first assignment.

I dream of creating a series of Mini-Series (does that make sense to you?) for a streaming service from my Wolf books. And I need a bit of your help.

If you read my Wolf books and found them to your liking, can you leave a review? Or at least a rating? Here’s a link to the first one, which is free. (But you really should read on, the series gets better and better. And leave reviews.)

A Wolf’s Quest (Books2Read link)

Okay, so you get this rather than an annoying pop-up. (Because I hate pop-ups, even though they are known to convert.)

If you never want to miss another release, if you want to get alerted to more rambling… er, progress reports or book reviews or stuff, sign up to my newsletter. And get to know Ember, my little dragon familiar.

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