This is the one hundred and first installment of West Wind, your weekly drop of thoughts, ideas, and info for this Season.
Happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone! I’m sure you’ve been inundated with Black Friday for the past several weeks now, and are probably sick of anything to do with spending money right now. The reality is that businesses can make anywhere from 25-40% of their sales for the entire year in just these next few days, so it’s understandable that they want to make sure they get it right and and be heard over all the other noise. As an independent creator and small business owner, I get where they’re coming from.
But I’m not going to offer you any huge discounts, mind-blowing sales, or anything like that. Since I make all of my stories freely available, it’s very hard to convince people to pay for them unless they are on board with the mission of clean, family-friendly entertainment. About the only things that I sell regularly are paper books, and because of some confusion with my printing service, I will be completely out of stock for this yearly retail event.
Another product that I’ve always wanted to make available are audiobooks. I’ve done many narrated stories of my own and one full audiobook for another author, but narrating my own novel-length stories is one of the most exciting projects I get to work on. And now, we are one step closer to that reality.
Way back at the beginning of November I hinted that Counterbalance might not be the only project that I was working on, and that was perfectly true. The audiobook edition of Paper & Feathers is nearing completion, and is slated to be released in the next two weeks! You’ll be able to finally enjoy all of the slow-paced awkward contemplation of a fussy librarian, and hear how to pronounce the names of all the things!
You won’t be able to find it on Audible, Apple, Spotify, or any of the other major platforms, it will only be available on the ZMT Bookstore, which means it will have no DRM and be downloadable to your phone, computer, or offline listening device. Great for car trips!
And, because I am thankful for all of my readers and subscribers, of which there are now many more than I had ever dreamed of, I am giving you all a gift this BFCMSBSGT or whatever. The first chapter of the audio version of Paper & Feathers, for your listening pleasure. Is it thrilling and exciting? Will it grab your attention in the first five sentences?
Nope. It’s “a still pool with shafts of sunlight lazily penetrating deeper and deeper… yet not reaching the bottom.” This isn’t literary fast food, it’s a thoughtful meal. And the main course will be served up very soon.1