The epic ending to an epic adventure! THE ONCE KING comes out today!

Leylia’s secret could unite them all or lead them to an eternity of undeath.

After the loss of Bastion, everyone who’s not a zombie has holed up in FFO’s sole remaining safe haven: the lowbie town of Windy Lake. But the undead armies never rest, and it’s only a matter of time before the Once King’s forces come to crush what’s left of life in this world.

But Tina, James, and the rest of the players are facing a crisis of their own. After so long in this world, their human bodies are dying on the other side. If they don’t find a way home soon, they may have nothing to go back to.

With time running out in two worlds, Tina and James face a horrible choice: do they spend their final days looking for a way to get back to their old bodies, or join the NPCs to fight for their new ones. But just when things look impossible, James learns a secret that might change everything. Only one catch: to pull it off, they’re going to have to fight one raid boss no one, not even Tina, has ever beaten.

The Once King.

 Get your copy now in ebook, Kindle Unlimited, or Audible audio!

All adventures have to end sometime, but wow, have we got an ending for you! The final book in the Forever Fantasy Online trilogy, THE ONCE KING, is out today in ebook and Audible audio edition! HOORAY!

What is SB hiding? What did Leylia tell James? Can the Once King even be beaten? Just how OP are Stonekin anyway?!?! I hope you're ready to find out, because we are at max DPS, baby! (Details per second.)

Terrible jokes aside, it's been a hell of a ride! Travis and I can't say how proud and happy we are to finally give you the book we wrote this whole series to reach. THE ONCE KING is my personal favorite of the trilogy, and I really hope it will be yours too! Thank you so so much for reading and listening, and we both hope you love the story!

(And if you haven't read the FFO series yet, now's a great day to start! Pick up the first novel in ebook, audio, or on KU and see what all the hype is about! Even if you're not a gamer, I promise you won't be disappointed!)

Thank you for being the best fans ever, and I'll see you soon for the final DFZ book, coming early next year! Keep reading!

Yours always,
Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach

Hoarders of Epic Loot

THE ONCE KING is the third book in the FFO trilogy. If you're new, start from the beginning with FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE for some GamerLit that's actually lit!

Surprise! The sequel to MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is out today!

What is this? A new DFZ novel?!

Ta daaaa!

No, this isn't a cover reveal or a pre-order announcement. The second DFZ novel, PART-TIME GODS, is legit out. Right now. Today. 

Check the blurb:

Life in the magical mess of the Detroit Free Zone is never easy. When you’re laboring under the curse of a certain prideful, overbearing dragon, it can be down right impossible.

My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m a Cleaner. At least, I used to be. Thanks to the supernatural bad luck that turns everything I do against me, these days I’m more of a walking disaster. Getting rid of this curse is the only way to get my life back. Unfortunately, dragon magic is every bit as sneaky and deadly the monsters behind it, and just as hard to beat.

But I’ve never been one to take her doom at face value. Cornered doesn’t mean defeated, and in an awakened city that rules herself, dragons are no longer the biggest powers around.

Get your copy now in ebook and Kindle Unlimited! 

So why the surprise drop? Well, if you follow me on Twitter, you already know that our entire family just up and moved from Georgia to Colorado! It was a super happy adventure, but, as with all good adventures, the rest of my life kind of fell apart during the move, including the launch schedule for this book. 

-_-

But I wasn't going to let a small thing like my entire life being in boxes keep a sequel from you guys! PART-TIME GODS was ready to go, so I said screw it, we'll do it live! Just think of this as my own, much smaller, much less organized version of a Beyonce Lemonade drop. Happy summer of books, everyone!

EDIT: AUDIO BOOK UPDATE!!

Wow, you guys love audio books! The outcry for an audio release date has been fierce, and I don't blame you a bit! I just heard back from Audible that the production schedule for DFZ 2 was actually delayed due to schedule conflicts with my narrator, Emily, and I was never informed. 

Oh well, mistakes happen, but the good news is that I've confirmed the audio edition will come out on July 2, 2019! That's less than a month away!! Not what I wanted, obviously, but it's not too bad.

In the meanwhile, the book is out in KU and ebook right now! I hope you love this surprise trip into the DFZ as much as I loved writing it, which was a LOT. It's a super fun sequel, and I can't wait for you to read it!! 

As ever thank you SO MUCH for being part of my crazy dragon world. I couldn't do any of this without you! Thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy PART-TIME GODS!

Yours with many books,
Rachel Aaron

High Priestess of Detroit DFZ Clean-up Crew

PART-TIME GODS is the second book in the DFZ series, which is set in the same universe as my Heartstrikers books. If you're new, start from the beginning with NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST or MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC. I promise you won't be sorry!

LAST BASTION is out today!

Today's the day!

