DL White [00:00:00]:

What is the not quite the struggle bus? Like, there's a struggle bus, but like, what's the opposite of that? Or like, what's like not that level. Like there's there's a struggle bus and there's a success plane. There's like the I don't know, the excellence jet. What are the ends? What if I'm not in the bus or on the plane? Is that like it's like coming all long, nicely sedan? I don't know. We'll talk about that later. Welcome back to the Book Cast, my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading and writing. This is episode 48. I am DL White, author of eleven contemporary, southern and romantic fiction novels featuring black men and women.

DL White [00:00:45]:

I am also a big fan of books, so we usually begin with the book report, then we talk about writing and other stuff. I am currently writing Elysium, a Black Diamond Vacation Romance, and we'll have an update on that later in the show. If you're new here or a seasoned listener, a bibliophile, or just looking for a good read, I hope you'll enjoy today's show. I am so happy to have your ears for this time, and I am excited to share my love of reading and writing books with you. That is the extent of my singing talent. I can't carry a tune in a bucket across the street. If you love this podcast, or me for example, and want to show your support, please visit my support site@buymaycoffee.com, booksbydlwhite. You can offer a one time or recurring monthly gift.

DL White [00:01:34]:

It's currently an attigirl show of support. I have a few benefits loading to the membership, like subbies, get the Tuesday tease on Monday instead of Tuesday. I have created a discord. I haven't opened it yet because I don't have enough members yet, but that is loading and I've got lots of fun ideas perking in the old noggin, so look for some updates on that probably after I finish writing this book. The other way you can support is to buy the books. Booksbydlwhite.com Books has all of the good stuff, including Leslie's, Curl and Die. This book is currently on sale for $0.99. Wherever you buy ebooks, I encourage you to go on out and snatch it up if you don't have it.

DL White [00:02:24]:

I do so love this book. Let me tell you about it. Leslie Baker and Cade Casey Kavanaugh aren't just former college sweethearts circling each other when they find themselves back in the same town after more than a decade apart. Leslie, owner of Potterlake's original hometown beauty shop, the Curl and Die, and Kate, owner of Guys and Dolls, a family salon, are rivals in competition for the affections of a quaint slow town. Before they can pick up where they left off, leslie and Casey land in the center of a power struggle between a corrupt mayor and a town that wants to grow with their livelihoods and the future of a close knit lakeside community. At stake, they have no choice but to join forces and save the town of Potter Lake and fan the flames of a love that's been smoldering for more than a decade. As I mentioned, this book is currently on sale for $0.99 wherever you buy ebooks. But if you happen to hear this episode way after July 8, which is when the sale ends, you can purchase this book@booksbydlwhite.com, curl, die or hit my website@payhip.com.

DL White [00:03:32]:

Booksbydlwhite. My books are available there in ebook, print and audio. If you buy them directly from me, that puts the monies directly into my pockets, and it means there's no middleman, taking 30% to 70% of the retail price. We like that. We like that a lot. If you prefer to buy books retail, all of my titles are available in ebook wherever they are sold. Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble. Nook.

DL White [00:03:57]:

Apple books, kobo Books, Google Play. They're all there. They're also available via subscription sites like Script and Kobo Plus, and they're available to request at your local library. Thank you, as always, for indulging my little spiel about my books. It's the whole reason I'm here today. We will start with the book report, and then I want to talk about progress on Elysium. It is a long weekend, so it's probably going to be a short podcast EPI. We will see.

DL White [00:04:24]:

I can talk. Today is Saturday, July 1. Note to self pay rent. It is 08:19 a.m.. It is a sunny day in Atlanta. I have a mic and I am ready to dig in. But first, and please do feel free to join me. Coffee.

DL White [00:04:58]:

All right, now it I made it strong today. Why is it so spicy? I drink bustello coffee sometimes. I also drink Costa coffee sometimes. If you know where I work, you know why I drink Costa coffee. But I am not a coffee snob like I'll drink folgers in a hot second. It don't matter. It don't matter to me. As long as it tastes good and there is cream and sugar to go into it.

