DL White [00:00:00]:
Well hello everybody! Happy Saturday! Happy rainy, gray, gloomy Saturday here in the A. Welcome back to The BookCast, my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading and writing. This is episode 66. I am D. L. White, author of 12 contemporary southern and romantic fiction novels featuring Black men and women. I'm also a big fan of books, so we usually begin with a book report and then we talk about writing and book stuff and news, etc, sales and so on. I am currently writing a holiday novella.
DL White [00:00:42]:
I'm not gonna stop calling it a short because it is no longer short. I'm nearing 30,000 words. Can't quite call it a short. It's called Home for the Holidays. It is absolutely adorable. It is filling my soul with joy and delight, and I'll talk about it in the writing update. I'd love your support of this podcast. If you would like to, please head to my support site at buymeacoffee.com/booksbydlwhite.
DL White [00:01:09]:
There you can offer a one time or recurring monthly gift, which I greatly appreciate to those who have sent a little extra, I truly, truly appreciate your support of the show. It comes whether you support or not because I have things to say, and I'm going to say them here on this show. I just Greatly appreciate those who throw a little bit into the bucket to help me keep it going. The other way you can support is to buy my books. Books by dlwhite.com/books has all of the good stuff including Hey Lover which is free right now. It's available in ebook and print at booksbydlwhite.com/wowbooksbydlwhite.com slash hey lover, head on over to that. You can also get print copies at resist booksellers and Bookshop.org I'm stumbling around because I did not actually update this rundown that I copied over. Oh my goodness, A.
DL White [00:02:09]:
We're on the struggle bus today. Select titles are available at ebook and print and audio directly from me at payhip.com slash books by d l White. As I always say, it puts the monies directly into my pocket with virtually no middleman taking a percentage of the retail price. If you prefer to buy the retail, ain't no shame in your game. All my titles are available in ebook wherever they're sold: Amazon, Barnes and Noble Nook's, Apple Books, Kobo Books, Google Play. They're also available via subscription sites like Everand, which is the new name for Scribd, Kobo Plus, Libby, and Hoopla through your local library. Snatch them up, request them if they're not, carried at your local library. I love love love to see people, grabbing my books from the library and just I we say this all the time: libraries buy books.
DL White [00:02:57]:
They actually pay retail plus for books. They pay more for ebook and print books than you pay, so libraries absolutely buy books. You're not cheating the author out of anything by getting books at the library. Please absolutely get yourself a library card and stuff your face with books. Book sales this week, Hey Lover, like I said, is free on retail sites including Amazon, so it is free on all retail sites including Amazon and my website, bookstoread.com/heydashlover has all of the links or hit payhip.com/booksbydly if you want to shop direct. I am going to have a sale that coincides the All Black Book Affair that happens the 18th through 22nd. So many 99¢ and free black authored books in multiple genres will be, up for grabs. I'll be sending that link out in my newsletter, and to my supporters at IVA Coffee, so make sure you're following me somewhere.
DL White [00:03:59]:
I also think, curl and die in audio is still on sale for 99¢ at select outlets, so, snatch that up where you can find it. I know it's not still 99¢ at Chirp because I just looked. I think it's, I think it's on sale at Barnes and Noble. It's 99 since it's Google Play it might be 99¢ on Spotify, I don't remember, I have not, I have not A but snatch it up if you haven't grabbed it yet. But honestly if you're interested in listening to that book on Spotify, I do have Spotify codes so hit A Sister Up. Today we will start with the book report and talk about writing. This rundown is just not updated I didn't update it at all. We'll start with the book report, A.
DL White [00:04:49]:
We'll talk about writing my novella. I'll have a little coffee talk I don't know what I'm gonna say, but, I just want to like chat a little bit, like A talk about things for like just a few minutes. I don't know. I don't I don't really have anything like on my mind heavy that I want to talk about, but I just wanted to like reserve some time to chat. This rundown is still talking about Still I Rise, which is a book I, abandoned as I was not Ready to write it. I needed to write Home for the Holidays first before I roll into Still I Rise, and I'm kind of excited about how those 2 books are gonna dovetail, I'm not gonna talk about today, but I am gonna talk about Home for the Holidays. Let's let's let's let's kick it. Let's get it going.
