 I applaud Democratic state Sen. Bradford Blackmon (MS) today for introducing the 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act' as reported in Today in Politics, Bulletin 55. 1/23/25. This bill, with its amusing name, would make it illegal for a man to masturbate and discharge his genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo, with fines starting at $1,000. The bill points out the absurdity of controlling men's reproductive behaviors in the same manner as is being done for women.
Joking aside, there is an important point to be made about men's role in reproduction, as they are 50% of the pregnancy equation. Most of the legislation in effect or being proposed to limit abortions focuses solely on controlling and punishing women. The few women I know who sought abortions did so at the request of their partners, who refused to accept the financial burden and responsibilities of raising a child. We need more politicians willing to highlight the absurdity of some current and proposed laws and start addressing men's responsibilities for pregnancies and resulting births.
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 Reviewing my agreements with KDP, I realized I have a signed agreement forcing me to keep my ebooks exclusively with KDP until Feb 17, 2025. In light of this, I lowered the purchase price for the ebooks to as low as Amazon would allow. Once Feb 18 hits, I can distribute my ebooks through different markets. Until then, nothing prevents me from publishing my print books with whoever I choose, so I will work on getting that done. After reviewing my agreements with KDP, I realized that I have a signed contract requiring me to keep my ebooks exclusively with KDP until February 17, 2025. Given this situation, I have lowered the purchase price of my ebooks to the minimum allowed by Amazon. Once February 18 arrives, I will be able to distribute my ebooks through other markets. However, nothing prevents me from publishing my print books with any publisher I choose in the meantime, so I will focus on getting that done.
In light of the horrific changes in America that are coming fast and furious with this new administration in the White House, I am making some drastic changes in my writing life.
I have unpublished my novels with KDP and will remove them from Kindle Unlimited as of February 17, 2025. I will be searching for a more ethical publishing partner in 2025. I make no apologies for this abrupt decision, but I do regret any inconvenience this causes my fans and friends.  Things did not go well at the start of 2024. I was unable to walk without severe pain due to a tear in the meniscus of my right knee. I had meniscus repair surgery at the end of February but didn't fully recover from that surgery until well into November. While slowly healing, I opted out of much of what I had hoped to do in 2024. Even though I didn't visit with family and friends as much as I wanted to, I'm grateful for every moment I spent with them in 2024.
For many reasons, I don't expect 2025 to be any easy to get through, but I am determined to be true to my authentic self and make this New Year one of the best years I can possibly make it.  I have long wanted to make audiobooks for my novels. After listening through scores of narrator samples, I selected six to send a sample of "Knitting Up a Murder" to. After listening to all six read the sample, I found the perfect voice for Imogene. I contracted with a narrator that I loved. Unfortunately, after 20 months of that narrator dealing with medical problems, she quit, and the contract had to be canceled after only 8 chapters had been completed. I loved how the narrator read the first 8 chapters and felt she had captured Imogene's voice perfectly. It was heartbreaking, to be sure. Starting from scratch was daunting, but I wanted that audiobook.
Then, Amazon offered me a deal to beta-test AI narration. It was free, quick, and easy. That allowed me to have "Knitting Up a Murder" as an audiobook in just two weeks so those who want or need someone to do the reading can enjoy the book. While it isn't the best listening experience because AI can't do different voice inflections, I have ensured it is the best I could get for AI. Rest assured, I have not "sold out" to AI. When I have the energy (and the money to pay $300+ for a finished hour of recording), I'll once again pour over narrator reading samples, select a human, and redo the audiobook. For now, I'm happy that I could make this mystery novel available as an audiobook. If you use the Audible subscription service, you can listen for free. Here is the sample. I hope you enjoy it.  As most of you know, I sell my novels and craft items at an artesian market called Ledge Craft Lane in Grand Ledge, Michigan. I have always done a variety of yarn crafts that varied widely from cup cozies to wrist warmers. Last November, I took a smattering of my inventory to a Winter Market in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. I had a few of everything I crochet on display, along with all four Yarn Genie Mystery novels. I thoroughly loved seeing the children enjoy my hand-crafted items. I loved talking to readers about my books. Still, having a little bit of everything with no theme or focus on what I was offering made my table look more like a "rummage sale."