The sequel to our gamer novel FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE is here! LAST BASTION comes out TODAY in ebook and audio!

Bastion was supposed to mean safety. It was supposed to mean a break from fighting for their lives and a chance to talk to someone who might actually know what’s going on. Access to their gold and some beer would have been nice, too. 

They got none of those things. When Tina and James arrive in the capital, they find a city on fire in more ways than one. Players and non-players hunt each other in the streets, while the king who controls the city’s all-powerful artifact cowers from the chaos in his castle. Desperate to warn somebody about the Once King’s coming invasion, James wants to try to talk to the king anyway, while Tina just wants to meet the royal portal keepers who might be able to send them home.

It shouldn’t be hard to get an army of the world’s best-geared players through one city, but when they discover that the captain of the Royal Knights has been massacring low-level players in revenge disguised as justice, James and Tina will have to decide what is more important: the lives of their fellow gamers, or the stability of this world’s last great city. Both choices deserve a champion, but with the Once King’s armies closing in, taking the wrong side may doom everyone to an eternity as slaves to the Ghostfire. 

Get your copy now! Only $4.99 or free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

It's almost summer, and you know what that means! Rachel and Travis release books!!

We've got a whole lot of awesome coming for y'all in 2019, and to kick it off, today's the day the long awaited (and just long in general) sequel to our first gamer novel FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE is finally released to the world! LAST BASTION is out right now in both ebook and audio format!

As always, print editions are lagging a little behind. We're in the process of moving both our print production company and our actual house, so things are chaos, but I promise you print is coming for both FFO and my DFZ series. And speaking of the DFZ, the sequel to MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC should be out this summer as well! It's a summer of books!!

My New Release mailing list is always the first to know when the release date goes up, so if you're not already a subscriber, sign up now and be cool! It's free, I only mail you when a book is coming out, and you get a list exclusive Heartstrikers short story. It's win all around!

Anyway, we really hope you love LAST BASTION! And for those of you who haven't given our gamer novels a try, I hope you'll change your mind. It's basically a Fantasy epic with modern characters and a whole lot of action and drama. Also, both books are available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers, so I hope you'll give book 1 a go. I promise you wont' be disappointed!

As always, thank you so so much for being our readers! You folks are the ones who make the magic possible, and we can't thank you enough. Travis and I hope you enjoy LAST BASTION, and I really can't wait to announce the next DFZ book!

Thank you again, and we'll see you soon!

Yours always,
Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach

Spawn Camping Loot Hoarders Opportunistic Treasure Enthusiasts

LAST BASTION is the second book in the FFO series. If you're new, start from the beginning with FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE! I promise you won't be sorry!

MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is out in audio!

Finally! It's here!

Audio boooooook!

Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller The DFZ, the metropolis formerly known as Detroit, is the world's most magical city with a population of nine million and zero public safety laws. That's a lot of mages, cybernetically enhanced chrome heads, and mythical beasties who die, get into debt, and otherwise fail to pay their rent. When they can't pay their bills, their stuff gets sold to the highest bidder to cover the tab. That's when they call me. My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I'm a Cleaner: a freelance mage with an art history degree who's employed by the DFZ to sort through the mountains of magical junk people leave behind. It's not a pretty job, or a safe one - there's a reason I wear bite-proof gloves - but when you're deep in debt in a lawless city where gods are real, dragons are traffic hazards, and buildings move around on their own, you don't get to be picky about where your money comes from. You just have to make it work, even when the only thing of value in your latest repossessed apartment is the dead body of the mage who used to live there.

It was a long wait, but Audible has finally released the audio version of MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC and it is awesome! You can get it on Amazon or direct from Audible.com! To all my audio fans, thank you for your patience, and for my Vikas Adams diehards, don't fear: Vikas knows Emily and texted me to let me know how excited he was that she was my narrator! I was really picky about who got to read because Vikas was so perfect, but I think Emily did a great job. Give it a listen and I think you'll agree! Thank you as always for reading and listening! If you haven't already, I hope you'll come back to the DFZ and give MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC a try! Yours always, Rachel Aaron Queen of the Terrible Fictional Parents Dragon Family Drama Enthusiast MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is the first in a new series set in the same universe as my Heartstrikers books, but you don’t need to read those stories to enjoy this one. The book was written to stand by itself, but if you would like to start from the official beginning, check out NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST. I promise you won't be sorry!

MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is out today!

It's finally time! MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is out in the world!

"A catchy title, a plucky protagonist and a maximum effort by the author, honestly readers can't ask for more in the urban fantasy genre."

- Fantasy Book Critic 

The DFZ, the metropolis formerly known as Detroit, is the world's most magical city with a population of nine million and zero public safety laws. That's a lot of mages, cybernetically enhanced chrome heads, and mythical beasties who die, get into debt, and otherwise fail to pay their rent. When they can't pay their bills, their stuff gets sold to the highest bidder to cover the tab. 