DL White [00:05:26]:

I am good to go. But it's a little strong today. It's a little strong today. I didn't put as much cream in it and I made the coffee real strong. I can see colors. We begin, as always, with the book report because I am a book head. I have read 93 books of my challenge to read 150 books this year, I'm 19 books ahead on my goodreads challenge, which is a far cry better than the 42 I was ahead last week before I increased my challenge goal, because obviously I read a lot. I just don't even know why I try myself.

DL White [00:06:08]:

I just be lying to myself every year. I think when I set my goals, I always set the goal on January 1. And I am just so tired from the previous year's reading that I'm like, I'm only doing 100 this year. And then I get to May and I've read 57 books because books are good. I just love books. This week I read four books. Let's talk about them. I read Mules and Men by zora Neil Hurston.

DL White [00:06:33]:

I listened to this on audio, actually. It was read by Ruby D. It was so fabulously read by Ruby D. We had our discussion last night on the Black Reader Experience on Instagram on this book. So I read the book so I could have some idea of what was going on. I find Hurston difficult. What I typically do is I go get the spark notes and I read that first so I know what I'm looking for and what the text is talking about. Then I'm a little bit more informed.

DL White [00:07:04]:

I didn't do that this time. I don't know why I should have, but I didn't. So I listened to it and I was like, I do not know what is happening here, but I'm going to listen in on the conversation. So I did. And I was enlightened. It was a very good conversation. We had a delightful time. We're online for like two and a half hours, which is I think, kind of normal for our Instagram book discussions, but we had a good time.

DL White [00:07:28]:

I do so love those. So thank you to the hosts of The Black Reader Experience for making us read a book so we could talk about it. I don't know what the next book is. They have not announced it yet. I also read Sisterhood Heals the Transformative Power of Healing and Community by Dr. Joy Harden Bradford. She is the host of Therapy for Black Girls, which is an almost never miss podcast for me. This book was so good and I am not just saying that it was so good.

DL White [00:08:00]:

It was like down to earth. It wasn't in therapy speak. And at the end of each chapter there were questions to consider and things to ponder, to sort of place yourself in that situation. Like how do you feel about this? How do you feel about your friends when they do this, when they say this? If you feel like this is an issue, how can you combat that? I feel like there should be a workbook that comes with this book and I also feel like this would be a great book for book clubs and sisterhood clubs to really dig into it's. Very well done. Congratulations, Dr. Bradford. I also read Murder is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns.

DL White [00:08:44]:

I listened to this on audio. I am very glad I waited for audio for this because it's just a different experience when I'm hearing it. I can also like, my hands are busy and so for me it really helps me hone in on the words because my mind's not wandering because it's occupied by sounds in my ears. I did like this one. I liked the first book better. Yes, I did. The follow up is also always kind of difficult because the first one just really has to come out of the gate screaming. The first book in the series was Gangbusters.

DL White [00:09:17]:

Really enjoyed it. The second book seemed a little less full. It wasn't as strong. It just seemed like I mean, it was a five hour audiobook. It was a cozy so I suppose that's standard. It just didn't seem as full as the first book, which is understandable. It is a follow up. Don't know if I'm going to pick up book three in the series, but this was an okay read.

DL White [00:09:47]:

I also finally finished The Edge of dawn by Miss Beverly Jenkins. I am finally done protesting that the next book was not a historical. I think the book after this is also contemporary, so I just need to get my stuff together and just be ready to read it. I think the next book is Black Lace in my Beverly Jenkins reread. Moving on to reading and keeping on the topic of Beverly Jenkins, it is Jenkins July. In July we read Miss Beverly Jenkins. This year, the Bev Jenkins fan group on Facebook is reading topaz always and forever, a Chance at Love and the Taming of Jesse Rose. I have reread all of those recently, so I'm going to participate in discussions and celebrations but I'm not rereading them a third time because I have other Bev Jenkins books that I'm reading.