That made me realize my life would become less complicated if I narrowed my focus to what I enjoyed most about being at the market. When I return to the Winter Market this Saturday, December 16, the wrist warmers, mug cozies, pot holders, and other smattering of items will be replaced with a wide assortment of hand-sized animals with colorful collars, baskets, blankets, and toys, with my books and bookmarks displayed on a separate table. If you are like me, the holidays can be stressful, as we spread ourselves too thin trying to be all things to all people. Let go of that pressure and focus on what matters most to you. For me, that is children and books.  Most of my readers know that I love creating my own yarn patterns because I have one of my original patterns in the back of each Yarn Genie Mystery novel. I also list some patterns for sale on Etsy. Costs keep rising everywhere, and it's no secret that Etsy fees have increased substantially. It is costly to operate a business, so I understand this is the cost of doing business on Etsy. Like with my books, I like to keep my pattern prices low because some buyers have little money, and I want everyone to enjoy my patterns. As Etsy costs have risen, I didn't raise prices on my patterns as I consider my craft endeavors a hobby that I only do occasionally when I am not writing.
I didn't understand until recently that when sellers like me list items below their production cost prices, this hurts those who rely on their Etsy business for financial support. Those sellers must factor in their time, materials, and other production costs to get a list price that will allow them some reasonable profit after Etsy fees are paid. It's hard for them to compete for business on Etsy when other sellers list their items below profit levels. So, I've gone through and adjusted my Etsy prices to take into account their higher fees. While being more favorable to those who do crafts for a living, they are still reasonable and affordable for everyone. And I do offer a few patterns here for free if your budget is tighter than Yarn Genie Imogene's purse.  Are you a full or part-time writer? I am a part-time writer with aspirations to be a full-time writer. I've had that aspiration for so long without achieving it that it's time to admit that I will never be a full-time writer. Just look at how negligent I've been in doing blog posts here. Or, I'm embarrassed to say just how long it's been since I've published a novel.
It may be time to rethink my approach to writing. I have at least 6 novels I hopscotch around working on. I dig in when I have time and neglect them when I don't have time to do a deep dive. I have four published novels that are doing reasonably well and four Kindle Vella novels that still need to be completed. Have you ever seen the entertainer who spins plates on the tops of long wooden poles? They keep adding more and more plates to the poles until the stage is full. That's wonderful if you can keep them all spinning. My plates aren't crashing, but they do each consume valuable time. It may be time to focus on only one novel at a time until that gets done.  Reading a heart-warming murder mystery while wrapped up in a handmade afghan is one of life's pleasures. It's one of the things to look forward to when the weather turns cooler. And why I love both writing and crocheting!
 All four of my Yarn Genie Mystery novels were free for reading for those with a subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
KU has typically been a good source of income even though it only pays a fraction of a cent for each page read. For several days, KU has reported that not even one reader has read even one page of my novels. Not even ONE page when typically thousands of pages were read each day up to a few days ago? I checked the book listings, and Kindle Unlimited is no longer listed as an option, even though I didn't disenroll them. I find it disturbing that suddenly, my novels have fallen into the KU abyss. I liked that readers could pay a monthly fee and read any book enrolled in Kindle Unlimited for free. This saves voracious readers hundreds of dollars a year in buying books. I reached out to KU and found that the system did not automatically re-enroll the books when the enrollment period was up. Phew! I thought my readers had deserted me. |
Celeste BennettI'm a struggling author, these days what author isn't? I'm learning that life is better when you do what you love and I love writing, when I'm not crocheting or spending time with family. Archives
January 2025
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