In my last post, I shared how I got the rights back to my book, These Deadly Games. In this one, I’ll cover what came after: repackaging it as a self-published book and launching it on Amazon to be a #1 New Release within 24 hours.

Before I dive in, I want to be clear about my goals for this relaunch:

1. Make it available to my readers who were asking for it. Now it’s in print again!

2. Have it ready to go when my new trad-pub YAs come out to drive read-throughs.

3. Use it as a testing ground for ads, print formatting, library distribution, etc. (Basically a practice run before publishing You’re Overthinking This in November.)

This was not meant to be a splashy release. I ran no preorder campaign, no ARC team, no big rerelease campaign. I don’t plan to create many Reels or Tiktoks for it in the immediate future. Two main reasons:

1. YA contemporary is notoriously tricky to self-pub successfully. Take the pricing alone: YA paperbacks are usually priced lower; my debut is $10.99. If I offer this book at $10.99 with the recommended 55% wholesale discount for retailers, I’ll LOSE $1.66 per copy. Plus, most teens don’t have their own Amazon account. Other YA genres have more crossover potential with adult audiences, demand for splashy special editions that could drive up the price, etc.

2. I have bigger priorities. I’m on contract for a new YA thriller and I’m self-publishing You’re Overthinking This in a few months. My brain hurts.

Your goals may be a heck of a lot different from my goals, especially if you got the rights back to a book in a more viable self-pub market. But I hope sharing the steps I took to repackage everything will be helpful no matter your goals. Let’s go!

1. Did a huge revision

I don’t know how often authors do big edits before a relaunch. I think they usually reformat it and make a few small tweaks? Maybe? Which is great! But not my path. My path is to do everything the hard way. I’m a monster.

The whole premise of These Deadly Games is that the protagonist, Crystal, gets a message from an anonymous kidnapper with a video of her sister taken hostage, bound to a chair. The kidnapper forces Crystal to play a twisted game that leads to her sabotaging—and killing—her friends one by one. If she refuses, they’ll kill her sister.

When I wrote this book in 2020-2021, this premise flew.

In 2026, Crystal would instantly suspect that video’s AI. INSTANTLY. The emergence of this tech changes everything about how she’d react, her theories along the way. For the premise to be believable, she’d now need to see specific evidence in the videos to convince her they’re real.

To be clear, I’d never expect all YA books to get updated for changing tech. Can you imagine? Cell phones! The internet! Smartphones! Social media! Facebook > Instagram > Snapchat > TikTok > Whatever The Fuck’s Next! THERE’S NO WAY!

But in this book, it affects the entire premise. Reviews were starting to complain about how Crystal should think of AI. It bothered me, too. I wished I’d published it just a couple of years later so I could have taken our new reality into account. So when I got that chance, I took it.

While I was in there, I figured: might as well revise the whole ding dong thing. I’ve honed my craft so much over the past 5-6 years, so why not? I changed the tense from past to present to increase the urgency. I tightened the pacing, cutting 6k words (from 96k to 90k). I improved the prose and dialogue throughout. And I’m so proud of how it’s turned out. Pooped, but proud.

2. Got a new cover

When you get the rights back, you don’t get to keep your existing cover, and I wanted a refresh anyway. The initial cover was cool—I always loved the silhouettes—but it didn’t hit that “Ooh I need this book because it’s stunning” note. Also, sales weren’t great to begin with, so I wanted to try something different.

First, I hired an illustrator I’d worked with before, Lauren @cinderlight.art (on Instagram), who gorgeously rendered the protagonist with an homage to the original silhouettes.

Next, in Photoshop I added the text (licensed through my Adobe subscription) and blood splatters (one of the brush defaults), and designed it to pair well with my debut, All Your Twisted Secrets.

I should also note: I considered changing the title because “These Deadly Games” didn’t perform well, and it wasn’t my intended title. But because this book made it onto lots of school book lists, including YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, I decided to keep it as-is. TBH I’m still not sure this was the right call.

3. Created bonus content

One of the best ways to grow your mailing list is by adding a reader magnet at the end of your book offering bonus content in exchange for an email signup. Some authors give away a bonus epilogue, deleted scene, or short story. I chose a smorgasbord of bonuses. At the end of These Deadly Games, there’s a link and QR code leading to this page:

The confirmation email has a link to a password-protected page on my site where they can download:

• Illustration of Crystal and Dylan

• Six character cards (with bonus content on the back of each)

• Discussion guide

• Annotated excerpt (download the first 3 chapters as a Word doc and see my track changes and in-line comments!)

• Spotify playlist

• They’ll also get the short story I give to anyone who joins my mailing list and an invitation to my Discord server and Facebook group

Thankfully, I already had most of this content from when the book first came out, with artwork from Mars Lauderbaugh. The annotated excerpt is new, but it was fun to write up those comments. Authors, I think you’d be particularly interested in the Word doc; I share lots of craft tips I learned in the past 5-6 years!

4. Formatted the book

I used Vellum to format the book, and it makes it SO EASY, especially when you’re not giving a book all the extra bells and whistles. I may consider an edition with sprayed edges when my workload gets a bit more manageable. But for now, I’m thrilled to give this book a paperback when it never had one before, and I’m grateful Vellum made it possible to complete this task in like an hour.

5. Did a metadata refresh

This book never ranked well on Amazon, so I started from scratch except for the description, which I revised, adding a short, punchy logline to the top and a new closing hook to add comps, vibes readers can expect, and tropes. Read it here.

I used Publisher Rocket to choose my subheader keywords, three categories, and seven keywords. This tool takes so much guesswork out, surfacing keywords high searches and low competition. It also reminds you what keywords not to use (like those with “book”, “kindle unlimited”, or “new”) so you don’t waste any of those seven precious spaces with terms Amazon will disregard.

For categories, I chose two broad and one niche that’s easier to rank for. If you get a “#1 New Release” or orange “Bestseller” banner in a niche category, it’s visible on the book’s listing everywhere on Amazon, which is great social proof. My publishers usually only assign my book to broad categories,1 so I’ve rarely gotten to post those YAY ORANGE BANNER screenshots to social media.

6. Designed Amazon A+ content

For midlist titles at traditional publishers, it’s common to just paste a blurb or tagline into each graphic. But this space offers a great opportunity to provide more of a visual hook into the book than you can with the description alone. I wanted a refresh, so off to Canva I went.

7. Uploaded the ebook to Amazon

This part made me nervous because I tend to get hyper when pushing buttons and miss little details that make everything go wrong. But here’s how this process went:

• Created a brand new book listing on Amazon KDP.

• Four hours later, I got an email from KDP: “During our review, we found that your book contains interior and/or cover content that's available from a different publisher. We need you to confirm your publishing rights before the book is made available on Amazon.”

• The next morning, once I saw it, I replied with the rights reversion letter attached.

• Within an hour, I got a “Congratulations” email that the book would be live in the marketplace soon. A couple of hours later, it went live.

• Contacted Amazon support to ask them to merge the reviews with the hardcover listing still live from my publisher.2

• About an hour later, the book listings were merged.

• It took about 5 days for the listing to appear in Amazon searches for “these deadly games”. Some indie authors prefer not to put their book up for preorder, but this is a good reason to do so, even a short one, to give the algorithm time to “learn” your book and fix any snafus before launch day.

8. Launched at $0.99 just for my mailing lists

I launched the ebook on Amazon at $0.99 (at the 35% royalty rate) on a Wednesday and it remained at that price until the following Monday.

On launch day, I emailed my reader mailing list announcing the new edition. The next day, I posted here on Substack with the story of how I got my rights back. On Sunday, I emailed my reader list again: last chance to grab a copy at $0.99! On Monday, I raised the price to $3.99 (at the 70% royalty rate) where it will stay except for quarterly Countdown Deals or Free Days.

MY MISTAKE: I made the exclusive period too long. I promised a week and ended up doing 5 days because all the orders came in on days 1 and 2. Not being able to shout about the #1 New Release status on social media as it was happening hurt my Amazon rank potential (and was stressful lol). From now on, an exclusive offer that impacts rankings will last for 24 hours. If you want the deal, gotta pay attention!

9. Posted on social media

I decided to spend exactly one week posting about this book on social media. THAT’S IT. If you’re trying to make a big splash with your relaunch, you’ll have a different approach. Here are my Instagram posts in case the inspiration helps:

• Monday: relaunch announcement

• Tuesday: cover illustrator appreciation post

• Wednesday: bonus content reveal

• Thursday: my story of how Taylor Swift inspired me to get the rights back

• Friday: reasons not to read this book trend (this did the worst; I actually archived it because I want to try it again with a photo of the paperback instead of a Canva-graphics post.3)

Once I get the paperback in the mail and can take photos, I’ll post a few more times when/if I feel like it. But for the most part, I have to focus on writing my contracted book now. Social media is too big a distraction, and I need to take a break until it’s time to heavily promote the ARC signup form for You’re Overthinking This. Which is happening soon. Eep.

10. Experimented with some ads

I ran a Goodreads giveaway (for 100 Kindle copies) to remind folks who’ve added the book over the years that it exists. Goodreads will automatically distribute those ebooks, so easy peasy, and there’s no additional cost for shipping copies.

I also ran 2-3 days worth of BookBub Ads, Amazon Ads, and Meta Ads, just for funsies; no significant results to report. I need to dedicate a solid chunk of time to optimizing my ads before committing to a budget and I just don’t have time right now. Once I do, I’ll share my findings!

11. Started print distribution

This is still in-progress because I’m waiting for my IngramSpark and BookVault proofs, but the paperback is live on Amazon! This part was A LOT so I’ll save it for a separate post, but wanted to mention it here since I did work on it during relaunch week.

Now that These Deadly Games is back out in the world, I’m thrilled I reclaimed my story. Even though I don’t have the time now for the marketing that could make it soar, it’s ready for it. And readers can grab a copy whenever they want. For now, that’s enough.

I hope sharing this helps you navigate the steps to self-publish if you get your rights back. If you find this post valuable, please consider buying a copy of These Deadly Games or subscribing to this Substack. 🫶

Back in 2022, I published my sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, with a Big-5 publisher. When I got that deal, I felt lucky to land another one at all.

My debut had just launched on March 17, 2020, five days into shelter-in-place at the start of the pandemic. It had been poised to break out, but bookstores were closed that week. Despite that, it went to a second printing after two weeks and earned out two months later. Despite THAT, my publisher dropped me because “sales weren’t as high as we’d hoped.”

So that was fun!

Anyway. My agent, being the badass he is, put the proposal for These Deadly Games on wide submission immediately and it went to auction two weeks later, landing at a Big-5 imprint. I vividly remember getting that call; the first words out of my mouth were, “Oh my God, I get to keep doing this.” At the time, I thought COVID had struck down my career before it had a chance to begin. It felt like a gift just to keep going.

I’m going to skirt over most of my experience with that publisher because WHAT CAN YA DO? Long story short: my editor said the book would be a lead title but left the imprint (and publishing altogether) before it launched, and it suffered the orphaned-book experience.

Which, fine. It happens. A lot more often than you’d think!

“So then give it back.” << Me every six months over the next four years.

Well, not at first.

The thing I didn’t realize while signing my earliest contracts was how important the rights reversion clause is. Sometimes it’s based on your royalties over a six month period, other times on unit sales. Sometimes the period is longer than six months. Sometimes the clause doesn’t exist at all. (Authors, do yourself an epic favor and make sure your contract includes reversion terms.)

My particular reversion threshold in this contract was so low it was near impossible to get below it. It went out of print quickly, but made it onto a bunch of schools’ reading lists, so I think a few librarians kept ordering just enough copies each semester to bump it over that number.1

To be completely melodramatic, it felt like my book baby was being held hostage.

It was out of print, never got a paperback, never had periodic ebook discounts or promotions or BookBubs, so it was just… stuck. It was a really helpless feeling.

Then I saw Taylor Swift fighting to get her masters back, working so hard to release her “Taylor’s Version” albums, and it lit a fire under me. (I’m a Swiftie; I wrote These Deadly Games while listening to Folklore on loop.) Every six months, like clockwork, I was in my agent’s inbox asking for the royalty statement—I get the statements automatically from my other two publishers, but not this one—and for him to make a rights reversion request. Every six months, we’d get a “no.”

When Taylor won the fight to reacquire her masters, and I saw the sheer relief in her words as she broke the news, I knew I had to do whatever it took to get my book baby back. Even if I had to pay for it. I needed to feel that relief, too—to get back control over my words, my story, my characters, that I’d worked so hard on. So the next time we got yet another “no,” I asked how much it would cost to buy back the rights.

Those were the magic words.

They relinquished the rights. Free of charge.

Obviously, my journey to reacquire my rights was much less dramatic and hard-fought than Taylor’s. But if I didn’t see her fight, I wouldn’t have asked, would’ve played by the rules and silently waited for that royalty number to finally creep below that threshold line. I’m SO grateful that in the end, this book is back in my hands, and I dedicated this edition to Taylor.

And today, the morning after release, it’s already a #1 New Release on Amazon.2

I hope sharing this inspires other authors who feel like their books are trapped. It doesn’t hurt to ask for them back. Every six months. Put it on your calendar. Make sure you get your royalty statements if they’re not automatic. And even if you don’t quite hit that threshold, ask.

The worst they can say is no.

And eventually, you might get a yes.

These Deadly Games is now back up on Amazon as a brand new edition, and this time, it’s fully mine. (And yours, of course!) I’ve repackaged it with a stunning new cover, with art courtesy of Lauren @cinderlight.art, and made big revisions to the story itself.

Check out my next essay to see what I did to repackage and relaunch it. And if you think you’d love an intense, pulse-pounding thriller where a girl has to pick off her own friends one-by-one to save her sister’s life, I hope you check it out.

GRAB A COPY HERE

Here’s the description:

“Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?”

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a video of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends and the boy she’s falling for, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past and now want to make them pay?

As Crystal makes the impossible choices between her friends and her sister, she must uncover the truth and find a way to outplay the kidnapper…before she loses everything.

