Welcome to my new author newsletter, hosted on Leaflet. I've tried different newsletter platforms in the past, many with lots of great features and communities...but in the end, I never ended up using them consistently.

Partly because I was too busy with work — and hey, what a wonderfully subtle segue into my most recent picture book:

Person peeks over an open copy of the picture book I'm Busy, with only their eyes and teal glasses visible above the book. The front and back covers are visible, showing the title, author Michael Ian Black, illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a pink flamingo, and a busy child. The background is orange with repeated white outlines of the word “BUSY.”
Person peeks over an open copy of the picture book I'm Busy, with only their eyes and teal glasses visible above the book. The front and back covers are visible, showing the title, author Michael Ian Black, illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a pink flamingo, and a busy child. The background is orange with repeated white outlines of the word “BUSY.”

I'M BUSY is a picture book written by the amazing Michael Ian Black and illustrated by me, published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers earlier this year. It's the newest in the I'M... picture book series about kids' emotions.

Five book covers are shown in a collage. Four smaller covers on the left read “I’m Bored,” “I’m Sad,” “I’m Worried,” and “I’m Sorry,” each featuring a child and/or a pink flamingo. A larger cover on the right reads “I’m Busy,” showing a pink flamingo, a child carrying a stack of books, and papers scattered across the ground.
Five book covers are shown in a collage. Four smaller covers on the left read “I’m Bored,” “I’m Sad,” “I’m Worried,” and “I’m Sorry,” each featuring a child and/or a pink flamingo. A larger cover on the right reads “I’m Busy,” showing a pink flamingo, a child carrying a stack of books, and papers scattered across the ground.

Another reason I've been negligent about sending out an Author Newsletter: procrastination caused by never having time or wanting to make the time re-learning yet another email newsletter platform. I also got tired of newsletter platforms pushing me to monetize my newsletters. I have nothing against monetization, of course! But it's just not something I want for the bare-bones "focus just on updates" publication I envisioned for my own author newsletter.

Why I settled on Leaflet

I discovered Leaflet through this post on Bluesky:

Bluesky's avatar
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If you like writing long threads on Bluesky, wait until you discover "blog posts." Start blogging with @pckt.blog, @leaflet.pub or @offprint.app today and get 25% off your first year, on us.

Summer of Standard.site - Bluesky

Summer of Standard.site - Bluesky

We've partnered with three blogging platforms built on AT Protocol — Offprint, Leaflet, and pckt.blog — to give you 25% off any annual plan this summer.

https://bsky.social/about/blog/06-22-2026-summer-of-standard-site

I am still trying to figure out the whole AT Protocol thing and am actually working on a visual explainer geared toward non-techies, especially creatives. The more I learn, however, the more excited I get about the potential benefits for freelance creatives. If you're curious about this, feel free to subscribe to my other newsletter, Debbie's Blatherings (or you can always just browse the posts, of course). I'll also be explaining why I'm using Leaflet for these types of posts instead of just posting in my own website blog.

But the main reason I'm using Leaflet: it feels more like the old days of blogging, when I had FUN putting together posts. I tried out the Free version but have upgraded to the Pro to take advantage of the Summer Sale. Leaflet is still in early stages but I'm intrigued by what they have so far, plus I like how responsive the team has been to suggestions, and the general vibe.

But I digress.

The newsletter you are reading now will JUST be about what I'm working on, work-related updates. I'm going to aim for a newsletter a month. In the next newsletter, I'll be talking about my current career goal shift (!) and how that's going.

Thank you SO much to those of you who have patiently been subscribing to my various newsletters over the years, and extra big thanks for your support of me and my work!

-- Debbie