My short story collection has been out in the world since October 24, 2025, and it’s been such a joy (and a little surreal) knowing it’s already found its way onto readers’ shelves.
Everyone Vanishes Eventually has a total of 65 pages, 66 if we count the About the Author page, so it’s a pretty quick read. It features six short stories (The Bellmaker, The Dog Who Saw The Sea, Gaslight, The Lighthouse That Wants To Go Blind, Firefly, and So Did The Crow) and all of them can be read for free here on substack in their first draft form.
However, the ones in the book are, of course, different. Their storylines haven’t changed, but all of them have gone through a couple rounds of thorough edits, and I also had them illustrated.
Yeah, I also think that looks awesome. Raphael did an amazing job. He also illustrated Gaslight. And yes, all illustrations are done by humans (so was the cover).
Little fun fact, the 4:44 series will have illustrations, too.
Anyway, back to EVE. The book contains 6 stories and 10 illustrations. One of those illustrations is a secret. And I’m more than happy that none of the readers who have already bought the book spilled the beans about it. (thank you!)
You haven’t told me what it’s about yet.
Fair.
A lot of it circles around loss, longing, and the way things disappear but don’t really leave. You’ll find yourself in a seaside shop where good-luck bells are sold, in a town where light depends on endings, you’ll meet a loyal dog and follow him to his first ever visit to a museum, you’ll learn about a lighthouse and its keeper (and a sea gull named Greg), you’ll cheer for a moth, and you’ll read about a crow thinking yeah, typical crow.
Nice, but why should I buy it, Asteria?
Because it’s edited, illustrated, print-only (yes, no e-book)… and it made people cry. So, if you’d like to be emotionally attacked in a cozy way, there you go. Might also be a good gift for that one person you haven’t seen emotionally upset before but really want to.
All jokes aside, the best answer to this is: because you enjoy my writing and would like to support what I’m doing.
If you do pick it up, I hope you love it. And if it emotionally uppercuts you… well... I warned you.
And where can I pick it up?
It’s available via Bookmundo (worldwide shipping), Amazon (Germany) and online via Thalia and Hugendubel. It’s also (finally) available via Amazon US and Barnes & Noble.
Is it very scary?
I’d say no.
Are the stories connected?
They’re separate short stories, but they share a similar atmosphere. Other than that, no.
Can I get it in the US?
It took me a while but yes, since January 2026, Ingram Spark made it available to order via Amazon US, bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble. Probably a bunch of other places, but I’m just happy it’s finally available.
I just hope the print quality of the POD facilities is as nice as the one with Bookmundo.
Does it have content warnings?
It does not come with content warnings, but the overall vibe leans into unsettling themes and loss. It will be sad. But in a bittersweet way, it will also be happy.
However, my writing (in general) can feature elements of graphic violence, abuse, animal death, and suicide. And a few others. If you need the full list, I wrote them down here.
Can I still support you without buying the book?
Absolutely. You can
restack this post,
read the first drafts,
restack the first drafts,
you can recommend the book to someone you know would enjoy it,
you can request the book to bookstores near you,
you can recommend my writing to people you know,
you can subscribe to my substack,
you can find me on instagram (where nothing much is happening yet),
you can share your review if you’ve read it on social media,
you can request the book to your local library,
you can recommend my substack,
you can share my short stories or my finished series online
And probably a bunch of things I can’t come up with right now.
Where should I leave a review if I read it?
I’d be thrilled if you could take the time to leave a review either on Goodreads or Storygraph. Reviews on Amazon and other places you can buy it would be nice too, but I suppose that would be asked too much.
I’m still on the fence, are there any reviews which could help me decide?
There’s a few on substack as well, but I lost sight of them because for the entire last year, I was too shy to restack things like that.
If I find them again, I’ll add them here.
Thanks for reading this far. If you pick up the book, I hope it leaves you a little unsettled in the best way. And if you don’t, that’s fine as well.
Maybe another day. 💛
It’s about time you started promoting your masterpiece!!
Asteria, thank you for highlighting that all art and illustrations were done by humans, I think that’s so important to emphasize in the Substack fiction community. I really enjoy your cozy fantasy writing and would love to have a copy; I’m traveling to Germany soon and would love to know which shops sell the physical copy? Many thanks! 🤍