Next, I’ll work on packaging the paperback and figuring out distribution via Amazon, IngramSpark, and D2D (libraries). Since this is a *surprise* relaunch, not a new release, I’m doing this gradually. Again, I’ll share my relaunch strategy in my next post, so subscribe to see it! 🫶

Publisher: "NOPE"

Me: “OK so I’ll sign with a different publisher and they’ll promote my book—”

Publisher: “NOPE”

Me: “OK but surely this one’ll do basic things like upload Amazon A+ content pre-launch—”

Publisher: “NOPE”

Me: “OK so I managed to hustle for enough sales to hit a bestseller list—”

New York Times: *glances at print run* “NOPE”

Me: "OK so I'll self-publish with optimized metadata so the right readers find my book—"

Amazon: "NOPE"

Me: "OK so I'll send email newslette—"

Gmail's promotions tab: "NOPE"

Me: "OK so I'll spend hours making videos that surely won't get flagged as unoriginal—"

TikTok & Instagram, in chorus: "NOPE"

Me: "OK so I'll share witty POV threads to hook readers into my story—"

Book Threads: "NOPE"

Me: “OK so I’ll run some A/B-tested Meta ads using all the best practices—”

Meta’s AI infrastructure: *shows men romance ads, giggles* “NOPE”

Me: “OK so I’ll fly to some events with imported special edition copies—”

Tariffs/oil prices: “NOPE”

Me: “OK so screw it, nothing sells backlist like frontlist, so I’ll write new books fast—”

Attention span (due to all of the above): “NOPE”

Is it all bad all the time? No! I’ll give you an example to balance out the negativity: friends and former colleagues keep texting to let me know one of my books is featured in the game Tiny Bookshop on the Switch. How cool is that??

Moments like these—and in general, the writing itself and especially the readers—make it worth it. I write my stories for them, and the ones who find me mean everything to me.

But this post is for the days when it feels like nothing’s working despite doing everything “right.” You’re not alone.

After running a 30-person beta reader team for my self-publishing debut, You’re Overthinking This, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how I managed such a big team and wrapped my head around all that feedback.

So today I’m sharing my review of StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies tool, which I used to distribute the manuscript and collect feedback, and made this process much easier. Earlier posts in this series:

• How I got 30 beta readers for my debut self-published novel

• The assets I created to run my beta team (application, emails, etc.)

The overwhelm issue I wanted to solve

When I first set out to recruit my betas, I was so overwhelmed. Sending my shiny new manuscript as a Word doc or PDF to a big group seemed daunting and unsecure.

Several authors recommended I use Google docs instead and disable downloading/sharing, which helps with the security issue, but I’d still have to deal with overwhelming file management (if everyone gets their own doc) or potential arguments breaking out in the comments (if everyone shares a doc). Then I learned about StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies tool in the Discord Indie Authors Ascending and decided to give it a shot.

Spoiler alert: StoryOrigin made this whole process SO much less overwhelming.

What is StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies tool?

StoryOrigin is a marketing platform for authors with a variety of tools (ARC distribution! newsletter swaps!) but here I’ll focus specifically on their Beta Copies feature.

This tool lets you upload a manuscript, invite a team of beta readers, and collect chapter-by-chapter feedback in one organized dashboard. Instead of having to create 30+ different files to email out, readers log in to a single interface, read your book chapter by chapter, and leave feedback as they go. And you get to see updates from them in real time all in one place.

To use the Beta Copies tool, you need to upgrade to StoryOrigin’s Standard Plan, which is $10/month. I upgraded for just the two months I used this tool, and I plan to upgrade again when it’s time to get feedback on my next manuscript. I already use BookFunnel for my reader magnets and will be using them for ARC distribution as well, so an annual subscription for another similar platform didn’t make sense for me.

My favorite things about this tool

Here why I’ll keep using StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies for future beta teams I run:

1. All your feedback lives in one place. No wrangling 30 separately-named files! Woohoo! Yes, there are ways to collate the comments into one Word doc at the end, but it still felt like such a chaotic process to manage. In StoryOrigin, every reader’s feedback feeds into one dashboard you can sort, tag, and filter. This alone made it worth it for me.

2. Readers have to earn each chapter. They can’t move on until they leave a comment at the end of the chapter, which means you get actual feedback throughout instead of a vague “loved it!” at the end. Readers don’t just get a free read; they have to engage. And many of my readers said this process was fun for them, too!

3. Readers stay in their own silos. This was huge for me. It prevented groupthink; if 30 people all comment in the same Google doc, they’d bias each other, and debates could break out. In StoryOrigin, every reader sees only their own comments, which means when three different people (or *cough* 13 *cough*) independently flag the same line as cringey, you know it needs fixing. And they can feel comfortable sharing their honest thoughts knowing lots of other beta readers won’t see their comments.

4. It’s way more secure. Readers can’t download the manuscript or see the whole thing at once. They access one chapter at a time through a web interface and, again, they need to comment to unlock the next. It’s the most secure solution I’ve found!

5. Real-time visibility into reader progress. Being able to watch reactions roll in chapter by chapter (instead of waiting weeks for one email) was both useful and incredibly fun. Some of my favorite moments of my entire publishing journey came from refreshing my StoryOrigin dashboard. It’s rare to get real-time reader reactions, and I loved seeing them scream at me, gasp, and laugh as they progressed through the story.

6. Iterate as betas read. This was also HUGE for me. Because you can see everyone’s comments in real time, you don’t have to wait for everyone to finish the manuscript to make edits. For example, you can upload a revised version of Chapter 3, and slower readers automatically see V2. Your faster readers can also pop back in and re-read if they’d like. THIS SAVED ME MONTHS. MONTHS!! See this article for more details on how I ran a multi-wave recruitment process, which helped make this possible.

7. You control access. Set an expiration date for the manuscript, extend it for specific readers (or everyone), revoke access if you need to, all from one panel. No outdated PDFs lingering out in the wild forever!

8. The critique guidance box. When setting up your manuscript, you can paste in your “Critique Guidance,” and readers see this at the bottom of each chapter as a constant reminder of what sort of feedback you’re looking for. This also saves them from having to keep referring back to a separate survey. I shared the critique guidance I pasted into StoryOrigin in this article.

9. Ask wrap-up questions. The end-of-manuscript questionnaire lets you collect final feedback without needing to use a separate document, survey tool, or Google form. (You can also sprinkle questionnaires between chapters if you’d like. I didn’t.)

10. Label chapter-end feedback and inline comments. Being able to assign statuses to each piece of feedback helped me stay organized as I edited. The default is Unread, and you can change the status to Read & Considered, Still Considering, To-Do, and Resolved. Then you can filter comments by each status type at the top of the panel.

Improvements I’d love to see

Again, StoryOrigin was genuinely worth the cost for me and I’ll definitely keep using it. But, for transparency’s sake, here’s my wishlist of things that would make it even better:

1. Add a “Status” column to the Contents & Annotations view. Right now, when betas leave inline comments, there’s no easy way to see at a glance which chapters you’ve already edited and which still have comments you need to address. You need to keep a separate spreadsheet to track this (if you track it at all), and once you have multiple versions for each chapter, ack! A simple column that auto-counts “X Unread” (based on the inline comments you haven’t changed the status of yet) would be so helpful. Here’s what my view looks like:

2. Let authors archive old chapter versions. Not just to hide embarrassing OG versions (lmao), but a couple of times I uploaded a new version of a chapter, then immediately made one more tweak, so now there’s an untouched V3 sitting there that I can’t delete. D’oh! I kept worrying I’d overwhelm readers if they saw five versions listed for a single chapter, even if they only needed to read the latest one. So an option to archive/delete versions would be fab.

3. Let authors opt out of notifying readers of chapter updates. Sometimes I wanted to quietly tweak a chapter toward the end of the manuscript that no one even reached yet. But every update triggers a digest email to the whole team. Ack! Adding a “Notify readers? yes/no” checkbox on the upload screen would solve this. My workaround was to send an email to team members 1-2 days after they received their welcome email advising them to ignore these digest emails from StoryOrigin. See my copy for this email here.

4. Let authors download responses and in-line comments. A CSV export of everything my readers said would have been enormously useful, for two reasons:

• I could build my own checklist of tasks to work through (especially since there’s no Status column yet—see #1 above).

• I could compile my favorite reader quotes for marketing material later. Instead, I manually went through and screenshotted each comment I wanted to save. I compiled my favorites in a PowerPoint, with a chapter for each slide—not the most elegant solution. A real export would’ve saved so much time. (By the way, in my beta reader team application, I asked for approval to use comments for marketing material.)

5. Let authors leave emoji replies readers can see. I agree it’s best not to allow author replies; this could inadvertently set expectations that authors should reply to individual comments, overwhelming the process. But there were so many times I wanted to react to comments with the joy emoji, heart, or thumbs up, and readers in my Discord expressed they wanted to see my reactions to their reactions, too. Adding a simple emoji response option would be lovely!

6. Let authors mute specific readers when reviewing inline comments. Before I started using StoryOrigin, I heard an anecdote from an author where one reader left a boatload of nitpicky, off-topic comments, and since there’s no way to filter out individual readers, it cluttered their comments sidebar and overwhelmed them. I worried how I’d handle this scenario; the only other option is to restrict access to the document, but I wouldn’t want anyone to feel sad I kicked them out! Thankfully, my readers were great. But this could have easily created some extra stress, which a filtering capability could solve.

There are other features that can use some tweaks—for example, you only get one text block for the application. But I prefer hosting my application on a Google Form anyway, so it’s not a feature I’m clamoring for StoryOrigin to improve. (See how I handled this here.)

So was it worth it?

YES!! Despite these few snags, StoryOrigin kept running a 30-person beta team from becoming a logistical nightmare. The whole process felt manageable, and it created an extremely fun experience for me AND my readers.

Since You’re Overthinking This doesn’t launch until November, I don’t have any sales or ratings data yet to provide quantitative evidence that the manuscript’s quality reflects all this effort. But the audiobook rights did go to auction six months before release (AHHHHHHHHH!), so that’s an extremely happy result, and I’m so, so grateful for my beta team. 😭🫶

So, overall, two thumbs up, and I highly recommend StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies tool to indie authors who are running beta teams. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.

A few months ago, I split my mailing list in two: one for readers who love my books (here), and one for authors with publishing tips and tea (this Substack). So in case you missed that announcement and you enjoy my fiction work, join my reader newsletter so you don’t miss any important updates about my next thriller, You’re Overthinking This.

Join here

You’ll get a first look at ARC opportunities and bonus content (like character art). For example, last week I announced that anyone who joins the cover reveal team and helps reveal the cover on June 4 will GUARANTEE themselves a spot on the ARC team and be the first to read. (Here’s the application in case you missed it.)

By joining my reader newsletter, you’ll also get a free short story right away, which I updated last week to include a special extended surprise about You’re Overthinking This at the end. 😈

A smorgasbord of updates:

Writing something new

I’ve mostly been focused on drafting my next novel. I usually try to get through a first draft as quickly as I can—what I usually call a “zero” draft because I vomit it out so fast and sloppy, I need to rewrite it—but this time, I’m editing as I go. I simply don’t have time before my deadline to rewrite the whole thing!

This is only possible (for me) because I’ve written a 9k-word outline, so I’ve mapped out the red herring and twists in such a detailed manner that theoretically I won’t get to the end and be like “ACTUALLY NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE, I NEED TO START OVER.” Keyword: theoretically. In my thrillers, my own characters always manage to surprise me, so here’s hoping they hold it together and cooperate!

I’m currently 21k words in, but they’re draft two words, and I’m ready to move forward. My deadline is September 1 LMAO wish me luck.

You’re Overthinking This

I’ve gotten my copyedits back from my editor with a glowing review: “This is MASTERFUL work, Diana. I am so in awe. You consistently had me second guessing myself (and my own guesses) and every time I felt confident I knew what was going on, suddenly another clue would show up and BAM, I was wrong again LOL.” YAYYYYYYYYYY.

I thought I’d have a ton more work to do at this stage. (I don’t know why. The thing already went through the wringer with my thirty beta readers. Impostor syndrome, maybe?) But so far I’ve been able to move through the edits pretty quickly. Either way, my deadline to get this to my proofreader is May 22, and then I’ll be able to move onto the formatting stage, which I’ll be doing myself using Vellum.

I’ve also commissioned another piece of character art I’m so excited about, with dimensions I could use for the endpapers if I do a special edition at some point. I’m very tempted to do a Kickstarter, but I’m already feeling overwhelmed with everything on my plate, so I’m not sure if I’ll do one before launch or wait until after the ebook and regular edition paperback launches. If any indie authors reading this have done Kickstarters, I’d love to hear from you on how they went in the comments, and whether you’d recommend I do one before or after launch.

Got my rights back!

After years of trying, I finally got the rights back to my sophomore book, These Deadly Deadly Games, from my publisher.

I’ll likely do a deep-dive on this story at some point. My next step is formatting the file. All I have is the PDF, and when you try to open it in Word, the PDF headers and footers get inserted in the prose, along with the manual dashes from line breaks. It’ll take a lot of manual formatting work even just to get the current version of the ebook back up, and I want to make some edits before officially relaunching. But with everything else on my plate, it’ll probably be a few months until I can get to it.

What I’ve been watching/reading/playing

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I reread the hardcover before seeing the movie, then immediately listened to the audiobook (I needed more Rocky!). Amaze amaze amaze!

• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Apparently this is quite the polarizing book but holy heck I was RIVETED. I couldn’t wait to pick it back up each night, and loved the prose—it was both an easy read and gorgeous, and I remember thinking, “wow I need to reread this just to study the craft.” I enjoyed the twist in this one as well.

• Scandal (TV show). My husband and I finished binge-watching Scandal, and WOW WHAT A SHOW. There wasn’t a slow moment throughout all seven seasons, and it was masterful how they kept coming up with new twists among the same characters. The first half of season seven was downright terrifying.

• Horizon Zero Dawn (video game). I’ve been struggling to connect with a game in recent months; since a new Fable game is coming this fall I tried the original Fable trilogy, but got frustrated by how long the interaction animations took. I got the furthest in game 3. But HZD is the exact kind of RPG I’ve been looking for; I love a game with a huge mystery that makes you eager to find out what happens next, not just play. I just started it late last week but I already know it’s going to wind up somewhere on my favorites list.

That’s it for now; time to get back to drafting! Hope you have a lovely week.

In my last Substack post, I shared a deep dive on how I ran a 30-person beta reader team for my first self-published book with a 70% manuscript completion rate. After traditionally publishing four books, I can honestly say this has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding parts of my entire publishing journey so far.

