Books Published in 2025

 As an author, I know how important it is to keep having new books published in order to keep readers interested in my books. Fortunately this year, in spite of only having a few books released, I have managed to keep that interest with each book’s publication. Promotion of the books has gone well; there have been many likes, shares, and comments from people saying they bought or will buy the book. I am very relieved and extremely grateful to everyone who has stayed interested in my books. THANK YOU!

 

And thank you for your continued support in spite of this low level of production this year. I was supposed to have three other books released this year – two short story collections and a children’s book – but that didn’t happen. This was not because of any laziness or neglect on my part; that is just how it happened. Hopefully, all three of these books will be published in the new year. One of my self-published children’s books will be republished through the new division of Twisted Dreams Press in January, and another children’s book, the second one in this series, is scheduled for a January release. 

 

I had three books published this year, and all three of them were from the same publisher. (Thank you, Crystal!) I am VERY grateful that two of them especially did finally see publication; these two particular books were rejected many times for a number of years. So I was very happy to finally see Curse of the Blood Witch and Noiseless achieve the status of publication. They went through many rounds of revision over those years!

 

As to my other poetry book, 3 A.M. Poetry, it was written several years ago. I’d recently dug it out, typed ALL of those poems up (I wrote those poems during my notebook writing days!) and polished them. Then I asked my UK publisher if she was interested in the manuscript and she said yes, so I sent it off. These poems are a reflection of the kind of life I lived growing up, as well as from young adulthood, and it was very cathartic to go over these poems again, relive those memories, and get them into print. What a surprisingly healing experience that was!

 

There are quite a few books I have scheduled for publication next year, as well as many more to submit. I do know I should have more than three books published in 2026. And I start writing a brand-new nonfiction book in January. Stay tuned!

 

Here are my books that were published in 2025:

 

 

Curse of the Blood Witch

Kaya Morgan’s bad day gets worse after she is attacked by a vagrant who leaves a bite on her neck.

 

Her world is turned upside-down when she wakes up with a sensitivity to light and strange powers.

 

Soon she is caught up in a life of hungering for blood while also struggling to let go of everything that made her human.

 

Logan O’Boyle is a 300-year-old Irish vampire willing to guide Kaya on her journey, but once it is revealed that she is not just any vampire but one cursed by the blood of a woman who existed centuries ago.

 

Everything changes and Kaya must accept being a vampire or die.

 

Buy link

 

 

3 A.M. Poetry

Survivors of an abusive childhood know just how hard it can be to break free from their past.

 

Memories linger.

 

The anger remains. Trauma and nightmares sometimes take hold, pulling the survivor right back into the hellish world they escaped from. Add to this the mental health issues they must cope with, such as sleeping disorders, anxiety, panic disorder, suicide ideation, and depression. Then throw in addiction for good measure.

 

All of these elements can make life a living hell for anyone who has survived such trauma. It creates a nightmare that may never end. The poems in this book reflect battles the author has had to fight, then and now.

 

Some of these battles are an ongoing torment that could make the dangers of mental health disorders seem like a welcoming reprieve from the neverending torment they must learn to live with.

 

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Noiseless

Individuals living with deafness have existed for millennia, yet in today's world, we remain undervalued, misunderstood, discriminated against, stereotyped and underrepresented.

 

We constantly run into communication barriers, discrimination, ableism and misconceptions. For many of us in the Deaf community, we struggle with social isolation, finding it hard to fit in and be included in a world that prioritizes the ability to hear. The poems in “Noiseless” capture various aspects of what it's like to live with deafness.

 

These poems hope to show that deafness is not the tragedy which the hearing world claims it to be. Thanks to greater awareness of the Deaf community, Deaf culture, and Deaf-focused education, individuals who are deaf are at long last finally finding their place in the world, no matter what barriers remain.

 

We still have a long way to go, but together we can make society a more Deaf-friendly place to be.

 

Buy link

What makes a publisher legit?

Not too long ago, I noticed a comment from someone that just didn’t seem correct. This person was saying that if a publisher was not listed in Writer’s Market, then they are not a legitimate publisher. They are just someone using online technology. To me, this did not seem to be an altogether accurate way to decide if a publishing company is legitimate or not.

In the past, when I was working so hard to get my first book published, I talked with A LOT of editors and publishers at publishing companies. Some of them were not listed in Writer’s Market, and when I asked why, some responses were that the folks working on the book rejected their application or just failed to include them for some reason or another.

At the same time, getting listed in Writer’s Market does not guarantee an author that he or she has found a reputable, legitimate publisher. The very first publisher I had a book published with (Northwest Publishing, Inc.) turned out to be a scammer. And guess where I found them? Writer’s Market!