DL White [00:05:30]:
Today is Saturday, December 9th A 2023. Happy birthday to my mother. Her birthday was on 7th, she turns 67. She is a spry young lady. We love her to bits. It is 9:51 am I'm way behind, I got into my doc and I lost track of time, so that's my excuse was I was writing. It is raining in Atlanta. I Honestly, after I'm done and I get the episode up I'm making another cup of coffee, I got some peanut butter toast here, A.
DL White [00:06:05]:
It's gonna be me and my Kindle for a little bit and then I'm gonna settle down to write some because I need to pound out some words, but like a rainy day calls a lit candle, a hot cup of coffee, and my Kindle, and I don't make the rules. That's just how it is. A, so let's get going on this podcast episode. I have a mic I'm ready to dig in, but first, Let's have some coffee. Alright. Alright. Alright. Let's kick it.
DL White [00:06:52]:
We begin as always with the book report, because I am a book head if I'm gonna do anything, I'm gonna read a book and be real excited about it. I have read 169 of my challenge to read 175 books this year. I am 5 books ahead on my Goodreads challenge: Can't Stop Won't Stop. I am 100% not worried about it at all because I have between the 18th and January 3rd to absolutely read my face off, so even if I was behind I would have more than enough time to catch up. But as it is I'm 5 books ahead and I have, you know, like 6 books to hit my goal. I mean, if I had time this week to read I could knock it out this week with some holiday shorts, but You know, I'm gonna be fair and do it the quote unquote right way. There is no right way. Just put books into your face and read them, but anyway.
DL White [00:07:48]:
So this week I read 4 books and I'm slinking back in here to Tell y'all about the author. I said I was gonna stop reading, but then I decided to read their recent release and it was a disappointment, and you know if you're shaking your fingers at me, I know, I know. After Dark by Minka Kent was not a good read. I did not Really enjoy it. Like in the beginning it was, it was it was suspenseful in the beginning, and then it just kind of fell apart, like so much of this book just didn't like it didn't make sense. I'm like I'm honestly I'm trying to remember this story because I read it early in the week and it Kind of ticked me off really bad. It did it does have 4 stars which I don't I don't really Understand like it literally doesn't make sense like certain plot points don't so here's Here's the story: She's a pariah with a killer past. Her bid to escape it is nothing short of terrifying and a heart pounding novel of suspense by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal best selling author Minka Kent.
DL White [00:09:14]:
First of all, this this book was not in any way suspenseful. I mean the beginning was a little, but not really. A. Afton Teachout has been an outcast in her small town for 20 years ever since she was accused of murdering her mother's lover in a blackout fit of rage, that is if one believes the malicious lies. Living with her grandmother, working a hotel night shift, and relying on pills to get a day's sleep, Afton is due a little luck. It comes in the form of an unexpected financial windfall. With her newfound wealth, Afton sets a secret plan in motion to help her not only her friends significantly flee a toxic husband, but the best intentions soon spin out of control. Afton is getting unsettling calls from a restricted number and someone has been lingering outside her home.
DL White [00:09:55]:
As Sydney's troubled marriage comes into focus, so does A. 'passed her 2nd chance for herself and for Sydney isn't what she dreamed of at all, in fact it's becoming a nightmare. Let me just Tell you that that blurb had 0 to do with this story at all. The blurb is absolutely misleading. That's Really not what the book is all, at all. I definitely wanted more. The book started out at a super brisk pace. I like when the author just dumps you like right in the middle of it and you have to like swim your way out, but so much of the book just didn't make sense.