But the process of running a big beta team can seem really overwhelming. Yes, it takes a lot of work, but in my experience it’s so worth it. I now have a stronger book (IMO!), a stamp of approval from my target audience, and fodder for promotional posts—plus, I rewarded my most loyal readers by welcoming them into my writing process. Seeing their gleeful replies to my emails has been INCREDIBLE. Just, lots of joy all around.

So to help make this process easier for any fellow authors who want to try this out, today I’m sharing the assets I created to run my team:

1. Application

2. Critique guidance

3. Final questionnaire

4. Welcome email

5. Follow-up email

6. Final reminder email

Keep in mind that these are not templates. I don’t recommend copy/pasting everything I did—for example, my emails are super casual and conversational, and your emails should be in your own unique voice! But I hope this will provide inspiration and a starting point for building a team of your own.

Read more

… authors have been asking what platform I used to collect feedback. The answer is StoryOrigin, and today I’m sharing a deep-dive on how I recruited my team of 30 beta readers, gathered their feedback in StoryOrigin, and synthesized it to make this story shine.

A caveat before we begin: While this ended up being my absolute favorite part of my publishing journey so far, I don’t want any authors to feel pressure to do this, and I’m not saying you should. You might even think getting 30 beta readers is overkill, and that’s okay—to each their own. I’m just sharing my process in case it’s helpful or inspiring in any way.

Since my full writeup is too long for one Substack post, this will be split in three parts:

1. Revealing my process (this post) - for all subscribers/viewers

2. Sharing my assets (application, critique guidance, and emails) - for VIP subscribers

3. A review of StoryOrigin’s Beta Copies tool - for all subscribers/viewers

Why I wanted a big beta reader team

Before I ever got published, I got beta readers for my first three manuscripts—the third of which became All Your Twisted Secrets. Back then, I used the terms beta readers and critical partners (CPs) interchangeably—they were fellow authors I’d swap manuscripts with to exchange feedback. (Was that wrong? Have the terms evolved? Don’t know!)

After debuting, I sold my next three books on proposal and had tight deadlines to draft, with no extra time to recruit betas, wait for feedback, and reciprocate on top of my heavy workload. While my editor (and sometimes editorial assistant) provided excellent input, we’d miss things! Later, I’d see reader reviews criticizing a character’s decision or a cheesy line, and I’d facepalm so hard because I agreed and it would have been so easy to fix if I’d gotten that feedback sooner… but it was too late. Some authors’ ARCs get printed pre-copyedits, but that’s never been the case for me.

Because of this, I always wished publishers had focus groups or test audiences to get readers’ reactions to a book pre-ARCs. But that’s just… not a thing. (That I’m aware of.)

Now that I’m self-publishing for the first time with my newest book—You’re Overthinking This, a steamy psychological thriller—I’m in control of my publishing schedule. Now, I could make time for a test audience. I wanted at least 20 readers so if enough independently commented on the same issue, I’d know it needed fixing. I was also worried only a small percentage would reach the end—a combination of impostor syndrome and the fact that these are volunteers—so I wanted to recruit enough to account for that.

(Note that I’ve also heard of some indie authors getting 70+ or even hundreds of beta readers, but I think my brain would simply implode. 30 was a sweet spot for me!)

Why I used StoryOrigin to collect feedback

When I first set out to build a team of betas, I was overwhelmed. Sending my shiny new manuscript as a Word doc or PDF to 20+ people seemed daunting and unsecure. Some authors recommended I use Google docs and disable downloading/copying, but I worried that (1) if all readers had access to the same doc, they’d bias each other or debates would break out in the comments, or (2) if everyone had their own doc, organizing, naming, and collating feedback would be a nightmare.

Then I learned about StoryOrigin in the Discord Indie Authors Ascending (thanks, Ariel!).

StoryOrigin is similar to BookFunnel in that it lets you distribute ARCs and reader magnets (among other features), but it also has a unique tool for collecting beta reader feedback. You can see its features here, but here’s what convinced me to use it:

• Secure manuscript sharing. Readers can’t download it or even access all of it at once.

• Ensure participation. Readers must leave feedback on each chapter to unlock the next one. They don’t just get a free read; they have to earn it!

• Get detailed feedback. In addition to overall chapter feedback, readers can highlight text to leave in-line comments, and you can mark the status of each.

• Iterate on the fly. You can see readers’ feedback as they progress through the manuscript, not just when they finish. Concurrently, you can upload new versions of each chapter. New readers to that chapter will see the newest version automatically, and your fastest readers can go back to look at your updates if they’d like.

• Limit (or extend) access. Set an expiration date to revoke access at your deadline and/or offer extensions (or revoke access) for each individual reader.

While not a perfect tool (I’ll share more in Part 3), StoryOrigin made this process far less overwhelming than it could’ve been and helped create a fun and unique experience for my team. And I love that for all of us!

How I set up my beta reader team

Note that my approach is a bit more complex than necessary. For example, you can use StoryOrigin for your entire application process (though you only get one text box) and you don’t need to require readers to sign an NDA. Again, just sharing what I did in case it helps!

(And I’ll share the copy I used for each of these in Part 2.)

1. Created a Google form application

Rather than hosting my application in StoryOrigin, I used Google Forms for more field customization, to ask multiple questions, to track invites for each wave of readers, and to email my betas using my own email service provider (ESP) whenever I wanted.

I’ll share all the questions I asked in Part 2, but the most important question that let me qualify readers was: “Why do you want to beta read You’re Overthinking This?” If anyone left this blank or clearly (and I mean clearly) used ChatGPT to fill this out, they did not receive an invitation.

2. Created an NDA

I chose to have my beta readers sign an NDA for a few reasons:

1. It reduces the risk of piracy, anyone feeding my manuscript to the Machines, or anyone sharing excerpts from this early version of the manuscript.

2. It weeds out anyone who’s not enthusiastic or committed enough to sign.

3. It makes it clear this is a volunteer opportunity.

My NDA was extremely basic, and I created a simple Google form to collect electronic signatures. Out of all my applicants, only one said they’d be unwilling to sign. (I’ll make sure they get an ARC!)

3. Added the manuscript to StoryOrigin

This process is fairly straightforward, but in order for StoryOrigin to break out chapters into different sections readers will need to unlock in one easy upload, you need to use Header 1 (H1) tags in Word for each of your chapter headers.

After uploading, you can customize all the basic info for your project—tags (genres), blurb, etc.—but two fields are especially important: application message and critique guidance.

In my application message, I linked to my NDA and instructed readers to simply enter “Yes” in the box once they signed. This is how they request access to the manuscript once you give them the link and they create a StoryOrigin account.

In my critique guidance, I entered the same guidelines I shared in my welcome email. Whatever you enter here will appear at the bottom of every chapter to remind readers what kind of feedback you’re looking for.

I also created a questionnaire at the end of the manuscript with a few wrap-up questions. I did not ask specific questions on individual chapters nor sprinkle questionnaires throughout the manuscript (between chapters), but you could if you’d like.

4. Created a welcome email

Next, in my ESP, I created an email to send to my list of approved beta readers. In this email, I:

• Congratulated them for being selected (woohoo!)

• Linked to the manuscript in StoryOrigin

• Provided instructions for joining StoryOrigin

• Linked to the NDA

• Provided instructions for requesting the manuscript after signing

• Gave a clear bolded deadline

• Shared my critique guidance, which outlined my expectations along with a list of seven questions to keep in mind as betas read the manuscript (this is what I copy/pasted in the critique guidance box in Story Origin)

• Expressed my heartfelt gratitude for their time

I’ve shared this email and my critique guidance in Part 2.

5. Created a private Discord channel for betas

In my Discord server, Diana Urban’s Thrill Seekers, I created (1) a private channel #beta-readers and (2) the role “Beta Reader” to grant that role access to this channel. Then I spun up a custom invitation link that would assign this role to anyone who used it.

I shared this link with betas (1) in the closing questionnaire in StoryOrigin and (2) via email about two weeks after granting wave #1 access to the manuscript. I didn’t want them to influence each other’s opinions while reading, and we were careful to use spoiler tags until the deadline.

(If you enjoy my books and would like to join my Discord, subscribe to my reader newsletter to get an invitation link!)

How I recruited beta readers

My process for recruiting betas was very agile, which might make this section a bit confusing. Rather than waiting for all my betas to finish to make edits, I kept pace with my fastest betas and uploaded new versions of each chapter to StoryOrigin. This way, slower betas would read V2, and I could get their reactions and confirm my changes worked. (Some betas kept apologizing to me for being slow and I was like NO THIS IS PERFECT!!)

I wound up inviting three waves of betas within a 4-week span (for a total of 30 readers). It was a lot to manage, but this agile process saved me months of time.

Okay, so here’s how I recruited folks. (Keep in mind that I’ve been publishing since 2020, so I’m fortunate to have a readership that made it easier to recruit folks. YMMV.)

Volunteering to beta read is a big commitment, so I wanted to only (1) attract applicants dedicated enough to reach the end of the manuscript, and (2) reward my superfans who’d be HYPED to read and be part of this story’s journey. Providing feedback without compensation is a big ask, so I wanted to make sure whoever volunteered was really into it and would have fun.

As such, I was extremely deliberate with my recruitment posts; I wasn’t going for volume, but quality enthusiasm. I didn’t even call for betas in a dedicated email on Substack or my reader newsletter. (I know this made some folks feel like they missed out, and I’M SO SORRY, but don’t worry—I’ll be running a huge ARC team, so stay tuned!)

First, I posted about it here on Substack as a single bullet point in this post. 50% of wave #1 applicants came from this.

Next, I posted a call for betas to my Instagram stories asking anyone interested to DM me, and I DMed back a link to a Google form. After about an hour, I had enough applicants, so I deleted the story. (I didn’t save it, so I don’t have a screenshot to share—sorry!)

After I sent out invitations, betas started tearing through the manuscript. I made edits to the early chapters based on their feedback and uploaded new versions to StoryOrigin, but since that first wave of readers was so enthusiastic, most got through the beginning fast. I wanted more fresh eyes on my changes, so I did another call for betas on Threads and replied to anyone interested with a link to the form.

After inviting my wave #2 betas, I intended to keep up with my wave #1 betas so wave #2 would always be reading updated chapters.

Then my cat died.

So. Yeah. I was a useless, sobbing mess for a week.

After I finally jumped back into edits 9-10 days later, I recruited wave #3 betas to get fresh eyes on the middle chapters, since I hadn’t kept ahead of most of wave #2. That time, I posted to Instagram stories and Threads at once, and deleted those posts after a couple of hours. (So no screenshots, sorry!)

How I synthesized beta feedback

Thanks to my critique guidance—plus, I think, because I’m so casual with readers in my Discord, on Threads, etc., with lots of AHHHHHs and general silliness 🤪—I invited some incredibly blunt feedback. And that’s exactly what I wanted. I wanted my betas to be ruthless with me so I could improve the work and avoid as much public evisceration (on Goodreads, TikTok, etc.) as possible.

(Though, who am I kidding? It’s a psychological thriller, and it’s got polarizing twists. There’s really no avoiding it lmao.)

I won’t say their feedback was always easy to take. With four published novels under my belt, I have a weird mix of impostor syndrome and thick skin. But for the most part, it felt like I had 30 buddies sitting with me as I made edits, laughing with me, screaming with me—sometimes at me—and encouraging me to make this the best story I could. Some folks even read it twice. Others read specific chapters multiple times when I pinged the group about updates I made via email and on Discord (about two-thirds of betas joined the private channel).

If I had to guesstimate, I’d say I took action on about ~75% of readers’ critical notes in StoryOrigin, not including times they pointed out typos, missing words, awkward phrasing, etc.—those I fixed 100% of the time.

Sometimes I felt bullish about wanting to keep something as-is, but once a third reader critiqued the thing, I considered that a consensus and conceded. This is one reason StoryOrigin is great for keeping everyone in separate silos, and why I didn’t hand out that Discord invite link until later. Getting the same critiques independently was invaluable.

I didn’t always take readers suggestions on how to fix something, just like I wouldn’t if it were my editor at a publishing house. Instead, I looked for the root cause of the critique, and often found a different way to address it.

There were plenty of contradictory comments, too. I’d giggle every time one person highlighted a sentence and called it “beautiful” while another called the same exact sentence “cringey.” It was a reminder that the art of storytelling is incredibly subjective.

That’s why I didn’t address ~25% of the critiques. As a people pleaser, this was tough. I had to constantly remind myself that we were 31 different humans with 31 sets of opinions and preferences. You can’t please 100% of your audience 100% of the time. For example, one reader wanted an entirely different whodunnit. Another wanted the FMC and LI to spend 2-3 days together before the inciting incident. But those would be different books altogether. Ultimately, it’s up to me to tell the story I want to tell.

For the changes I did make, it was incredibly gratifying to upload a new version of a chapter and see the next wave of readers pass by with no comment or just compliments. Ahh. Mission complete. Here’s a zoomed out view of the Word doc showing all the edits I made thanks to beta reader feedback.

My beta reader team stats

• 48 applicants

• 36 people invited to read

• 30 betas made meaningful progress (9+ chapters)

• 21 betas finished the manuscript

Of the six invited who didn’t become betas, two didn’t sign up for StoryOrigin, two did but didn’t open the manuscript at all, and two didn’t make it past chapter two.

Of the nine who made meaningful progress but didn’t finish, there was no consistent dropoff point. Several emailed along the way to let me know life happened, whether they lost a job, started a job, got sick, lost a loved one. As someone who lost their soul fur-baby in the middle of all this, goodness, I related.

Regardless, all 30 of my betas were instrumental in making this story sparkle, and I’m grateful and humbled they took the time out of their busy lives to help me. They’ll all be included in the acknowledgements, be auto-approved for my ARC team, and receive any exclusive bonuses first. They’ll also get a special gift from me closer to launch but IT’S A SURPRISE SO SHHHHHH.

Edit 5/22/23: Since You’re Overthinking This doesn’t launch until November, I still don’t have any sales or ratings data yet to provide quantitative evidence that the manuscript’s quality reflects all this effort. But the audiobook rights did go to auction six months before release, and before I revealed the cover (AHHHHHHHHH!), so that’s an extremely happy result. I’m so, so grateful for my beta team. 😭🫶

What’s next?

