We Read Smut: Bookish Conversations for Romance Readers
We Read Smut, hosted by Alesia, empowers romance readers to embrace their love for smut and dive deep into the diverse world of this captivating genre. Tired of feeling judged for your love of steamy reads? Join us as we create a safe space to unpack the complexities and joys of smut, challenge societal norms, and celebrate the power of inclusive storytelling.
We'll explore everything from trope deep dives and author interviews to thought-provoking discussions on topics like body positivity, LGBTQ+ representation, and reclaiming the word "fat." We'll also tackle reading challenges, offer "shelf help" for your TBR pile, and venture into the realms of fantasy romance, offbeat erotica, and the vibrant world of BookTube.
Whether you're a seasoned smut reader or just dipping your toes into the genre, this podcast is for you. Subscribe now and join the conversation! Follow us on Instagram @WeReadSmut and use the hashtag #WeReadSmut to share your thoughts.
We Read Smut: Bookish Conversations for Romance Readers
Exploring Cultural Influences in Sci-Fi and Fantasy with Elizabeth Stephens
Prepare to be swept away to magical realms and epic love stories as we dive into the enchanting world of diverse sci-fi and fantasy romance with the incredible author, Elizabeth Stephens. In this fun conversation, Alesia and Elizabeth explore the unique approaches, character dynamics, and powerful representation that make Elizabeth's books stand out in the genre.
Elizabeth Stephens is an author of dark SciFi and fantasy romances, and specializes in sizzling, diverse reads starring characters of color.
In this episode, we're discussing:
- Elizabeth's writing journey and the inspirations behind her innovative storytelling
- The nuanced way she handles the concept of fated mates, creating believable and complex relationships
- The fascinating dystopian power hierarchies and diverse characters in her Omega Verse series
- The importance of representation and inclusivity in Elizabeth's worlds, and the challenges and rewards of traditional publishing
Elizabeth Stephens' books are a must-read for anyone seeking immersive, empowering, and genre-bending sci-fi and fantasy romance. Dive into her captivating worlds, where diverse characters navigate intricate relationships and power dynamics, all while showcasing the transformative power of storytelling. Be inspired to explore Elizabeth's expansive bibliography and connect with her online to stay up-to-date on her latest releases.
CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH STEPHENS:
BOOKS/AUTHORS MENTIONED:
Population Series (Amazon)
Beasts of Gatamora Series (Amazon)
Xiveri Mates Series (Amazon)
His to Claim by Taylor Vaughn (Amazon)
Venomous by P. Fletcher (Amazon)
Running list of books mentioned (Doc)
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Connect with Alesia:
Storygraph
This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
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Prepare to be swept away to magical realms and epic love stories. Today, we're joined by the incredible ELIZABETH STEVENS to talk about The enchanting world of diverse sci fi and fantasy romance. Listener discretion is advised this podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Elizabeth, I am fangirling so hard, so excited to have you on the podcast. I have been, oh man, reading your books. I want to say, since about 2021 I want to say, end of 2021 I blew through the population series and was like, Oh my God, yes, I need more. Loved it so much. Loved the characters. He created this post apocalyptic, dystopian type of world with a badass FMC owning her ability to be like, I don't need anybody else. I'm just gonna do my thing. And then got into the Xavier mate series, and actually did not read a lot of alien romances. But in the same sense, I feel like your approach is very different than a lot of other authors, in that a lot of other authors tend to do the crash landed or Mars Needs women, or the space and apps type of stuff, whereas yours is like 1000s of years of humans being on another planet and then interacting with aliens, and so I feel like it just it created so much more backstory. Probably gave you a lot more flexibility with your approach, which kind of leads me to, how did you get into writing and creating these really incredible stories,
Elizabeth Stephens:like my writing origin story, that I always say is pretty much attributed directly to my mom, because I really was into the American Girl dolls when I was a small child, and in order to get one, I had to read all of the books in the series, but there are shocker no black American Girl dolls, so I wanted one that looked like Me, and in order to get one, my mom said I had to write a story. And so I ended up writing Funny enough, like a sci fi Space Odyssey, middle grade Space Odyssey, like on this old, ancient hunk of junk computer that I still think I have somewhere. Never ended up punishing it, but I did get my American goal doll, and so that was kind of the the origin, but with the very main series, just the different approach that I kind of had that started from just sheer frustration with the crash landing trope or the abduction trope, because there's actually, logically, only one possible storyline there, which is, I've been abducted. How do I get back home? Or I crash landed here? How do I get back home? And I really can't tell you how it makes me, like, twitchy when you get to that end scene and they're like, actually, I've decided to stay. I'm like, No, we all knew already you were gonna stay. Oh, it's this was just a complete waste of my time. So I was like, How can I circumvent that as a storyline and actually have something more interesting? And I did read like, I think two of kind of my major inspo books were venomous by Penelope Fletcher, because that was one where it was an alien abduction, but there wasn't ever really a talk of going home. It was just, that's it. And then there was his acclaim by Taylor Vaughn, which is Theodore Taylor, and Yvonne, which I thought was really good. It was just very dark and creepy. So I was hoping to do something maybe on the lighter side of that.
