My phone ran out of storage space.

This isn't unusual. Most of you have probably had this issue at one point in time. What is unusual is that I've only had this phone for 6 months. It's basically a brand new phone.

When I saw the little notification I clicked out of the reel I was in the middle of making, sighed, and tapped the little notification to see if I could clear up some storage space.

Was it photos?

No.

Was it videos?

Also no.

The culprit was Instagram. Taking up 10 GB of space. And then I started laughing because surely the problem hadn't gotten that bad.

"Well," I said, dusting my hands. "I guess I will have to spend the next year maneuvering around my 200 mb of free space."

You see, I have 60+ reel drafts and they are the product of my latest hyper fixation.

Feeling anxious? Make a reel draft.

Feeling nervous? Make a reel draft.

I do not post them. I just save them. But then whenever I go to delete them, I click through them and realize they're actually not bad. Then clicking through them usually gives me some ideas, so then I go make two more.

They're like a virus. They just multiply.

Anyway, I have banned myself from making any more reels until I post what I have. I'm testing out posting to Instagram two times a day because I already have the content made into (quite literally) the new year and I need to clear up some storage.

A few days after the Phone Storage Space Incident, I came across this on Threads.

While I disagree that author marketing is almost useless, it reminded me that there is only so much I can do to promote I​Illusion of Stars. Yeah, sure, maybe one of my many reel drafts goes viral and causes my page reads to spike.

But more than likely, the continued momentum Illusion of Stars has come from you guys continuing to share and talk about the book.

So this holiday season I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me and my book. Quite literally -- "Every penny counts."

Best,
Sarah

P.S. - No question of the week this time because I'm in the process of switching day jobs! I don't think I did any through November either, but we will be back with them in the new year.

P.S.S. - Next time I email you, it will be with your Christmas present :)

P.P.P.S. - Anybody want to post about Illusion of Stars in the Facebook groups???? Bahaha. (But seriously. Look at those spikes.)