Welcome back to your periodic bee newsletter! Coming at you today with a few updates on upcoming sales, some cool summer projects, and more hints at what’s to come.

But first…

Where the heck have I been?

I fear the social media break has been partially unintentional. I have lots of ideas for posts, both about my own book and about reccing other books, I’ve saved trending sounds and formats on TikTok and then when it comes time to make something… I’d rather do anything else.

Most authors will tell you that marketing feels like screaming into the void. I’d wager that few of us enjoy it (blessed are those who do enjoy the social media side!), and sometimes it feels like an uphill battle. That’s part of it for me, barely more than six months past my debut release. The other part is feeling like I’m beating a dead horse a little (sorry, horse). I have one book out, and it feels like I must be insufferable for never shutting up about it. Sure, I could talk about my short stories and anthologies, but those tend to get less traction.

It’s left me feeling like I should be working on having more books, not more social media posts. So that I feel like I have something to show for it all.

But I guess that’s part of the point of this newsletter, today—to talk about some of the things I’m working on, though I’d hoped to have some tentative dates by now, or at least more concrete updates. But I have some sales and events I want to give a shout out to, so the newsletter is now, whether I have firm updates or not!

So, without further ado, more info about some of the upcoming sales and some of the cool projects I’m doing over the next few months.

Upcoming Sales

First of all, I want to highlight two specific sales where you can find one or more of my works!

First up, we have the We ❤ Canada sale, taking place over the Victoria Day long weekend—that’s this weekend, it’s happening now!! From Friday, May 16, to Monday, May 19, 2025, you can find 120 books in a variety of romantic genres for $0.99. The site is here. There’s even a separate page if you want to find queer, BIPOC, and disability rep! Pray For Him is included in the sale on the Zon, Kobo, and pretty much everywhere else. Shoutout to Alli Temple for organizing!

Second, I’ll be taking place in Monster Manor’s Book Fair sale, taking place on Friday the 13 of June. Tons of books will be on sale for this event, as well as in an itchio bundle for you to get tons of works for a discount. Pray For Him will be on sale and in the bundle, and “And The Mountains Melt Like Wax” will be in the bundle. Be sure to follow Monster Manor for more details as the Book Fair ramps up, there’s going to be a ton of amazing books.

I’ll also be participating in itchio bundles periodically and sharing them on my stories!

Summer Projects

I’m going to be participating in not one but two itchio writing jams this summer. These are events where creators come together to make something, following along on a common theme. Jams are typically for games, but more and more authors and readers are taking advantage of itchio, which is super cool, so these are geared toward written works.

The first jam is the Hot Wet Queer Summer Jam, hosted by some incredible creators like H.S. Wolfe of Monster Manor fame, taking place from June 1 through August 31. The theme name mostly speaks for itself, but is also broad and I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with. I’ve got a marshy/wetlands dark urban(ish) fantasy I’m cooking up for this one, with a dash of monsters and poly romance. I’ve already commissioned a lovely illustrated cover for this one because of how excited I am. 👀

The second jam is the Sexy Werewolf Jam, hosted by DarkChibiShadow, taking place from July 20 through September 20, in preparation for an itchio sale bundle themed around werewolves, too. I’ve been outlining a dark fantasy romance about second chances, rewilding, lost loves—and, of course, werewolves. I haven’t figured out a title or cover for this one, but I’m excited for it.

I am fully aware I may not be able to feasibly write, edit, and publish works during both these periods, but I think the challenge will be half the fun. I’m tentatively planning on posting updates on social media to help keep me accountable during that June-September window, and really hope I can get something done.

It’s possible that both projects will remain on itchio only for a brief period to reduce the time and energy needed to publish them in a tight timeframe, and follow on other platforms once I have more time to quality control things like print editions.

What else I’m working on

Still no firm dates on anything else I’m working on, especially as the jams are going to take a lot of my writing attention during the summer, but I have a few things in the works:

• A short chapbook of sorts, for which I’ve seen some of the early concepts for the cover and interior art—this one will be short, but I’m excited to bring it together as a full release, the art is going to be absolutely killer;

• Another shorter, yet hopefully bigger release, in a more experimental format, this one is very fun for me and hopefully people enjoy the strange formatting direction I take it in to mirror the themes (hint: there are haunted things involved);

• I plan on expanding a previously published short story into something more novella-length, expanding on the story beyond the initial ‘the end’ when it was first published;

• A few longer novel-length WIPs are still moving, including the one I teased before nicknamed ‘Necromantics’, and an artist has tentatively expressed interest in illustrating a cover for this one, though nothing has been nailed down yet (since it’s still a ways off from completion); and

•  I plan on still publishing a few more short stories this year, both old and new, with an eventual short story collection to follow, though due to exclusivity periods for some of the anticipated shorts I likely won’t hit ‘publish’ on this until mid-2026, now.

Is it likely all of these projects will be done in the next year? Given, if you count the two jams but not all the additional partial WIPs, it’s seven publications… Sadly, not likely! But I’ve started putting down a hopeful publishing schedule for everything I’ve talked about here, and ideally at least a few of them will be out by the end of the year and into early next year.

Be sure to subscribe or follow on social media, because I’ll be sharing updates as all of these projects shape up, as well as other goodies and hints. I’d like to share expanded snippets and previews in the newsletter as well!

For now, take care, and thanks for buzzing by.

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Tyler Battaglia (he/iel/any) is a disabled and queer author of horror and dark fantasy. His debut horror romance novel, Pray For Him, is out now.