Alesia Galati:Yes, I read Taylor Vaughn's after, like, more recently, like, in the last month or two, and trying to explain to my husband what a breeding ceremony was. I'm sure I'm on a list somewhere, like, trying to explain this. And I was like, it's fine. It works out, but also it's really intense. But I did not get that at all from yours. It, while they does have some elements of, wait a minute, we have this negotiation. And this is actually not aligned with the supreme ruler and what he wants to be happening on this planet. But you have faded mates in there, which I think you do this so beautifully. A lot of them, like, it doesn't matter you're with this person, period, and that can be really frustrating. And even thinking about, I want to say it's your second book, where it's like, he does not want to be with her at all. He has so many pred. This is against humans. And she's like, Look, I'm just trying to do the best thing for my people. I'm trying to just make this work. She's religious. He is not like, there's just so many opposing things that even though they're faded mates, maybe it's Book Three, because second one is on the ice planet four. Oh my goodness, it's like all of them are together in my brain, because they're all so wonderful. They're seriously go read the whole thing. I think I blew through all of them within a couple months. But I feel like it's just such a beautiful way of approaching faded mates, where it's not like, No, we're a slave to this thing inside of us that's telling that we're telling us that we're supposed to be with this other person, even if we don't want to. So why was that important for you?
Elizabeth Stephens:Like, a lot of my writing comes from like, what I've seen and read and liked, but I think could be a little bit better. And so one of the things that I realized that fated mates does and doesn't do is that what it doesn't do is it doesn't create a believable love story, because it just is a trigger, and then there's a sexual attraction. And after you've had sex with the same person enough times like you can kind of probably like that anybody you know. So there has to be something else there, which is why this is a very mate series. I do a one sided, faded mates. So for the varaxians and like the alien species, who are familiar with the concept, like theirs is usually instantly triggered, whereas the human females have to like come into their like faded mate thing, the Zana. Zana has to hit them at a certain point for it to be triggered, which I thought was fun, because it's an easy way to create an enemies to lovers friction without having to try super duper hard. The other thing that faded mates does, however, is that, unlike a believable love story, it lets you create, Oh, what did my friend call it the other day? My in real life friend was like the book community needs to start adopting, not like a spice meter, but like a spice frequency or something. I don't remember what you called it, but basically to say, this isn't a slow burn, this is like a fast, slow, slow, slow, fast, fast. Like, it's like different, like spice like patterns. And that's one thing that I really like to do in my books, is create different spice patterns. So maybe one couple doesn't have sex until the very end, but then the other couples have explosive sex from on page one, you know. And so that's the thing that faded mates can do, is that you can use it for that at any point in the story, which I think is great, because you can work on building a believable love story, while at the same time not depriving your readers of what they want to read. Here
Alesia Galati:for the smut, I totally get it.
Elizabeth Stephens:Gotta have go yes.
Alesia Galati:And now your omega verse series takes a slightly different approach. So could you talk through that as well? For anyone who's like, wait, what's Omega verse? What is it? And then, how do you incorporate the fated mates differently in that series, versus like the severe mate series.