Now that I’ve sent this manuscript off to my copyeditor, it’s time to hunker down for a bit to draft my next contracted YA book. Here are quick links for Part 2 (assets) and Part 3 (StoryOrigin review) of this series. I hope this was helpful!

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In some ways, 2026 is already flying by, but personally, it’s been so chaotic, it’s hard to believe it’s only mid-March. Let’s sum things up with some bullet points:

• January - February: heavily revised You’re Overthinking This, my adult self-publishing debut, a steamy psychological thriller.

• January: came up with a new YA thriller idea. Wrote the first three chapters and a bulleted synopsis.

• February: SOLD that YA thriller to a new-to-me publisher in an exclusive submission.

• February: wrapped up Reedsy client work (I’ll be taking a hiatus to write the YA).

• Last week of February: went on a tropical vacation.

• Last day of vacation: my husband’s grandmother passed away.

• March 3-7: sent You’re Overthinking This to two rounds of beta readers.

• March 9: our cat passed away.

• March 9 - 14: sobbed, mostly.

• March 15: put You’re Overthinking This up for preorder to force myself to stop wallowing.

SO, YEAH.

On top of all that, I promised you I’d share my self-publishing journey here on Substack as I go through the process for the first time with You’re Overthinking This. And since I’m still too mopey to make progress on my fiction work… let’s do this! I hope this helps any authors out there starting their own self-pub journey.

(Sorry if any of this is hard to follow. I miss my cat and my brain is mush.)

Step 1: Revised, revised, revised

My first step was to make this book as strong as I possibly could. I want this book to blow up in a big way (don’t we all??? lmao) and the best way to do that is to create a book readers simply have to tell their friends about.

I hadn’t touched this manuscript since May 2025, and coming back to it after 7-8 months was wildly helpful. I hacksawed my darlings, massively amped up the tension (both the scary and sexual kinds), intensified the twists and added a new one I’m OBSESSED with, and smoothed out FMC’s logic when solving the mystery, which required rewriting key scenes altogether.

As I revised, in parallel I worked on steps 2-6 below.

Step 2: Shored up my newsletter

It’s taken me years to solidify my newsletter strategy because most of my subscribers have been fellow authors, not readers. As a BookBub veteran and now book marketing coach, it’s basically hardwired into my DNA to share everything I know about publishing and book promo at all times. So for years, I mostly spoke to authors about publishing in my newsletters—but they’re not my fiction target audience.

In December 2024, I took the first step to split my mailing list in two—one for readers, one for authors—by moving everyone from my primary email setup (HubSpot/Wordpress1) to my new SubStack. I knew authors comprised at least 90% of my list, so it was easier to export/import everyone here at once.

Then in Dec 2025 - Jan 2026, I rebuilt everything in HubSpot/Wordpress—my forms, landing pages, double opt-in flow, welcome emails, initiation sequence (via automation), and newsletter template. Then I did Step 3 to get the readers back over to HubSpot/Wordpress. No importing/exporting this time—it’s up to readers to self-identify and opt into my reader-focused newsletter.

Step 3: Published a reader magnet

To make it more enticing for folks to sign up to my reader-focused newsletter, I revised a short story I originally published in an anthology but had the rights reverted back to me. I’d give this to readers for free in exchange for subscribing.

To segue into my adult romantic thriller brand, I aged up the characters, made it steamier, and rewrote much of it to improve it in general. Once I was happy with the story, I used Canva to design its cover, used Vellum to format the interior, and set it up on BookFunnel for easy reader magnet delivery. Then I created promotional graphics in Canva and published this Substack newsletter to inform everyone of the great newsletter split, encouraging readers to subscribe here. (If you haven’t yet, I’m reminding you now. How sneaky of me.)

At that point, it was clear I was right about that 90/10 split. But over the next month, the FUN thing was seeing my reader-focused automation emails increase from 20-30% open rates back in 2024 to 50-65% now, not including the welcome email (post double-opt-in), with a 80% open rate. Woohoo!

Step 4: Redesigned my website

Honestly, I spent too much time on this and some of it probably wasn’t necessary, but I enjoy fiddling with my website. Here are some of the key changes:

• Updated my branding and design throughout. Aimed for simplicity and consistency, and made all pages mobile-optimized, which was long overdue. Now it’ll be easier to update.

• Created a book page for You’re Overthinking This.

• Created a short story page for The Last Time I Saw Her Alive.

• Updated my Books page with these two new stories.

• Created a new newsletter subscription page and confirmation page to improve double opt-in conversion rates.2

• Redesigned my “Link in Bio” page (instead of using Linktree).

• Created an ARC team signup page that I’ll swap for the official Google form signup sheet later, and I’ll email everyone who’s filled out this form first.

Step 5: Designed my book cover

Over a year ago, I got lucky and found the perfect photo on DepositPhotos for my FMC and MMC. I licensed it immediately, and ever since, I envisioned exactly what I wanted my cover to look like using that photo. I considered hiring a cover designer, but in case you haven’t noticed, I love having control over all the things. I wanted full access to the layered file and permission to tweak it whenever and however I wanted. So I decided to design it myself.

Thanks to my experience with Photoshop, I was able to do so, and the process was so much fun—I can’t wait to show it to you. I’ll have to edit the design once I know the book’s exact dimensions, as I won’t know the spine width until post-copyedits, but I’m THRILLED with how it’s turned out so far.

Step 6: Commissioned a character artist

While I’m familiar enough with Photoshop to photobash and edit stock photos, illustrating characters and graphics from scratch goes way beyond my skillset. Commissioning character art is less common for thrillers than for fantasy and romance, but since You’re Overthinking This is a very romantic and steamy thriller, I wanted character art to help with promo. And since many artists book up months in advance, I wanted to get a head start.

But again, I got lucky. One day, at the top of my Threads feed, an artist had posted that she was opening up to commissions for the first time. I loved her work and reached out via DM, compiled a creative brief (I knew exactly what I wanted the scene to look like), and long story short, I hired her. And she absolutely nailed it. Now I have a marketing asset ready to go, and she’ll also be designing a piece for my upcoming YA thriller. Yay! I can’t wait to share this, too.

Step 7: Recruited beta readers

Once I finished revising You’re Overthinking This, I felt the manuscript was sharp enough to do without a developmental editor; it already went through the wringer with my agent in 2025 and in publishers’ acquisitions meetings, and that was before my big overhaul. Still, I wanted more eyes on this latest revision before sending it to my copyeditor.

In my years of traditional publishing, I always wished I could get a focus group / test audience to read ahead of ARCs. My editors have been great, but they’re just one person—sometimes two, if they had an assistant—and I’d often see reviews consistently call out an issue I absolutely would have fixed if I knew about it when I had the chance.

This is where beta readers come in handy! On the trad side, I always thought of betas and CPs interchangeably—fellow authors I’d swap manuscripts with to provide each other edit letters and markup in a Word doc. As I got deeper into trad pub, I no longer had the time (deadline-wise) or bandwidth (to swap manuscripts) to involve CPs/betas any more.

But on the indie side, beta reader teams are often exactly like those test audiences I always craved, and now I’m in control of my own deadlines. YAY! Every author is different, of course, and has different expectations of their betas, but I’ve asked mine to be like a test audience and react to things without providing in-depth editorial assessments, which seems like a common approach.

Ultimately, I recruited a team of 25 readers and gave them about three weeks to read.3 Everyone’s going at their own pace, and it’s been a joy to see them finish the book (one reader read in 24 hours, another in 48, which wildly impressed me—I’m such a slow reader myself!), and their feedback has already been so helpful. They still have over a week to finish, and then I’ll do one more round of revisions before sending it to my copyeditor.

Step 8: Bartered for a copyeditor

I fully intended to hire one, but one day I hopped on Threads and asked if any experienced copyeditors who are also authors would be willing to barter for the marketing services I provide on Reedsy. Two minutes later, I had several responses, and I’m so excited about who I’ll be bartering with! I’ll send her my manuscript in April, and while she edits, I’ll build her marketing plan. It’s a win win win!

Full transparency, again, I got lucky here. I cannot emphasize enough how much of publishing—both on the trad and indie side—hinges on luck. In this case it was a combination of algorithmic luck and my background in book marketing, but still. LUCK HELPED.

Step 9: Created announcement and teaser graphics

Now that the cover’s pretty much ready to go, I used BookBrush and Canva to create a placeholder cover to use on Amazon, my website, and early promotional graphics.

Here’s an example promotional graphic—you can see the whole carousel on Instagram.

I have more ready to go, and here I should note how helpful upgrading to Canva Pro has been. As a Photoshop girlie, I resisted for a long time, but now I have my Brand Kit set up with my frequently used fonts and colors, easy-to-use editing features, and access to loads of stock vectors, images, and videos. You need to be careful if you want to avoid AI—it’s getting real hard to tell the difference—so for the stock photos I plan to use regularly (like this one above with the deer), I’m still licensing them through DepositPhotos.

Step 10: Put the book up for preorder

Once a few beta readers finished the book and were all-caps screaming at me how much they loved it, I mustered enough confidence to finally pick a release date so I could put the book up on Amazon for preorder.

But then my cat decided to become an ex-cat. To be no more. To cease to be.

I’m diffusing this with Monty Python humor when I’m actually a devastated wreck; last week was the hardest week of my life. So I put off the preorder until yesterday, when my tear ducts simply ran out of liquid and I decided it’s time for life to keep lifing.

It was a nice distraction to do the work I usually do for clients for my own book—the metadata research to find the right categories and keywords, optimizing the subtitle, and so forth. I set the publication date for November 19th for a few reasons:

• It’s a snowbound thriller, so launching it before winter for heavy promotion over the holidays and snowy season in the US and Canada seems like perfect timing.

• Thursday because of the responses I got to this Thread—most indie authors seem to prefer publishing on Thursday or Friday as to not conflict with trad releases on Tuesdays and to be closer to payday, so let’s put that to the test!

• It’s probably further out than I need it to be, but will give me enough buffer for all the promotions I want to prepare while also on deadline for my next YA thriller (with a deadline of September 1 for the first draft).

• It’s four days after my birthday and I figure it’ll be a fun way to celebrate!

Step 11: Screamed about the preorder

When I submitted the book on Amazon, the confirmation message made me think I had three days before I’d make any announcements.

Friends, it did not take 72 hours. It took one hour. And then there it was—my first self-published book, up for preorder on Amazon. Naturally, because I’m an extremely silly person who can’t keep a secret to save my life, I immediately screamed about it on Threads.

It’s way too early to tell anything, but so far, this all-caps, off-the-cuff post vastly outperformed my carefully curated announcements earlier today, which included an email to my reader list, an Instagram post, and a Threads post. A WIN FOR CHAOS!

Step who even knows?

Honestly, there’s even more I haven’t included above that exist simply from being in this game for 10+ years now. Like my Discord community, which has been more active so far this year (yay!), and this Substack, which yes, is primarily for authors, but I’ve absolutely plugged You’re Overthinking This here and several of my beta readers came directly from here. It would take a book in itself to include everything I’m doing all the time, but I hope pulling out these highlights will help anyone else starting on their own self-publishing journey.

Some thoughts on moving forward

Now that I’ve built my foundation, most of my plan revolves around having fun and genuinely connecting with readers. That’s what it’s all about. I plan to send as many ARCs as I possibly can, invite readers to my mailing list (where my emails are now more personal) and Discord (where we can squee together), and be my chaotic self on Threads.

One thing about me that has to change: I can’t be a perfectionist anymore, especially when it comes to promo Between writing an entire book on contract by September and prepping another for self-pub in November, I must be expedient. I even time-boxed this post; I started writing it on 3/16 at 12:30pm with a goal of getting it out by EOD, and somehow, I’ve managed it. It shows in its wordiness, but good enough will have to be good enough.

Lastly, I’m STILL burned out from all the video marketing I did in 2024 to promote my last book, Under the Surface, for which I went viral many times and didn’t get commensurate sales. I’m considering hiring someone to produce ~20 videos using the cover, graphics, and b-roll I’ll provide, because I physically can’t bring myself to open CapCut. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.

In summary, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—in excitement, overwhelm, devastation, and everything in between. No matter what the rest of this chaotic, roller coaster of a year will bring, I’m so glad you’re along for the ride with me.

I’ve had four books traditionally published, and I’m grateful and proud to have gotten this far. But things have gone wrong almost every step of the way. Some were out of anyone’s control (hello, pandemic on debut launch week!), but others were fixable or preventable.

Many of these snafus would have been less painful or avoided entirely if I’d known they were possible, so now I’m sharing lessons I’ve learned the hard way so you don’t have to. Today’s article is part of a series:

• 80+ ways publishing can reject you AFTER a book deal

• Writing and editing

• Book production

• Book marketing 👈 you’re here!

• Life as an author

What I’ve been up to…

Before I dive in, I’d love to give you an update on what I’ve been working on!

• I created a reader-focused newsletter and rewrote a short story to turn into a “reader magnet” to grow it faster. I announced it here on Substack but haven’t shared it on social media yet because I’ve been so busy with everything else on this list (lol oops).

• I’m 80% through the latest revision of my steamy snowbound locked-room thriller (adult), which I plan to self-publish in late 2026. My goal is to finish it next week and send it to beta readers. If you’re interested in beta reading it, please fill out this form.

• I designed my own cover for this thriller. AHH! I’m obsessed with how it turned out. I put my Photoshop skills to the test photobashing images I licensed on Depositphotos, and learned some new techniques, too, like how to use noise and motion blur to create a snow effect. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to reveal the cover!

• I’ve started writing a new thriller (YA) I’m SO FREAKING EXCITED ABOUT. So far I’ve written the pitch, first three chapters, and notes about all the main characters, red herrings, plot twists, and backstory. I can’t wait to share more about this one.

• I’ve been building book marketing plans for more happy clients. I may scale down my freelance workload depending on what happens with this new YA book… 🤞🤞

• I started Couch to 5K! I’m not training for a particular race, so I may repeat weeks 2 and 3 on loop for a while—it’s more to improve my cardio fitness as I approach a new decade of my life. And I’m sorry to say, I’ve been feeling happier and more energized. Damn you medical science! But with my Taylor Swift workout playlist and a Kindle book I only read on the treadmill, I’m motivated to stick with it and am enjoying the journey.

