My Book is in the Library!

I realized the other day that someone ordered (or requested) my book for our local library and the other day, it showed up on the New Teen Books display!

CRAZY!!!

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Indie Authors, Books and Bookstores!

Once upon a time I did Top Ten Tuesday posts all the time! It's how I started blogging and finding a place in the community. Awhile back, I had the great idea to do it again in order to find my blogger mojo again, but it didn't last long. Now I'm hoping to try again!

And when I looked up the topic for this week I was all... DANG... this is a sign! INDIE BOOKS and AUTHOR STUFF! LOL!

I promise, I saw the topic after I decided I want to do it this week!

Anyway, this is a meme that has been going for YEARS and is currently run by That Artsy Reader Girl (I'm so impressed at the longevity of this thing!) and like I said, today's topic is an Indie Freebie so a list of all things bookish indie. I'm going to go with a bunch of different things

Indie Authors

1. Cindy Steel: A new-to-me author so I've only read one book of hers (The One With the Kiss Cam) but loved it and want to write books just like this. I THINK she's indie... (I just tried to look it up to confirm, but I'm still not sure!) She writes really fun romcoms and currently has a book out that's in a series of a bunch of fall inspired books with a bunch of other indie (I think) authors. I want to read them all!

2. R. Lynn Hanks: She is an author I'm still getting to know, but so far so good. She markets her books as "flirty space fantasies", which sounds like the best thing ever, right? I'm currently reading her first book, Gamma Raids I. The characters have been best friends forever, and work and live on a space station but as drama unfolds regarding their work, they start to realize that maybe they are more than friends after all!

Previous Indie Authors that have moved to trad:

3.Teresa Richards: I met her at a conference awhile back and she is so much fun. She's published a bunch of indie books, but then this past year, she published her first trad book called Last to Leave and it's so much fun. You can check out  my full review here. It's an awesome mash up genres and is perfect for people who love gaming and reality shows.

4. Beth Brower: Of course she had to be mentioned. Her Emma M. Lion books are ALL THE CRAZE right now (if you haven't read them yet, seriously though, what are you waiting for!!??) and her story of starting indie is so inspiring. She now has an amazing global publishing deal and it's just the best thing ever. And yeah, go read these books now! (or listen... the audio is so much fun!)

Indie Books

5. Always Best Buds: Of course this is where I have to mention my own book! Always Best Buds was published this past May and is a cute YA (or upper MG) romance told through letters the two girls write to each other during their junior year of high school in 1982. Lots of fun '80s pop culture references and lots of light teenage angst and drama. You can watch a book trailer here... and check it out on Amazon here.

6. Still Mine by Elizabeth Vernon Taylor: This is a memoir my friend wrote about her experience with her still-born baby. The whole year leading up to the birth and all the excitement her family was feeling and then the circumstances of what happened. It's heart breaking but also very inspiring. You should totally read it!

Indie Bookstores

We have a lot of indie bookstores in the area, but here are my favorites, and the ones that put on a lot of great author events and/or have a huge presence in the area.

7. Folklore Bookstore

8. Poppy Books

9. The King's English

10. Pioneer Book

What a fun one to jump back into the Top Ten Tuesday routine with! And I truly hope to start connecting with some of you again. 

 

I AM PUBLISHED!

It's been a couple of weeks now, but on May 12, my book Always Best Buds became officially available on Amazon! Both an ebook version and a paper back version. Click here if you want to get one!

It's dropped off and on the "hot new release" in ebooks, but currently, as of writing this post, it's back to number one on that list in its category! WOOT!

We had an amazing launch party that day. I posted two videos on the BookTube channel:

This one shows a sort of vlog of getting reading and an overview of the event.

This one is the complete Q&A I did at the end of the event.

Here are a few pictures!

Book Clubbers!

People who came!

Want to be an ARC Reader?

 Hey friends!

It's time for me to gather some ARC readers for Always Best Buds! I'm going to assume you all know what that means! (If not there is more info on the sign up form!)

I'll be taking sign ups until the end of March, and then you have until the release date, May 12, 2026 to post a review an Amazon/Goodreads and/or your socials. 

So if this book that I've been promoting (see previous posts for a description and a book trailer!) sounds interesting to you, or you just think it would be fun to be part of the journey, go ahead and sign up!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SIGN UP FORM!