That's when they call me. My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I'm a Cleaner: a freelance mage with an art history degree who's employed by the DFZ to sort through the mountains of magical junk people leave behind. It's not a pretty job, or a safe one--there's a reason I wear bite-proof gloves--but when you're deep in debt in a city where gods are real, dragons are traffic hazards, and buildings move around on their own, you don't get to be picky about where your money comes from. You just have to make it work, even when the only thing of value in your latest repossessed apartment is the dead body of the mage who used to live there.

Get your copy now!

I very much hope you'll grab yourself a copy or try it out for free on Kindle Unlimited. Thank you so much to everyone who preordered! I hope you're already enjoying the story!

For those of you who prefer to listen or hold the book in your hands, the audio and print editions are on their way. I'll be sure to let you all know as soon as they're available. And for those of you who are nervous about starting a new series, I'm writing book 2 right now. It should be out early next year, so don't worry. I'm not going to leave you stranded.

That's it! Thank you so much as always for being my readers and subscribing to my list. You are the literal best and I love you all to pieces. I hope you enjoy Opal's story!

Yours with many ♥s,
Rachel

New book! New book! Introducing MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC!

The book I've been teasing for a year is finally done. For the first time ever, I have written two series in the same world!!

GASP!

If you're familiar with my other books, you'll know this is a big thing for me. I generally never go back to a world once a series is over. But even though Julius's story is done, there was so much more I wanted to do with the world of the DFZ. Enter MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC!

Making a living is hard. In a lawless city where gods are real, dragons are traffic hazards, and buildings move around on their own, it can feel downright impossible.

Good thing freelance mage Opal Yong-ae has never let little things like impossibility stop her. She’s found a way to put her overpriced magical art history degree to use as a Cleaner: a contract municipal employee who empties out abandoned apartments and resells the unusual treasures she finds inside for a profit. It’s not a pretty job, or a safe one--there’s a reason she wears bite-proof gloves--but when you’re neck-deep in debt to a very magical, very nasty individual, you can’t be picky about where the money comes from.

But even Opal’s low standards are put to the test when the only thing of value in her latest apartment is the body of the previous tenant. Dealing with the dead isn’t technically part of her job, but this mage died hiding a secret that could be worth a lot of money, and Opal’s the only one who knows. With debts she can’t pay due at the end of the week, this could be the big break she’s been waiting for, but in a city of runaway magic where getting in over your head generally means losing it, the cost of chasing this opportunity might be more than Opal can survive.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might remember my struggle to name a certain book.

Help me, internet! I'm having a horrible time picking the title for my new book. Knowing nothing else other than it's urban fantasy, which title sounds the coolest?

— Rachel Aaron/Bach (@Rachel_Aaron) October 16, 2018

Well, it was this one, and I think the results speak for themselves. Thank you all so much for your input! I would have really screwed this up if not for y'all!

MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC is the first book in a new, stand alone series set in the DFZ twenty years after the events of LAST DRAGON STANDING. It's an all story with an all new cast, plus some cameos from characters we already know and love ;).

But while we are back in the world of the DFZ, you don't have to have read any of the Heartstriker books to read this one. There's no spoilers, no required knowledge. We're just having fun in a ridiculously dangerous and bizarre magical city with new mages, new magical critters, new problems, and--of course--new dragons!

If you liked my Heartstrikers books, you're going to love MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC! It's up for preorder now with an official release date of November 9. There will also be an audio book coming soon, but Audible hasn't told me who's narrating it yet. I'll let you know as soon as I find out!

In the meanwhile, I hope you'll pre-order the ebook. It's just $4.99, as always, and I hope that you love it.

Thank you as always for being my readers! You guys make all of this possible.

Yours with many <3s p="">Rachel Aaron

Nice Dragons Finish Last $0.99 sale!

Hey everyone!

If you live in America (or anywhere that pays attention to American politics), you know the news cycle has been SUPER stressful and upsetting lately. I know I've been pissed off every minute of every day, so I thought why not inject some more positivity into the world? We need some nice dragons, dammit! So here you go:

This week only, both NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST and ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER are on sale for $0.99 each!

That's right, for $2 you can give yourself (or foist on a friend) the gift of dragons! I think we all need a place where decency wins and bad guys get eaten right now, so if you've been waiting for an excuse to try my Heartstrikers series, this is it! Come give Julius a shot, I promise you won't be disappointed!

<3 p="">Rachel  

FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE comes out today!

A thrilling new novel for fans of SWORD ART ONLINE and WORLD OF WARCRAFT! 

