It’s been one year since launching my squarespace site, so I thought I’d do a little post about how it’s gone and the overall state of things with my operation. This post is strictly for those who care about day to day life and progress of a small time indie publisher/author. So if you only care about the fiction itself, you can skip it. But those of you who want more than a quick snapshot of how I’m doing…welcome!
So I’ll start with the website portion first, since it’s reason for this post to being with. When I launched my site, it was pretty barebones, as most are. But I knew right away I was going to go big with it, because I had put off having a site for so long. What most people don’t realize is that I actually had a site before. Only for a year and it was nothing special. At the time, it served only as a landing page to divert people to amazon, where my books were. Nowadays, I look at having a website as more of a central hub for all things I’m doing. As well as the fact that I can sell signed copies of my books to readers directly from here. But of course I was and am still completely new to web design. everything you’ve seen so far has been 100% me. Unless of course you’ve just come here for the first time this past week. Which brings me to the next point…
I hired a web designer!
Just two weeks ago, I made the decision to up the game. I’d already been looking into ways to enhance the ecommerce side of my business. Selling on amazon is one thing. But selling directly from your own site is a whole other. And while selling in person is great, there’s absolutely no reason why I can’t broaden my reach to people over the internet besides just directing people to my books on amazon. For those of you who have found me that way, thank you. But know that you can support me and other authors in a bigger way by buying directly from us in the future. Just last week, I had a lady at live event scan my QR codes, hoping it lead to kindle. I’ve got no problem with ebooks, but all of my QR codes are for my site. She was shocked to find out I only make between like 60 cents and a dollar fifty from kindle sales. I thought it was common knowledge by now that authors don’t make much from ebooks. This is why I can sell hundreds of copies I Dreamt I was a Red Knight’s Squire on amazon and only make a couple thousand dollars at most. So I and many other indie authors have been prioritizing our direct sales through live events, social media and our own websites. Amazon needs to be viewed as a tool by authors. Not the final destination for their work.
But I digress. So far, my designer has only enhanced the Dreamt and Dorothy & Alice pages. And they look great! They are also more functional than they were before. I’ll certainly be having him back to change more things, so stay tuned. For fans of Just Some Guy, not only have I been working to expand the universe, but I do plan on having my designer make a Guy Hub next! Oh and more down below about the JSG expansion. But I have some more pertinent points first.
I hired an ads manager!
Marketing is by far the most difficult part of bookselling. Way harder than writing, editing, formatting (sort of) and any other part of the process of making great books. I’ve had some minor success at ads going to my amazon pages. But the fails basically cancel out all of the gains. Another reason why this very site needs to be the central location of my online presence. But more importantly, I needed someone who really knows their shit to help me. And from what I’ve seen, this chick does. At the time of this writing, we’re about to do an ad campaign ahead of the holiday season. At some point in the future, I will come back here and let you know whether or not she works out.
Touring has been awesome!
So starting back in March of 2026, I began scheduling tour dates to come out and meet new readers. In my opinion, it’s the best way to build an audience and allow people to know about your brand. Here’s a link to the tour schedule I am currently on. Booking events is actually much harder than you would think. It took me nearly 6 months to assemble the type of schedule I wanted. Which is essentially, 2 events per month, occasionally a 3rd and even a few solid months, like I am currently enduring.
There’s good and bad about live events. Once it is established, you’ve gotta put up money for the booking fees, equipment for your set up, and most importantly, book stock. Thankfully, I’ve mostly got those under control. Though keeping and getting stock can be challenging. Not only that, but not every event will go well. I actually just finished the worst event I’ve done so far. The Parke County, Indiana Covered Bridge Festival. Now, you might be thinking, “Uhh, well of course it wouldn’t be good. You sell books!” But that’s not the issue. I’ve sold well at craft fairs and flea markets. This one was actually pitched as the mother of all Indiana craft fairs. A 10 day event built around Parke Counties 32 covered bridges. Last year, the event saw 2.1 Million people come! This year…did not. A combination of the economy, bad weather and just general bad luck made this the first event where I didn’t even break even. 10 days of work, only to land $20 shy of my booth and licensing fees. And that’s not counting other expenses!
