Alicen Scott's Blog

My last update was after my surgery in August of last year. For those who follow me on social media, you know a lot has happened since then. I’ve had another surgery, started a bunch of new projects, and gotten back into therapy. Two emergency surgeries and a new diagnosis I will talk about later was not how I planned to spend the last year, especially during a pandemic, but alas that’s what happened.

The Mythical Universe is something I haven’t thought about much lately, but book three is about 60% finished. Book four has been started, as well as a few other novellas for different characters. I am going to finish this series, but I am also happy to introduce to you the new projects I’ve started. One of the biggest projects that has taken up the last year is my memoir. It is now complete and I have moved on to working on it’s cover and preparing it to be published next year.

I’m really looking forward to introducing you all to more of my story and who I am beyond the author. Keep an eye out on my blog for more posts. I’m working on posting here more regularly now that my health has stabilized into something more manageable.

Alicen

Yesterday was my emergency bladder surgery. Things did not go as planned, because it’s me and things never go as planned.

Only half of the surgery was able to be done as planned. There was simply too much scar tissue for her to finish with her plan. So I was sent home with multiple tubes coming out of multiple parts of my body, and zero idea of when they’ll be removed, which I am LIVID about. I understand things didn’t go as planned, but I’ve now been left with limited, unsafe mobility and no way to bathe even though I’m still covered in iodine. She had an emergency immediately after my surgery so I wasn’t even able to talk to her about what went wrong and now it’s the weekend so I won’t get any information until Monday at the earliest. The discharge paperwork was mostly empty (It didn’t even have my name on it) so other than an abundance of scar tissue being found I know nothing about the surgery or when I’m supposed to follow up with her. I will be calling Monday regardless.

I will say, the staff I dealt with yesterday was primarily good. They handled my PTSD to the best of their ability and made everything I asked for happen the way I needed to. It’s just the aftercare I’m concerned with.

I’m currently taking a social media break and all of my writing projects are on hold until I deal with this. Writing this is just easier than explaining it repeatedly.

Alicen

Those of you who follow me on social media have no doubt seen my ER visits over the weekend.

For those that haven’t seen anything, long story short, I ended up in the ER Friday night and last night (Sunday) as well. I’ve gotten a ton of messages asking if I’m okay and what happened so here’s a brief explanation of the details I’m comfortable sharing.

Wednesday I saw my doctor for a kidney infection. I was prescribed an antibiotic and told if it wasn’t better by Friday to go to the ER. So, Friday when things hadn’t improved, I went to the ER. That night the ER doctor debated sending me to a bigger hospital, but decided against it because of COVID-19. If that’s confusing for you, remember I have Spina Bifida and my body functions differently than most. This infection progressed quickly and effectively left me unable to urinate. He was able to catherize me and wanted me to give the antibiotic a little more time, but ultimately when you can’t pee you don’t drink and if you don’t drink anything you can’t flush out the infection even if the antibiotic is working.

Sunday things still hadn’t improved so I went back. They changed my antibiotic and suggested I see a urologist. The nurse admitted under normal circumstances I would be admitted, but with COVID-19, they were trying not to admit anyone who doesn’t have it unless there was no other option. They sent me home with an order to call my doctor first thing today.

This morning, I called my doctor and made an appointment for tomorrow and I’ll get a referral to a urologist then.

Now as someone with Spina Bifida, why don’t I already have a urologist? Because finding a urologist who accepts my insurance (Medicaid) is nearly impossible. I’ve been searching for one for three years (since I moved here) and didn’t locate one until Friday morning. There is still no guarantee this urologist will know anything about Spina Bifida or the surgeries I had as a child, but right now she is my only option.

There are urologists who specialize in Spina Bifida at the big hospital in downtown Nashville, (Vanderbilt) but they don’t accept my insurance, so getting in to see them is impossible. Yeah, that’s just as fucked up as it sounds. Most people with Spina Bifida rely on Medicaid for their insurance and the specialists quit accepting it for anyone over the age of 19. So us adults are screwed unless we’re lucky enough to find a semi-knowledgable doctor somewhere else.

So for now my focus is on my health and getting rid of this infection instead of promo and working on book three. But The Showdown is available now and I would love it if you checked it out even though I don’t have the energy to talk about it right now. Chronic illness life is fun, eh?