In the real world, twenty-one-year-old library sciences student Tina Anderson is invisible and under-appreciated, but in the VR-game Forever Fantasy Online she's Roxxy—the respected leader and main tank of a top-tier raiding guild. Her brother, James Anderson, has a similar problem. IRL he’s a college drop-out struggling under debt, but in FFO he's famous—an explorer known all over the world for doing every quest and collecting the rarest items. 

Both Tina and James need the game more than they’re willing to admit, but their escape turns into a trap when FFO becomes real. Suddenly, wounds aren’t virtual, the stupid monsters have turned cunning, and death might be forever. Separated across a much larger and more deadly world, their skill at FFO is the only thing keeping them alive. But as the harshness of their new reality sets in, Tina and James soon realize that being the best in the game is no longer good enough.

Get your copy in ebook now or in audio on June 5!

Print edition coming soon!

Wow, busy month! It feels like I've been sending emails/posting blogs/updating social media nonstop recently, but we're at the climax now because FFO comes out today!! 

(If you're wondering what it's all about, you can find the first two chapters here. I hope you'll give it a try!)

This launch is not Amazon exclusive! You can buy the book at all major ebook retailers or request it from your local library! The audio edition comes out next Tuesday from Audible, but you can go ahead and preorder your copy here.

We straightened out all our print issues with Heartstrikers 5, so print editions will be up soon. Thank you as always for being our readers, and we hope you enjoy FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE!

Yours always,

Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach
LAUNCH DAY PARTY TIME!

Finally! LAST DRAGON STANDING is available in print! Also, first look at sample chapters of my new novel!

I know, I know, it took forever, but paperback editions of the fifth and final Heartstrikers novel, LAST DRAGON STANDING, are now available on Amazon.com!

Now you can get your very own physical copy of Bob! (fire not included)

I am so so sorry about the delay. Trust me, I was as frustrated as you were about how long this took, but we had some problems with the printer and I wasn't about to ship you sub-standard books! Now, though, the wait is over, and your bookshelf can finally be complete with a full set of delightful (and terrifying) dragons! Enjoy!

Bonus! Read a sample of my newest novel, FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE!

A thrilling new novel for fans of SWORD ART ONLINE and WORLD OF WARCRAFT! 

In the real world, twenty-one-year-old library sciences student Tina Anderson is invisible and under-appreciated, but in the VR-game Forever Fantasy Online she's Roxxy—the respected leader and main tank of a top-tier raiding guild. Her brother, James Anderson, has a similar problem. IRL he’s a college drop-out struggling under debt, but in FFO he's famous—an explorer known all over the world for doing every quest and collecting the rarest items. 

Both Tina and James need the game more than they’re willing to admit, but their escape turns into a trap when FFO becomes real. Suddenly, wounds aren’t virtual, the stupid monsters have turned cunning, and death might be forever. Separated across a much larger and more deadly world, their skill at FFO is the only thing keeping them alive. But as the harshness of their new reality sets in, Tina and James soon realize that being the best in the game is no longer good enough.

Read the first chapters!

FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE comes out June 1, 2018! Pre-order your copy now!

And that's that! Thank you all so so much for reading, and I really hope you enjoy all the new stuff we've got coming out!

Yours always,
Rachel

Secret novel drop! FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE comes out June 1!

What! Rachel has a new novel? Since when?!

Since right now! Introducing...

A thrilling new series for fans of Sword Art Online and World of Warcraft! 

In the real world, twenty-one-year-old library sciences student Tina Anderson is invisible and under-appreciated, but in the VR-game Forever Fantasy Online she's Roxxy—the respected leader and main tank of a top-tier raiding guild. Her brother, James Anderson, has a similar problem. IRL he’s a college drop-out struggling under debt, but in FFO he's famous—an explorer known all over the world for doing every quest and collecting the rarest items. 

Both Tina and James need the game more than they’re willing to admit, but their escape turns into a trap when FFO becomes real. Suddenly, wounds aren’t virtual, the stupid monsters have turned cunning, and death might be forever. Separated across a much larger and more deadly world, their skill at FFO is the only thing keeping them alive. But as the harshness of their new reality sets in, Tina and James soon realize that being the best in the game is no longer good enough.

Coming in ebook on June 1 and in audio in June 5, but you can preorder both RIGHT NOW!

If you follow my Twitter, you know I'm a giant anime fan and MMO nerd, so really, this novel was only a matter of time. But what you might not know is that my husband, Travis Bach, has been helping me with my novels since the very beginning. None of my books would exist without his help. Hell, he invented Julius! We've always been creative partners. Now, we've taken that process one step further and actually written the book together, and it is amazing.

Good collaborations are a special sort of alchemy. Done right, you can end up with something that's greater than either of you could have managed alone, and that's what I think we've got here. I've never been more excited about a project. This book is our love letter to the online games we've played obsessively for over a decade. We wanted to show the strength, ingenuity, drama, and occasional hilarity of the MMO culture without painting over its flaws. If you're a gamer, if you liked Devi, if you liked Julius, you are going to love this book. 