DL White [00:10:42]:

Up next in my reada, thon is Black Lace and then after that is Something Like Love. I feel like something like love is historical. So yay. I'm very excited to dip on back to the historicals, but I'm almost sure Black Lace is contemporary. I haven't looked. I just looked at the title. I am also going to be reading Queen of Exiles, which is a budy read with my good good friend Audra from between the reads. That book is out July 11 and I have a couple of other books that are going to publish July 11, but I'm going to hold off on starting them because I want to focus on my Bev Jenkins and my Vanessa Riley.

DL White [00:11:21]:

Queen of Exiles is by Vanessa Riley and I know I have some indie books that I'm reading. I'm always just throwing something in there just to read something. Every time I find a vacation romance or a long distance romance or they met online romance, I'm reading it and so I'm very sure that my dance card will be full. The writing update. Let's talk about the writing, y'all. I am at 50,614 out of 65,000 words. My couple are still on the island, but it's their last day on the island. I swear if this book pushes past 70,000 words, I'm not going to do anything.

DL White [00:12:03]:

I hate to cut a book short because I'm counting words. It's done when it's done. But also this was supposed to be a novella. What is happening? But also sometimes when I read a book that is meant to be a novella. I'm like, Why is this so short? Why is everything so truncated? Why is everything happening so fast? The passage of time. The time is just speeding past. The pacing is not my friend here. I don't want the book to go slow.

DL White [00:12:33]:

I don't want to leave out things I think are important, but I can ramble. And so I'm going to finish it and probably cut some back. There's one scene in particular that I may cut out, and every time I ask my beta, Should I cut this? She's like, no, leave it. I just do what the betas tell me. So, struggles and triumphs in this book. I'm getting a little overwhelmed. I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm at the last act of the book, basically rolling into the last act of the book.

DL White [00:13:08]:

There need to be a grand gesture. And I'm working on it. It's working up to it. I've actually just introduced the grand gesture, and that's the moment where the character is like, look, man, I seriously love you, and let me prove it. And there's just a big, huge thing that happens. And they're like, you love me? You really love me. So a grand gesture has been introduced. Athena, of course, it's Vance doing the grand gesture because he's basically the impetus in pushing this relationship.

DL White [00:13:43]:

And Athena's like, Boy, what the F are you talking about? You have lost your mind. You must be outside your mind. As they say in Remember the Titans. I love Denzel. Denzel. So I'm at the last third of the book. I'm rounding the bend. I always have an idea of how I want the book to end, but I don't plan it exactly, because things happen in the course of writing a book that changes the trajectory of your plot and your outline, and I'm just kind of going with the flow.

DL White [00:14:20]:

But I have to end up at a point where it leads to the ending that I have in mind, and I have an idea of how I want it to end, but I'm just I'm not sure how to get there. It's also the point where serious conversations need to happen and feelings have to be confessed. And so it is sinking into cute and sweet territory, and I don't want to be there. Which is why I just keep reading romances and really trying to keep myself in the mind of realistic conversations that don't sound like they happened outside Disney World. But also, I want my characters to be sweet with each other. I want them to be loving. I want them to be cute with each other. It is a romance.

DL White [00:15:10]:

You should be able to tell that they like each other. I am just trying to avoid it falling into cute and sweet territory. I'm also super overwhelmed with picking out a part of the book to tease every week. I feel like the teases don't do a whole lot to drum up excitement about the book and it's affecting a little bit of my motivation. I mean, the book is coming. At this point I can't not write it. The book is coming. We share teasers to sort of drum up excitement about the book.

DL White [00:15:53]:

But if the excitement does not ensue, it's a bit of a downer. It's a bit of a downer. My usuals are very excited. I've got people that are super excited to read the book in general. I just feel like there's not searching for the right words. I don't feel like people are anticipating the book, which you all going to get it whether you anticipate in it or not. It's coming. We'll see what other excitement I can drum up.

DL White [00:16:26]:

What I really want to do is just finish the book. So I think I'm going to put a hold on the teasers. I'm just going to be heads down in July until I finish it and then tease out things here and there, but not really share anything substantial until it's done. And I have a link up on Goodreads. I'm kind of freaking myself out about it and that will keep me from finishing. I have other stuff kind of going around in my mind. I'm very nervous about the ending and I'm a little overwhelmed at this point in the book but also excited to finish it. So I'd suffice it to say I'm going to hold on teases until it's done and I know I have a finished product and I have a link and maybe a preorder, et cetera.