Still, I was curious about this comment. It just didn’t seem accurate to me. So I emailed Angela Hoy at WritersWeekly (and Booklocker) about this to get her comment. This is what she had to say:

“Getting listed in Writer's Market is voluntary and some publishers choose not to complete their form because they don't want to keep adding to their slush pile (and/or because they only work with high-profile literary agents and they don't want to receive submissions directly from authors). Some publishers are simply too busy to complete the Writer’s Market questionnaire and others may not accept submissions at all, instead choosing to target potential authors directly for specialized titles.

There are also numerous smaller trade publishers that Writer’s Market may not know about, or that they may not have email info for. Just because a publisher is small, or is in a highly specialized niche, or simply chooses not to be listed does not mean they're not a ‘real’ publisher.

She is absolutely incorrect in her assumption.”

That makes sense. Thank you, Angela, for your feedback on my question.

Bottom line: Don’t use a book such as Writer’s Market to judge whether a publishing company is legit or not. Remember, Writer's Market is a listing of book publishers; it should never act as a guide on what publishers are legit or not. There are other factors to look for to tell if a publisher is legit, such as what their contract looks like, what their other authors are saying about them, if there are reports or warnings about them online and if their books are available in stores.

If you want to read some good pointers on how to tell if a publisher is legit, go to these sites:

Legit publishers for new authors

Finding Legitimate Publishers

Sussing Out Legitimate Publishers

When will people stop demonizing POD publishing?

Recently, a writer friend shared a link to this article.

I wanted to share some comments on that article:

1. Print on demand (POD) publishing and self-publishing are NOT the same thing.

2. There are POD publishers that will not charge you to promote the books. One POD publisher does zero promotion for my book. On the other hand, an independent press which uses POD technology to publish print books, promotes my books like there is no tomorrow. You just gotta find the right people and I did with Gypsy Shadow Publishing (the independent press).

3. I agree, self-publishing IS expensive. Pretty much the big reason why I won't go there anymore. You need to pay thousands in total to get a business name, set up your web site, get your book edited, hire a cover designer, hire a proofreader, etc., etc. What's interesting is that I have found POD publishing as well as indie publishing to be A LOT less expensive. And self published authors get more respect than POD authors. Go figure!

Finally, I felt that this comment was really unfair:

"Today, the economics of the POD business model allows for more low-volume specialty and niche publishers to exist, but it also allows for the existence of the pseudo author mills, publishers that seem very much like normal small presses at first glance, with owners who genuinely care and do not set out to scam authors. Yet, in the end, these POD-reliant publishers can't offer you much more than the typical author mill."

Oh, really? And has the author of this article done her homework with every single press out there using POD technology to back up such a claim? Gypsy Shadow Publishing, which uses POD technology, does promote their authors – without charge. They have also provided FREE cover art, FREE editing, FREE promotion and a nice personalized page on the company site. All of the POD-reliant presses out there are not "pseudo author mills" and can actually offer their authors a fair deal.

Additionally, some POD publishers, as well as the indies, cannot be labeled as “author mills” because they do not publish everything sent to them. There are gatekeepers out there. They may accept or reject a submission, but this is not true of every POD publisher.

I have been published by traditional publishers, independent publishers (one of which does not charge for publication), and a POD publisher. I have also gone the self-publishing route, but that one failed miserably because I was not very handy with cover design, layout, typesetting and design. That stuff is a HUGE headache which, thankfully, I don't have to worry about with POD or the independent press. Also, my indie publishers have created AMAZING cover art, got the EAN barcodes for my books, ISBNs and CPNs. And they edited my books for free. I didn't pay a penny to them for cover art or editing, and GSP is using POD technology to print their books. Until I signed on with Great Minds Think Aloud Publishing, an independent press that DOES NOT charge authors, my other traditional publishers really haven't even tried to promote my books; one of them even shut down. (I have not had to pay a penny to Great Minds Think Aloud for cover design or editing, either.) So I have had better experiences with independent publishers. But like I said, if you want to go with POD (and Booklocker is the only POD publisher I have had a book published with), you gotta find the right fit for you and your book.

If I waited to get a contract with a traditional press for all of my books, I'd be waiting until I was an old lady. I have had two literary agents and both of them ended up doing a lousy job, so I have no interest in trying to find a third literary agent.

Also, the article notes how authors who go the self-publishing route will need to put in a lot of legwork for promotion, creating press kits and other advertisements. Well, guess what? This is true no matter who you publish your book with – traditional, self, vanity, POD. This is true because, nowadays, a lot of traditional publishers won't bother to put the money and time into promoting a new author UNLESS and only UNLESS that author is a celebrity. These days, authors have to do the bulk of promotion for their books, especially new authors. That includes scheduling a reading and creating their own web site. (Some indie publishers will create a site for authors free of charge.)