Forever Fantasy Online is the first in a trilogy. The second book is already written and being edited right now, so you won't have to wait long for more (and trust me, you're going to want more!). For my audio fans, you're in luck! The audio book comes out on June 5th from Audible.com and is available for preorder as well! 

*/dance*

Better still, for the first time ever, the book will be available on all platforms! That's right, no more Amazon exclusivity. You asked, and we're finally delivering. The links are still propagating, but by its launch date, FFO will be available on all the major ebook retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple iBookstore, Waterstones, and in public libraries via Overdrive!

We'll have the full list on rachelaaron.net as links become available, but you should be able to get the book pretty much anywhere, and that's always a good thing! 

Can you tell I'm super excited about this project? Because I am SUPER EXCITED. Travis and I have been working on this book for over a year now, and I can not wait for you to read it! If you've liked my other novels, I really hope you'll give it a try. It's a bit different, but I feel in a good way. That will be up to you to decide, though. You are all the reason that I (and now Travis as well) write, and we both hope you love this new series as much as we do.

Thank you as always for reading, and we hope you enjoy Forever Fantasy Online!

Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach

Level 60 70 80 90 100 110 Shaman / Druid

FOREVER FANTASY ONLINE is the first book in the FFO trilogy. If you're new, to my work, I recommend you start with NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST. I promise you won't be sorry!

It's here! The fifth and final Heartstrikers book comes out March 1!

Oh yes, it's time!!

Great Seer of the Heartstrikers and President of the New Mexico Pigeon Fanciers Association

Dear Reader, 

There is no way to write a blurb for this final book without spoiling all of the others. Suffice it to say, mysteries resolve, dragons war, pigeons abound, and Julius must risk himself in ways he never dreamed possible as Bob’s grand plan finally comes to fruition.  

But the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers isn’t the only one whose schemes are nearing completion. The Nameless End is coming, and even the machinations of the world’s most brilliant dragon seer might not be enough to stop it. As everything comes crashing down, it’s up Julius to prove what he’s always known: that seers can be wrong, and Nice Dragons don’t always finish last.

Pre-order Your Copy Now!

And so we have come to the end. The fifth and final Heartstrikers novel, LAST DRAGON STANDING, comes out on March 1, 2018!

This is Bob's book through and through. All of his machinations are finally coming due, and as always, poor Julius is the one stuck in the middle. But our little Nice Dragon surprised me a lot in this book, and I really think you're going to enjoy it! There's dragon drama, seer drama, end-of-the-world drama, it's epic! I can't wait for you to read it!

I also hope you LOVE the cover! As subscribers to my mailing list, you guys are the very first people to see it, and I could not be more excited. I think Bob looks amazing, and his pigeon is quite lovely as well. Bob is quite delighted she finally got on a cover!

Thank you again to all of you for sticking with me all the way to the end. Julius couldn't have made it without you! I hope you love the end of his story, and thank you as always for being my readers.

Yours,

Rachel Aaron

Nameless End Regular Old End

LAST DRAGON STANDING is the fifth and final book in the Heartstrikers series. If you're new, start from the beginning with NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST. I promise you won't be sorry!

Print editions are here!

The moment your bookshelf has been longing for has finally arrived! After much trial and error (and many messed up books) print editions of A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR and 2K TO 10K are now available!

Yay!

Both books are trade paper back size printed on good quality paper, and for my book collecting Heartstrikers fans, #4 should line up with all the others for that classy series-on-a-shelf effect. Oh yeah, we're stylish.

I know this took much longer than expected. Thank you all so much for your patience and for being my fans. I hope you enjoy the print editions of A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR and 2K TO 10K! Make sure to take the time and breathe in that new book smell!!

I'd like to promise the next one will be on time, but the whole "making a physical object" bit has been the hardest part of self publishing for me so far. Damn, you, physics! I'm going to be looking into ways to make better books faster for the future, but in the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these.

Thanks again! 

Yours,

Rachel

A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR is out now!

It's time! It's finally time! 

Heartstrikers book 4, A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR launches today!! The ebook is now up on Amazon and available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited! Hooray!

BOOM BABY!

For those of you who love the audio edition, Vikas Adams is recording it right now and it should be available in September. To be notified when it drops (and get a lot of other awesome stuff before anyone else), sign up for my New Release Mailing List! 

We're also working on the print edition right now and that should be up soon as well, so you can have dragons in whatever style you want!!

As always, thank you all so much for subscribing and reading! You're the reason these books exist, and I cannot thank you enough for being my fans.

Happy reading, and I hope you love A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR!