• Whew, this month of news has been rough. It’s been hard to avoid doom-scrolling, but I’ve found it helpful to subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson on Substack and YouTube for her expert, level-headed, informative takes on current events. Highly recommend.

Now for the main topic…

I could blab for ages about book marketing, but today I’m sharing the five lessons that have made the biggest impact on my approach to promoting my traditionally published books. These are less “tips” and more insights on how my personal mindset has shifted due to my experiences. YMMV.

Since I’ll be candid about certain experiences with my publishers, this will be just for VIP subscribers. As a preview, here are the five biggest lessons I’ve learned:

1. Trad authors can only move the needle so much if…

2. An author going viral doesn’t always lead to sales

3. Only do marketing you genuinely enjoy

4. Don’t assume everything will go smoothly

5. Ask your publisher for a NetGalley widget

Read more

FOR READERS:

If you want to be the first to read my stories and get discounts, giveaways, and ARC opportunities, join my reader mailing list here:

SIGN UP HERE

As a welcome gift, you’ll receive a brand-new steamy psychological thriller short story right away. At the end, you’ll find an exclusive sneak peek at my next book, You’re Overthinking This.

FOR AUTHORS:

Do nothing. I mean, keep reading this article and breathing and stuff. But simply stay subscribed to this Substack. This is where I focus on publishing, book marketing, and writing tips for fellow authors, and I’m documenting my self-publishing journey along the way.

If you want to subscribe to both newsletters for the extra behind-the-scenes scoop, I LOVE it, just know there may be occasional overlap.

The reason for the great newsletter split

Since the start of my publishing career, I’ve wanted a direct line of communication with my readers that doesn’t rely on the whims of social media algorithms. I love sharing book updates, nerding out over easter eggs, and gushing about my messy characters.

At the same time, I can’t shut up about publishing. As a former BookBub employee who managed and wrote most of their educational content, I’m basically wired to share everything I know about book marketing and the industry. Helping fellow authors navigate the chaos of publishing is incredibly fulfilling to me.

The problem is, these are two completely different audiences. And up to now, I’ve only had one newsletter for both crowds.

So I’ve held back a lot. I’ve dialed down publishing talk so I wouldn’t bore readers who just want my book news and ARCs. And I’ve hesitated gushing about my stories and boring authors who just want actionable advice.

This year I’m officially making the leap from traditional publishing to self-publishing. I’m so freaking excited to go hybrid, and it means I’ll have more to share with readers than ever. I’ll be managing my own ARC distribution, running promos and discounts on my own terms, and releasing not one but two short stories. I’ll also be spotlighting other fantastic thrillers and romantic suspense books (*cough* newsletter swaps).

And I want to SQUEE about all of it without boring half the room.

I also need functionality Substack simply doesn’t offer. With Substack, you can’t:

1. set up automation besides a single “welcome” email.1

2. easily segment readers into groups like ARC teams, beta readers, or giveaway entrants.

3. send private one-off emails that don’t also become public blog posts.

4. send emails in batches (like when I want to test something before sending to my full list).

As a traditionally published author, I felt that was fine. As a self-published author who’s obsessed with marketing and wants to do ALL THE THINGS, I don’t.2

On the other hand, Substack is a fantastic place to connect with fellow authors. It’s a value-driven platform where educational content like mine can thrive, with simple paid tier functionality. And since I’ve started freelancing on Reedsy as a book marketing coach, I want to provide more content here to supplement my 1:1 services and provide value to authors on tighter budgets.

So the choice was simple. My author-focused content stays here. My reader-focused content moves to a dedicated email platform.3

Thank you for joining me

Friends, no matter which of my newsletters you subscribe to, I hope you’ll come with me into this next chapter of my publishing journey. Your support makes my entire career possible, and the fact that you’re here (or there!) means the absolute world to me. This coming year will be hard for many of us, and I hope my stories—and newsletters—can be a bright spot in the darkness.

Though, let’s be real… my new stories are pretty dark.

Fun, steamy, and full of forbidden romance and tension that’ll keep you flipping the pages until 3 a.m…. but dark.

YAAAAAAAAAAS.

First, I’m sorry for the delay on this post. I’ve been busy prepping for exciting announcements in 2026, which involves splitting my mailing list in two: one for my readers (on my website), and one for authors (here on Substack). I’ve waffled over this for years, and it’s finally time! The backend prep has been extensive—you’ll already see some branding changes here—but I’m not quite ready to announce it yet. Still, I didn’t want to leave you hanging since I promised this post a while ago. So stay tuned for those updates, especially if you want all my book-related content and to be the first to know about ARC opportunities!

Now let’s dive in.

My publishing journey so far has been a comedy of errors. I’ve had four books traditionally published, and I’m grateful and proud to have gotten this far. But things have gone wrong almost every step of the way—some out of anyone’s control (hello, pandemic on launch week), others fixable or preventable.

In the book production process, the snafus I experienced would have been either (1) less heartbreaking or (2) avoided entirely if I’d known they were possibilities from the start.

So I’m sharing lessons I’ve learned the hard way so you don’t have to. Today’s article is part of a series:

• 80+ ways publishing can reject you AFTER a book deal

• Writing and editing

• Book production 👈 you’re here!

• Book marketing

• Life as an author

To be clear, this one’s not meant to throw publishers under the bus. Their employees are overworked and underpaid, and I’m grateful for the time and effort they’ve dedicated to my stories. Rather, it’s to help fellow authors avoid similar snafus, have smoother experiences, or at least be aware of potential pitfalls so they’re not so surprising. But I’m candid about my experience—with each tip, I share a personal anecdote—so this one’s just for VIP subscribers.

As a preview, here are the tips I’ll cover in this article:

1. Get “cover consult” in your contract

2. Include all your books on the “Also by” page

3. Ask for mockups of casing & jacket design elements

4. Confirm sprayed edges will cover all three

5. Add Amazon A+ graphics pre-launch

6. Confirm accolades appear on retailer pages

7. Check your book’s copyright registration

8. Confirm change requests on the next printing

Read more

My publishing journey so far has been a comedy of errors. On one hand, I’ve had four books traditionally published, and I’m grateful and proud to have gotten this far. On the other hand, things have gone wrong almost every step of the way—some out of anyone’s control (hello, pandemic on launch week), others fixable, preventable errors.

When it comes to writing and editing books under contract, all my stress-points would have been either (1) way less anxiety-inducing or (2) avoided entirely if I’d known how to handle them earlier.

So now I’m sharing lessons I’ve learned the hard way so you don’t have to. Today’s article is part of a series:

• 80+ ways publishing can reject you AFTER a book deal

• Writing and editing 👈 you’re here!

• Book production

• Book marketing

• Life as an author

Believe it or not, this one probably has the least drama, so if you want the real tea, make sure to subscribe.

1. Protect yourself from burnout

Most debut authors sell a full manuscript, and their first experience working with an editor is on developmental edits, with 4-8 weeks to revise per round. (With exceptions. There are always exceptions.) Then, if their publisher picks up their option book, they usually sell it on proposal and write it under contract. Deadlines for a first draft vary widely, but sometimes they can be as little as 2-3 months.

Yep. Two or three months. To write an entire novel.

Some authors can write that fast, but others struggle, especially early-career authors who don’t yet have a set process. It took me two years to write my debut All Your Twisted Secrets before querying it, and when I sold These Deadly Games on proposal, suddenly I was staring in the face of a five-month deadline… on top of a full-time job.

Once I signed the contract for Lying in the Deep (with a four-month deadline), I left my day job to focus on writing. Still, when I sold Under the Surface the next year (with a similar deadline), I was incredibly burned out. I desperately wanted to ask for more time, but I powered through and nearly had a meltdown, then wound up rewriting it twice in developmental edits because of course my draft was a mess—my brain was a puddle of goo.

So why’d I let this happen?

I’m a people pleaser, sure, but publishing’s wonky power dynamics played a big role. After enduring five years of waiting and rejection before my first book deal, and after my first publisher dropped me because my debut launched March 2020 (when COVID closed bookstores) and sold “less than we hoped” (though it earned out within two months), I felt enormous pressure to say “yes” to everything afterward. I was terrified my new publishers would consider me a diva or drop me if I refused to write a book that fast. After all, plenty of speedy authors would jump at the chance for a contract with a Big-5 publisher! They could easily replace me… right?

After publishing my fourth book, I shifted to writing on spec to control my own pace and schedule, which is why I haven’t announced anything new yet. But since then, several wise authors have told me they simply asked their editor for more time—six months, even a year to turn in the first draft. And their editor agreed. No one canceled their contract. The book still came out, maybe a season or two later than expected, but everyone survived, and no one was branded a diva.

As it turns out, once you’re in the door, you’re on a team. It’s healthy to set boundaries early… as long as you stick to the deadlines you negotiate. (Respect is a two-way street!) So if you want more time, ask. A delayed season is better than a melted brain.

I’ll also add… I think publishers keep setting near-impossible deadlines because so many of us keep accepting them, and we’ve set a precedent that we’ll acquiesce to unreasonable demands. Without a union, we must collectively set new precedents to protect ourselves and each other.

2. Ask for extensions early

Boundaries are crucial, but when you set them matters. Publishers often juggle dozens of books each season, which takes a herculean effort of scheduling and coordination, and delays can have painful ripple effects or cause gaps in a release season. So it’s best to tell your editor as soon as you know you’ll need more time, not right before your deadline.

Here’s something I didn’t realize early in my career: once an author turns in the first draft and the editor finalizes the the production schedule, they usually build in some wiggle room in case of any delays along the way. So you may actually have a few more weeks than you think you do—but you can’t know for sure without asking!

Also, early and open communication makes it easier for your editor to fill in any gaps in a publishing season. One time, when I turned in a draft early, another of my editor’s authors asked for an extension, so we simply swapped publishing dates. It was a good thing the other author communicated her needs early enough to make that possible! All along, my guilt and perpetual people-pleasing made me think asking for more time was catastrophic… but it’s not.

3. Loop in your agent if edits are late

While much of my publishing journey has been rocky, I’ve been lucky in that all my editors have been timely with edits. The “worst” delay I’ve had was a week or two, and my editor always kept me updated. Compared to the horror stories I’ve heard, that’s nothing.

But I’ve seen enough friends experience the horror stories to include this point. Editors can be months late on edits… sometimes, close to a year. If this happens to you, it’ll push out your publication date, and worse, it’ll stall your advance payments because they’re tied to draft delivery—usually the one right before copyedits—and publication.

And that’s not to mention how when the edits finally do arrive, you’re usually asked to turn them around faster than usual because the schedule’s running so late, regardless of your other commitments.

Frankly, this is not okay. If more than a week or two passes after your editor’s deadline, loop in your agent. Agents have a ton of experience navigating this exact scenario. And if worse comes to worse, and your editor is completely ghosting you (yup, it happens), your agent will be able to escalate within the imprint.

But don’t be afraid to speak up. Just like you can’t read your editor’s mind to know what the holdup is, your agent can’t read your mind. They might not realize how stressed you are about the delay, or even how late your editor is unless you tell them (depending on how organized they are). Don’t assume “this is normal” or that your agent will step in automatically. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease.

4. Treat edit letters as a conversation

Developmental edits usually arrive as an edit letter. Mine have ranged from two to eight pages, and whenever I get one, I spiral for about 20 minutes as my brain goes, NOPE, IMPOSSIBLE, I HAVE TO GIVE ALL THE MONEY BACK. Once I settle down, I realize I actually agree with 90% of the feedback… and that lingering 10% caused my initial panic.

Usually, that 10% is when my editor suggests an idea I don’t like for tackling a problem. And here’s what I’ve learned the hard way: you don’t have to take all of your editor’s suggestions. Instead, identify the root cause of why they suggested it, then come up with a different solution you’re happy with.

The edit letter isn’t a mandate—it’s the start of a conversation. Sometimes your editor will suggest ideas for fixes with the best intention: to make your life easier. But 99% of the time, your editor will be perfectly happy with another solution. And it helps to talk it through together before you make the edits.

Here’s generally how I handle edit letters. To summarize, first I adapt the letter so it looks like a checklist. Each big plot point or character has a section header, and beneath, a bulleted list of what I plan to change. If I disagree with one of my editor’s notes, I add my question or alternate solution and highlight that bullet point.

Next, I send this new letter to my editor and schedule a Zoom call. (Yes, even as an introvert who hates Zoom!) On these calls, my editor always clarifies that any notes were suggestions, not requirements, which I know now, but is always reassuring to hear. Then we talk through all the highlighted bullet points in the document to brainstorm solutions we’re both happy with. I always leave these calls energized and motivated to dive back into my story. Again, communication solves most issues!

5. Don’t be afraid of full rewrites

I used to be terrified that someday an editor would ask me for a full rewrite. I thought of it as needing to write a whole other book under the same contract—what a waste of time! When it finally happened with Under the Surface, it felt like a gut punch, even though I knew that first draft was messy as hell. (And so was the second, because I had to rewrite it again. Did you know it was in the past tense up until its second developmental edit? Brutal!)

What I’ve learned is that rewrites can be painful, but so worth it. And they don’t mean you failed! Sometimes the bones of the plot are strong, but the way you fleshed out the characters misses. Sometimes your voice is stellar, but the pacing is too slow. Whatever it is, you’ve nailed some crucial aspect of the story that’s made your editor excited to keep working on it, and now you have a chance to level it up in a big way.

I learned more about craft in the time I rewrote Under the Surface (twice) than I have at any point in my career, and it’s now my most critically acclaimed book—an Indie Next Pick, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and a Publishers Weekly starred review.

The key is to reframe how you think of rewrites. Instead of thinking you wasted time on a draft, think of it as the scaffolding you needed to build before laying the bricks, or even as a writing course you’re taking for free. No words are ever a waste, even the ones no one ever sees.

6. You can stet any edits

Line edits and copy edits arrive as track changes in the Word doc. Sometimes, editors will comment asking for tweaks, and other times they’ll edit the text directly. Authors can “stet” any of these requests or changes. (Stet is Latin for “let it stand,” and it tells your editor or copyeditor to leave your original wording as-is.)

These rounds of edits are my favorite part of the process. I love polishing the dialogue and making my prose sparkle, so I’m pretty chill about making changes. But sometimes, for example, a copyeditor will tweak the dialogue to make it grammatically correct, but it sounds too stiff for natural speech, especially if the character is a teen. In the beginning, I was afraid to stet too much and seem “difficult.”