Here is another truth: Not all POD publishers out there are churning out books just for the sake of having MORE books. They are not interested in getting money from authors thanks to what an author is willing to pay to get into print. These POD publishers actually reject submissions. The one POD publisher I have signed with (Booklocker) carefully goes through submissions. They don’t just publish anything. I am saying this because a lot of people assume that the books published by a POD press are unedited, unprofessional and of very poor quality. Not so with Booklocker; they DO care about what books they will publish. The same goes of the indie presses, including the indie presses that use POD technology.

I have shared this article and the comments with Charlotte Holley, CEO of Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC. Here is her response:

“Most indie publishers use POD because that's the only way it's affordable for them to play the game. Mega publishing companies are going broke on the "traditional" publishing game, and several of the big guys are also utilizing POD now. Macmillan comes to mind, and there are others.

Some people like to cling to the past and cut down the innovators in the business, but the facts are incredibly in favor of using POD printers for all print books. POD is the GREEN solution for print books. In the past, publishing houses did huge first runs of 50,000 books of each title . . . (some more and some less, but you get the point). Most new authors won't sell more than a few thousand copies (and that's being very generous, believe me!), so what happened to the other 45,000 copies? Destroyed! All those trees up in smoke, which is just as tragic as the wildfires that spread across the country this time of year--more tragic, really. Millions of trees literally gave their "all" for those books that few people ever got to see. What a waste!

What else? Warehousing costs were a huge expense because all those thousands of books had to be stored somewhere until they were trashed. Returns (we recently got a taste of that!) ate into profits and caused publishers to become even more unapproachable for a novice author, or even a seasoned author who may have had a run of low sales. And what about those authors? They were often released from their contracts (read that as dumped) and sent packing. The next book they submitted was at least twice as hard to sell. It's often as hard for a seasoned author to sell a book to a trad publisher as it is a first-time author. I'd say roughly 50-75% of the literate (and some NOT so literate) adults in the world are aspiring authors. For every manuscript we accept right now, we probably get another 5-10 we can't accept, and the number grows all the time. The competition for an audience has never been greater, and at a time when fewer high school grads are literate . . . reading is in danger of becoming defunct. (What the kids are writing and reading is cyber slang that's almost not recognizable, except by the cyber-savvy of us who bother to keep up with the times!)

eBook and POD publishing make sense now more than ever, and for thousands of authors, it's the best opportunity they're ever going to get to make their dreams of being published come true. Times change. Businesses that don't change or adapt are doomed to go down the tubes, whether they are large trad publishers or small presses. Everything out there is subject to the same laws of obsolescence. Everything!”

I have nothing against people who want to go with traditional publishing or get agents. That is all fine and dandy for them. And I’m not against landing a contract with a traditional publisher myself, either. But please don't look down on anyone who uses POD or start bashing POD publishing. Just like the self-published authors out there, we POD and indie authors deserve a chance.

The virtual editing session

Virtual meetings are not new to me. In the past, I've blogged about successfully attending a teleconference that was very deaf-friendly, as well as "meeting" online with editors via private chat rooms. As it is, I'll occasionally chat with my editor of Spook City (when she has that time to chat, that is). I'm not as big about chatting online as I used to be, but business is business, and when it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Because of my deafness, it's pretty much the most commonly preferred alternative to a phone conversation.

Yet recently, I was a part of an editing session that everyone, deaf and hearing, participates in for this publisher: Editing via Google Docs. I've never gone through the editing stages of a book this way, or even had the chance to actually "see" what changes are being made. Usually, manuscripts are edited sight unseen, then sent back to me via email to go over. If I have any comments or request any changes, all of that is discussed via email. It's not done as though the two (or three) of us are in one virtual "conference room."

This time, however, I was in that virtual conference room, watching as sentences were being deleted, notes were being made about something that needed to be double-checked, and portions of the manuscript were changed around. It was all right there for the viewing -- as well as for the discussion between myself and the editor. For example, the editor indicated one sentence that was not clear to her, so we had a discussion about that while the page was right in front of both of us.

It was an interesting experience. I can't say I prefer to go through the edits this way, however. True, it's convenient in that we can talk about things an editor would want me to check up on or discuss moving something elsewhere, but I prefer the same old method I've participated in before. The "virtual editing sessions" are nice, but painstakingly slow. The editor has to stop editing to check in with me on things, instead of making notes in that part of the manuscript then proceeding with the edits. Also, it's dependent on how much time I can invest in participating. With two young children, my time to participate in these sessions is scarce. I grab that time when the kids are in school (though, as it is, the youngest only goes for a half-day two times a week), but even then, that's just not enough time to get the whole manuscript edited. The editor has more time than I do, and requiring me to be "present" for the edits of the manuscript just holds things up.

I'm still grateful for this experience, and it has definitely given me a lot to think about. I just prefer the other method of going through the edits of a manuscript because it just gets done faster.