DL White [00:17:17]:

I also need to think about how I want to market this book, how I want to sell this book. I am a self published author and I manage all of that myself, so I have a choice as to how this book comes out. I really like releasing on my website first. Of course, anyone who is a member of the membership will probably get first dibs and then I'll release it on my website and then I will set a date for it to go live to all of the retail. I feel like that just makes the most sense to me as a self published author that can control my own inventory. I also need to book a copy editor, but it is not done yet and I don't want to rush it just to get it to an editor. So I don't even want to reach out to someone to book in case the deadline blows right by me. Mocking up a change to the COVID for a beach thing to match Elysium and thinking about what I want to do to celebrate this release, I have all these thoughts in my head.

DL White [00:18:22]:

As much as I liked Hay Lover, I kind of just threw it out there and being real, it might disappear in a year. I may revamp and rewrite that. I feel like it's not my best work, but I'm trying to put my foot into Elysium, and it deserves fanfare. So I'm going to spend July heads down, I'm going to work on finishing these last few chapters so I can breathe. And that's where we are with Elysium. So my couple are still on the island. They have had a really romantic, amazing few days together. I love Vance and Athena together.

DL White [00:18:59]:

I just love them and they love them together. So it's been fun writing decadent island things and not being worried about who's paying for that and who can afford that. Because I've been listening to the girls when they say, when that man wants to spoil you, you let him spoil you. I have been listening. I've been listening to the girls, and the girls say, stop fighting that man. So Athena got to stop fighting. That's where I am with Elysium. I have a long weekend.

DL White [00:19:32]:

I took Friday and Monday off and the building is closed on Tuesday. So I've got a long weekend to get lots of writing done. I do plan to do lots of writing and we are, like I said, in the last third of the book, I need to get my couple back off the island and back to real life. But then they kind of miss the togetherness of the island and it could always be like this and that kind of thing. So I am actually really excited to write the last third and kind of put a bow on this story and bring my couple back together. It's going to be fun. It's daunting. It has to be right.

DL White [00:20:14]:

I want it to be right, but it doesn't have to be right the first time out the gate so I could put words on paper and then fix them later because that's what editing is for. We like editing super quick. Do I want to talk about Amazon and AI? I don't know. Earlier this week, there was a series of articles and subsequent tweets about a bunch of AI books that hit Amazon, Kindle, and people were running around screaming and wailing and gnashing their teeth and this is why we are ruined and there are real authors and blah, blah, et cetera. I'm kind of meant about it right now because what happened was people reported it to Amazon and Amazon took all those books down and then it was over. And so I'm not like the hugest fan of Amazon. My books are there because that's where most of my readers are. A lot of my readers are on Amazon.

DL White [00:21:12]:

I mean, if it was like Google Play, I would just pull my books because I probably sell like three books a year on Google Play. I absolutely agree, though, that if you are staying in Kindle Unlimited, don't be passive. Don't just throw your books up there. Set it and forget it. Stay woke. Join the Authors Guild or the alliance of Independent Authors or get on some newsletter list. Because not knowing things is probably going to kick you in the butt if something goes down. There's this huge fear that Kindle Unlimited is going away.

DL White [00:21:43]:

I don't think that is a founded fear. I think they've been saying that for many years that it's going away. I do think that Kindle Unlimited is going to get to a point where it's not feasible for a lot of authors to stay. And I'm not sure that Amazon really cares whether authors stay or not. They provide a service and a program. You can be in it or not. If you're in Kindle Unlimited and you want to get out, you just email them, say hey, can you let me out of this? And they're like sure, most of the time they let you out. Nobody's forced to be in kindle.

DL White [00:22:14]:

Unlimited. Nobody is forced to stay. They will let you out if you want to be out. They're not holding anybody to it. I do feel like we get 20 books a month as a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. It's now 1199. I still feel like that's a hell of a deal. Especially if you're a romance or a fantasy reader.

