End of May update and all the fun: new novelette, podcasts and book reviews

Greetings friends and readers, it’s Angel, founder and publisher of Parisian Phoenix Publishers.

The independent publisher environment is brutal as a start-up because online algorithms, social media, and the book selling market create so much noise that independent authors and publishers remain invisible without a lot of work, support and creativity.

Our own results and income fluctuate from month to month ranging from $5 in royalties to $220.

And we have multiple authors and a variety of books.

So imagine the frustration and discouragement independent authors feel with no network to support them. I have been blessed to know many authors who have traditionally and self-published their novels, and most, if not all, of them do not make a living from their creative endeavors or they hustle to make money that some would consider barely survival wages.

I thought it would be a nice way to show support by signing up as a reader-reviewer on NetGalley and Goodreads– a way to keep up with the current marketplace and get more opinions out there and who knows maybe even meet some authors via the social media landscape.

I have read:

• The Knock-Knock Man by British author Russell Mardell
• Scatterlings by South African author Rešoketšwe Manenzhe
• and am currently reading All Signs Point to Paris by American author Natasha Sizlo

Next, I plan to start promoting more of my Parisian Phoenix authors. I hope to read and share some of the work they have done outside of the Parisian Phoenix universe, starting with Tiffani Burnett-Velez who discussed her experience as a woman in the industrialized medical machine of the United States in our anthology Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money. I recently ordered her books, All This Time and The Search.

I have reviewed William Prystauk’s Kink Noir series before, in the days predating Parisian Phoenix. He also has an essay in the anthology. This was the first time I read his book Bloodletting. This was my initial response to his book Debauchery.

In other news, I have an upcoming interview scheduled with Andrew Gurza of the Disability After Dark podcast. The podcast started as a sex and disability podcast, but now includes broader topics. Andrew is a wheelchair user and has cerebral palsy. My business sponsors Andrew’s podcast on Patreon. I thought it would be a good investment as many of my staff members have disabilities.

For my birthday last week, Art Director Gayle Hendricks ordered our first batch of Parisian Phoenix logo stickers which arrived on my doorstep. All future packages will have these cute cat stickers. See the unboxing here.

And finally, the novelette Not the Quiet French Kid will debut June 23. It’s an origin story for Jules Zweigenbaum–the chef introduced in the second volume of the Fashion and Fiends series. I’m reading through the proof now.