Yours always,

Rachel

Heartstrikers 4 sample chapters!

The wait has been long and brutal, but...are you ready to read a sample of A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR?

The book has been up on Amazon for about three weeks now, and the preorders are blowing me out of the water. You guys are amazing!!! 

To fan the flames of anticipation even higher, we've put up a sample from Chapter 1 on the website for all of you to read! 

Of course, those of you are on my mailing list already know this, because I just sent you an exclusive link to an even bigger chunk of the book. Twice as big at least, because you're awesome like that :D!

So if you're on my mailing list, make sure to check your inboxes! And if you're not on my mailing list, why not? That's where all the good stuff is! It's free and I promise never to spam you or give your information to anyone else. I only send emails when I have books coming out or when I'm giving you exclusive content, like this sample and the Heartstrikers short story Mother of the Year, so if you're not signed up already, do it! If you like my books at all, it's basically a funnel of awesome stuff.

Okay, okay, enough promo. I really hope you enjoy the sample chapters! Thank you as always for being my readers, and be sure to preorder your copy of A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR so it can magically appear on your Kindle at midnight!

Yours always,

Rachel

How to Build Your Newsletter Using List Bait

Hi Folks,

Today I'm going to talk about the Heartstriker short, Mother of the Year. I'm going to go over what it is, why we made it, and why it's available as it is. I'm sure ya'll will find this educational as there's a lot going on here. So far this experiment has been a rousing success, so read on and we'll get into,

What We Did With Mother of the Year and Why

This post started when Tom Sweeney asked,

"My only question (you didn't think i was going to politely leave without a question, did you?) concerns the Mother of the Year gambit.

I know you are not selling it, just making it available for those on your list, and this likely resulted in a LOT of people signing up. I'm just wondering how effective it was for the end game goal, not building a list per se but selling books. I understand your data probably doesn't have enough granularity to determine how many of the new signups went ahead and bought one or more of the Heartstriker series books. You could have each sold lot of MotY copies at $.99, so do you think you came out ahead with enough Heartstriker books sold to cover the loss of revenue had you sold MotY?"

@Tom Thanks! Also, I love questions! Please feel free to ask away.

My reply was a wall of text and I realized that it'd be better as a blog post. So let's talk all about Mother of the Year.


First off, what is Mother of the Year?

MOTY, the short story you can download, is an interview with Besthesda, The Heartstriker about her 5th autobiography titled Mother of Year. It's about 4000 words long and is less of a story and more of a TV show transcript. The work is supplemental to the main series, meaning that you don't need to read it to appreciate Heartstrikers. So while it might make some parts cooler, it's not essential.

It is only available for people who sign up for the new release mailing list. This last bit is the most important part. You cannot buy MOTY. It is list exclusive content.


Why is it list exclusive and not [also] for sale?

Writing Wednesday: Know Thy (Publishing) Self

The other day on Twitter, I posted

So many authors make it out like self pub is the only smart way, but if you don't love business, you're going to have a bad time as an indie.

— Rachel Aaron/Bach (@Rachel_Aaron) August 29, 2016

I originally wrote this as the second part of a response to someone replying to Trav's (awesome) business post about the mechanics of a commercially successful series. The commenter in question had mentioned that business posts were basically intimidating, and I absolutely agree. Big pages of numbers and math can be very intimidating if you're unfamiliar with them, but part of self publishing is getting familiar with stuff like this. This is the business part of the self-publishing business, and if you hate it, then maybe self publishing isn't for you, and that's cool. There's tons of other ways to get your book out there! No big deal.

That's all I was trying to stay. I didn't think it was anything special or incendiary, just the facts as I saw them, and yet this tweet got a lot more attention than I expected. At first, I wasn't sure why. It's hardly my most eloquent statement. But then I realized what I saying--that it's okay to choose not to self publish if that's not what works for you--was actually kind of radical in its own weird, publishing politics way.

So (since I didn't have anything else to talk about today) I thought I'd take a look at why that is, and what it means for all of us as individual writers. Onward!

Writing Wednesday: Know Thy (Publishing) Self

If you've spent any time (and I do mean any time) researching your publishing choices on the internet, you've probably seen someone telling you that there is only one smart way to go, and if you choose anything else, you're wasting your writing, your money, and your time. Sometimes this is said very politely with lots of excellent case studies showing exactly why one publishing path is better than the other. Other times you're flat out told you're a moron who's being swindled if you don't do as the author in question suggests.

No matter how it's said, though, there is always an opinion one way or the other. Pretty much every writer you ask, whether they're a multiply published veteran or someone who's only one chapter into their first book, has very definite ideas about which is better: trad or self.

