A Proposal and Other Updates

Eclipse of the Crown preorder links inside...

Jun 24, 2026

The summer solstice just passed in the northern hemisphere, which means we’re inching ever closer to fall! That has nothing to do with this letter, only that I’m excited for my favorite season and for the days to start getting shorter…

What you’ll find in this letter:

My shop is open again!
If I had a Patreon, would you be interested?
Upcoming Releases & Indie Preorders
Upcoming Events

My BigCartel Shop is Officially Open (Again!)

Visit the Shop!

I meant to close my shop for only a week while I took a mini staycation, but then some things happened, and I left it closed for over a month! Real life requested more of me than usual, the delivery I ordered to fulfill the shop was behind as well, and eventually I couldn’t even get myself to go into the space where all my books and prints were to count out what I still needed because of a shame spiral of behindedness.

But I’ve reorganized and recounted and reordered and http://akcaggiano.bigcartel.com is back in business, baybee!

You can now get all three of my Falling for Demons paperbacks including as a set!

You’ll notice a couple items are updated as “PREORDER – 2 WEEK DELAY BEFORE SHIPPING” even for preexisting items. This is because I’m still waiting on some books for restock and am anticipating getting a lot of duds from the printer. I do have some stock, so you might get your package right away, but it could take up to two weeks before I can ship anything out to you. I have quite a bit to make up for, but please bear with me while I get back into the swing of being a solo shop owner!

Would you subscribe to my Patreon if I had one?

Patreon is a platform where creators post exclusive content behind paywalls for a monthly subscription usually at multiple cost tiers. Some creators keep all their content behind the wall forever, and others put it there temporarily before sharing widely, so their Patreon acts like an exclusive sneak peek. Lots of authors are currently using it and doing a wonderful job, like Laura Winter.

I’ve been mulling over starting my own Patreon for a while. I’d really like a place to post both blogs and drafts where only those truly interested are subjected to my chaotic thoughts and work. My biggest concern is making sure I’m offering something worthwhile to my audience, so that’s where you come in. Is this something you enjoy and spend money on from other creators? Is this something you would want from me?

For a $5 monthly subscription, I’m considering a minimum of three posts per month:

A Monthly Recap (semi-personal, mostly process)
A Serialized Series (with very little editing—more on this later)
A Miscellaneous Post (sometimes this would be fiction like a short piece set in an alternative universe with existing characters or a new short story, and sometimes it would be more like a blog, thoughts about a book-related topic, or writing advice)

I would also include:

First to see any new artwork before it’s posted elsewhere (sporadic schedule though, just when I commission something new)
Free ebook downloads for some of my future self-published work (likely ARCs, no schedule, just when they’re ready)
Polls/chats to get reader feedback (any maybe a livestream here and there)

Ideally I would post at least once a week, but I need to leave myself room for busy months and my unpredictable health. I would still send this newsletter, still post to my social media accounts, still self-publish and traditionally publish (if/when they’ll have me lol), still run my store, and still go to signings, so Patreon wouldn’t replace anything, it would just be something new.

I think my most valuable offering is a serialized series with one promised post a month (and potentially more). My current work in progress is the fairytale duology for Sourcebooks, and as that’s already under contract, very little (if any) of it would show up there, but I have other work that would be better suited for Patreon anyway.

I’ve been crafting something new in my “spare” time aka when I’ve felt burnt out but still desperate to create, and Patreon seems a good place for it to debut. I’ve got a whole host of characters planned in a cozy modern but supernatural world, a dash of murder mystery, and an “oops, I spilled the whole container” of silly magic. (There’s a cow shifter love interest sooo yeah.) Oh, and romance! Of course romance, and sometimes of the quite steamy/spicy variety! (So the Patreon would be 18+) Of all my planned projects, this one feels right for a serialized release directly to those who are interested first and aware that it will be messy and chaotic when they get that exclusive access. Then, when each “book” in the series is finished and edited (six books are planned), it would be made available to my patrons for free as an ARC.

I’ve done serialized fiction before and I loved it. Vacancy started out as a serial on my website over a decade ago. It was C+ work, and I had about three readers, but it was such a fun time. Getting back to something like that feels like a way to keep me working and creative outside of my other projects. And the hope is that creativity begets more creativity.

But more importantly, do you guys want this? If you received this newsletter via email, you can reply directly to it and let me know your thoughts! You can also leave a comment right on Substack or find me on social media!

Upcoming Releases and Indie Preorders

Eclipse of the Crown will be here on July 28^th! Preorders are massively important for authors, so if you can, I would so appreciate any support. There are a couple big sales going on and an independent bookstore exclusive you can still pick up!

Indie Bookstore Preorder

Scroll down on the link above to find all the independent bookshops where you can preorder Eclipse and get an exclusive art print and signed bookplate as well! Some of the shops will even mail the copies, so fret not if they aren’t in your area!

Barnes & Noble Sale

6/23/26 – 6/26/26
Use code PREORDER25 to get 25% off

B&N Sale

Indigo Sale

6/22/26 – 6/28/26
Get 25% when you preorder any of Indigo’s Most Anticipated Books, Eclipse included

Indigo Sale

Also, the audio for both How Not to Pursue Your Human Perfectionist and How Not to Mesmerize Your Human Muse are slated for release in July, but I’ll be honest: the publisher is not 100% crystal clear on those release dates with us, so just know they’re both coming!