It’s Rooted’s second birthday!

If this blog post looks totally unfamiliar, don’t freak out: it’s because I pretty much only post once a year.

I very deliberately and mysteriously remain aloof until you almost completely forget that you were interested in updates about my novel Rooted or any future stories I might write.

It’s all part of my diabolical plan. Honest. 🤞

But I’m popping out of the woodwork today to celebrate with y’all, because on June 24, 2024, I published my first novel! Seemed like an occasion that called for spontaneous fun and non-stop laughs, and nothing fits the bill like an email newsletter.

Two years of Rooted (Two-ted?)

Reflecting on my own achievements does not come easily for me, so this’ll be brief: I wrote Rooted for me, and I published it mainly so I could put a copy on my bookshelf.

That’s why I could never have imagined that two years later it would have 140 ratings on Goodreads, 47 on The Storygraph, and 69 on Amazon (wink wink).

Folks have reviewed it on romance.io, recommended it on Reddit, and even posted about it on their own websites. Someone made me a collage! It has left me truly speechless.

So thank you, gramercy, merci mille fois for the kind support I never dreamed I would find!

Last summer, we celebrated with a Rooted readalong on The Storygraph and an exclusive bonus chapter. Bonus content is only for the in-crowd, so make sure you’re subscribed to my mailing list!

It makes me itchy to spend too long on the positives, so for balance, here are a few of my favorite criticisms of Rooted over the years:

• “The MCs only get together in chapter 38 of a 41 chapter novel” — I know, it’s awesome!
• “A painful slog all the way through” — They read all the way through!
• “What an unfortunate name. Rooted is the polite way of saying ‘f***ed’ in Australian English, as in it’s cactus, it’s rooted, it’s kaput.” — Ya learn something new every day!
• “The cover oozes BDSM” — What a great verb!

And who could forget this absolute banger:

• A 0.25-star rating with the text “pissed me off” — Isn’t it cool that Storygraph allows partial stars??

Let me know if there’s any other feedback you think I should consider for the hall of fame! And if you haven’t read Rooted yet, I have two things to say: One, you should run and find out what pissed someone off so much they left a nearly zero-star review, and two, I feel like this whole email has been pretty confusing to you so far, so, sorry about that.

Going wide, protecting my peace, and other business-y updates

As previously stated, I didn’t publish Rooted to become a wealthy, successful author, mostly because I’m not super business savvy, especially when it comes to marketing. I’m an abysmal salesperson.

Last summer, I made a couple un-savvy business decisions that I fully stand behind a year later:

1. I left Kindle Unlimited to “go wide”
2. I stopped selling my book on social media

Going wide for romance authors is a huge risk, because Kindle Unlimited is far and away the most popular subscription for romance readers. They read voraciously, and they’re more likely to take chances on lesser known titles because it’s included in their subscription. However, having my book available on KU meant I was trapped in the Kindle ecosystem. Now I can sell Rooted everywhere, including my website (where it’s cheaper!), and I get to be one more little tiny rudder steering readers away from soulless mega-corporations like Amazon.

Around the same time, I also made the decision to stop trying to sell my book on social media. Not only is the indie author hustle draining, it feels super inauthentic to someone who has a hard time tooting her own horn. (This is the real reason you haven’t received a newsletter from me in a year. I know my lie about being deliberately aloof was convincing, but it’s time I came clean.)

Every once in a while, I do attend an in-person event like a book signing at a brewery or a local author fair at a library. It’s way more fun to chat face-to-face with actual readers than to hunch over a computer creating Canva reels that only 20% of my followers will watch.

So you can see why these aren’t traditionally “wise” choices from a money-making standpoint. But making money was never the goal. I figure, if the book is worth reading, folks will find it.

Weirdly enough, folks do find it, a couple here and there. If I take those couple of bucks and squirrel them away, maybe someday I’ll have enough to commission a cover that doesn’t ooze BDSM.

Or maybe I’ll spend it on…

A second book??

Those two question marks make this sound way more intriguing than it really is, but yes, I am working on another book. Writing is hard! I was hoping to publish this year, but I want to do this story justice, so I’m taking my time.

It’s inspired by my favorite 80s fantasy movies: think Labyrinth, Legend, Ladyhawke, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, etc. There’s a fairy king based on folklore, a Metropolitan Opera soprano with bipolar disorder, an unpredictable witch who has the king wrapped around her gnarled finger, and a stolen child that might destroy all of fairydom.

I’ll let you know when there are exciting developments. Once I finish this draft, I’m sure it’ll only take me three more years—four max—to write the blurb!

Touching grass, working with my hands, slowly transforming into a forest-dwelling witch

Summer is hands-down the best time of year. My day job is less demanding, my garden produces all kinds of delightful green stuff, and longer days means more time for crafty shenanigans.

The vibes also tend to skew more hobbit-y during the growing season, and I’m not mad about it.

A couple non-writing things I’ve done recently that prove I’m definitely on a path toward becoming an anthropomorphized field mouse who lives in a cottage made of pinecones:

• Sewed a harness so I can walk my cat (cat tax below)
• Trimmed a tree in my yard and made a basket out of the branches (see photo above)
• Read Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (could it be… betterthan the movie??)
• Volunteered at a native plant sale, where I learned a ton of Latin genus names and got to take home something called Purple Love Grass

It’s a good start, but I’m sure I’m leaving some whimsical boxes unchecked. Recommendations welcome!

That’s probably enough weird for now. Again, thanks for following along. Connecting with other readers is by far the best thing about being an author, so I’m really glad you’re here.

Please feel free to keep the conversation going, either here or on Instagram, Threads, or email.

Oh yeah, here’s that cat tax.

With love from me, my dogs, my garden, and this tortured cat,

Emma Golding