The Mind Behind the Engine

Why Eris Digital Media Exists

TL:DR-- Because I'm stubborn with a righteous streak a mile wide.

I've been an Indie Published Romance writer for 15 years. I started writing while I was working my Neuroscience job. I got into publishing tech because I was fed up with the way the 'big river' was treating authors. I already had my own website that I was set up to sell from, but wasn't really doing anything with it.

When I made the mental leap to committing to sell there, I realized that without the retailer's constraints I could sell anything readers would buy. That is when things got really crazy. It made no sense to sell readers the same products they could get on the retailer's shelves, especially when they could just 'one-click' and the retailer already had all of their payment info.

In January of 2026, Physical Special Editions were the hottest thing on Kickstarter. But when I ran the numbers, they were giving authors returns on the low end of retailer royalties. So I went looking for someone who could create something as addictive but in the digital space. Know what I found? Nada, zip, zilch. So I created what I now call my Eris Editions. Instead of fancy foil, sprayed edges, and ribbons, I add soundscapes, video, and interactive features.

My brilliant MSLIS daughter is my researcher and keeps me humble, piped up one night as we were headed to bed "But aren't most books in KU now?" Well damn That was going to keep me up, but she wasn't wrong. By morning, I had worked out the structure for what would become Eris Elements. It is all of the world-building, character studies, lore and fun stuff that went into the manuscript but the manuscript itself stays safely tucked behind KU's Terms of Service.

Eris Episodic came about because a writer friend dug deep into the vertical Micro-drama industry. But I didn't write serials... Well that was then! As a romance writer micro-episodic serial fiction flexed a whole different set of muscles. And I loved it! Figuring out how to package it came next. And since I was having so much fun, and the current serialization platforms weren't fun, I built the Eris Episodic Engine that outputs the code to self host drip content on an author's site.

The Neuroscience of Reader Loyalty

This is where we come back to those years in Neuroscience. Because I'm a big believer in nothing is ever wasted. I worked with neurotransmitter receptors but not the fun ones. But I know enough to be able to read all the science and translate it into something the average reader can understand.

In this case, digging into the Neuroscience of bonding and how you get readers to fall in love with your work was what I needed. I pulled from Neuroscience but also the latest data on Happiness, and Relationships. All of this became part of the basics of why my work works the way it does.

I also have a degree in Architecture. And it helped develop a framework for my aesthetic sense. Between these two very different disciplines I could fine the points of overlap where beauty meets happiness, all proven by neuroscience. And yes, it can get a little crowded in my head.

The Right Thing to Do

Here is something that is going to live in your head rent-free. Amazon doesn't write books. They sell books. And right now Trad Publishers turn out maybe 5000 books a year. Most of what Amazon sells is written by Indie Authors. Who Amazon is paying (through KU) .004 cents a page read. Well, but they do the advertising? They don't. And if you run ads to your book page, they are going to promote other books on that page to that reader. Well, but they have all the customers? They do, and they do NOT share. So your 50,000 page reads there pay you a pittance and you can't let those readers know when your next book is coming out.

Owning the platform you sell on is the difference between being a farmer, and being a share cropper. Both involve the same work, one yields higher dividends. Selling through Amazon or any other retailer, means you don't really have your own business.

I created Eris Digital Media because I wanted Indie authors to have better tools so that even the mid-list authors, who weren't 6 and 7 figure sellers, could still offer their readers something the retailers couldn't. I back those tools up with my crazy breadth of training so that indie authors can forge real connections with their readers. I want Indie Authors to make money doing the work they love, in a way that means readers who love their work can find it better.

I'm happy to have company along for the journey.