I’ve been in the publishing business almost twenty years now. I’ve had incredible success, with Texas Tangle reaching #1 on Kobo’s daily best seller list back in 2010, with my Hauberk series books reaching almost as lofty heights on Amazon. I’ve loved writing–watching my characters develop on the page, and building worlds for them to live in. I love the numerous readers who have supported me throughout the years–especially Tabatha, Kayla, Nikki, Sharon, Laura and so many others.
But the business has changed–newsletters don’t work anymore, social media has become toxic, and just keeping/maintaining a website or even an email address is expensive. And then there’s all the AI slop out there as competition. I just don’t have the heart to deal with all any more. Too often I’m muttering that infamous quote from Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series of “I’m too old for this sh!t” whenever I have to log on to deal with things these days.
While I still have stories revolving through my head, characters begging me to tell their stories, I’ve decided to hang up my author’s hat–not just in not writing anything new, but in folding up the Leah Braemel enterprise completely. In the coming months, I’m going to be removing my books from the various stores, and eventually closing down my website and my social media, even though that all hurts so badly considering the amount of time and energy I’ve invested to build them.
For those of you who already own my books on a digital platform, don’t worry. They won’t go away. They’ll still be in your library. They just won’t be available for new readers to buy. So if you do have a title you’ve been putting off buying, now is the time to do it, because they will be disappearing in the coming weeks.
I’m proud of my books, each and every one of them. But it’s time to say good-bye. And thank you.