I have restarted this blog three times at this point. Which is, of course, ridiculous. And very unlike me. I don't usually struggle to get my thoughts out but I am finding myself oddly emotional as I write this one.

But this is going to be the attempt that sticks. At least, I really hope so.

So here's the thing: Devil of the Deep comes out in just three weeks. And I am having a lot of feelings! Mostly, excitement and pride. But also, I think I'm feeling nervous in a way that I wasn't with Cry, Voidbringer. And I think that is because Devil of the Deep is such a full-circle moment for me.

In January of 2024, I committed myself to spending the entire year fighting exclusively for Black and brown indie authors. Something I had already been doing, but I wanted to go even bigger and really throw my energy into what mattered to me. So I started a series where I would choose an indie author and push their work with everything that I had. I helped to coordinate giveaways, reached out to other booktokers and got ARCs to them, created graphics, vidoes, etc and passionately promoted those authors with everything I had. And the results were phenomenal. The community got excited about what we were fighting for and we were selling authors out on a very regular basis. I'm talking every video.

I bring that up because Falencia Jean-Francois was the very first author I partnered with.

For those of you who don't know, Devil of the Deep was originally self-published. It got to me because one of my followers had read it and felt it deserved way more exposure than it was getting, so they bullied me into reading it, in the hope that I would talk about it. And I do mean bullied. Amanda (@amandadevoursbooks) is a good friend of mine and decided I was going to read this book. They asked me repeatedly and I kept forgetting. So they finally got sick of me and just sent me a copy. And they were right, I read it and loved it!!!

Throughout 2024, our community helped so many authors to take their careers to a new level. But Falencia was the very first. And because of that, her debut holds such a special place in my heart. So, when I saw that Bindery was an opportunity to take the work our community was already doing and to take it to a whole new level, I JUMPED at it. And one of the very first things I did was ask Falencia to come with me.

I am desperately in love with every project we are working on. But this book makes me nervous in a way none of the others do. Because this is the one that started all of it. Falencia was the very first author that I asked my community to help me make famous. And now... well, now I have to sit back and see just how far we can go.

I feel like Devil of the Deep is a test, in a way. It is the first book that Bindery ever agreed to republish. And more importantly, it is the only indie project that Bindery has agreed to republish. That is a huge achievement. But it is also something that sits very heavy on my mind. I don't believe that getting a publishing contract is the only way to succeed. And I don't believe that indie authors necessarily need to be aiming to republish their projects with companies like ours. But for some, that IS the dream. And it is important to me that we set the bar very high right here and now. It is important to me that when other authors come to Bindery wanting to work with us to elevate their work or careers, that Devil of the Deep will be proof that it is an investment that can more than pay off.

But it goes deeper than that too. Devil of the Deep is the first project I fought for in this way. It is the first book that I brought to our community and asked you all to help me sell the hell out of. And for me, I need this book to be as huge as humanly possible. I need to see this book in every bookstore shelf in America. I need to see it talked about in every corner of Booktok and Booktube and Bookstagram. I need it being celebrated in bookclubs and winning awards. Because I KNOW the power

of community. I know what we are fighting for matters. And I know that our model WORKS. And this is the book that taught me to believe that.

Anyway, now that I have spilled all my hopes and dreams onto you, I want to ask y'all to please lock in and help me make this happen. The early reviews for Devil have been unbelievable. And the work we've already put in has produced amazing results. But we DO have hills to climb still. We are still in a racist and homophobic society/industry, trying to sell a proudly Black/Queer book. A book that unapologetically points a finger at Christian nationalism and demands better for Black people and Queer people.

There are going to be hills with this book.

But I have full confidence that we will perform. Because we always do. That is what it looks like to work in community. And if there is nothing else that defines what we have built here, it is community.

So what comes next?

Devil of the Deep is doing wonderfully, but if we want this book to be the next-level success that it deserves to be, there is a lot of work to do over the next three weeks. Specifically, we need to focus on:

1. Pushing these pre-orders with everything we've got

2. Talking about this book all over social media

3. Reading the book early and dropping reviews/ratings on Goodreads for booksellers and book boxes to see

When it comes to ensuring a book's success, a lot of this comes down to the numbers game. In general, people need to see something several times before they give it real consideration. And often from several different sources. Which means a book's best chance at massive success is always going to come from it being talked about widely. Which is one of the best parts of publishing in community like this. As we come together to talk about our books and push them out to our collective audiences, we have the ability to make sure they are well circulated, which helps give them their best shot at being read widely.

So here are a few things we can be doing to push this book forward: