Rethinking Strategy

Back in May, I had some problems with Barnes & Noble. I won't get into all the dirty details, but it wasn't the first time, and I'd lost patience with the company's bullshit. So I pulled all my books.

And by all, I mean both my titles as well as Alter Ego's. I'd had enough even though it meant losing a significant percentage of income.

Then last Friday, I was updating links for my latest books before sending the master files to my formatter. Lo and behold, Barnes & Noble was carrying my first paperback, Justice: The Beginning.

O-o-k-a-a-y...

B&N is pretty adamant about not carrying self-published books, yet they have my paperback. The discovery validated my choice to create my own publishing company.

In a HUGE way.

So after a lot of thought, I decided to put my e-books back up on B&N. Slowly. As in each book will be re-uploaded AFTER B&N lists the paper version.

I'm not rushing back into anything. So far, only Justice: The Beginning has been uploaded. We'll see what happens next.

Justice: The Beginning Is Out!

Sorry, this post is later than normal today, but I was waiting for Amazon to finish processing.

The e-book version of Justice: The Beginning is now live. So if you need a little entertainment this weekend, check it out!

Blurb
For the first time, the Justice Anthea and Brother Luc short stories are collected in one edition.

This anthology includes “Justice” and “Diplomacy in the Dark”, previously published in Sword and Sorceress 28 and 30 respectively. A brand new story “The Perfect Partner” gives readers the infamous tale of the illicit lovers’ first cantankerous, and odiferous, case together.

And a fourth bonus tale set in the Justice universe tells how a young sister of Light became a secret bodyguard for a member of the Jing Imperial family.

Magic, mayhem and mystery has never been so fun!

Amazon Buy Link for all countries

Fast Note about Time, Editing and Potential Stupidity

Since I received an e-mail from my formatter on July 6th, concerning an issue with the print format being too small for the printing company, I've been focused on writing a new story and adding it to the Justice anthology collection to increase the page count and make the printing company happy.

"Courting Trouble" was finished Monday night, and it turned into a 10K blast of fun. I edited it and sent the new master file for Justice: The Beginning to my formatter around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

She sent me the Kindle version by noon, and...

Right off the bat, I realize I didn't send her the updated copyright page. *facepalm*

So right now, I'm proofreading the second Kindle version she sent me.

I tried to do all this while keeping up with Camp NaNoWriMo and Ravaged, but everything to do with Bloodlines has been shoved aside for the time being. I hope to get back to it next week, if not this weekend.

And you know something? Despite all the headaches, I still have the best job EVAH!

When Boo-Boo's Happen

Well, I was clipping along quite nice on Ravaged, my Camp NanoWriMo project when I got an e-mail from my formatter. It seems the physical page count for Justice: The Beginning came in under Create Space's minimum page count.

Whoops!

My formatter listed out a couple of alternatives she could try, but it was my decision on what to do. So I grabbed some Lindor black label truffles, thought about it, and came up with a third possible solution.

What if I added a fourth story to the anthology?

So now, my formatter is patiently waiting for a new master file, and I've put aside Ravaged (currently at 27.5K) for this weekend.

Instead of Justice Anthea or Brother Luc being the central characters, the new story focuses on Shi Hua and how she became Ambassador Quan's bodyguard. It's turning into a lot of fun!

But it also means that it'll be another two to three weeks before the anthology is published. I hate disappointing my readers.

Working on the Weekend

I didn't release Justice: The Beginning yesterday as I'd hoped since it isn't quite ready. No worries though. The revision file is with my formatter, and the cover's ready. It just will take a few extra days with the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

So what am I doing in the meantime?

- Trying to finish an Alter Ego short story.

- Reviewing the paperback proofs for A Question of Balance and Blood Magick in order to get them up of retailer websites.

- Working on the edits for Zombie Goddess.

- Attending Camp NaNoWriMo for the month of July in an effort to complete the first draft of Ravaged.

It's so good to be productive again!

What's Coming Down the Pike

It's been a busy June. Some writing is happening, but mainly it's a matter of editing books that are already done.

The proof copy of A Question of Balance is in the mail as we speak. Once I've looked it over, it will go on sale at various online retailers. If you prefer to give your business to a local bookstore, the bookstore can order a copy through Ingrams (they're one of the largest paper book distributors, if not the largest, in the U.S.).

Last night, I sent the files for Justice: The Beginning to my formatter. She's getting hammered by other customers right now, so it might be another week or two before that volume is available. However, my lovely cover artist/designer sent me this gorgeous cover for the anthology!

In the meantime, I'll start working on the edits for Zombie Goddess while I write Ravaged, which is Book 7 of Bloodlines. Though DH is advocating that I write A Modicum of Truth (Justice #2) first.

Decisions, decisions!

Status Update - June 2016

After I got over the Flu from Hell, May turned into an amazing and productive month! Here's the highlights:

- A short story called "Pig-Headed" will appear in Sword and Sorceress 31, which tentatively will be released in early November. This involves brand-new characters.

- The characters of my previous Sword and Sorceress stories now star in their first full-length novel, A Question of Balance. I'm planning on releasing it June 20th.

- Justice Anthea and Brother Luc's first stories are collected in a new volume, Justice: The Beginning. It also contains a brand new story about their first year together. Unless Murphy completely screws me, it should be out around June 30th.

- The first draft of Zombie Goddess is done! I hope to release it next month, depending on my Murphy-cursed life. I'll give everyone a specific date in July.

- For the rest of the summer, I'll hopefully get out the rest of the Bloodlines series with their new covers and in paperback format. If that goes well, the Seasons of Magick series will also get a facelift and a paperback version.

And then?

Well, I'll try to buckle down and finish writing the last three Bloodlines books. Next up will be Ravaged (it's currently sitting at 18,000 words).