DL White [00:10:34]:
There's just too much that's convenient, and then and then like I think Minka Kent is kind of famous for these really ridiculous storylines where, like, it it and it was it was all a dream or it was, imagined or the character is, psychotic and thought up that plot point or that story point, like it A. I was reading in the acknowledgement the acknowledgments, and she has both a developmental and a content editor, and I'm like what did they edit? Like how bad was this before? Because this book it just didn't make sense. It was senseless it was absolutely senseless. I'm upset that I spent my time on it. I am really for true for serious done. No more. We're done with this author. So then I moved on to the Miss Brenda Jackson who completely redeemed my reading week with a Steel for Christmas, a super super good book, loved it.
DL White [00:11:40]:
It's one of those, I always say I don't like fake romances, and I don't, but sometimes one of my faves write 1 and then I'm tricked into reading it because I don't read the blurb, and yeah so this is kind of a faux romance, but like both characters are well aware that this like this is how it goes, and then you know what happens what always happens in a faux romance. They're like, this is supposed to be Tend, I Can't Be Falling in Love With You. It was a very good read. You know, Brenda Jackson don't really miss. If you go into it, you know, just go into it expecting a good book. Brenda Jackson, don't really miss. I read There Goes a Bride by Taye Russ, which was, a cute shorty. I think this is about 7 to 9 chapters about a runaway bride.
DL White [00:12:34]:
Loved it, loved it. The premise To Still I Rise involved The Runaway Bride, so I was very interested in reading this. Tay is always, you know, good for a nice read, I'm mad. I I had to put it off for so long but I had a super busy work week and I just couldn't get to it until yesterday. I also read A Finding Christmas with Finding Christmas, with the character named Christmas, by Bella Jade. This is number 1 in the Jacobs Brothers series. I believe I have already read Cookie Dough, which I think is book 2 ish in in that series. Not bad not bad for my fir- I thought it was my 1st Bella Jay, but I have read Cookie Dough, A, so not a bad read at all.
DL White [00:13:17]:
The characters are really too young for me, but when I am looking to Finish up my Goodreads challenge, and I need something that I can like read and enjoy and not have to like dissect and you know like don't don't make me think, sometimes I just need to just grab a book that just reads well, so there was that. I am currently I'm still reading A Promise Kept by Anissa Anissa Garcia. I have not I just really haven't had too much time to dig into this book. As I've said before, I don't really read white romance. A. The just the style is different, the cadence is different, the the culture quote unquote culture is different, I just am not I'm not used to reading that and so it goes slow for me. I am committed to finishing it I think I'm about 50% in, so I'm gonna Tried to finish that maybe Sunday afternoon. I want to read some Freda McFadden.
DL White [00:14:21]:
She's very popular right now. Even my non BookTok friends are talking about a, like my friends that I've had for 20 years are like, I just started reading Freda McFadden, she's really good, and I'm like, what is happening? Why? Why is everybody reading Freda McFadden right now? A. I'm gonna dig up some books and maybe, try to get into her like the last 2 weeks of the year. Also wanna read more a. Holiday romances while I'm writing 1, I gotta read 1. So, that's what's happening in my reading life. I have another busy Work week coming up it's my last work week of the year so I am expecting it to be a doozy I have 2 days in the office Well one day in the office, and then one day we are volunteering at the Angel Tree on Thursday, And then Friday, I think I'm gonna work a little half day a little a little half day jobby job and then I am out for the year. A.
DL White [00:15:15]:
As of Friday afternoon, I can't wait. Super super excited about not having to work for a couple of weeks. I'll probably like check-in with email and whatnot but, I do have a long list of tasks that I need to complete before I'm out for the year, so I will it will be a busy one. I also have a book I'm trying to finish, so it'll be a busy one. A. For the writing update, speaking of the book I'm trying to finish, I've written 28,000 words in my novella, It is no longer a short. I can't believe I even thought it was only gonna be 20,000 words. I'm at 28,000 words.
