New Year, New Substack, New Books on the Shelves
social media is a hellscape, so let's just write letters
Hello, friends!
It’s time to put some real thought into how to communicate as the social media sites burn. I originally came up with this Substack to hold all my theme park thoughts, but the truth is I don’t have that much time to write them down. I do have a lot of thoughts about a lot of things, though. So I’m adding my full name, and my full life, to my Substack.
Yes, Disney! Yes also, my goofy horses! Yes for sure, my other novels!
I’m going to mirror some of this content at Patreon (find me at Patreon.com/nataliekreinert) and some of it on my regular newsletter, just so you know. Do I know how I’m going to organize it? I mean, I have a sort-of idea. But if I think too hard about it, I won’t do it, you know? You know.
Anyway, yesterday was the paperback release date for the first two novels in my Eventing Series, Ambition and Pride, and it was awesome. Here is what it looks like when you find your books on the shelf at Walmart:
Yes, those are my books sandwiched between Taylor Swift and Bluey, the greatest pop icons of our age. Getting books into Walmart is kind of a big deal, because Walmart is the only chain retailer a lot of households have access to, and they only carry a curated selection of books in the single aisle allocated to print media. I am really excited for this shot at expanding my audience! I wrote The Eventing Series with horse girls in mind, but passion, mistakes, and making terrible decisions in the name of ambition is pretty universal.
Oh, and falling in love, because there’s a wonderful romance in Ambition which expands throughout the eight-book series and Briar Hill Farm!
I’ve been self-publishing my books since 2011 or 2012, I’m always confused by which one’s right. I have a lot of books out there—more than 30. Some moments in the re-release journey for The Eventing Series haven’t felt as unforgettable as I’d have liked, or been as emotional true debut authors in the traditional publishing field might find them to be.
But going out to multiple bookstores yesterday and finding my books in each of them was incredibly satisfying, one of the most satisfying moments of my writing career. Okay, of my life! I have worked in bookselling and frequented bookstores since I was a teenager; my husband also worked in bookselling for twenty years. My greatest obstacle in self-publishing was my lack of distribution options beyond online retailers. To finally see my books on the shelves, available for everyone to find, was absolutely a big moment I won’t forget!
With slightly less fanfare, yesterday was also the ebook/audiobook release for Books 3 and 4 of The Eventing Series, Courage and Luck. They’re available wherever ebooks and audiobooks are sold and borrowed, and don’t forget to request them from your library if they’re not on loan already. My library added the audiobooks faster than the ebooks, for what that’s worth. The audiobooks are beautifully narrated by accomplished narrator Barrie Kreinik.
So, this is my first Substack of the new year. Let’s connect if you’re a writer, a reader, a person with questions, a person with ponies, a person with a Disney parks annual pass — I haven’t been to Disney in a week and I’m already feeling it — and write letters to each other, instead of posting takes.
Except for Bluesky, I’m still on Bluesky. nataliekreinert.bsky.social - see you there.