Verse for the World-Weary is out now

The Rhapsody has landed.

The first book in my new space fantasy series, The Verser Volumes, is available now on my website.

All ebooks bought through my website include a special edition bookplate page, designed by Megan Mushi and signed digitally by yours truly 😉.

Why buy direct?

You might be wondering why you should buy through my website instead of waiting for it to be available on stores (where I will eventually make it free).

If you’re impatient, or want to support me, or both, buying direct is the way to go.

We live in a world of megacorps. That dystopian future depicted in cyberpunk is already here.

But instead of cool neon and slick shades, we’ve got the hyper-surveillance of Big Tech, the legal exploitation of gig workers, and the grubby reality of behemoth monopolies and monopsonies unfettered by regulation and human decency.

The fuck does that have to do with your book, Simon?

I’ll tell you.

It’s become standard practice in the tech industry for platform holders to skim off exorbitant percentages. Valve with games, Amazon with Kindle, Spotify with musicians. Audible is one of the worst offenders.

If I sell you a $5 book on Amazon, they take a little over 33%. I pocket $3.28.

It’s far worse if I want to charge more than $9.99.

For an $11.99 ebook bought on Amazon, I’ll only pocket $4.20.

Pretty fair, yeah?

If you buy direct from website for $4.99, I keep $4.24.

For an $11.99 ebook bought direct through my website, I’ll keep $10.90.

I get that it’s more convenient to buy on Amazon if you’re reading on Kindle. But if you want to support creatives, please buy direct where you can 😊

Or not… (aka. I now have a Patreon)

If you’d still like to give Verse for the World-Weary a spin but don’t want to drop cash on it (hey, I get it), I’ve got you covered.

I’ve setup a Patreon, and I’m going to post a chapter a week there for free.

I’m going to keep the Patreon free for members, rather than implement a subscription model.

I don’t like how inundated we are with subscriptions. They’re great for businesses because it’s dependable income.

They suck for everyone else.

So no subscriptions on my Patreon. Just sign up to get all the juju. If you’re one of those amazing people that wants to support my work financially, I’d love for you to purchase my books.

The Patreon will probably be relatively quiet at first, but I’m hoping to grow it into a place where I can connect with my readers.

I’ll do stuff like posting earlier drafts for feedback, give you some insight (and opportunity for feedback) into the cover design process, and maybe the odd ramble. These newsletters won’t change, (apart from perhaps including even more fucking swearing).

Hopefully that sounds cool to some of you. And by cool, I mean the slick-neon-laser-shades-and-leather-trenchcoat kind of cool.

The kind of cool we were damn well promised.