Elizabeth Stephens:It's funny when I describe Omega verse, because to me, Omega verse represents a dystopian power hierarchy, not a sex thing, but like most people will associate it with, like, Wolf's pack dynamics, where you have an alpha, a beta, and then, like omega, or I don't even really, I don't know how wolves work, but in either case, it's kind of a sexual tool. So if you have omegas, then they go into heats and alphas can go into ruts and alphas and omegas pair and lots of fun, spicy stuff happens. But I really like it for the way that I use it in my dark fantasy series, which is Dark City omega and Shadowlands omega, more books coming. The Alpha sit at the very top. There's not, there's not that many of them. Betas make the dominant class, and then Omegas are the fewest. And my omegas all have magic, and my alphas rule the cities, and some of them can shift into these monster creatures, because I just thought that would be super duper fun. And where faded mates comes in is that obviously you have this chemistry between alphas and omegas, a natural sexual chemistry. And that was really fun to use, particularly with this dystopian structure, because my Omegas are all kind of living in fear of being discovered or being owned by an alpha, which again, creates a nice enemies to lovers, tension, and then my alphas are all as soon as an omega is discovered, they're trying to claim that one because it increases their power and can enhance their legacy with offspring and that kind of stuff. So that's the way that I can use it.
Alesia Galati:When I was reading your it's beast of get beasts of gadamora Correct. Is how you say that last one, because we're all reading it. Nobody's reading this to us, unless you're listening to the audiobook in that one. What I thought you did so incredibly was the hierarchy under. Understanding of the betas being such a huge class of people that were seen as less than because of their lack of either being alphas or omegas, and them rising up and being like, wait a minute, we're important too. And like having a legit reason of being like, No, this is why I'm talking about trash city people here, like that side. I really thought that how you approached that was just so realistic to humanity. And then adding in the Omega element of being like, seen as they have to be protected. They used to be put away. They have to not be seen, not be heard, all of that, which I think a lot of women can sympathize and empathize with and be like, Yeah, I've been there, done that, but letting them come into their power and having such incredible power to be like, No, I actually saved the guy one or two times. I just think that how you do that is so empowering for the readers. Was that intentional? And what is the maybe some feedback that you've gotten from people around that dynamic? Yeah,
Elizabeth Stephens:I think that's definitely it's hard to call it intentional, because I think it's there's a reason that all of my main female characters tend to be women of color, and tend to be in these positions of coming into their power with the support of their partner, because I think it's something that we could probably use a lot more of in regular society. And so it makes me feel good, but gosh, hearing you talk about that those books just gets me so excited because of where the series is going. But like Merlin, I have to say she's the beta leader of this gang of people called Trash city, and they're all betas, and they are working in cahoots with the big bad guy in this thing because they want to be the right hand of the devil so that they can get theirs when they dismantle the regime, but she is actually, I think my all time. She's, like, closely tied with Jack, who's the bad guy from population, but she might be, like, my all time favorite villain character, and I'm just, like, deeply obsessed with her. Yeah, she's a lot. She's really fun. But yeah, I think more of the feedback I get is less about like, how my books feel it's like a woman reading them, and more how it feels as like a woman of color reading them. I get a lot of feedback about, Wow, I like, picked up this fantasy book because it had the black woman on the cover. But like, I'm just so not used to reading a black woman in this role. Like, it's just so important to me to just have, like representation, just in any book, not just like black suffering books, and it's hard to find or like books about blackness in general. Like it doesn't even have to be black suffering, but it's, oh, here's this amazing fantasy rooted in African mythology. And I think that's really cool. But I actually just I want to read Harry Potter, not Harry Potter anymore, because that woman's lost the card, but I want to read the Hunger Games. And just so happen to find the main character in those books be somebody I can relate to. And so that's just more my style. Within that there are obvious, like, very clear, heavy handed elements of like racism and sexism and just classism and dealing with all of the isms throughout all of my books. Is
