Discussion

Dear Readers,

Happy April! You know how every month has a few different things to celebrate? (Fun fact: April is National Poetry Month, and coming up in May is National Pet Month. My dogs are looking forward to that.) Well, I recently found out that it’s Indie April, and this is one I look forward to making all the people around me celebrate--because Indie April is about supporting independent authors, like me!

Independent authors may not have the stamp of a major publishing house, but that doesn’t mean we’re not talented. And there’s a really good chance we’re writing something you’d want to read--are you looking for something that’s not mainstream popular? Talk to us. So even if you think celebratory months have gotten out of hand, Indie April is still a good one to think about.

So here’s three ideas to help you celebrate:

1. Check out all the awesome titles published by Inkshares. Off the top of my head, there’s A Gentleman’s Murder by Christopher Huang, which was one of my favorites last year; The Seclusion by Jacqui Castle, which is winning ALL the things. Some epic fantasy titles coming out this year that I can’t wait for: The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin and The Living God by Kaytalin Platt. AND SO MUCH MORE.

2. Leave a review! Most of the independent authors I know of live on reviews and coffee/tea. Reviews help our books get noticed more on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. (So if you liked The Fairy Stepmother Inc. and haven’t left an Amazon review yet... And a really enormous thank you to the people who have!)

3. Recommend us to your book club. Well, recommend us to anybody, really--anything that helps get our work out into different circles of people. I ran out of new people to talk to about my book a long, long time ago. That said, if you’re in a book club that might want to read a quirky fairy tale, I have a good recommendation.

Thanks to everyone here who’s supported me! I wouldn’t enjoy writing nearly as much if there weren’t people out there who would enjoy reading my stories.

As always, if you’ve got a question, or are having trouble getting your copy of my book onto the appropriate device, send me an email! I’m happy to help.

Happy Indie April!

Maggie

Rebecca L Bradsher · Reader · added over 5 years ago
Hmmm.
Maggie Hoyt · Author · added over 5 years ago
To my frustration, and I imagine the frustration of the poor customer service rep at Amazon, that was sadly not the issue.
Rebecca L Bradsher · Reader · added over 5 years ago
Regarding the emailing to Kindle, you have to whitelist the source email address *before* sending the file.  You can do this on the Manage Your Content and Devices page.  I don’t know if this was your problem, but it’s a required step. :)

Hey everyone!

Good news! If you backed The Fairy Stepmother Inc, your copy is available! If you ordered a physical book, you should have it, and if you ordered an e-reader copy, it should have arrived in your inbox today.

Now, I had a heck of a time getting my copy on my kindle, and the Amazon link Inkshares sent wasn’t the most helpful. So if you have a kindle and have never done this before, here’s my recommendation. If you don’t have a kindle, I’m sorry--I can’t give you advice. But I hope your Nook or Apple reader is more cooperative.

So, here you go. First of all, I strongly recommend visiting this page:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle

Amazon makes an app that will deliver the file to your kindle, and there are versions for PC, Mac, and Android devices. I have a PC, so I saved the file of my book on my PC, and I clicked on the Send to Kindle for PC link. Choose the link that matches your computer. It will let you download the app and tell you how to use it. 

You are supposed to be able to email files to your kindle, but I spent a good hour and a half trying to make this work with no success, so it doesn’t come with my personal seal of approval.

Last step: read the book! I really hope you enjoy it. If you do enjoy it, and you want to leave me a good review on Amazon or Goodreads, I would be very, very grateful. Thanks so much for your support--your preorders made this possible! And if you need more tech support, let me know and I’ll do my very best.

Maggie

Aldo Salt · Author · added over 5 years ago
Congrats, Maggie! You really earned that subversive fairytale ending!

Hi, readers!

Guess what? I have AWESOME news! The Fairy Stepmother Inc. has a release date. It’s...dun dun DUN...December 11th! That’s right, it’s really soon! And in time for the holidays!

Actually, if you ordered an ebook, it’s even sooner. Digital copies will be available on November 30th. There’s a good reason for this that really helps me. One of the best ways for my book to be seen on Amazon and other retailers is for it to get some good reviews. So if you ordered a digital copy, you’ll get it in time to read it and maybe leave me a good review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads. If you enjoy the book (and aren’t, like, my mom or dad--sorry, Mom and Dad), I would so, so appreciate some stars and some good words. If you’ve taken a chance on a book from Amazon, you probably know how reviews help you make a decision. I’d love to be one of the books that makes it into the "Other customers liked..." section.

This also means that it’s a SUPER APPROPRIATE time to make sure your mailing address is correct. Sign in on Inkshares with the email and password you used when you bought the book, and in the upper corner of the screen there should be a little circular icon with a picture. Click on that, and the dropdown menu should have a line that says mailing address. Unfortunately, I can’t look up what address you have on file, but if you have trouble, you can email hello@inkshares.com. Their customer service is super nice and super helpful.

You can still order copies if you’d like! Just pop over to 

https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-fairy-stepmother-inc-

And while you’re there, check out our official cover art! It’s shiny and pretty!

Thanks so much for your support. You’ve all made it possible for me to say I’m an author!

Best,

Maggie

Aldo Salt · Author · added over 5 years ago
Very interesting! I can’t wait to see what form this ’wicked fairy’ takes: will you be drawing from any special kinds of myth and folk tales outsider of the Grimm canon?
Maggie Hoyt · Author · added over 5 years ago
Hey, Aldo! Thanks for your kind words! I’m not planning on telling more stories from other characters’ perspectives, but I have started a sequel--Evelyn’s going to insert herself into plenty more fairy tales, so there will definitely be more side characters from various stories. You can look forward to a wicked "fairy" in the next book!
Aldo Salt · Author · added over 5 years ago
I just read the samples for "The Fairy Stepmother, Inc." and was blown away by the premise. This is the first fairy-tale story I’ve read from the perspective of a Stepmother/Godmother, and I immediately resonated with the main character’s struggle to do right by two very...very difficult princess daughters. Do you think you’ll ever write another story from the perspective of other kinds of ’background’ fairytale characters?

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