DL White [00:15:56]:
I'm hoping I can cap it off at around 35 k. The longer it is, the longer it will take to edit. I'm seriously thinking about, just doing a proofread edit, not a heavy line edit so it can be out before the end of the year. It is not a serious release. It is like a filler in between, you know, 2 full length novels, but I just- I do want the story to be good. I want it- I don't want to truncate the story just for word count sake, I want the story to be full, I want the story to be good, I want to say everything I want to say and need to say, and I feel like the characters deserve to get a full deserve to get a full story, so I'm gonna write what I feel needs to be written and I'm not gonna cheat the characters and the series out of this story. I'm also keeping in mind that this book is not only tying to the 3 previous books in this story with character cameos and and catching up on, character histories, but it's also leading into book 4 in the Potter Lake series, so I have some, you know, I have I have some Lily pads I need to jump to, I have some strings I need to tie up, I can't leave I don't want to leave anything hanging, so I'm being very careful about how I write and what I write, what I tie to. If I bring up somebody in this book, a.
DL White [00:17:28]:
I gotta follow-up with them in the next book or books after, so, not a whole lot of new characters except for Reid and Sabrina, so, A. It's going though. I'm really enjoying writing it. Potter Lake is like I would say Potter Lake A, and Black Diamond are like my safe spaces, like I feel so much joy when I write in those settings. Potter Lake especially is like going home for me, so I'm truly enjoying writing this book. I'm loving writing, Read, and Sabrina. I am probably not going to have an audio selection for you all today, I just I want to finish writing this book, and, I just don't I just don't feel like reading I just don't feel like reading it out loud right now. A.
DL White [00:18:24]:
I will try to have something before the book is out, but, I just at this point in time, I don't have it in me to or anything from this book. I just also had an idea for like another super, super, super short, but we all know I cannot write short so I don't even know why I don't even know why I'm entertaining the thought, but, I could write that and then, you know, and read it for the podcast. I don't know we'll see what happens in the last 2 weeks of the year, you know what I'm saying? Because this is supposed to be done by 18th and then it goes to my editor and then and I can't do anything with it, so We'll see. So I 28 ks hoping I can cap it off at 35 ks. I will have another sample Sunday. A. Tomorrow on the blog it's books by dlwhite.com/blog. The goal is to have this out before the end of the year even if I have to send it ProWritingAid and, Cross My Fingers and Kiss them to the Sky, this book is gonna be out in 2023.
DL White [00:19:26]:
So, this is such A. The beauty rolling into my little coffee talk here this is this is the beauty of being an independent author, a self published A authors. I have so much control over how much I can write and what I write and when my books come out and how much I sell them for. A. I could not imagine turning any of those decisions over to some big conglomerate that doesn't know me and doesn't care about me is only concerned about making money off of me. This is why I'm so hesitant to even think about submitting to a publisher because I don't I don't want to give up this kind of control. Yes, it's a headache. Yes, there's a lot happening at one time yes, I do a lot myself, I am just now at the point where I am I'm I'm buying Premades for covers because I want to level up on my covers.
DL White [00:20:26]:
I want them to look good when you look them up on a website and A. I am you know I'm looking into doing premades instead of doing my own covers that is just a point where a. I got to where I I needed to sort of expand the team as you were to A level up to where I need to be. I want my books to sell themselves. I want people to want to read it from the cover alone, and I love all the covers that I have done on my own. I just want to level up a little bit, so A. I am I'm looking at, you know, premades, I'm looking at cover designers I don't have a ton of money to put into that and I've saved a lot of money by doing them myself A. Doing them myself I don't think my self made covers look bad, I do think a professional cover designer can make them look better.
DL White [00:21:25]:
So like yes, there's a lot that goes into publishing myself. A. There's a lot of tasks on the list. There's a lot of money that gets laid out, like I I try to save every penny that I can. I do my own formatting, a. I don't really do ads, I might do, you know, like a little paid newsletter here and there, but I don't do Facebook ads, I don't do Amazon ads, I just a. Don't I don't have I don't have the kind of writing career where that's a good spend for me. It is just Wasted money either I don't know what I'm doing or people aren't looking for my books or the covers don't sell well or, you know, the the blurb is not quite right, I don't I don't have the time and the bandwidth to really dig into why I only make a couple $100 a month on books.