Alesia Galati:that something that just happens, or is it something that you're really intentional about as you're creating these
Elizabeth Stephens:Well, I think I tend to write just the nature of the books that I write tend to be dark, and because I work in fantasy and sci fi landscapes, like, it just lends itself to creating those kinds of class and hierarchical structures. I think, like, maybe book like Lord the rings didn't really have that kind of setup. Everyone was just like, living in perfect harmony in their little communities. But like, I think maybe that just seems so fantastical to me. It doesn't seem realistic enough. And yeah, so it just, it seems to just be what comes most naturally,
Alesia Galati:I think, like Star Wars, but make it black and women leading everything. Yes, yeah, that's more
Elizabeth Stephens:Yeah, or even, like Dune, but remove all of the crazy over the top sexist elements. I really, I can't. I have a whole dune rant. I can't stand it. But yeah, like, more like on those vibes than on the Lord of the Rings side of the spectrum,
Alesia Galati:you have beasts of gadamora being a and I actually so funny. And this is probably me being like, wait, what where are we? What do we? What is happening? I did not realize that it was more of like a dystopian future type of book. And so there were moments where I was reading it and you said, like superhero landing. And I was like, Wait, how do they know what that is? I. And then it was like, Wait, oh, okay. Or you there was like a Jesus reference, like, something about something. And I was just like, how do they know what that is? Oh, and then it just tied, like, it made me realize, like, Oh, this is the direction that we're going in. The story, cool, okay, I'm here for it,
Elizabeth Stephens:yeah, beasts of catamora, I was actually like a return to my messy roots, because I wrote the population series first, and that was like when I was still like a hobby author, and was just like putting books out wasn't intending to make any money off of it. That book had to go through three different COVID revisions because I just couldn't figure out what it was. It's sci fi, it's fantasy, it's vampires, it's aliens, it's super bloody, really violent, and there's like, sex, like lots of spice, like, it's just all over the place. And I love that. I love not writing to genre. I think it's so fun to blend. But then I was like, when 2020 I got really into sci fi romance. And then I was like, let me try to do this properly. And so then I wrote, like, this very mate series, which is just alien romance. Sci fi romance, like very clearly fits into its box, but beasts of gadamora came to me, and I was just like, I just wanted it to be what it was, without having to try to make it like a real fantasy and so that's why you like, go in. And it's a complaint I've gotten. People are like, this is a fantasy book, but there's like, this modern city with like, coffee shops in it and stuff. And I'm like, Yeah, that's because that's exactly what I wanted to write. And one of the things that I like writing a lot is, and what I did in this very mate series is I cannot understand how authors spend like, 30 books on the same planet. I'm like, This is so boring, there's no there's nothing new to be discovered here. And one of the things that I wanted to avoid when I said about writing beasts of gadamora was I didn't want to get trapped in the same world building with every book. So that's why every book is in a different city, and every city is completely different. Like Dark City is like a modern metropolis. Shadowlands is an ancient medieval civilization. Book Three is a Viking Village. It's just out there. Yeah,
Alesia Galati:I love it, though. I think that it really makes it unique. And you mentioned a little bit ago about how all of your female main characters, or the majority of them are black, obviously that's important to you, because you're black woman, and being able to create that representation and create really satisfying relationships where they have partners that are lifting them up, that are supporting them, that believe them to the ends of the earth, or will follow them to the ends of the earth. I think is just such a beautiful dynamic to create. You had this element of religion in the Xavier mate series, and I'm curious how you because this is 1000s of years after these humans have crash landed, and so many of their religions have melded together. Is what I got as I was reading it. How did you create that? And why did you feel like that was important? I