Over time, I’ve learned that author friends stet even more aggressively than I do! And that’s okay. As the author, we get the final say in our artistic product. You don’t even need to justify your stet. I do like to include a reason, though, even if it’s as simple as “Stet for voice.” My editors have only pushed back on my stets a few times—and when they do, I’ll take a closer look, find the root issue, and address it. But most of the time, my stets stand.

Pro tip: Always carefully review your pass pages to make sure your stets were actually stetted. This has never happened to me, but friends’ editors have missed or ignored their stets, and they had to edit the pass pages to change it back.

7. Ask for authenticity reads

If you’ve written side characters outside your lived experience—especially when it comes to marginalized identities—no matter how much research you’ve done, getting authenticity reads (a.k.a. a sensitivity read) is crucial. No author is perfect, and this process can both strengthen those characters and save you from causing unintentional harm. Some publishers will arrange for a reader on their own, but others don’t unless you request it.

And you should. Don’t be afraid to ask.

At first, I worried my publishers wouldn’t want to fit in an extra round of revision in the editorial process. But every time I’ve asked for an authenticity read, across multiple publishers, they agreed with zero pushback. They did all the legwork, too—they found the right readers and covered the cost. I’m so grateful for the readers who took the time to review my books and provide input, and to my publishers for being so accommodating.

8. Request extra proofing rounds if needed

Every book goes through proofreading (called “pass pages”), but not every publisher gives you multiple rounds. After the proofread, you’ll do a final read-through of your formatted PDF, and sometimes, you’ll catch typos that’ve slipped through. Other times, it’s more than just typos—lingering continuity errors, a lack of fact-checking, or corrections that caused more mistakes than they fixed.

If you notice enough of these, it’s okay to ask for another round of proofreading. The one time I had to ask, I was nervous to seem like an overcritical diva. But when my agent made the request, my editor agreed right away, and even noted she was disappointed in the proofread as well. Once again, I worried for nothing!

I hope sharing these lessons I’ve learned the hard way helps make your journey a bit smoother. Publishing is messy and sometimes downright absurd, but it’s also full of people who care deeply about books and want to see yours (and you!) succeed. The more you know going in, the better you can protect your time and sanity and be a strong advocate for your own work. Stay tuned for my next article in this series on the book production process, in which… erm… I’ll spill some tea that’s quite a bit spicier. 🤪

Whenever I post about what it’s really like to be a traditionally published author, I get replies or DMs from new authors like, “WHAT?? I HAD NO IDEA!” This tends to surprise me because it feels like we all commiserate about this stuff constantly, but then I laugh at myself, because 7-8 years ago, I didn’t know most of this, either!

And I get sad about that sometimes. The fact that I didn’t know. Surely authors were complaining then, too! But even now, the information is so scattered, the anecdotes so often shared behind closed doors, it’s hard to learn all of it without years of being enmeshed in it.

Still, I wish I knew more earlier. Many of my biggest pain points have been out of my control, but others have been preventable, fixable things I could’ve avoided or resolved quicker if they weren’t such surprises. Or maybe they would’ve been less heartbreaking if I’d known to brace for them, or I would’ve chosen a different publishing path altogether.

This inspired me to write a series with tips based on things I’ve learned the hard way, so you don’t have to. Since I have so many tips, I’m splitting them up by topic:

• 80+ ways publishing can reject you AFTER a book deal 👈 you’re here!

• Writing and editing

• Book production

• Book marketing

• Life as an author

Let’s start by talking about rejection. As an aspiring author, I thought once I got a book deal, things would be smooth sailing relative to the awful five years I spent on submission with three different agents and three different projects.

Turns out, it gets even worse. Publishing always seems to come up with creative new ways to reject you!

If you’re pre-book deal, this can be hard to process, because at that point you’d kill to make it that far. But there’s something about being so close to seeing your dreams actualized and still getting rejected so often—after all that—that can take a deep toll. It’s more than just moving goal posts… it’s the realization that your dream maybe isn’t such a dream after all.

To help others brace for reality better than I did, I’m dishing the dirt: 80+ ways you can get rejected in publishing after getting an offer for a book deal.

If you’re an author, this isn’t meant to scare you off from traditional publishing, but to help you feel less crushed when these happen, because you’re not alone. Many of these are common. Which is scary, yes, but you can make smarter business decisions and ask your publishing team smart questions if you can better assess your risk. And if you’re already knee deep in the trenches, I hope this validates you and provides some comforting solidarity.

If you’re a reader, I hope this is… um… entertaining? 🤣 Maybe it’ll even motivate you to shout about your favorite author on TikTok, Instagram, or via Amazon/Goodreads reviews, because after all they’ve been through, WOO, lemme tell you, they’ll sure appreciate it!

To be clear, not all of these have happened to me, but they each DO happen. I won’t say which I’ve personally experienced; I’m not sharing this to complain, but to arm authors with information. If I’ve missed things (I’m sure I have), please add them to the comments!

1. You get an offer (yay!) and your agent pings the remaining editors hoping to drum up an auction, but no one else bites, and you get a lower advance or worse terms than you were hoping for.

2. Your deal is for paperback or ebook only, and you wanted your book in hardcover or print.

3. Your publisher won’t let your agent keep foreign or audio or whatever rights you wanted to keep.

4. Your contract falls through altogether. Back to square one! This is worse if you’ve already invested time in writing the story/edits.

5. Your book doesn’t sell UK and/or translation rights.

6. Your agency or publisher attends a foreign rights festival (Frankfurt, Bologna, London Book Fair, etc.) and doesn’t display your book at their booth or include it in their catalog.

7. Your editor requests a full rewrite during developmental edits.

8. Your editor ghosts you on edits for months (or longer), pushing your payments and publishing season.

9. Your publisher picks a cover you don’t like and vetoes your feedback because the sales team is “happy.”

10. A cover or character art illustrator declines your project or ghosts you.

11. Publications/magazines decline to host your cover reveal.

12. Your publisher doesn’t give your book packaging any special treatment (sprayed edges, illustrated endpapers, casing illustrations or foil, jacket foil or spot treatment, a map).

13. An author declines to blurb your book.

14. Your publisher declines to print ARCs for your book.

15. Your publisher declines to put your eARC on Netgalley.

16. You get negative ratings on Goodreads before ARCs even go out.

17. Your publisher declines to run Goodreads giveaways for your book (or runs fewer than their other upcoming releases).

18. One of the trades gives your book a scathing review (Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Booklist, Shelf Awareness, etc.).

19. Some of the trades don’t review your book altogether.

20. Your book isn’t included in relevant “Most Anticipated” or “Best of” lists.

21. Barnes & Noble doesn’t pick your book for a special edition or monthly book club pick.

22. Barnes & Noble places a small order or declines to stock your book altogether.

23. The big box stores—Target, Costco, Walmart, etc.—decline to stock your book.

24. Airports never stock your book.

25. Specific indie bookstores decline to stock your book when you reach out.

26. You find out via Edelweiss or your editor that your print run will be smaller than you hoped (or were initially told).

27. On Edelweiss, your publisher hasn’t added a banner or any supplemental material (author’s note, comp title map, one-sheeter) to make your listing more enticing to booksellers and librarians, but has for their other upcoming titles.

28. No big book boxes select your book (Book of the Month, OwlCrate, Illumicrate, Fae Crate, etc.).

29. No big book clubs select your book (Reese, Oprah, Jenna, etc.).

30. Your book doesn’t get picked for other big lists (Indie Next, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, etc.).

31. In general, your publisher is doing less promo for your book than their other upcoming releases.

32. Contacts on your team don’t write back to your emails or decline your requests.

33. Your publisher goes under and shuts down before your book launches. Back to square one!

34. Your editor leaves your imprint and your publisher consequently drops your book’s distribution/marketing support.

35. The audiobook narrator you wanted declines the project, or your publisher declines to consider them due to budget restrictions.

36. Your author copies arrive and you discover something missing from the packaging that was promised (e.g. foil stamps on the casing).

37. You try to build an ARC team or a street team, but nobody applies.

38. Influencers decline to accept a free copy of your book.

39. Influencers do accept a copy, but never post about it.

40. Podcasts you or your publicist pitched you to turn you down or ghost.

41. Reviewers negatively review your book on Goodreads, social media, etc.—and worse if they tag you.

42. You don’t get many book reviews at all.

43. A TikTok hate review about your book goes viral.1

44. A fellow author or nemesis trolls you anonymously on Goodreads.2

45. You don’t get invited to book festivals you wanted to attend, or your publisher declines to pitch/send you.

46. Your publisher declines to send you on tour or help you book any launch events.

47. A bookstore declines to host your event.

48. Teachers or libraries decline to book you for class/library visits.

49. An author declines to be your in-conversation partner.

50. Nobody shows up to your launch event.

51. Your book launches in a crowded publishing week and drowns under the flashier titles.

52. Your book publishes the same day/week as some huge breaking news story or global catastrophe so it drowns in the noise. (But hopefully YOU are ok! That matters most!)

53. Your publisher doesn’t post about your book on social media on launch day/week.

54. You don’t get the flashy things: a billboard in Times Square, spots on national TV talkshows, coverage from mainstream media, a review from the New York Times or NPR—lump ‘em all in here.

55. Your book publishes with a major misprint (pages, jacket, casing, another author’s acknowledgements, an outdated manuscript version for the audiobook, etc.); not an intentional rejection, of course, but it’s still crushing.

56. Bookstores and libraries don’t stock your book on launch week due to a distribution/warehouse error or ISBN data glitch.

57. You don’t hit the bestseller lists (New York Times, USA Today, Indie, Wall Street Journal, etc.).

58. You walk into a bookstore and find none of your books on their shelves.

59. Your book doesn’t get nominated for relevant awards.

60. Or if it does get nominated, it doesn’t win.3

61. Your publisher declined or forgot to submit your book for consideration to those relevant awards at all.

62. Your book never gets optioned for film or TV.

63. If your book does get optioned, it never makes it further in the process, and the option expires.

64. You can’t secure representation from a film agent at all.

65. Your TikToks, Reels, or other social media posts “flop.”

66. You don’t get invited to author communities (Discords, Facebook groups, group chats).

67. You get ejected from an author community for something you didn’t do wrong (like calling out problematic behavior or views).

68. An author friend drops you because you’re not successful enough or too successful.

69. Your book was first printed as a hardcover, and your publisher declines to publish a paperback.

70. Your book gets remaindered and your publisher refuses to revert the rights (e.g. if you’re slightly above the contracted threshold), effectively holding your story hostage.

71. You audition for an IP project, but the packager or imprint chooses a different author.

72. Nobody ever invites you to write a short story for an anthology, or you don’t get selected if you apply.

73. You pitch an article for a publication or guest post, and it doesn’t get selected.

74. You ask your publisher to submit your discounted ebook for a BookBub Featured Deal, but they decline to submit your book, or BookBub doesn’t select it to feature.

75. You run a paid ad yourself, and it doesn’t generate clicks or sales.

76. Your publisher rejects your option.

77. Your publisher rejects your next contracted book, telling you they want a different idea. This can happen multiple times. They could even cancel your contract.

78. Your publisher rejects the final book in a series if sales haven’t met their expectations, leaving you with an incomplete series and disappointed readers.

79. Your agent declines to submit your next project and asks for another idea instead.

80. Your agent puts you back on submission, but publishers reject it or ghost your agent.

81. Your agent drops you.

82. An agent rejects/ghosts your query.

83. An agent with your full manuscript rejects/ghosts you.

84. Feels like you’re right back where you started—uncontracted and agentless.

WHEW!!! I’M SO SORRY to paint such a grim picture with those last few. But I’ve seen this play out in real-time enough to know… well… it happens. But if ANY of the above ever happen to you, please know you’re not alone. You’re truly, truly not. 🫂

Do some authors get big advances and lots of support out of the gate to become instant bestsellers and face less rejection along the way? Sure! But that’s not the reality for most authors. Becoming a published author (whether you trad or self-pub!) takes grit and stubborn perseverance, and knowledge is power.

If you’re looking for even more validation like this, read this post from my friend Dahlia Adler: “It’s Not Just You”

And if you’re looking for a dash of positivity after all that, I wrote up my favorite things about being an author here. 🫶

Over the years I’ve written down some of these interactions thinking someday they’d make for a fun newsletter. That day is here, my friends.

*Note: I know this isn’t a universal opinion, but I don’t mind friends asking these questions—e.g. the ones about my sales—so please don’t get offended on my behalf!

Re: book advance splits

Friend: “Your publisher pays you upfront, right? So you can support yourself while you write the book?”

Me: “Well, it’s a tough market, and I’m trying to switch age categories, so I’m writing a whole book on spec—meaning, it’s not under contract yet. It’s risky, since it might not sell, but it improves its chances. But when I’ve sold books on proposal before, my advances were split in fourths, so I got 25% on signing, 25% when my editor approved the first draft, 25% when it went to copyedits, and 25% when the book came out.”

Friend: “I thought an ‘advance’ was supposed to be an advance.”

Me: “Ha, right? Some authors have even worse contract terms and don’t get the last 25% until a full year after the book comes out.”

Friend:

Re: normal advance amounts

Friend: “Each book sells for a good amount though, right? So that first 25% is still a decent chunk—”

Me:

Friend: “Oh…”

Me: “No, it’s okay—ever since she-who-shall-not-be-named blew up, it’s such a common misconception that authors make bank. But unless you’re already a bestseller or a super lucky debut, it’s rare to sell a book for six figures. Even most ‘six-figure deals’ are for multiple books, so it could really be $50k per book. Or less, if it’s a trilogy. My first one-book deal got $25,000 pre-tax, and 15% went to my agent. Split into multiple payments. And that was for years worth of work.”

Re: waiting on payments

Friend: “Well, at least you know when those payments will come in, right? So you can plan for those gaps in your income?”

Me: “Actually, when your agent takes your new project out on submission to editors at publishing houses, those editors can take anywhere from a week to a year (or more!) to get back to your agent. Even after you sign a contract, your editor could be weeks or months late on edits, or your publication date could get pushed for reasons that have nothing to do with you. So those later payments get pushed out, too. I have one friend whose editor was six months late on edits, and another whose publication date got bumped a whole year.”