DL White [00:22:18]:
I like I also think like my audience is very insular jeweler, like all the people that I hang out with have already read my books, like the the the the readers that I have they've already read the books, like a how do I bust out of that? How do I become known outside of the circle that I am already known in without feeling like I have to play to a readership that isn't Mine. I can't capture the under 35 crowd because I don't write for them. My characters are for sure over 30, over 35. Lately, my characters have been mid forties. I can't capture the Gen Z crowd. I can't A. I I though those those readers are too young for my books, A. How how do I break into the readership that wants to read seasoned romance that wants to read people over 30 with like real jobs.
DL White [00:23:25]:
Reid is a real estate developer, and Sabrina is an asset manager for a bank. Like, is that very sexy? No. Those are real careers though. Those are real jobs. I got I guess I just get tired of reading the model and the I don't know what's like what's a really popular job that a romance hero has. Like, I want I want to read people with regular jobs living regular lives, and some of them have money and some of them don't, but, you know, Even if you're rich you'd still want love, you know what I'm saying? So I was listening this week to Sarah Cannon she runs, Heart Breathings, she runs like She has the HB90, which is a planner I think for authors, she has a bunch of courses, she like teaches Classes she has the planner, she writes books, she has a YouTube channel. She was on Draft2Digital Live last week just talking about the joy of writing, like getting back to the joy of of writing and deciding what you are and aren't going to participate in to Keep that joy up, and I'm fully in that. I am I am fully in that because this year I feel like I finally got back to The joy of writing of writing to tell a story and not writing to sell a story.
DL White [00:25:05]:
I was very disappointed with the reception to Elysium, but I also realize it's a seasonal book It is a summer book and it didn't come out until almost September, and so I really missed my window as far as when that book would have been a popular read. A. So do I start promoting Beach Thing and Elysium early in the year next year? You betcha. Like, starting March, April is when I start pumping that book. I think I've said before that Beach Thing was a Sleeper it was a very slow sell and then like a couple summers ago, some friends on BookTok decided to read it, Summer Reads Romance decided to read it for her birthday read, and everybody picked it up and read it and really enjoyed it, and now Kay The Reader is, you know, up in my DMs about Wade all the time. I mean, I like Wade too, so it also it has taught me that if I have a summer release, I have start writing that in January because it's going to take me a good 3 or 4 months to write that thing. If I'd start it in May, it will not be out in July, so I gotta start in January writing The Pearl and, hope and pray that it will be out if I wanna start if I want to release Still I Rise next fall, I've got to start writing that in summer, so it's it's really teaching me a lot about how how How I need to write in order to have books out when I want them to hit. I am I'm not as fast a writer as I think I am.
DL White [00:26:40]:
I'm not as slow as some people, but I'm not as fast a writer as I think I am, and I need time to tell the story. I'm learning it right now with This novel that I thought was only gonna be 20 ks and it's turning out to be, you know, 35 maybe 40 ks, a, but it'll be a good round full story, and I fully enjoy the freedom to write a good full round story send it to my editor, have them take a look at it, make sure it don't look booty, and put it out. I don't have to wait a year, a year and a half to put out a book I finished writing last week, so a. I love that. Anyway, Sarah was talking about getting to the point where she she had to cut some things off, and she had to decide what was important, and decide decide what to put her energy towards. She's redoing the, the h b ninety planner, and so she has a lot of updates to that, and that had to be a priority, so some things had to come off the the to do list. She was doing, you know, a live twitch a something stream that had to come off the to do list because there's other things that have to be done. I'm fully I'm fully with that.