Elizabeth Stephens:lived in the Middle East for a while, and so it's always just been a second home to me, and like, the use of the Arabic language comes back in book seven, because my main female character, she's an Egyptian interpreter, and I think that it also just seems like a natural thing that there would still be religion, even in like a super far off future. But I liked the idea that one I didn't want to use one particular religion specifically, but I thought that it made sense that, like the Abrahamic religions would melt into one. Maybe that's my utopic vision for how religion could look. Yeah. So I thought Sparrow was like an interesting use case for that, and to get to explore, you get to explore that a little bit more also in the little novella that comes exiled from Nobu that comes after book two. But it was just it was a fun thing to include, though it's obviously outside of my comfort zone. I'm not mahajabi, I don't wear a headscarf, and I'm not particularly religious myself. So I I always tell, like authors, when you're doing something you're not familiar with, try to do as little as possible, maximize where you're going with it, but do as little as possible. And so I don't have a whole lot of characters that are deeply religious and stuff, just because it's so far outside of my wheelhouse. But I definitely, I thought Sarah was such an important character. She definitely needed her own book. Yeah,
Alesia Galati:and I think that how you did it was so beautiful, especially as someone who has a lot of religious trauma, fundamentalist Christian trauma, it didn't feel like it took me out of the story, because it was sprinkled in. And so beautifully as a way of like devotion and morals, rather than a deity, which I think is where, personally, where I feel that a lot of organized religions notice I said organized religions tend to veer toward, is the idea of like, very cult like behavior. We're the only ones that have the truth. We're the only ones that know the way everyone else is going somewhere else. But I feel like what you did was just very beautiful, from the point of devotion toward something higher than oneself, but also from a morals standpoint of being good, doing good, encouraging others to also live that kind of life. I thought you did it so beautifully. You mentioned the one where you go back to Earth. And why can I not? I've got you have your own, like, whole shelf over here. So if you're not watching the video, I'll have to post a picture of it, but you have your whole shelf over here, but the one where they go back to Earth, I want more of that, and I believe you have more of that coming. Is that true? Let us know. Yeah,
Elizabeth Stephens:I'm super excited. I was invited to participate in the crazy, cool project next year. I'm really excited to hopefully someday, in the near future, get to tell you guys what it actually is, but that will involve a short it's a short story, a shorter story for me, but a return to that planet. And it's I had written part of the story already, and then I wasn't sure if I was going to use it. I was like, maybe this is not right for this particular project. And then I reread the opening. It's just like I wrote, like, the dumbest female character I've ever written, and she everything. I'm just obsessed with her, like she doesn't do anything right. And it's just like such a departure for me, because all of my female characters tend to be, like, very capable and serious and like determined, and she's just like a floundering idiot, and it's a lot of fun. Yeah, it's really a lot of fun.
Alesia Galati:Oh, I love that. You just follow your creativity. You are also a self published and Trad published author.
Elizabeth Stephens:The Trad book doesn't come out until June,
Alesia Galati:okay, but very soon this year, for sure that we're this episode goes out, you will have had both. How does that kind of differ for you in what you're able to create for the readers? I know I went to Kennedy Ryan's book tour recently. Absolutely lovely, and was wonderful. But she was talking about how she had tried to start as traditionally published and as a black woman, it was very difficult, because they wanted her to write white people. They wanted her to write a certain style of book. And she was like, I don't want to do that. But now that she's I don't want to say proven, because she didn't have anything to prove. But now that she has shown the industry that, like, hey, black romances can make money they sell that now she's able to demand what she deserves for these stories. And so as someone who's doing both, how does that kind of feel? What do you think the future is for people who look like you and I to either Trad publish or indie publish? Yeah,
Elizabeth Stephens:I am. I could talk forever about this. I think it's a really cool position to be in, and I'm really grateful to be in it. But I also started, originally trying to try to publish, like, way decades, literally a couple, like, over a decade ago, now, way over a decade ago, I was in college when I finished my first book, which I still have. I don't know what I'm doing with it, but I Yeah, rejection after rejection, just tons of rejections. Like, never really got a definitive answer as to, like, why my books weren't getting picked up or anything like that, but then eventually decided to do it myself. And then, of course, as you prove that you can make money. Things happen for you. But I will also say that in this entire experience, and it makes me want to cry my Trad experience, the person and the reason that I actually have a Trad contract is a black woman in the industry. So she actually reached