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Alicen

The Showdown is officially out! You can check it out here.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some excerpts and some videos that were created with the help of my narrator, Cassie. Lots of goodies coming for The Showdown and then a big announcement after that on something else I’m working on! It never ends.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy The Showdown. I already have book three mapped out and started. I just have to finish writing it. Book three will be the end of Tyler and Aria’s story, but don’t worry they will continue to be a part of the rest of the series! I’m not going to stop until this series is told in it’s entirety, even if I work on other projects along the way. The Mythical Universe is still set to be more than 20 books. There’s so much coming I am so excited to share with everyone.

That’s all I’ve got for now.

Alicen

There’s been a lot of talk about privilege in our society lately. Whether it’s abled vs disabled, rich vs poor, etc. it’s undeniable certain groups of people have access to things others do not.

A few months ago, I stumbled onto a conversation between several very famous authors on Twitter. No I won’t name anyone, but as I watched, they blantantly disrespected a large portion of their fanbases without any kind of remorse. They were talking about how they don’t want their books sold in second hand stores because they can’t make money off of the sales.

As someone who has exclusively had to buy books in second hand stores (Except for the 4 times I was required to buy new books at signings, which is also ridiculous but I digress.) I was LIVID but I kept my mouth shut and just watched the conversation. They went on to talk about how they wished they could ban that practice and sell their books exclusively, brand new, to their fans. One of them said one of her fans said she couldn’t afford to buy books new every time this author put one out. Then she laughed…at…her…fan.

Now as an author myself, I get it, we’re all in this to make money. But as a fan, and someone who grew up dirt poor, I understand not everyone can afford to buy new books. I’ve been discussing ways with my team to get my books INTO libraries, used bookstores and other second-hand stores so that people who cannot afford to buy my books new will still have access to them. My accessibility efforts are not just for people with disabilities.

As a fan of many of these authors, I was absolutely disgusted by their behavior. But, they’re hardly alone in their thoughts. There is an unspoken rule in the writing community on social media that you have to write a certain way, edit a certain way, have certain covers etc or your book isn’t good enough for them to even acknowledge you. If they do acknowledge you, it’s to tell you what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Which usually means dishing out several hundred if not thousands of dollars.

You are expected to pay an editor. You are expected to buy a cover with a sexy person on it. You are expected to have the money to market your book. A lot of review blogs won’t even consider indie books and the major ones charge outrageous prices. One I saw wanted $300 for a single review. That’s almost half my entire montly income. But you need reviews to sell books. You are expected to have a newsletter, which requires you (legally) to have an address to put on the bottom of it. If you don’t want to use your home address (And who does? That’s dangerous as fuck) it’s gonna cost you more money to get a PO Box. After months of being pressured into it I found a free newsletter site that allows me to use their address instead of having to buy one. That’s the only reason I started a newsletter recently.

It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are or how good your story is, if you do not do these things they will ignore your existence or completely shit on you. You are not good enough regardless.

All of those expectations leave people like me believing we aren’t worthy of becoming authors. Every single day I question whether or not I can do this. Every DM that starts out with, “I loved your book but…” or, “You’re an amazing writer but…” leaves me questioning, am I an amazing writer or are you kissing my ass? Did you really like my book or are you just trying to soften the blow of the next half of your sentence?

Lately I’ve gotten DMs from people with these statements where the second half of those sentences points to some flaw in my book  and ends in some form of “but I have a service to fix that.” I completely ignore those messages FYI. If you’re telling me what I should fix about my book just to try to make a buck off of me, it won’t work.

Now I will say it’s not like this in every circle of people I’ve encountered, but it is like this in too many circles I’ve encountered. Yeah, every book out there isn’t for every person and there have definitely been books I’ve read that could have been improved on, whether it was the writing capability of the author or their editing. In those instances, I either kept my mouth shut or tried to politely tell the author (A lot of times I offered to help them too. WITHOUT charging them.) what needed to be fixed. Even when I did reviews for indie authors several years ago, I would mention if I saw errors, but also talk about the good parts of the book. I see a lot of people lately making very rude comments about things they don’t like and I have to ask myself why. Tearing others down to make yourself feel better is a shit thing to do. We should all be in this together, but once again, we’re not.

I didn’t do any of the things expected of me and definitely don’t have the money to spend on some huge marketing campaign. In fact, I purposely avoided putting faces on my books and had them designed the way I wanted them to look. But people like my books. I get way more compliments than complaints.