Whenever you have a topic this divisive, there's going to be conflict. Even though most authors (with a few loud exceptions) are extremely polite, reasonable, and eloquent about their thoughts on the subject, picking a side for yourself can still feel like an emotional decision rather than one based in fact. This is especially true if one of your favorite authors is an outspoken supporter of one camp or another. When that happens, choosing anything else can feel like a betrayal. Even if the one choice makes sense for your situation, if someone you respect and like so much is constantly calling what you're considering stupid, it's only natural to think "am I being dumb? Am I actually throwing my writing future away if I do this?"

This is the part of the self pub vs. trad pub debate that I hate the most. Not the discussion--that's very good, very necessary, and a great tool for bringing to light the pros and cons of each path--but the absolute division. The constant refrain--sometimes boldly shouted, sometimes tacitly implied--that the other side isn't just wrong, they're dangerously, career wreckingly wrong. That if you sign with a traditional publisher, they'll hit you with an abusive contract to take all your money and keep your rights forever. Or if you self publish your first novel and it flops, no traditional publisher will ever look at you again.

To be clear, this isn't fear mongering. Both of the examples above can and do happen, but they're also both worst case scenarios, and that's what makes the question of what you should do with your novel so difficult. Because the truth is that both trad and self publishing have horrible pitfalls and incredible heights. Neither of them is easy and nothing is guaranteed. So how do you know which is right for you?

This is the point where pretty much every respectable publishing advice blog will say some version of "the right choice depends on you and what you want from your career." I've actually said that exact thing in my own post about self publishing and money. But what does that actually mean? If you've never published a book and never had a publishing contract and never worked with a publishing house, how do you know what's actually right for you? After all, whatever you choose, you're going to be locked into that decision for that title for years, maybe even forever.

That's not a choice to be made lightly! But while there are plenty of blogs that talk about the practical differences between the two (including mine! Click here for my Authors & Money posts on trad vs self), in my experience, the real difference between the two isn't actually in the business, but in what each one expects from you, the author.

That's what this blog post is really about. Every publishing blog under the sun (again, including this one) has posts about the practical, business differences between trad and self like royalty rates, contracts, marketing, and so forth. But while all that stuff is really important, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how great the numbers are if you, the author, are unhappy with your choice. You could succeed beyond your wildest dreams in either self publishing or trad, but if that path's version of success doesn't match yours, then it doesn't matter.

In the end, this isn't a really choice of which publishing road is better. It's about which one is better for YOU, and the only way to figure that out is to figure yourself out.

Again, no small feat! "Know thyself" is a life long journey. But as someone who's seen the ups and downs of both the self pub and traditional publishing paths, maybe I can help put this old, bitterly contested question into a more personal light.

LAUNCH DAY!

The wait is over!

No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished is finally here!

You can get it for your Kindle, cuddle it IRL as a print edition, or read it free via Kindle Unlimited. Or, if you'd rather have someone really talented read it to you (luxury!), the Audible.com audio edition comes out September 13! There really is no downside, here.

If you've already preordered, thank you so much! The book should have been automatically added to your Kindle last night. If you don't see it, just click to sync and update your library in your Kindle options and it should pop right in. Again, thank you thank you THANK YOU for your support, and I really hope you enjoy the book!

And as a final bonus, if you didn't see Wednesday's blog post, we commissioned some art from the fantastic Gergana (she of the amazing illustrated Heartstriker book reviews) of my personal favorite chapter of book 3!

Click to see in glorious full resolution!

We commissioned this picture for you guys (well, also for me because OMG AMELIA) as a way of saying thank you for being my fans! Feel free to use it for whatever your heart desires, and thank you again for being my readers. None of this would be possible without you!

Well, that's enough out of me. I hope you all have a lovely weekend of reading, and thank you again for everything!

Yours always,
Rachel

Writing Wednesday: Heartstrikers Extravaganza!

So I had a giant Writing Wednesday post typed up for you all, but I decided to save it until next week because 1) it's not quite where I want it to be yet and I've run out of time to make it good, and 2) I've been really busy since my third Heartstriker novel, No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, comes out THIS FRIDAY!

Preorder it now and you could be reading at midnight on Thursday!

I know, I know, cop out right? But I promise you'd rather wait and have the good post than see the broken slop I've got now, and I've got good news to cheer you up. Not only are we a mere two days from launch and the first two Heartstriker books both on sale for $1.99 AND the audio edition has been announced for September 13 (preorder it here!), but the print edition is now right here in my hot little hands!

Tadaaaa!!

That's right, the print edition of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, which is huge and beautiful and smells divine in person, will be going on sale this Friday same as the ebook!! Alas, Createspace doesn't allow us to do preorders, but barring hideous disaster, the book will be up on the Amazon page on launch day! So if you're someone who likes to cuddle your books, don't miss it. Seriously, y'all, this is a big, slick, good looking pile of book~! (rubs face on cover)

I know what you're thinking. It can't get any better than this! But that's where you wrong, because it can (and now will).