out to me, because I would never have gone back into the query trenches. That's just not for me. And indie has been really fun so far. It was, to me, always like a nice to have to be able to try and publish, but it wasn't something I was actively going to pursue just because of my previous experience. But I was contacted by an editor at the time at Harper Collins, and she was like, working with this particular imprint, which was, like digital rights only or something. And so it wasn't really my speed, but she kind of sensed like that wasn't really where I was at in my career, and she hooked me up with an agent, and it's because of her that I got my agent who then got me a deal. And I think that woman was either demoted or fired later, and I just it pinches. I can just feel of my heart, just little pieces of my heart shattering off. Because I think even like. Like the woman who wrote yellow face, whose name I'm blanking on, she did the speech that really sat with me, and she talked about how in the 90s or the 2000s or something, there was a small spike in, like, black women authors being published. And it all went back directly to one single acquiring editor at a publishing house. And like, this is shocking and, like, appalling to me that this is actually the case. So it's tough, and, like, I have a lot of misgivings about Trad, for sure, and I have the constant feeling that I'm being underpaid whether or not it's true, whether or not it's true, and I'm again, that's not to say that I'm not super happy about my contract, and I am so excited about my book, and I have been really happy with my editors and stuff at Montlake so far. Like, I asked for a black developmental editor, and they, like, scrambled and found me what I was looking for. I was like, made sure that the people represented on my cover were actually both black and not weirdly whitewashed or anything like that. And that was very clearly done. Everything's been taken super seriously, and it's made me feel like, very comfortable, but it is still just, I think it's a precarious place to be in. You know, when one of my complaints on social media, before I took a little social break, was just in my orbit, just naturally, I see a lot of white authors being like, oh my gosh, I got my deal. Like, it six figures. Cool. Oh my god, I got a seven figure deal. And I'm just like, it's crazy that that's just like, randomly happening to the people that I know, and it's only happening to one of the people I know. It's only happening to white women authors. And I'm not seeing any of my author besties of color coming out. I think I've literally seen one, and that was Kimberly lemming. And I'm like, so happy for her, like, yeah, like, she deserves it. It's just, it's like, a little frustrating when you feel like there's a big imbalance in what's going on. Still, that said, despite all of my like, general harping about Trad, I am really excited about what I was able to deliver. I think I had a lot of apprehension about what they were going to let me include in the book. And I'm pleased to announce that I was able to slip in a nice nodding scene in my contemporary romance. Yeah, I went a totally insane direction with it. And was like, I wonder if they're gonna mind that be like, anyways, I don't want to spoil it, um, but like, halfway through the book, the genre just, like, dramatically changes. And no, they were like, super down with it, and a lot of fun. And it's a longer book two, which I always really like, and yeah, and it's just, it's been super fun working on this series. For sure. I'm working on Book Two right now and absolutely stoked. The other great thing about Trad, I will say, is just also, like the actual delivery of it. So right now, it feels so strange because I don't have anything like, I don't have a pre order or anything to announce yet, even for me personally, but I actually have four books due by May, and I've finished two of them so far, two for Montlake, and then the other two are for like, secret projects coming out in 2025 and 2026 but both following a Trad model where I just delivered the book and then they do everything else. And so it's just been strange because I'm in a writing frenzy, and it does feel very good at the end of the day to just be able to, like, shove something off and then just be done and not have to worry about it. Right now, I also have another book that's finished that I was hoping to be able to get out by February, but I really want to simultaneously release Audio, and I don't know if I'm going to get there, but yeah, I finished writing the book, and it was just like, after dealing with Trad and just being able to send it to somebody. Just that I was like, Oh, dang it. Like I have to, like, I have to go through and edit it, like, clean it up myself before I can send it to anybody. And then I have to figure even out what kind of a cover I want. And just, it's been really nice just getting brief sent to me, and me just being able to say what I like and don't like. So definitely trade offs for sure, but so far, trad's been a nice experience.