DL White [00:27:59]:
She said that, you know, she was so happy to be helpful to so many authors, but she was spending a lot of time in her DMs explaining how to do things, how to how to set your book free on Amazon, how to, I I don't I how to do certain things, and her husband was like, Look, If you would just start a YouTube channel, if you would just write a course, if you would just create a planner, if you would just write the book and sell that and then like kind of follow-up with consultations, you wouldn't spend so much time in your DMs for free helping other authors, and, like, I'm not the type of person that's like, yeah, I'll help you but run me a check, a, but I also am the type of person that's like I was writing and then I'd stopped writing to help you with a thing that isn't It isn't a 2 to 3 sentence answer it's a course. It is a 6 week here's how you do that, and here's why you do it this way, and here's the philosophy, and here's how the algorithm works, and here's how Amazon versus Barnes and Noble versus Apple Books versus Google Play, here's why you want to sell books at your own website, here's why you want to have a newsletter, here's why you need a website all of that is stuff I am So happy to share with people for free, but I will not sacrifice my writing time to be in my DMs all day all night. Now, if a. If you're in my DMs and I have helped you put something up for sale, I'm thinking about Nikki Blair, Don't don't even write to me talking about, okay, I won't email you no more. You best email me. If we have been talking in DMs and I have been telling you, hey, if it's me, this is what I'm doing. Here's what I did, I think you should do it this way. I am so happy to continue doing that, but it's not something that I want to due full time.
DL White [00:29:52]:
It is something that I feel like I don't know I don't feel like I'm an expert at anything, and so me charging for that doesn't make sense To me, what does make sense to me is offering the time that I can offer and cutting it off when I really need to. Prioritizing the writing, prioritizing getting my sleep, prioritizing eating, getting my reading time in, and like really sinking into the enjoyment of writing, of telling the story, and shrinking away from feeling like I am competing with every other author for sales because I'm not we're coworkers. A. I can't write fast enough to keep people satisfied, so I need y'all to know these other authors out here. I need y'all to, like, you know, to know what I'm reading and what I'm enjoying, what I'm not reading, what I'm not enjoying. Let's talk about books together because if I like it and we have the same book taste, You might like it too. So I guess just to wrap up this little coffee talk here, as we are starting to think about the new year, which I'm not thinking about yet. I can't think about the new year until Home for the Holidays is done and I have hit my Goodreads challenge.
DL White [00:31:05]:
That's when I start thinking about 2020 or I'm way behind I already know, but as we start thinking about the new year, for me, and I encourage other authors to also get into this mindset of what What is going to bring you joy? What is going to further your career? What are you really looking forward to writing next year? What stories are you just craving to to write, What's sitting in your mind? What's sitting on your heart? Like, really lean into that because that is what is going to sustain you. In between, you might have a couple projects that you need to get out because you need to make some money but I want the meat of My 2024 to be stories I loved writing stories I was excited to put down on paper, where I rush home and I hop on the laptop and I pound out words, I remember those days vividly when I was writing to write and not writing to sell. So I think that's gonna be my mantra for 2024 writing to write and not writing to So now I want to sell I absolutely want to sell because mama's got bills to pay. So far, I'm pretty self sufficient. I paid for my website and all my subscriptions, you know, I got my Canva, my deposit photos, Everything that I use to make all my own promo and all my own covers and all of that stuff my all author, a, dabble that I use to write the books. I gotta be able to pay for those, so I do want to pay. I do, you know, want to actually make money, but I don't want the focus of my writing career to be making money because could I fund that with my full time salary? Absolutely, yes I could, but I I want I want my books to at least pay for me to write them, you know what I'm saying? A that's that's what I'm thinking of. Those are my thoughts coming to bringing this year to a close, A, looking at 2024 and really like seeking wise counsel about that and sort of A linking arms with authors who think and feel the same way.
DL White [00:33:33]:
So That brings me to the close of today's episode. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the Bookcast. I will be back next week with a reading update and a writing update. Please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week. We'll chat again soon. A.