I’ve made no secret of how hard I’ve worked on my books. I’ve done everything but my covers and my audiobook myself. Are there errors in my books? Yeah probably, but you’d be hard pressed to find a traditionally published book on the shelf today without at least one error in it. Errors happen and we shouldn’t be shunned for not being perfect. When I find an error or I’m told about one, I fix it. That’s all I can do. I’m not perfect and I’m not going to pretend to be. None of us is perfect, so why are we working so hard to be something we’re not?

I’m disabled, my brain is literally falling out of my skull, I’m working my ass off and you want money out of me because a comma is in the wrong place? Fuck off.

I broke every “rule” possible with my series, but people like what I wrote and that’s what’s important to me. I may not ever be on a best sellers list. I’m okay with that. I write because I love to tell the stories turning around in my head, not for the acceptance of anyone else. If I wanted acceptance, I wouldn’t write blogs like these. I’d kiss ass instead, but in the words of Aria, “I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut.”

If you’re reading this as an aspiring author (or creator in any form) and you’re scared because you can’t afford to do the things expected of you, I have two things to say to you.

One: Master your craft. You can do it and if someone says you can’t fuck em.

Two: If you need a beta reader or advice on your writing (or other creative things) find me on social media and reach out. I will do my best to help you, but I will not do it for you. The only way you’ll learn is by doing it yourself.

It’s been 30 years since the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) became law in the US. Since then, some things have changed, but too many things remain the same.

I was five years old when the ADA passed. I remember my first thought was, “Does this mean I’m going to get to see what the post office looks like?” Now, how fucked up is that? To this day I have not seen the inside of the post office in the town I grew up in. When I moved from Louisiana to Texas in 2006, they still didn’t have an accessible entrance.

Why not?

People constantly find ways around the law.

Older buildings are exempt.

Employers will say a disabled applicant isn’t “the right fit” instead of hiring them even though they are qualified. This is all it takes to get them around the anti-discrimination law.

Employers will declare accommodations as “unreasonable” just because they don’t want to do it. If COVID-19 has taught the disabled community anything, it’s that many of our requests were possible, they were just refused. It’s also taught us how many people view us as disposable, but I digress.

Some buildings have “temporary ramps” if you ask for them… but to ask them you have to get inside the building. When the owner of the building is asked they’ll say no one ever asks for the ramp. See the problem here?

Bathrooms are still too small to fit a wheelchair in most places. Or it doubles as a changing station so I have to deal with the faulty changing table falling on my head while I’m trying to transfer to pee. Because those things rarely stay upright the way they’re supposed to.

How do they get away with this? First of all, they know the laws and how to get around them. Secondly, most disabled people are poor and cannot sue. We are kept poor by the laws that are presented as helping us. The SSI laws are a good example of this.

Attitudes in academic settings are still that people with disabilities are not worthy. Often times our requests for accommodations are ignored or even mocked by professors, college staff, and even the disability services offices themselves. My first time in college I had a disability advocate argue with me over the placement of a ramp. She kept insisting it was there. I knew it wasn’t, so I brought her to the area where she said there was a ramp. It wasn’t there and she stormed off without even an apology.

Accessible apartments are rented to people who don’t need them. So when someone does need them, we can’t get them. It’s bad enough apartment complexes are only required to make 5% of their apartments accessible (20-25% of the population is estimated to have a disability), but when they only have 2-3 accessible units and they’re all taken by abled people. Where does that leave us? Homeless. That leaves us homeless or in housing that isn’t safe for us. Some of us, like me, can manage in a regular apartment. But some of us can’t and the point is, shouldn’t have to. This is why 40% of the homeless population is estimated to be people with disabilities.

My first apartment on the surface seemed to understand accessibility and want to help me, but when they put a cement curb ramp up for me and then someone stepped on it before it was dry and flattened it they refused to fix it. So for the eight years I lived there, I required assistance to leave my apartment because the ramp wasn’t safe. It was more like a small step than a ramp. That doesn’t even include the times they almost killed me by not taking my latex allergy seriously. They had a note from my doctor about it, which they ignored nine times out of ten. The service dog I had at the time is the only reason I survived that apartment experience. Her alerts got me out of there before my lungs shut down entirely.