Friend:

Me: “Actually… this one author got a work-for-hire deal on proposal and wrote the whole book before the contract was finalized, and the imprint backed out because they wanted to rebrand. And since they owned the IP, she couldn’t take it to any other publisher. So she did months worth of work for no income.”

Friend:

Re: deadlines writing on contract

Friend: "How long does your publisher give you to write the book?"

Me: "Depends. So far I’ve gotten 4-5 months for a first draft, but I have friends who've had to write a whole book in 2 months."

Friend:

Friend: “Wait… the editor could be months late on edits… but some authors get only two months to write an entire novel… ???”

Me: *nods solemnly*

Friend:

Re: bestseller lists

Friend: “So how does the New York Times bestseller list work? The books we see each week sold the most copies the week before, right?”

Me: “Actually those lists aren’t just based on sales—there’s some editorial curation going on. Sometimes a book with hundreds more sales than the book in the #10 slot won’t hit the list at all. One of my friends had enough to be #6 one week and wasn't on it. So you can hustle your butt off and actually get the sales to hit, and still just… not.”

Friend:

Re: sales data

Friend: “Your Reels for this book are so good! You must’ve sold so many copies!”

Me: “Actually, I don’t know. If I were self-published I’d get to see daily sales data in my retailer dashboards, but since I’m with a publisher, I only get to see accurate sales data twice a year.”

Friend:

Re: why publish traditionally

Friend: “So you’re publishing with a publisher... why? To make sure your book gets stocked in stores? And so they do the marketing for you?”

Me: “Actually, B&N isn’t stocking lots of books these days, and even if they stock yours, their order will probably be tiny unless you get a special edition—maybe a copy or two in half of their stores, if that. Most books don’t get much marketing or publicity support, either, unless they’re a lead title.”

Friend:

Re: lead titles

Friend: “So lead titles are picked based on… what? Trends?”

Me: “Not always. Sometimes it depends on how big an advance the author got. Ideally marketability would factor into that, but there’s a lot of luck involved—timing of other books coming out, your agent’s track record and sharkiness, whether the P&L statement included accurate comps, the editor’s or acquisition board’s mood, whether multiple publishers offer and it goes to auction. Actually, the head of the biggest publisher admitted during a DOJ trial a few years ago that it’s all random. Which is pretty funny since ‘random’ is in their name—”

Friend:

Re: the impact of a book going viral

Friend: “But those Reels got, like, millions of views. Didn’t that help? Wouldn’t B&N want stacks of your book on their tables? Wouldn’t your publisher want to promote it?“

Me: “Yeah that’d be pretty sweet.”

Friend:

Re: that glamorous author life

Friend: “But at least you get to go on book tours and hang out with other authors! That must be so cool!”

Me: “Local authors, yes, absolutely—I meet up with them all the time and I love it! But my personal policy is to only travel for book stuff when my publisher foots the bill, so I’ve never been on tour, and I’ve only been to one book festival so far.”

Friend: “But I see other authors announcing tours all the time!”

Me: “And most of them pay for it themselves.”

Friend:

These are all based on extremely real conversation I’ve had with friends and former colleagues. It's always jarring to see their reactions, but also extremely validating. Publishing is a strange industry, and the only guarantee is that nothing is guaranteed. 🫶

Want to pick my brain about publishing? I now offer 1:1 Q&A calls! Details here.

What about YOU? Have you had any conversations like this? Tell me about your friends’ Joey Tribbiani moments in the comments! And let me know if you want a part two, since Substack cut me off with their email length limit.

A few weeks ago, I finished writing my first adult thriller. It took me about seven months to write eight drafts, often writing 10-12 hours a day and straight through the weekends, as well as through multiple illnesses. The story is so much fun and I’m extremely pleased with how it turned out, but it was a ton of work that didn’t leave much time for me to, you know, be a human who interacts with other humans and does human things like sleep and eat properly.

Afterwards, I intended to jump right into my next manuscript, and even started to revise the opening chapters I’d written last year before moving ahead with drafting.

But then my brain decided to say in an extremely dramatic manner, NO. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. AHHHHHHH.

So, at the encouragement of my extremely supportive husband, I decided to take a solid month off from writing fiction to refill the well and do some soul searching—What will I do next if this book doesn’t sell? Am I truly happy as an author? How can I tie my identity less to my publishing outcomes?—and so forth.

Since I’ve been taking this time for myself, I haven’t been doing much newsletter writing, but I thought I’d fill you in on what I’ve been up to and how I’m using this time to refill the well and recover from the burnout of writing a novel so quickly.

1. Traveling

One of the best ways for me to truly unplug is to distance myself from where I write every day, and since I work from home, it means getting out of the apartment. I also tend to get lots of inspiration when I travel. After all, I got the idea for Under the Surface—a survival thriller about a group of friends who go missing in the Paris catacombs—while touring the Paris catacombs. So even though I’m an anxious flier, I like getting out and seeing the world.

This time, my husband and I made a quick trip to Quebec City in Canada, which is about a six-hour drive from Boston. No flying! Yay! It was our first time there and it’s such a lovely city, with lots of history, good food, and culture to soak in. And like Montreal, it’s so cool to be able to drive somewhere where everyone speaks French.

We’re also planning a longer trip for the fall, though hopefully by then I’ll be working on whatever project is next. It’s just harder to be spontaneous about destinations further afield.

One personal observation: I’ve had trouble planning trips over the past few years since I’ve been at the mercy of my publishers’ production timelines, and sometimes I don’t find out what my deadlines are until the last minute. But as it turns out, it’s tough to schedule travel even when dealing with self-imposed deadlines. I had to pause revisions for my agent while in Quebec City and pick them back up when I returned (he didn’t give me a deadline; it was up to me how long it took). Still, it was nice to have that extra week at all, so… one point for writing on spec vs. writing under contract.

2. Journaling

During this break, I’ve started journaling so I can do some soul searching and put my most stressful thoughts to paper. I was skeptical of how much it would help, but it’s truly been such a relief. I handwrite in a notebook—typing on my laptop feels too much like work—and it’s nice to go back to basics and hear the scratch of my pen on paper, to give the anxieties swirling around my brain a release.

I’m also keeping a separate notebook as a gratitude journal, where each day I write in it, I list five things I’m grateful for. So one notebook’s for stress venting, and one’s for gratitude. It’s given me a great reason to fill the pretty notebooks I’ve collected that have stayed blank too long!

To be honest, I don’t journal every day, but I’m giving myself grace to miss days, then journal again. This is the main reason I tend not to journal—I’ve tried before, but if I miss a day, I feel guilty, and over subsequent days the guilt builds and builds until I stop altogether. But… why? The only person holding me accountable is me. The only person judging me is me. Annnnnnnd these are the sorts of thoughts and revelations that make journaling so helpful!

3. Playing video games

After finishing the remaster of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion a few weeks ago, I downloaded Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 since people have been screaming about it on Threads and TikTok. And let me tell you, all that screaming is extremely warranted. It’s an all-consuming, reactive turn-based RPG with a heart-wrenching story, loveable characters, mind-bending twists, gorgeous graphics, gratifying combat (once you learn to parry it seriously feels like you’re meditating), and music that’s altering my brain chemistry.

I don’t want to tell you what it’s about because I went in knowing exactly nothing about the plot, and it was the best way to do it. I’ll just say this: when the prologue ended, I turned to my cat, tears streaming down my face, and said, “Oh, I’m in trouble.”

And I was right. I just finished the game last night, and it destroyed me in the best way. I haven’t been so traumatized by an ending since Mass Effect 3.

I’m so inspired by how this game came out of absolutely nowhere—I’m used to anticipating games I want to play for years1—and how a 30-person French indie studio, Sandfall Interactive, created such a unique, intricate, stunning gaming experience that’s sold 3+ million copies in two months. It’s shot all the way up my list of all-time favorite video games, possibly even overtaking Baldur’s Gate 3 for the #3 slot. I need to mull on that a bit more.

To anyone who’s also played: didn’t the music absolutely blow your mind? I created a playlist of my faves on Spotify—feel free to steal it. The official album is missing some tracks, like the battle version of For Those Who Come After and The Manor, which… WHY??? Either way, this will be the soundtrack to my life for the foreseeable future.

I swear I didn’t mean for this newsletter to be an advertisement for one specific video game, but here we are!! If you’re a gamer and you haven’t played this yet, put everything else down and play. Do it. DO IT NOW. 🤗

4. Reading comic books

Around the time of the inauguration, I decided I needed some true comfort reading, and my brain leapt to the For Better or For Worse comic series I used to read as a kid. The strip ran in papers from 1979-2008, and it was pretty unique for having complete drama-filled story arcs, following the Patterson family over the years: Elly and John, and their children, Michael, Elizabeth, and April, who aged in real-time. I’m a late 90s / early 00’s millennial, so I grew up between Elizabeth and April and remember racing my mom to the newspaper’s comics page each morning before school to find out what happened next, especially in the love lives of Elizabeth and Michael. And I thought, it’d be so fun to read the entire series straight through!

It took me a couple of months to secure as complete a collection as I could (Ebay helped me fill some gaps), and I’ve been making my way through it chronologically during my writing break, which has been such a joy.

Fun note: One of the second-hand copies arrived in worse condition than was advertised (I’ve managed to flatten the front cover, so it doesn’t look bad in this pic). At first I was a bit peeved, but when it came time to read it, I flipped it open and gasped—the author, Lynn Johnston, had autographed it. It made me tear up, and now it’s my most cherished book of the collection.

5. Reading novels (obviously)

I’ve also been reading books, mostly on audio since my eyeballs have been occupied by video games and comics, and this way I can read while multitasking. Here are some of my favorite audiobooks I’ve listened to recently:

• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

I’m also working my way through the Silo series by Hugh Howey in print since I watched the first two seasons on Apple TV earlier this year and simply refused to wait a year or more to find out what happens next. I’m about halfway through the third book, Dust, now.

6. Avoiding social media

I’ve been pretty quiet on social media—even on Threads where I’m usually most active—and it’s been such a tremendous relief. I miss connecting with my friends on there at times, and yes, I’m worried that doing zero promo for so long is hurting my books’ sales and exposure. But I’m really not missing the negativity, pressure to post, and unforgiving algorithms. I’d rather write a whole-ass essay for my newsletter than post a single photo to Instagram. Social media is such a consistent drain on my happiness and well-being that removing it from the equation makes a huge difference—so much so that it’s tempting to stay away for good. (Yet there I just went, posting to Instagram again. Sigh. It’s a DISEASE.)

7. Floundering

I’m a workaholic who’s had a job since I was 14 years old, and I’ve never taken this kind of time off in my life. I never had more than a week off between gigs at different companies, either. So I’ll admit, there have been some days where I’ve stared at my laptop, tempted to write, knowing I shouldn’t, that my mind needs space for proper soul searching, but feeling itchy for not being productive. (Hence today’s newsletter.) I have a week left of this break, and I’ll be spending most of it considering what sort of jobs I’d like to pursue if I need to reinter the workforce full-time. I used to do content marketing, but it seems AI has upended that job market within the past three years, soooooo…. question mark question mark question mark???

Anyway. I’ll figure it out. I hope. 😅

Now it’s your turn! Tell me what books, video games, TV shows, or anything else you’ve been enjoying has helped you refill the well and/or recover from burnout. I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 🫶

Under the Surface is a survival thriller I wrote about an aspiring travel YouTuber, Ruby, who goes on a class trip to Paris and can’t wait to spend the week with the boy she’s falling for, Sean. But when her best friend sneaks out to meet a hot French boy, Ruby goes after her, and he takes them into the catacombs for a secret party and they get lost for days, while aboveground Sean races to find her and a media frenzy begins.

And it’s inspired by true events.

The coolest thing about writing a story set in the catacombs was getting to visit them several times and meet actual cataphiles—the urban explorers who traverse the off-limits sections of the tunnels. I learned tons of creepy facts from them and all my research rabbit holes, so I thought it’d be fun to show you how some of these nuggets influenced the story, and how I weaved them in to make the catacombs feel like a character itself.

Be warned: there are spoilers below!

Fact #1: When in Paris, there’s a city’s worth of bones under your feet

When people think of the Paris catacombs, they might imagine the tourist section where you descend 131 steps and follow some winding corridors to an ossuary—The Empire of Death— where you can view halls lined with human bones arranged in artistic patterns.

But this ossuary is only a small part of the vast network of 300 km of underground tunnels that span much of the city, home to over six million dead Parisians. Most of it’s illegal to enter because it’s so dangerous—there are cave-ins, flooded tunnels, and the constant threat of getting lost if you’re not with an experienced guide.

In Under the Surface, Ruby gets lost in those off-limits sections. And when she first meets Julien, the alluring Parisian boy who invites her and her friends to a secret underground party, I had to explain what the catacombs were without it feeling like an info-dump. So I combined facts, voicey introspection, and fun dialogue:

“We’ve been dying to see the catacombs—the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city where the skeletal remains of six million long-dead Parisians line miles and miles of passageways in artistic arrangements. It has to be one of the creepiest things you can see on the entire planet, which obviously means I have to see it. Mr. LeBrecque added it to our itinerary after I begged and pleaded, but we’d be visiting the small touristy section—the only bit open to the public. Most of the other entrances scattered throughout Paris have been sealed for ages, and the only accessible ones are secret from everyone except for—

“You’re a cataphile, aren’t you?” I ask Julien, breathless. Suddenly his outfit makes sense.

Selena sputters a laugh. “Did you just call him a pedophile?”

“A cataphile,” Olivia pipes up. “It’s what they call the explorers who meet up in the catacombs.” Of course she’d know about them, too. “Illegally, I might add. Isn’t it dangerous down there?”

“How’s it dangerous?” Selena asks.

“It’s not if you know what you’re doing,” says Julien, “and where you’re going. And I do.”

Fact #2: Thieves used to pose as tour guides

When I first toured the catacombs in 2015, our guide shared how in the 1800s, thieves would pose as tour guides to lure people deep into the catacombs, then rob them and leave them to find their way out of the pitch-black tunnels alone. If their victims were lucky, the thief would let them keep a lamp.

That’s why there’s now a thick black line painted along the ceiling of the official tour route, so if anyone ever found themselves lost without a map or guide, they could follow the line to the exit… if they could see it. They called it the “lifeline” because it was your chance to escape alive.