To celebrate the coming together of all things dragon, we asked our favorite fan artist Gergana (she of the amazing illustrated Heartstriker book reviews) to draw us a new illustration of my favorite scene from book three. To my delight, she came through in spades.

BEHOLD!

Click for full glorious resolution!

That's right! That's Amelia the Planeswalker, Svena the White Witch, and Marci, just Marci, hanging out, drinking, and talking magic together. It's both not what you'd think and exactly what you'd think, and I just KNOW you're going to love it when the book drops on Friday! 

Until then, I hope you enjoy the art. Save it, share it, make a wallpaper, do whatever you like! This is our gift to you guys for being such amazing fans. Thank you all for reading my books!!

As I said, I'll be back next week with a (corrected and not terrible) writing post. Until then, I really really hope you enjoy No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished. And for those of you who haven't gotten around to the series yet, now is a great time to give a try on the cheap since both of the first two books are on sale for $1.99 all month!

Again, thank you all so much for reading and being my fans. You guys are what make everything I do possible, and I can't show my gratitude enough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I really hope you enjoy No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished!

Yours forever,

Rachel

Should You Start a Writing Business (Part 2)

Quick Rachel note before we get started! For those of you asking about the audio edition of NO GOOD DRAGON GOES UNPUNISHED...

That's right, the folks at Audible have come through, and the audio edition of my third Heartstrikers novel will be out on September 13, 2016!

But that's not all! Not only will you have less than a month to wait between the ebook release on August 5 and the audio edition, but the audiobook is available for preorder right now!!

That's right, in a move usually reserved for big publishers, Audible has put my book up for preorder. You can reserve your copy now at Amazon or directly from Audible.com, whichever suits your fancy!

Also, I've talked with Vikas on the phone (as I always do), and you guys, he is going to be AMAZING in this book. He's even videoing some of his recording for those of you who are interested in seeing how audio books are made. I'll be posting those links as soon as they're up, so be sure to keep an eye here on the blog, Twitter, or Facebook to catch that when it comes up.

Remember, there's only a few days left before the ebook of NO GOOD DRAGON GOES UNPUNISHED comes out in ebook on August 5! If you haven't already, you can preorder your copy now or reserve it to read on Kindle Unlimited. Bob would want you to be prepared!

And with that bit of happy news out of the way, I'll pass the keyboard to Travis and his amazing, jam packed second half of Should You Start a Writing Business?

Take it away, Trav!

( > ^_^ ) >

Hi Folks,

Last week I talked broadly about the benefits of starting a business. This week, I'm going to get into specifics about the types of businesses and what they can do for you, the author. Specifically. There's a lot to talk about here, so let's get to-

Should You Start a Writing Business (Part 2)

But first, the disclaimers!

Disclaimer #1 - Because we live in America, this is intensely USA oriented information. I'm sorry if you're looking for business advice in another country.

Disclaimer #2 - I am not your legal counsel nor your qualified accountant. We do not have a client relationship. I'm telling you what I've found and heard so that you can go look into more and proper details. Don't tell the IRS "but Travis said so!" because they won't care. If you want to do anything I've talked about here, go sort it out with an actual accountant or lawyer or both.

The 6 Main Business Problems that Authors Face (that having a company can help solve...)

Should You Form a Writing Business?

Hi Folks,

Travis here again! Back in my popular Your Author Brand post, I mentioned talking about businesses, as in, should you form a company as a writer? Judging by the comments, this is a very widely desired topic, so that's what we're going to talk about today. I'm sorry it took so long, but this is a massive topic and I had to do a lot of research.

I'm sure ya'll always hear that you should treat your writing like a business. This time I'm going to talk about the literal version of that statement - making your writing into a formal company.

Disclaimer #1 - Because we live in America, this is intensely USA oriented information. I'm sorry if you're looking for business advice in another country.

Disclaimer #2 - I am not your legal counsel nor your qualified accountant. We do not have a client relationship. I'm telling you what I've found and heard so that you can go look into more and proper details. Don't tell the IRS "but Travis said so!" because they won't care. If you want to do anything I've talked about here, go sort it out with an actual accountant or lawyer!

Now that's out of the way...

Should You Form a Writing Business?

The title is a question, and rightfully so. This is not a black and white choice. There are many benefits to starting a company, but there's a lot of drawbacks, too. Success as a writer is not dependent upon creating a fancy business. There are decades of successful writers who never formally created a company for writing. Honestly, this very question is relatively new on the scene thanks to the self-pub revolution.

So should you start a business? Well, that depends on a lot of factors, and the one we're going to start with is income. There are three types of author income, and which kind you make will completely change the landscape of whether or not forming a business is right for you.