Wait till I tell you what else it's been tagged with...🙄

Now that's a trigger warning I'd love to get.

For the curious, this is the book.

I promise, no one gets stalked.

There's a pursuit though. Think Fury Road, but with two bodyguards who don't trust each other up against an enemy that can't die.

www.harpercollins.com/products/the...

Once Upon a Punk Show almost died on the vine thanks to the Great Burnout.

The story about that is only semi public because the other players are still in the SFF publishing orbit. And godpunk is a small sub-sub-genre.

Suffice to say I had an agent string me along with that book for over a year.

Amen!

It took a bunch of my friends with an interest in my book and, frankly, not wanting to be an imposter on the Trans SF Writer's pack, to get me to hustle the book into the world.

One of the best things I did.

Publishing didn't save me. I saved myself.

You've done us proud. I'm so happy you found a home here, and we had a chance to share our joy with you.

Thank you for taking us with you on your life's journey, and I hope you go from success to success in all that you do.

I'm from Trinidad and Tobago, and I did NOT expect to see someone not from my country play my national instrument so well this morning.

Where did you learn to play so well? Most people outside my country have no idea what a steelpan can really do. It was lovely to hear you.

Exactly.

Oh my gosh, thank you for reading and for telling me you enjoyed them. That means more than you know!

It might be okay if we weren't all trapped in this late-capitalist hellscape but we are. So, you know, kick the fuck down, motherfucker. At least ask for it at the library, so they'll buy it.

These aren't musicians, who make money through touring and merch. You may be robbing the big bad publishing corporation but you're also robbing the person who did the thing you want to enjoy.

Ah thank you! I greatly appreciate you buying it. It's not incumbent on you to do reviews, but I'm really grateful if you can, no matter where you leave it.

Thanks for being awesome.

And when our sales are below expectations, which they never tell you what that is, so they can say that no matter what your sales are, we get booted for poor sales.

But hey, you saved the price of a coffee and starved me of a $1 royalty at best.

You're a god-damned internet hero. 🙄

Here I was, fretting over sales and Goodreads ratings that are so-so at best, and it turns out it doesn't matter cause people just want your stuff for free.

This especially hurts BIPOC authors like me, who already have a tough go in an industry where people think we're not worth buying or reading.