I hope to see a bunch of you join me! Thanks so much!

Always Best Buds Book Trailer!

 I made a book trailer for Always Best Buds! Hopefully this will give you a feel for what this book is like: sweet YA romance, boy crazy girls, 80s nostalgia, told through letters. Let me know what you think!

Free School Survival Guide Now Available!

 The characters in my book, Jan and Liv, are very anxious about starting a new school year. About a week before school starts in August 1982, they write up a School Survival Guide filled with worries and fears and how to conquer them, goals, and lists and rules and boy strategies. Also, a playlist of their current favorite music that they think might help get them through any rough patches.

I'm giving that away for free if you sign up for my Substack newsletter! (Which is a lot like this blog actually only for authors!) I plan to post an article in the newsletter no more than once a week... and more likely about twice a month when I'm not promoting a book. I'd love to have you join me there!

So, if that sounds fun, head on over there and subscribe! You should get a welcome email with the link to download the Survival Guide. And hopefully once you read that, you will get a good feel for these crazy girls and what you'll be in for if you decide to read the whole book, Always Best Buds!

I'm Publishing a Book!

If you aren't following me in all the other places, perhaps you haven't heard yet that I made a goal this year to set one of my books free into the wild, aka. I AM PUBLISHING SOMETHING!

I'm done waiting to have the guts to find an agent and a traditional publisher, and since the stigma surrounding self-published books seems to be fading, and after much research, I have decided to go ahead and learn what all that is about and use this first book as my guinea pig. 

Not that I don't love this book, but I figured it is just different enough that it doesn't' stand a chance in the "normal" world of "regular" publishing anyway.  

So this past month I've jumped in with both feet and am doing, or trying to do, all the things! I've started a marketing campaign on Instagram/Threads, with some cross over posts on my new author facebook page and Bluesky.

I've started a newsletter on Substack (which is a lot like blogging, but different too.)

I've created a website.

I've printed up a hard copy of my book and got it proofread.

I've created a cover and blurb.

I made bookmarks to give away as swag.

I put it up on Goodreads and made an author profile. (Still need to connect the author profile to the book, but it won't let me do it until it's official on Amazon.)

I created an Amazon KDP account, but haven't yet put the book up because it's not QUITE ready.

Once it's ready, I will make it available to pre-order. And also call for ARC readers, and also give away a prequel chapter to whoever will subscribe to the above mentioned newsletter. I hope that will include some of you!

But what is this book you ask???

It's called Always Best Buds and is a sweet YA romance set in 1982, told through the notes the two girls write to each other during their junior year in high school. It's in a sort of graphic novel format with the pages looking like actual letters with doodles and pictures and smears and lists and all the cute things 16 year old girls would do.

Here is the official blurb that will be on the back of the book:

“Physics is going to kill me, but I’ll die happy!”

Liv passes the note to her best friend, Jan, on the first day of their junior year, 1982. They are stoked to make this school year a most excellent one. And it’s starting off stupendously with a class full of totally awesome boys.

These dramatic and boy-crazy notes continue all year long, helping them to survive the emotional ups and downs of navigating their first crushes.

Jan is the brainiac.
Liv is the athlete.
Miles is the musician.
Jace is the mysterious new boy.
All of them are band geeks.

And all of them are stressed to the max.

Will their friendship survive the year or will it end in jealousy and messy break ups?

ALWAYS BEST BUDS is a sweet heart-warming romance full of friendship, fun and 80's nostalgia.

I hope it sounds fun to you all and that a few of you will be among my first readers! And if you have a young person in your life (this is YA... but I would consider it lower YA and upper MG if we want to be technical!) then please share with them! 

Stay tuned for the official announcement for ARC reader sign ups and also when that teaser chapter will be ready (most likely this coming week!) 

If you aren't doing so already, you can follow my bookish Instagram to keep updated: @sueyybooks, and if you want to get on the mailing list now for the teaser chapter, you can subscribe to my newsletter here: https://sueysbooks.substack.com/about. Or you can send me a message on my new website and I'll add you to the list myself: https://www.kerrisuejensen.com/connect.

Thank you for following along with this crazy journey! Be looking forward to the official release date, May 12, 206!