Alesia Galati:Yeah, I think that in the future, and I'm seeing this in podcasting, since I work in the industry, that I think in the near future, with the algorithm changes that I think we're gonna see in the coming years, as well as censorship that I think a lot of people are going to move towards mediums that they have more control over, because I think a lot of projects will get cut, or people will be denied being able to write or speak or post certain things, and so I think It'll be interesting to see how that impacts the romance industry specifically. But that's why things like this are really important, because then we can get the message out there without anybody editing us down, because it's just us talking. But yeah, I think that it's going to be really interesting to see over the next 10 years or so how these changes are going to impact. Uh, the future of written word, spoken word, etc. But I think we're gonna see more indie authors going that route, which I think will be very interesting. But you do, you have more control over it. There's but there is more work to be done, because you have to do everything from finding an editor or doing the edit it to yourself, to figuring out the cover, or hiring someone to do it, and a lot of it is upfront costs, rather than, Oh, I made the money with the company or the publisher, so there's a lot of trade offs there. But yeah, that's, I'm glad that you're seeing something different right now for you, because one you deserve it. Like 100% you deserve it. And so I'm glad that you're seeing some positive feedback with you having that Trad deal, because, yes, you deserve it. Your books are incredible, and the world you create are just so incredibly luxurious. Like, I feel like that's like, the only way that I can describe the world. Sometimes I'll just randomly think about one of the worlds that you created, or one of the planets that you created, and I'm just like, man, wonder what they're doing on that Pleasure Planet. I sometimes
Elizabeth Stephens:think about that too. I'm like, man, what I wouldn't give you on that bench right now, right? I will. I also realized that in the conversation about Trad, I was really only thinking about, like my traditional publisher, but actually, like one of the other Trad experiences I've had this past year was with audio, and that has been like game changer for me, only because audio is so expensive and the return on your investment as an author is quite poor. So I did an experiment where I was going to try to do all three, but my German translator didn't work out. And so I ended up doing the first three very mates books in French and audio, and I launched them both around the same time. And the plan was then to just pick up whichever one did better and just finish that out and then go back and my French translations probably cost me around 3000 a book and earned out maximum, and three months a book, and my audio cost me around 5000 or more a book, and took 10 months on average to earn out. And it's because audible takes 60% or 40% or whatever it is, and the alternative is to try to go wide, which is just really complicated. And so when I was picked up for audio, it just felt like such a blessing, because it wasn't. It's not that I feel like I'm actually, I haven't really earned anything yet, after my advance, but you're being paid up front for your work, which is a huge coup, and you're actually being able to just provide access. So for me, the access piece is really important, just because I would love to be able to provide my books in all formats, but it's just not possible. So I've been, like, deeply happy with the audio experience so far?
Alesia Galati:Yeah, I don't think people realize how much goes into audio creation, even thinking about I know the numbers are very similar for those who work in voice acting as well as podcast production, which is what I work in. And one thing that my company does it's very different than a lot of other ones like podcast production, is that they'll just listen, especially if you're sending it over to the Philippines or just like a virtual assistant, they'll listen for those like long pauses or those types of things. They'll clean out some UMS using AI features, whereas my team listens to every word, we're all women in the United States, and we will listen to every word and make sure that you and your guest sound fantastic, because we've had moments where we're like, Nope, that's that was not what you meant to say at all. Cut, delete, or, Oh, wait, that doesn't align with my clients values, right? Like I had, I had a guest say that ADHD happens because of what we eat, how we sleep, etc. And I was like, that's not medical information. And I was like, team, take that out. I feel like they would know that, but just in case, no, we don't agree with that. That's actually not true. We're not going to put that. I'm not going to have that on my platform. But it takes four times the length of the audio to edit it.
Elizabeth Stephens:Yeah. I mean, I can't even imagine, because you're like, thinking about editing a book with just Microsoft Word, Cut, delete. But like, audio is a whole different ball game, yes,
Alesia Galati:making sure that it's all leveled to the right way that it goes back and forth between, especially if you have dual voice actors. Like, there's so much that goes into it that I don't think people even realize. They're just like, oh, pop in the new audiobook. It'd be good. Yes, it will be good. Because a lot of effort. Went into that so yes, please don't get things illegally, first and foremost. But also, like kudos to those voice actors and the authors and all the people that put in so much effort to make books accessible to people who maybe cannot read books visibly, right or physically, who need to be able to listen to audiobooks, or that's how they enjoy processing the information, right? There's so many benefits to it, but it is. It's so much effort and time. But yeah, that's really cool, though, that you had that experience as well. Because I'm starting to see a lot more of those, just from the people that I interact with, of those Trad deals coming up, where they already have the book, but then they're selling their audio rights to be able to make the book more accessible, yeah, which I think is wonderful, especially for people who need that. Yeah.
