Hello and welcome to the June monthly newsletter (we have a jalapeno this time because man has the weather been hot lately)! This email will be a bit of a shorter one, but there's tons going on during the promo section to definitely make sure to check below for some great June deals going on!
Updates
Riyati
Riyati Rivals, book 2 of the Riyati series, launched exactly one month ago today-- if you haven't had a chance to pick it up yet, there's no time like the present! I'm both humbled and so excited that people have enjoyed Riyati Rivals so far (even more so than Riyati Rebirth, going by both books' current ratings). I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone that's read and reviewed Riyati Rebirth or Riyati Rivals-- each review is super important for other readers to know if the Riyati series is right for them, and word of mouth is the best way to share any indie series you love!
If you've read any of the Riyati books and would like to leave a review yourself, I've included some links below of common review sites-- if you use a different site, any review is helpful, however, so don't feel limited to these sites!
Looking to the future, I'm happy to announce that the third book of the Riyati series, Riyati Ripple, has been sent out to betas! Right now, Riyati Ripple is the longest of the series by far (over 92k words compared to Riyati Rebirth's 67k words!), and it was an absolute joy editing it. I can't wait for it to end up in everyone's hands, but definitely read Riyati Rebirth and Riyati Rivals first because it's super dependent off the first two books.
And even more in the future, I've also started outlining for the fourth book in the Riyati series! While it'll be awhile yet before this book reaches anyone's hands (I haven't even written the first draft yet after all!), I'm happy to share the book's name and logo in the meantime!
Riyati Recollection, the fourth book in the Riyati series
(Fun facts: trying to fit "Recollection" in has been a task but I was determined because like all the titles so far, it's a very meaningful term to the book's specific plot and developments. I've also already decided on book 5's name too and it's just as long or maybe a bit longer than "Recollection", but I'm going to wait a bit before sharing that-- book 5 planning has started as well though, rest assured!)
Personal
I only had about a week between my spring semester ending and my summer one starting, but I'm really learning a lot in my classes so far! I've also been trying to work on taking a bit better care for myself, including that whole "exercise" thing. My hope is by the time of July's newsletter, I might even finally have finished Xenoblade X DE-- I'm at 90% Mira completion at the moment, so finally closing in there! (Just in time for the new Ai: The Somnium Files game out in July...)
The cats, meanwhile, have been melting on our hardwood floors as they complain about heat. What they're unaware of is that soon, they have their yearly vet checkup, and it's update vaccines time so it'll be a happy day for all involved! (Also, Krishna will get bloodwork done for the first time as a general five year checkup, and I'm sure he'll be thrilled once he knows this.)
Promos
If you're looking for some summer reads, this is the newsletter section for you! I've got one promotion for free ebooks and many more for discounted, DRM-free ebook bundles-- many of which are (of course) Pride themed since it's June!
All the Colors of Pride!
Runs now to June 30, offering free queer ebooks to celebrate Pride!
Indie Spotlight Bundle
Runs now to June 30
An itch.io book bundle, offering 18 DRM-free ebooks for only $27, all featuring queer characters!
Queer Lights in the Darkness Bundle
Runs until June 30
An itch.io book bundle, offering 66 DRM-free ebooks for only $30, featuring queer creators from around the world!
Pride Book Fair
Part of the greater Pride Book Fair event, there's a big itch.io ebook sale taking place during the last week of June (so these bundles aren't live yet, but these are the links for when they are)! The itch.io ebook sale consists of a single big bundle with all the participating creators involved as well as cheaper, more genre-specific bundles. If you'd like to know more about Pride Book Fair, check out their site!
Big Bundle
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 110 DRM-free ebooks for $100 across a mix of genres and queer-identities!
Urban/Contemporary Fantasy
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 18 DRM-free queer ebooks for $35 across the Urban & Contemporary Fantasy genres!
Dark Fantasy & Horror
Runs June 22 - 29. Dark Fantasy and Horror are so popular, they got two bundles this year! Check out both to see the full Dark Fantasy & Horror selection: bundle 1 has 16 DRM-free ebooks for $30 while bundle 2 has 17 DRM-free ebooks for $30!
Fantasy
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 18 DRM-free queer ebooks for $35 across the Fantasy genre!
Fantasy Romance
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 16 DRM-free queer ebooks for $30 across the Fantasy Romance genre!
Contemporary & Historical Fiction
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 16 DRM-free queer ebooks for $30 across the Contemporary & Historical Fiction genres!
Science Fiction
Runs June 22 - 29, offers 11 DRM-free queer ebooks for $20 across the Science Fiction genre!
Closing
Whew there's a lot of great books on sale this month! I hope you're able to grab a great read or two from the above list -- I definitely know I am! In the meantime, I'm going to do my best to stay inside from this heat, and keep writing away so that I can bring even more Riyati news to everyone next month.
See you in July!
- Kai
1 comment
Dear Kai, Kylie surviving the kidnapping only to find her life smaller and more confined afterward, watched constantly by her mother, is such a raw way to open Riyati Rivals. It would be easy to treat survival as the end of the story, but you show it's really just the start of a harder one, especially once Kylie learns Asuza's supporters are still out there and one of them wants her dead. I loved how you deepened the tension around Siani too. Kylie has to trust a version of herself who already let her get kidnapped once and is still keeping secrets, and that push and pull between needing an ally and not being able to fully trust her is such a compelling way to explore identity and legacy. Layering that with a cast of queer and neurodiverse characters, all navigating generational trauma and the question of who they're allowed to become, gives the series real emotional depth beneath the fantasy elements. I spent some time looking at where Riyati Rivals sits online and I want to share what I found honestly. The series already has genuine reader enthusiasm behind it. The gap is that readers searching for low dark fantasy, reincarnation stories, and queer new adult fiction on Goodreads are very active right now building their TBRs, and this book isn't yet positioned where those readers are looking. Based on my research, here is what I believe would make the biggest difference for this book. 📌 Goodreads Optimisation: Building and strengthening the book's presence on Goodreads so it is well positioned and discoverable by readers searching for low dark fantasy, reincarnation stories, and queer new adult fiction. 📌 Goodreads Reviews Campaign and Listopia Placement: Getting Riyati Rivals placed in front of readers already building their TBRs for exactly this kind of identity driven, emotionally layered fantasy. 📌 Amazon Keywords and Metadata: Optimising the book's Amazon listing so the right readers find it when they search for low dark fantasy, reincarnation romance, and queer representation in fantasy fiction. If you would like to see how these strategies can help Riyati Rivals reach the readers it was written for, simply reply with "INTERESTED" and I will send you the full details of each strategy along with how the process works. Warm regards Amy Book Marketing Expert