ZMT Dispatch for December 2025

This happens every year. It isn’t Winter yet, but it sure feels like it. A recent blast of snow has left us out in the cold, as it were, with no end in sight. But like with all things, there is always hope. This is the ZMT Dispatch for December, your monthly recap of everything that’s been going lately with this crazy self-publishing journey of ours. This post is only visible on the web if you’re logged in, but don’t worry, it’s free.

The biggest and most exciting news that I have to share is that the Paper & Feathers audiobook is rapidly nearing completion! This is the first audiobook that I’ve produced for myself, not the first one overall, having already done Avalon Lost for Mary Rose Kreger. Narrating that book felt like a training exercise for this one, since I learned so much about narrating and recording, mixing and mastering, and all those skills will carry over into my future productions. Like this one!

The store page is currently active with a preorder, so you can get signed up to be one of the first to get it when it’s all done and ready. You can even listen to the first section right there on the page, how neat?

Currently you’ll be getting a digital download, and I have plans for some fun physical editions too, so keep an eye out for something fun to put on your CD shelf. Do people still have CD shelves? I have drawers, which are pretty close.

Outside- Gardening, nature, life

We are officially in the dark place. School was canceled for both of my kids during the recent storm, which was a little odd. Instead of just having the day off for fun, they make the kids do all their online coursework from home instead of from a school building. Since they were both homeschooled/schooled at home for many years, it wasn’t too difficult, but still odd.

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There are no author promotions in this issue. There will not be any more, in the future, either. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to end the BookFunnel service that has been the backbone of my author journey for almost three years. While I got a lot of exposure through the group promo system and added almost all of you to my mailing list through it, there just hasn’t been the amount of engagement and retention that I was hoping for. So, let’s remember those that came before.

The other primary function of BookFunnel was delivery of ebooks to readers when they buy a copy at the main store. The idea was great; provide downloadable copies plus a cloud reader, very nice and easy to use. The problem is, no one is buying any (of my) ebooks. The majority of my business for the past several years has been physical book sales, which BookFunnel doesn’t really contribute anything to.

But wait, you may say, BookFunnel also distributes audiobooks, so why aren’t you using that feature too? Because the additional cost doesn’t justify the benefit, especially when I can do most of it myself.

Throughout my entire author journey, I’ve walked a line between using other companies and website’s services, or hosting it on my own. As a software developer by trade, I have the skills to set up nearly everything that’s required for publishing and sharing my books, but often choose to use another service because it’s easier and faster. But not always cheaper.

Going forward, all ebooks and audiobooks will be hosted and delivered by me. If you need help reading them or loading them onto your device, let me know, and I will help. Considering the volume of ebooks I sell, this will not be a hard promise to keep.

If you have a copy of Octave of Stars, Paper & Feathers, or Vivi & the All-Lands Tournament in your BookFunnel library, don’t worry, as they will all remain there. If you decide to support our mission and buy a deluxe ebook, you’ll get links for the files to download them directly.

Inside- Writing, reading, other stuff

The beginning of November seems so far away, but it has finally come to an end. Four weeks of vacation was something I haven’t ever been able to do, so it was a welcome addition to this Season. And how did it go?

The final word count for Counterbalance in the Novel November 50,000 word challenge was:

15,718. That is significantly more than I had written before the beginning of the month, but a lot less than I had hoped to get. When drafting Octave of Stars, I was able to crank out 3,000 words in a couple of hours before the kids woke up, but this time I was usually hitting 1,500 for the whole day. One of the biggest reasons, I think, is because people in Euphony of Seasons just can’t say no.

One of my favorite features of the stories is the way people talk. I don’t have the time or energy to come up with a whole new fantasy language, so I just make people talk funny instead. If you’ve read Paper & Feathers, you’ll remember Miss Iedori’s Irish lilting cowboy slang, and Marlius’ very odd way of speaking. Even the kindly kitchenmaster Yurahn has a distinct dialect. Each of those characters hail from a different region, so their differences in dialect are reflected in the way they talk. Characters like Ahlden and Reya are local, from the country of Alcabast, but they aren’t considered “normal” by any means.

The Alcabasian language doesn’t include the word “no” or “not.” The simplest way to write Ahlden’s response would have been like this:

Oh, did I mention the other rule about no contractions? That makes it even more fun. Instead of sounding very stiff and LOTR, I have to come up with ways to make dialogue sound natural and like I’m not just un-contracting words whenever I see them. And, people don’t ask yes-or-no questions, they either ask something open-ended or give two or more possibilities for the respondent to choose from, thereby eliminating the need to say no. All of those rules make it so I have to think a lot about each line before I write it. Fortunately the narrator isn’t bound by the rules, that would be absolutely nuts.

There are 10 chapters of Counterbalance released on the CSL membership portal, and if you sign up you can still read them. Unfortunately, the membership is something else that will soon be left by the wayside, as there just hasn’t been the response or interest that I was hoping for. But don’t fret, CB and many other stories will still find their way to you.

If your inbox was too flooded with Black Friday emails and you missed this one, the latest and greatest Frontier Flora story has been unleashed! Squall on the Prairie Sea is the tale of one family's journey across the vast empty plain, the storms they weather, and the hopes they hold on to. It’s narrated and ready for your listening ears, and it also came along with a whole host of new Floradex entries. The Sasquash, Foxalis, Wheatzel, Broccoleap, Peachtridge, Yarrowl, and Wolfwood all made their debuts, plus one un-savory sandwich monster, the Croc Monsieur. Add that to the pirifom Pearakeet, and last month was a bumper crop of Florabeasts to be sure.

I have even more to share with you all, but as Reya would say (and did), we lack the time. Winter is almost here for real, so make the most of these last dreamy days of Autumn before we enter into the Long Sleep. Is it naptime yet? Almost, but all is certainly well.