Elizabeth Stephens:I mean, any halfway decently successful author will tell you, don't sell your audio rights. Do it yourself. But for a lot of us, that's just not an option. So I want to have audio books, and some of the distributors I work with, dreamscape and podium right now, and both have been fantastic. Yeah,
Alesia Galati:that's really good. You have some fun. Is there any fun projects you can tell us about your books. So your Trad book is coming out in the summertime, right? So what can we expect from that? Since that is something you can tell us,
Elizabeth Stephens:yes, that is. So I have a two book deal with montlick. Now, I'm hoping that I will be able to do three books in the theory, possibly four, but no more than four, but it's like a really weird. I wanted to write something in, like a contemporary romance style. But actually, do you like I just think that people that write contemporary romance and a contemporary romance author will be like writing fantasies so hard, like the world building, trying to get everything right, like new languages, new customs, new cultures. But to me, that's all really easy because it's just stuff in your head. But trying to write contemporary romance where you have to abide by the laws of man and nature is just so hard, even if you're trying to the worst for me is trying to set something in a real city where you're like, No, I have to, like, Google Maps, my I don't want, like, some New Yorker be like, that's not what that part of the Central Park looks like. It's really annoying. So I approached contemporary romance from what I would call like an ELIZABETH STEVENS lens. So it's set in modern times, but we have basically, like Superman style, like a bunch of aliens fell out of the sky 20 years ago as children, and they didn't remember where they came from. They look like people, but each of them has a unique and fantastic ability. And I actually wrote this before watching the boys, but after I told a couple people about it, they were like, oh, you should watch the boys. And then I watched the boys, and I was like, Okay, I guess that's what I wrote, but it's basically the corporatization, the commodities, the capitalization, whatever you know, what I'm trying to say of superheroes and governments got involved, and then they created these organizations to manage them as brands, and there became like a superhero cohort And a villain cohort, and trying to place bids to try to get some of the unaffiliated ones to join either side, and then they perform like heroic deeds around the world and get brand endorsements and shine pretty for pictures. But the first book opens with a PR firm run by like a very shy kind of neuro divergent woman, and she's tasked with trying to convince this unaffiliated guy who has, like, firepowers and is like, very gruff and doesn't like people to join the heroes team. And it's obviously in my style, kind of like an enemy still lovers, they have, like, a lot of friction and just don't get along, and that kind of thing. But there's obviously, because I couldn't control myself, like, a lot of layers into this. And so there's actually, like, some super villains that you don't meet right on the first page. And then there's some unusual, like Alien stuff that ends up happening. And so there's a little bit of a monster romance element that comes into play in this and I don't know if that was a good description, it probably was, but
Alesia Galati:literally, just contemporary romance with an ELIZABETH STEVENS bin, I will buy that.
Elizabeth Stephens:I call it a contemporary superhero workplace romance with a monster twist.
Alesia Galati:So much so if someone has never read your books, shame first. But if they have never read your books, where should they begin between all of your different series that you have available at this
Elizabeth Stephens:time? I think it depends. Depends on how dark you like your books. I'd say like the very mates that series tends to be on the lighter ish side, which is not saying much, because it's also a little bit of a darker sci fi romance. But you can start with taken to veraxia, which is like high sci fi takes place on other worlds, alien heroes who look like aliens and human women. Or you can move slightly darker and go to beasts of gadamora, which is my chaotic, dark fantasy series with an Omega verse hierarchy. Omegas have magic and berserker shifts and shift into monsters. Or you can go darkest yet, which is based on Earth dystopian post apocalyptic vibes with alien vampire heroes and human heroines. But all of my books have happily ever afters and just follow one couple. So you can start pretty much anywhere, and you'll get a full story out of it. Yeah,
Alesia Galati:yes, literally, you could start with any of those. I know I started with population first, and then went into severe and then beast of gadamora. But yeah, I think you could literally start with any of them, and you would be thoroughly happy definitely go check those out. Elizabeth, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for being on where can people find you? Get to know you hang out with you by your books. Yeah,
Elizabeth Stephens:my website is books by elizabeth.com but you can also find me on social media, e Stevens author, ELIZABETH STEVENS author, or on Amazon. And my books are all available on audio everywhere, except population series, which is audible exclusive. And all of my books were in the KU program. But I've actually just recently moved to the very main series wide as a test. So you can currently find the very mates books anywhere in ebook. And all of my books are available everywhere. Too awesome. And
Alesia Galati:we'll make sure we have links for that in the show notes, in the description for anyone who's doing other things while they're listening, and that way, they can make sure to grab those links again. Thank you so much.
Elizabeth Stephens:Thank you so much. I'm super happy to have been invited. Thank you. You.