But it wasn’t a total loss. I made many great connections and did pick up some new readers. If you’re one of the few people I actually sold to at this event, thank you!
Additionally, we got to see what a really bad event looks like. I can’t imagine it getting much worse than that, other than zero sales. But this was more about the time sink. I could have spent it creatively or with more focus on the ecommerce. It was an experience nonetheless. And that was just one event.
There have been some amazing events!
If you look at my last post, you’ll see me rave about the Clayshire Castle Medieval Faire. So I won’t go into detail here. I’ll just say that it still reigns supreme for this particular tour. Other events have come close though! Lafayette Comic Con was a nice surprise, especially since it was in my own backyard, just 15 minutes up the road. But I’m only halfway through the tour. I’ve only done 9 events so far and there are currently 7 more scheduled before Christmas.
I’ve already got 2027 Tour Dates!
There will be a more thorough post on this as we get closer to the new year, but even before Halloween 2026, I’ve already got a nice lineup of 2027 dates booked. Here’s a brief over view…
Fort Wayne Anime-fest - January
Michiana Anime Expo - February
South Bend Anime-fest - March
Louisville Anime-fest - July
Lafayette Comic Con and Raptor Con - August
Clayshire and Rene’s Fantasy Fair - September
Plus a splattering of smaller craft fairs, mall shows and flea markets throughout the year. Not to mention the pending events not mentioned above.
Not only am I grateful for the readers and connections I make doing these events. I love how supportive and involved my wife has been! So far, she’s done every event with me except the first one and a few of the days on some of the multi day events. I really want this to be a couples thing we’re doing and it seems to be working out! She’s spent nearly 14 years watching me build my publishing imprint with virtually no way to help. But now she can! And it’s not like she doesn’t get anything out of it. I mean, she won the freakin’ Best Craftsmanship Award for her cosplay of Wiz from Konosuba at Louisville Anime-fest!
As for the creative works…I mean, this is supposed to be about books afterall. My creativity is at an all time high! I have more projects in the works, outlined and on their way than I’ve ever had before. Thanks to the amazing artists, editors and other support staff I have for keeping the pipeline flowing to get these stories out there! If anything, I need to make an equally as rigid schedule for work flow as I do touring. Here is a brief breakdown of what’s new and what’s on the way…
Dreamt Series -
Volume 4 just released
Volume 5 is currently having interiors produced
2 planned spinoffs have been outlined
There will be a hardback collection of the 5 main books with some special goodies
Dorothy & Alice -
The follow-up to Under the Rainbow is about half written
A cool, free to read, Christmas themed short story unlocks on this site in Decemeber
Just Some Guy -
The original book was just re-released with better margins, headers, fixed typos and new font!
Tropical Futuretopia is getting a physical version
FreeDazzle, the Disco Martial Artist, is getting a single issue comic spinoff
I’m brainstorming a “Guy Box” to feature a cool collection of works
The Death of Genre -
I’m working on my first ever non-fiction book! It’s one part commentary and one part resource guide on the history of genre and its current state. Spoiler Alert: I think genre is a limiting concept. But it is still useful to help explain things. Overall, I think we’ve made boxes out of genre by categorizing things in ways where people can’t find things they’d like because they don’t think they would. And as far as authors go, genre imposes unnecessary restrictions by stopping them from writing things because they think it “"doesn’t fit the genre.”
But enough about that. You’ll just have to wait for the book to come out to see the bigger picture!
Miscellaneous -
Giving the Devil her Due Plus+
Stuff with my new 18+ Imprint
Secret Project with Magaly Abarca
An Anthology of loosely connected short stories
And that’s that! In conclusion, this year has seen significant growth for my site, my business, my catalogue and my readership. I truly believe that the biggest and best days have yet to come for D.S. Newman Publishing. If you’ve followed me for a while, get ready. And if you’re just now joining me, you have no idea how wild things are about to get! Make sure to sign up for my mailing list, if you haven’t