Sean sees this lifeline while touring the catacombs with his class, as their teacher tries to keep the students occupied while the French police search for the missing girls. This excerpt is from Sean’s POV, and Guillaume is their tour guide.

“Did anyone notice this black line?” Guillaume asks.

I’d vaguely noticed it winding through our route along the scabrous ceiling, reminding me of the red brick Freedom Trail back in Boston, so I absentmindedly raise my hand.

Always a mistake.

He calls on me. “Do you know what it’s for?”

“Uh . . .” I stiffen, hating getting put on the spot. “Is it . . . so people don’t get lost?”

“Very good,” he says. I relax my posture. “It’s called the lifeline. When the catacombs first opened to the public in the eighteen hundreds, none of these lights were installed yet, and you could easily take a wrong turn into an enormous, pitch- black maze. Back then, grifters would bring people down here and threaten to leave them to find their way out alone . . . unless they paid a price.” He rubs his fingers together, eyes glinting.

This anecdote was the original inspiration for Under the Surface. It’d be terrifying to get lost in that dark maze with only one flashlight, the battery like a ticking timer. What a story that would make! What if a group of teens got lost down there? What if one of the girls was in love with a boy aboveground who had no idea where she went? So the idea was born.

(Fortunately, my own tour guide was not a thief.)

Fact #3: Teenagers got lost in the catacombs in 2017

As Ruby and Sean solidified in my mind over the next couple of years, I researched more about the cataphiles (more on them below) and watched YouTubers share firsthand accounts of exploring the dark maze—and apparently, some thieves still pose as tour guides today. Spoiler: Though Julien isn’t a thief, this concept planted the seed that he’s up to more funny business than what he’s telling the girls.

Then in June 2017, I saw a news story on CNN about teenagers who were rescued from the Paris catacombs after being lost for three days.

This story didn’t gain much traction, and if you try to research it, you won’t find much. I never attempted to reach out to the parties involved. I’m sure their experience was quite harrowing, and I hope they made a full recovery in peace. But seeing this brief snippet validated that my premise was realistic, even today.

Fact #4: Cataphiles explore the off-limits sections

Cataphiles don’t just wander around the maze of tunnels—they have parties and raves, graffiti the stone walls, swim in the underground lakes, and find hidden alcoves no one’s set foot in in hundreds of years. As Julien says:

“Coming down here . . . it’s like a drug. An addiction. The rush of exploring the unknown, of finding rooms nobody has entered in centuries—there’s nothing else like it.”

I wove these activities into the book in various ways: the party Julien meant to take the girls to before they get lost, the graffiti Ruby inspects (some of which hold clues), the underground lake where they must hold their breath for over a minute to swim across.

The cataphiles also abide by a code to respect the sacred halls they wander, including doctrines like “what comes down must go up.”

“Watch it.” Julien points at the plastic seal she accidentally dropped. “What comes down must go up.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She [Olivia] picks it up, harried, not used to getting things wrong.

“These are sacred halls. Let’s not disrespect the dead by leaving our trash down here with them.”

The dead. I peer down the corridor. They’re down here somewhere.

Cataphiles also play music as they explore so fellow cataphiles can hear them coming and know they’re friendly. And in the book, music—or the lack thereof—is a clue that whoever is chasing Ruby, Julien, and their group are not actually cataphiles, but someone much more sinister…

Fact #5: Cataphiles are actually… not so creepy

The police play cat-and-mouse with illegal explorers, sealing the entrances throughout Paris to limit access to old mines: manhole covers, old doors in the Metro tunnels, trapdoors in old basements, and so forth. But according to one of my cataphile guides, the police mostly want to keep tourists away—not the cataphiles. In fact, it’s helpful that they go down there, since they know the layout best and help monitor its structural integrity. During this very tour, our guide noticed a crack in the ceiling and paused her spiel to inspect and photograph it so she could report it, with lots of unnerving muttering about how “that wasn’t like that last week.”

The cataphiles also help keep tourists from getting lost. All those rumors you hear about cataphiles grabbing your maps and running away? Maybe that happens. But if they’re a real cataphile, they’ll come back to lead you to the surface. They only freak out intruders to dissuade them from coming back, for their own safety.

Still, those creepy rumors were great inspiration for the sinister presence that chases Ruby and company—and that whole structural integrity bit helped inspire their motivation. But as a nod to the truth, Sean notes how the cataphiles help the rescue operation… and I think they would in real life, too.

Fact #6: How they got all those bones down there

The catacombs weren’t always underground ossuaries, but limestone quarries dating back to the late 13th century. Miners would extract the stone from enormous well shafts—stone that’s thought to have been used in some of Paris’s most famous buildings, including Notre Dame and the Louvre palace.

The mines were largely forgotten about until the late 1700s when streets of Paris started collapsing into the old tunnels. Literally. On December 17, 1774, an entire city street fell into a 20-meter deep hole known as the “Mouth of Hell.” This incident triggered an inspection and fortification project of the old mines.

Around the same time, the cemeteries couldn’t keep up with the rising death toll in Paris, so bodies were buried in mass graves. During a particularly bad storm, the graves started flooding into neighboring shops’ basements. LITERALLY. CORPSES AND ALL. It created such a critical public health hazard, city officials decided to relocate the bones. Since it was too expensive to shuttle them all outside the city, they decided to drop them into the old mines.

AGAIN. LITERALLY. They dropped the bones down the same wells miners previously used to extract limestone.

Underground, the workers fortifying the tunnels collected the bones and organized them into ossuaries, using their usual construction methods: small bones piled in the back, bigger pieces like femurs and skulls up front. They took pride in their work, creating intricate patterns—stacks and zigzags, crosses and hearts—that Ruby’s group often runs across while outrunning the sinister presence chasing them.

Not all of this made it into the book—I had to choose which nuggets would be most relevant to the plot—but Olivia does explain some of it when they come across a creepy mural showing Paris crumbling.

“Paris did actually split open like this once.”

“Yeah, right,” says Val.

“No, it’s true,” says Olivia. “A mile-long trench opened up one afternoon—December 1774, I think—and all the houses on that stretch collapsed into it. They called it the Mouth of Hell.”

“But if there are no fault lines . . .” I trail off.

“It wasn’t an earthquake. It was actually because of this place. The catacombs.” She tilts her head. “Only, they weren’t catacombs yet. They were originally mines. They took a ton of limestone from down here to build the city, even buildings like Notre Dame, but they didn’t properly fortify these tunnels afterward. So buildings started collapsing into them.”

“It wasn’t until they started moving the dead into the tunnels that the city stabilized,” says Julien.

“Yeah, that’s around when they started bringing down all these bones.” Olivia motions to the column. “The fortification work reminded them Oh, hey, there’s all this empty space right under our feet; perfect place to dump the bodies from the overflowing cemeteries.”

Fact #7: Julien’s favorite crepe stand actually exists

Okay, so this one will only make sense if you’ve read the book… and for those who have, it’s more heart-wrenching than creepy. In one scene, Ruby asks Julien what’s his favorite spot in Paris.

He grins. “Oh, easy. There’s this little crepe stand right beside Notre Dame. I get one with strawberries and Nutella, so warm and gooey, the edges so crisp, ugh, it is perfection.” He clasps his stomach. My mouth would water any other time, but after breathing in stale air that reeks of damp dust for hours, it feels dry and gritty. “I like to sit on a bench right there with that magnificent view, early in the morning, when the sky is clear and it is not so busy. There is no better place, not in Paris, not in the world.”

“I love that,” Val says, but I scoff.

Julien peers at me again. “What?”

My cheeks warm. His answer reminds me so much of what Tyler told me about Paris that night in his bedroom. “It’s just—That sounds so cliché. So touristy.”

He gives me a little shove. “Look at you, judging me.” The corners of his eyes crinkle. “Locals can enjoy what the tourists do. That’s how it becomes a tourist attraction to begin with, yes? The most appealing spots become the most popular.” Julien brandishes his arms. “And up until yesterday, this was my favorite spot.”

“Sorry we ruined the death maze for you,” Selena mutters, heaving a sigh. “We’re never going to find a way out, are we?”

So the next time you head to Paris, look for one of these crepe stands around the perimeter of Notre Dame’s courtyard. And get one for yourself. For Ruby. And for Julien. (By the way, if you want more of an explanation about Julien’s fate, you can find it in my latest author AMA.)

But all facts aren’t present in fiction…

As much as I tried to incorporate historical and present-day accuracies into the book, I also took many artistic liberties, including the [redacted] who chase Ruby and company through the catacombs, as well as the layout of the corridors they traverse. Because this route doesn’t exist, I commissioned a map artist, Danny Ride, to bring this vision of the catacombs to life. This map appears in the book itself—both the hardcover and paperback!

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I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more behind the story of Under the Surface! If you have any questions—either about the catacombs or what you’d like to see in an upcoming newsletter—let me know in the comments below. 🥰

P.S. All photo credits go to ME (lmao) except for that CNN screenshot.

Here’s a summary of the questions we’ll cover today!

1. Who do you recommend for making bookmarks and book plates?

2. You took your book about Paris to Paris???

3. If you were trying to break into publishing today, what genre would you choose based on sales and market saturation?

4. Why do you think kidlit sales are down?

5. What did you change or cut from early versions of Under the Surface? *spoilers*

6. What happens to Julien at the end of Under the Surface? *HUGE spoilers*

The last four are ESSAYS that could have been their own posts lmao but let’s dive in!

(Quick note: I scheduled this to send on Tuesday, June 10 while traveling and mostly offline, so if you have any questions or comments, I’ll reply when I return.)

1. Who do you recommend for making bookmarks and bookplates? I’m launching my book in September and having a hard time finding someone.

Congrats on your upcoming launch! So far I’ve designed all my own bookmarks and book plates using Photoshop—I have graphic design experience from my past jobs in marketing. I either use artwork from my covers my publisher provided to me or character art I’ve commissioned (Lying in the Deep: Chinthaka Pradeep; These Deadly Games: Mars Lauderbaugh).

For printing, I use GotPrint. Lately I’ve been obsessed with their 18 pt. Premium Pearl paper option, which gives the bookmarks a sparkly sheen. Full transparency, the quality is a mixed bag, and I’ve had issues with customer support—they don’t always take accountability for printing errors on their end. One rep in particular was pretty rude. But they have the best pricing I’ve been able to find, and since I self-fund all my own printing, I’ve dealt with it.

2. You were in freakin’ Paris? With your freakin’ book? Wait, were there croissants?

Yes, yes, and yes! Sadly, I didn’t think to take a photo of my book WITH a croissant, but here’s me in freakin’ Paris with my freakin’ book about freakin’ Paris.

And, separately, here’s a pain au chocolat I had on the steps of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur during my 2019 research trip.

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Under the Surface—my romantic survival thriller set in the Paris catacombs—is out in paperback today! YAYYYYY! It has a lovely splash of color, and I hope you’ll find the purple edge a fun addition to your shelf.

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This edition also has the three-page map tracking Ruby’s journey through the Paris catacombs in stunning detail thanks to illustrator Danny Ride.

Paperbacks are my favorite format to read, and since my second book never got one (with the hardcover out of print), I’ll never take getting a paperback for any of my books for granted. I hope you LOVE this edition as much as I do!

That said, I want to be transparent about the fact that only one edge is purple because it’s pretty unusual. It is intentional by my publisher, and I apologize if my early promotions were misleading since I called them “purple edges”—I did expect all three edges to be purple until I opened my box of author copies. Publishing keeps finding new ways to surprise me lol, but hey, we love a quirky splash of purple!

Still, to make up for it, if you preordered a copy in the US, I’d be happy to mail you an autographed book plate and bookmark for free! Just fill out this form. 🫶

My next newsletter will be the spring edition of Ask Me Anything (AMA), which is always fun—I LOVE answering your questions! If you have something you’d like to ask me, leave a comment below. If you’d prefer to ask anonymously, you can do so here.

Ever since Under the Surface launched in August 2024, fellow authors have been asking me for details on how I promoted it. While I’m truly flattered each time, I’m wary to frame my marketing strategy as “tips” or “advice.”

Why? Because I cannot guarantee results.

I firmly believe that 95% of the time, traditionally published YA authors can only move the sales needle so much if they don’t have strong distribution support from both their publisher and B&N, unless they have a huge platform already. Especially these days—sales are down for most kidlit books except those with exclusive edition treatment. Without strong support, success is a lightning strike. A lotto win. No amount of hustle can guarantee it. So until I can validate my strategies *do* work to accomplish *my* goals in a different age category or circumstance (e.g. self-pub), it feels disingenuous to position this as “advice.”

But since people keep asking, I want to have something to point folks to. And do I have this thing I wrote Aug 2024—a chronicle of how I promoted the hardcover launch, a journaling exercise from when I was severely burnt out. I journal blog-style to synthesize experiences like this thanks to a decade-long career in B2B content creation, but I cannot be more clear: this is not advice. It’s just a log. I added the “results” section the week after launch Aug 2024, then edited it down for Substack (boo email length limit!) and added footnotes May 2025.

While I dislike gatekeeping, I’m putting this behind a paywall because (1) it’s the only way I feel comfortable being transparent about certain parts, and (2) I don’t want this to circulate in a manner that makes any authors feel pressured to do all this. I’d never want anyone else to feel how I felt in 2024: like the husk of a burnt out shell. But if you REALLY want to know what I did, this is how you can find out. I hope that feels fair.

My goals with sharing this are:

1. Give you ideas for some book marketing tactics you can try, with zero guarantees, and to have something to point people to when they ask for my strategy.

OR

2. Free you from the pressure you’re feeling to do EVERYTHING. I tried. It wasn’t enough.* Be free. Write your next book.

*Pre-paywall footnote: While it was enough to get me on a regional indie bestseller list—and I’m truly proud of that—I don’t think my results were commensurate to the effort I put in (due to distribution/print run limitations).

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Get it here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

I’ll have a bigger update for you next week, where I’ll be dishing how I promoted the hardcover of Under the Surface, so stay tuned! Sorry you’ll get two newsletters so close together; again, I just found out about the deal, and the newsletter isn’t quite ready. 😅

In other news, I’m about 75% through the third draft of my Secret Adult Thriller and hoping to get it to my agent next week, so… BACK TO IT! I hope you’re all doing as well as can be. 💜