DL White [00:22:34]:

And these days, even if you're a mystery crime thriller reader like Kendra, kendra Elliott and Melinda Lee put out a book like every twelve minutes. So I mean if you're reading books like Gangbusters 1199 to have 20 books out at a time and then when you finish it, you return it and you can download a whole new book, it's still a heck of a deal. I really wish they included audio in that. But you only get audio if they are signed to an Amazon imprint. So I can't remember what the Amazon imprint is, but I listen to a lot of my crime fiction thrillers. You can read and listen for free. Because I am a member of Kindle Unlimited and because that author is signed to an Amazon imprint like Robert Dugoni, I listen to most of those on script. But his ebooks are in Kindle Unlimited and there is audio on Audible.

DL White [00:23:33]:

So they kind of bundle it together and throw in the audio. I'm all about it man. I'm all about it. So from a consumer side, it's a darn good deal. Which tells me it's probably not going anywhere. I feel like on the author side they are just going to keep lowering the per page pay out until people just feel like it's not worth their time and drop out. But new authors will sign up because it's great for discoverability. So if you are looking at some new authors and they have books in Kindle Unlimited, it's kind of risk free.

DL White [00:24:07]:

If you're a subscriber, snatch up the book, read it, decide if you like them or not, and then read their entire catalog. If you don't like it, then you just return the book to the library. Not return the book. Like if you buy it, like pay cash money and decide you don't like it, don't return it, because that's theft. But if you borrow a book through Kindle Unlimited, it's designed to be read and returned. So I do feel like they are priming authors for a return to low payouts, a low per page payout. I think it's zero point page right now. It's not the lowest it's ever been.

DL White [00:24:45]:

It has been 38 per page before, and then it increased and now it's decreased. Stay woke. Like, pay attention. There's so much that's going on that black readers in particular don't see because it's not black. And if it's not directed right at them, they don't see it and then they get upset. Yes. I'm talking about stuff. Your kindles.

DL White [00:25:07]:

That program has been going since 2014. It's been four times a year since 2014. We see it come through every year. And it got very popular this year. And there are some black readers and black authors that were upset that they weren't invited to participate. Nobody was invited to participate. You just sign up. So if you are going through life expecting people to cater to you and want you to participate in things because there just aren't enough black authors in here, it don't work that way.

DL White [00:25:39]:

If you want to be a part of that, go to the website. I can't remember the URL, I'll put it in the show notes. Go to the website and sign up. And then you will know and spread the word and encourage your friends to participate. But that's not a new deal. It's not an Amazon kindle thing. It's one person that has been arranging it since 2014 and it just happened to explode this year. It's like it's not anything against anyone.

DL White [00:26:14]:

Nobody was gatekeeping. Nobody was trying to keep you all out. But if it has nothing to do with black readers, some of us black readers don't pay attention. So pay attention. But also, Stuff Your Kindle wasn't a thing that black people were really participating in because the books were overwhelmingly white romance. There are some black authors in there. A lot of them are writing interracial. The selection of books wasn't something that was, I'm going to say, appealing to readers who read heavy black on black love, so people weren't really participating.

DL White [00:26:55]:

And also, if you're not in Kindle Unlimited, it's hard to set your books for free. It's a total pain in the butt. And so I think a lot of people were kind of bypassing it because it's a pain to make your books free on Kindle. But it has also expanded to Kobo, Google Play, barnes and Noble. It should be really stuff, your ereader day. Anyway, that's my rant about that. I'm going to try to keep this episode to 30 minutes. And we are coming up on you know, I hate when podcasts do the time clock thing.

DL White [00:27:29]:

I hate when podcasts watch the clock. It's as long as it's going to be, we're done when we're done, I can talk for 30 minutes or 42 minutes or 27 minutes, you know what I'm saying? But anyway, I don't want to ramble on and on endlessly, and so let's bring it on home. That brings us to the end of today's episode. Thank you for joining me for another episode of the bookcast. I will be back next week with the reading update and a writing update. Y'all, cross your fingers. Cross your fingers. Because these people got to get off this island.

DL White [00:28:02]:

I got to get them back home. Decisions have to be made. Stuff has to be done. Please enjoy this weekend, have a superlative week and we will chat again next week. Bye bye.