Disability does not care what color your skin is, how much money you have, what your gender is, who you love etc. It can affect anyone at any time, and yet when other minorities fight for their rights the disabled people within those groups are forgotten. People chant “marriage equality” while disabled people cannot marry without losing their income. People protest police brutality, yet don’t mention 50% of people brutalized by police have some form of disability. Ramps, sign language interpreters, braille etc are often forgotten at events labeled inclusive.

For someone like me who fits into multiple minorities, that means often times I can’t go to events to support minorities that I also fall into. There are events happening all around the world right now to protest the injustices people are dealing with and I by no means want to minimize what is happening because it is horrible. I just wish I could be out there too. Because I want to be. I want to stand with everyone and say I’m here and add my voice too. But I can’t.

One of my favorite disability advocates, Imani Barbarin, recently said something along the lines of (forgive me, Imani, I don’t remember the exact quote) I’m black AND disabled, don’t make me choose just one. Those words resonated with me so much because for most of my life I’ve had to choose am I LGBTQ+ or am I disabled? Am I Latina or am I disabled? I’m both. I have been and will always be both. But most people view me as just disabled. The rest gets shoved aside because all they see is the wheelchair and the changes they’ll have to make to give me a seat at the table because their “inclusive” table doesn’t include me as anything other than an afterthought.

I’ve also recently seen disability advocates being pushed out of articles about the 30th anniversary of the ADA becoming law when their voices weren’t inspirational enough. If that doesn’t sum up the view on the ADA clearly I don’t know what does. Reporters want our opinions until our opinions don’t fit their narratives and then we’re seen as ungrateful when we say, “do better, this isn’t good enough.” Well, you know what? 30 years later, this isn’t good enough. DO BETTER. Am I grateful for the things that have changed? Absolutely, but I have zero doubt society could do better if they really wanted to. The problem is everyone thinks, “that’ll never happen to me” and they treat disability as something that only happens to other people. People they would rather pity, than help.

I see it every day on my social media when I share a story by a disabled advocate or one of my own disability stories, I lose followers or it gets largely ignored because they don’t want to acknowledge it. But if I post about another topic I advocate about like BLM or animal cruelty people jump on it. I may not say anything, but I see each and every one of you when you preach about being inclusive and ignore disability.

Maybe one day the disability community’s fight for our rights will take center stage. I hope, when that day comes, you will stand beside me the way that I’ve wanted so desperately to be beside you for all these years. Because when that day comes, I will do my damnest to make sure it is as inclusive for you as it’s never been for me.

It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve written on any of the books I’m currently working on. In fact, these words are the first I’ve written since June 25th.

One of the things I struggle with most in my little corner of public life is the balance between being authentic and being too much for most people. I know from past experience, most people do not know how to handle my disabilities and mental illnesses, so I hide the symptoms of them, most of the time. Today I want to talk about one of my mental illnesses and the symptoms that go along with it.

I haven’t been able to write in weeks because my neighbors started popping fireworks two weeks before the 4th of July and didn’t stop until two days ago. I have C-PTSD, and while I didn’t develop it from the sound of gunfire or war around me like a lot of veterans do, that doesn’t mean I’m not affected by loud noises.

C-PTSD is a more severe form of PTSD. Most people with PTSD have one or two traumatic experiences that caused their diagnosis and symptoms. The therapist that diagnosed me after years and years of misdiagnoses estimated I have over one hundred. Living with C-PTSD means I am always on edge, always waiting for the next thing to happen. Mine developed before I was a year old, so for me, there is no before and after. I have no memory other than living this way.

I’m not writing this for sympathy, so please save your “I’m sorry’s”. I don’t need them. I’ll be okay and I know that. Why am I writing this? Because I’m so tired of hiding these symptoms. If I lose fans then so be it.

I knew this trigger was coming. It happens twice a year, around the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve. Where I live fireworks are legal, so people start setting them off weeks in advance. So instead of dealing with them for a couple of days, I can have to deal with them for up to a month. It’ll pass, but it’s hell on earth until it does.

What’s it like? Every time I hear fireworks, I jump from the sound, adrenaline shoots through my body and my brain starts playing back images of my life. I lose track of time and my current location. Sometimes I lose track of my age too. This isn’t just a symptom when I hear fireworks, it is one of my most common symptoms of C-PTSD and something I experience quite frequently. Fireworks are just the trigger I’ve chosen as they are fresh in my mind. Triggers don’t have to be a sound. They can be a word, a feeling, a smell, a location or even just a feeling.

Even after the initial trigger is gone, the symptoms take several days to completely fade. Every time I’m triggered again, the cycle continues. Over and over until I have a trigger free day, when I finally get a reprieve.

Years of therapy have taught me how to pull myself out of that state of mind, but when the trigger doesn’t end for weeks it can cause me to bounce around like a ping pong ball. One minute I’m okay, the next I’m not.

I’ve been struggling to put together this blog for about a week. Every time I started to write it my anger would take over because I was still triggered and that was not the kind of blog I wanted to present. I want to be honest about my symptoms, and anger is a big one when I’m in a triggered state, but I don’t want that to bleed over into my writing. So while I will mention it is a symptom, I will also do my best to keep it from coming out publicly.

So that’s why I haven’t been able to write lately. That’s the reality of my life right now.

This is me being authentic with all of you.

Life is hard, but we get back up and we keep going. Giving up is not an option.

Alicen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a minute since I sat down to write a blog.

Things have been happening quickly lately and it’s been a little overwhelming if I’m honest.

I currently have four, yes four, books in production. The Showdown is complete and in the hands of my narrator. It is set for release on August 15th. You can preorder it here.

I released an excerpt from it you can find here.

And because I know some of you haven’t read The Beginning yet, you can find it here.

I’ve started writing book 3 of The Mythical Universe, it will be the final book of Aria and Tyler’s story, but they will still be a big part of the rest of the series. I haven’t nailed down exactly what order the rest of the books I’m working on will be released, there are two novellas and the beginning to the next three-book series within this series that I am currently working on. Getting ahead with my writing has become an important part of my writing process. It’s so much less stress when I have a flare and I don’t feel like I have a deadline looming over me. My self-care completely faltered writing The Showdown, I pushed myself to get it done on some imaginary deadline and that’s not a mistake I want to make again.

My health has been stable lately and I’m taking the opportunity to write as much as I can. I spend probably 10-12 hours a day working on something related to one of my books or social media. As has been said by multiple people since I started this journey, I’m taking it seriously and I want this series to become something. I’m never going to be one of those people who half-ass works on something and then complains when it doesn’t work out. Every book I write will be my best effort, and I know it won’t always be liked by everyone. I’m okay with that as long as I know I stayed true to my characters and did the best I could.

If you follow me on Twitter then you know my advocacy side has been very vocal lately. There are so many things in the world I feel passionate about and I refuse to stay silent about them.

I’ve also been making time to read. I feel horribly behind on almost every popular YA book released in the last ten years. Currently, I’m on book 2 of The Immortals by Alyson Noel. Earlier this year I finally read the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead and I loved it! The Morganville Vampires is next on my list. Even though I don’t write much about vampires, I do enjoy reading about them. Yes, I am aware of the new Stephenie Meyer book, and yes, I am excited about it. I also want to read The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer soon. I am SO far behind!!!

 

That’s all for now,

 

Alicen

 

The Beginning
The Mythical Universe Book 1
by Alicen Scott
Genre: New Adult Fantasy, Paranormal Romance



Fresh out of an abusive relationship, Aria moves in with her twin brother, Alex, ready for a new start. He offers her a job working with him as a paranormal investigator, which she reluctantly agrees to. Aria is a skeptic of anything she cannot see with her eyes. Alex, on the other hand, has always been a believer in anything and everything paranormal. When Aria and Alex go to California to help investigate a large building where strange things are happening, she has no idea how her world is going to be turned upside down. When they arrive, she meets Tyler, one of the biggest mysteries she never saw coming. He’s a tall and sexy man, but her attraction to him is more than that. She can’t explain why she can feel the energy pulsing from him. During the investigation, things start to unfold and very quickly, Aria comes to realize she isn’t who she thought she was. She may not even be human. Together with Tyler and Alex, she goes on a pursuit to find out the truth. Traveling through planets and dimensions, meeting creatures she only thought existed in fantasy stories, she will have to question everything she ever believed. When she finds out the truth what will that mean for her and Alex? And what about Tyler? How does he fit in with all of this? The Mythical Universe: The Beginning is an action-packed story full of time traveling, hybrids, aliens, vampires, fairies and so much more.

18+ for mild sexual situations and language.

Ends in a major cliffhanger leading into book 2.

Add to Goodreads
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The Showdown
The Mythical Universe Book 2



Aria knows everything she never believed in is real and she’s a part of that world now. Without Alex or Eugenia to help her, she must face down Ekon and get a grasp on her own abilities, her need for vengeance and her crown before they destroy her.

Goodreads * Amazon

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Excerpts:

“Can we talk for a second?” His voice is cautious; the edge to his tone catches me by surprise.

“Mmm-hmm,” I bite my lip pondering what he wants to talk about. I look over his shoulder and see Alex watching us. When he sees me looking, he winks.

“About last night, I’m sorry I freaked out on you.”

I shrug, “I just wondered what I saw.”

“Alex told me I can trust you.”

I look into Tyler’s eyes and see unexpected vulnerability. He’s struggling with something.

“You can,” I murmur.

“I don’t really have a choice now,” he sighs exasperated.

—————————————————

“I may be your future Queen, but Alex is a part my family and he will be respected. Oh and those people you call maids, those are called slaves to the rest of us and it’s not okay to make people work against their will even if they have lost a war you unfairly started with them.”

“First thing you need to learn is to keep your mouth shut and respect your elders,” Ekon mutters, “I see why Eric treated you the way he did. I’m done.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin, throws it on the table and walks away.

 “I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut,” I mutter to his back. I notice his fists clench and release but he says nothing else. 

—————————

I back away from him slowly, “Ekon… you…”

“Planned this since the beginning? Yes, I did. Who do you think has been poisoning you? It wasn’t one of your guards or your maids. It was me,” his smile says he’s proud of himself. “Convincing you to get rid of Calista was easy enough. When you started trying to create a new heir, they were effortless to eliminate. They didn’t suffer. I always kill my victims quickly. Well, except for you. It has been quite enjoyable watching you writhe for all these years. Somehow you managed to sneak Aria and Alexsei past me.”

“Oh…” I clutch my throat.   

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Alicen was born in the deep south. Growing up as a disabled, opinionated, female in that environment was difficult for her. She developed C-PTSD before she was a year old, but she wouldn’t be diagnosed until she was in her thirties.

Her love of writing didn’t develop until she was in her twenties, but once it did it took off at full speed. Since then she’s run several blogs, done book reviews for indie authors and started working on both her autobiography and her first New Adult fantasy book collection, The Mythical Universe.

She’s choosing to self publish her novels and her autobiography because she wants to keep control over her work and her image. Alicen wants her stories told in her voice. So much of her life was chosen for her by others, she won’t let it happen again.

When she’s not writing, Alicen enjoys advocating for the LGBT+ community and the disabled, hanging out with her friends and partner and spending time with her two cats, Dittle and Odie.

Her story may be one of triumph, but she refuses to become just another disabled person labeled as inspirational for pursuing her dreams. Staying true to herself is what’s most important to her throughout this process. While self publishing may be more difficult, Alicen has never done things the easy way.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads




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I’ve recently become active in the author community on Twitter and every time I talk about my audiobook (which was completed on the same day I’m writing this post!) the response I get is either audiobooks are too expensive to make or not important. Both of those assumptions are wrong. Here’s why:

My audiobook was made with zero money given by me. Audible (who is not paying me for this post, but they really should lol) has a program called Royalty Share where instead of putting the money upfront for your audiobook, you share what royalties you make with the narrator you hire. You can hold auditions until you find someone you feel will do your book justice. You have the opportunity to talk to your narrator and be involved in every step of the recording process. When it’s finished your audiobook will be available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. If you’re as lucky as I was, you’ll find the perfect narrator quickly and they’ll agree to do your entire series for you.

Now, why are audiobooks important? Because not only are they convenient for anyone who doesn’t have the time to sit down and read, they are the only way a lot of vision impaired people experience books at all.

This is why my books will always have a large print version (which took me all of ten minutes to create and cost me nothing) and an audiobook on top of a kindle version and a regular print version. I want as many people as possible to be able to experience my work and, whenever possible, I will make the accommodations that need to be made to do that and you should too. After all, more sales equal more money in your pocket, even if you are sharing it with your narrator. Isn’t getting your book in the hands of as many people as possible the point?

These kinds of accommodations cost you nothing and open the world you created to an entirely new group of people you wouldn’t otherwise reach. Why wouldn’t you want that?