Bigtime lives on …

• Posted in About Books, Bigtime series, On Writing
Bigtime Series
Book #1		 Bigtime Series
Book #2		 Bigtime Series
Book #3

Well, I’ve decided to test the waters of e-book publishing. The rights to my Bigtime paranormal romance series have reverted back to me, and I’ve decided to make them available as e-books.

Why? Well, because every once in a while, I’ll get an e-mail or someone will come up to me at a conference and tell me how much they enjoyed the books. Folks seem to really like the campy, superhero world of Bigtime, New York, and I had a lot of fun writing the series. But the books are out of print now, so this is a way for fans of the series to still enjoy them and for folks who haven’t read the books to hopefully discover them as well.

And yes, money was a consideration too. You hear all these stories and see all these blog posts about authors making thousands and thousands of dollars releasing their backlists and original works as e-books. So I figured I’d see what all the e-fuss is about. LOL.

Really, though, I don’t expect to get rich off this. I figure if I can recoup my upfront expenses and maybe make a hundred bucks a month, I’ll be doing good. It would be gas and grocery money if nothing else. We’ll see how it goes.

Also, please note that the Bigtime books are quite a bit lighter than my Elemental Assassin series. Basically, the Bigtime books are fun, campy, superhero romances. There’s a different heroine in every book, and she gets her happily ever after with her hero at the end of every book.

THE COVERS AND FORMATTING

As you can see above and below, I’ve gotten new covers made for the books, and they were designed by the awesome Kimberly Killion of HOT DAMN Designs. I think the covers are bright, colorful, and fun, just like the books are. Plus, they say something about the story — radioactive goo on the Karma Girl cover; a superhero mask on Hot Mama; and the Star Sapphire that everybody is after on the Jinx cover.

Michael Zapp of ZappTek did the formatting for the Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and AllRomance Ebooks e-books and was very patient with all the changes I wanted to make. I actually formatted the Smashwords versions of the books myself (with some tips/help from Michael) because that was just a matter of formatting a Microsoft Word document.

I also have to give a shout-out to my author friend Edie Ramer, who answered a ton of questions for me during this whole process. (FYI, Edie is part of the very cool Magical Musings blog.) Thanks so much, Edie!

THE PRICE AND WHERE TO GET THE E-BOOKS

The Bigtime books are available for $2.99 each. I know a lot of authors play around with the prices of their e-books, but I figured I’d try $2.99 to start with and see how that goes. Here are the links to the various sites where the books are available:

Karma Girl: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Smashwords; All Romance Ebooks

Hot Mama: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Smashwords; All Romance Ebooks

Jinx: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Smashwords; All Romance Ebooks

I figured these four sites would let me hit most of the e-book formats and markets out there.

Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Bigtime series, here are the descriptions of the books:

KARMA GIRL — BIGTIME #1

Investigative reporter Carmen Cole gets the surprise of her life on her wedding day when she discovers her fiance cheating on her with her best friend — and that the two of them are her town’s resident superhero and ubervillain. Shocked and hurt, Carmen decides to devote her life to unmasking every hero and villain who crosses her path.

A series of successful unmaskings lands Carmen a job at The Expose, one of the biggest newspapers in Bigtime, N.Y., a city that’s full of superheroes and ubervillains. But Carmen’s job also brings her to the attention of the Terrible Triad, Bigtime’s most wanted ubervillain team. The Triad demands that Carmen discover the real identity of Striker, the leader of the Fearless Five superhero team — or else they’ll drop her in a vat of radioactive goo.

Caught between the evil ubervillains and the very sexy Striker, Carmen struggles to find some way out of this mess, but this is one story that just might be the death of her …

HOT MAMA — BIGTIME #2

Fiona Fine is the hottest fashion designer in Bigtime, N.Y. — literally. That’s because she moonlights as Fiera, a superhero with superstrength and volatile, fire-based powers. As Fiera, she’s also a member of the Fearless Five, the city’s most powerful and popular superhero team.

However, Fiona’s been through a lot lately, including the death of her fiance. But she’s ready to move on, so it seems like good karma when she meets sexy businessman Johnny Bulluci at a friend’s wedding.

But Fiona doesn’t have a lot of time for love, with two new ubervillains named Siren and Intelligal causing havoc in Bigtime. Fiona doesn’t know exactly what the ubervillains are up to, but if she doesn’t find out, then Fiona’s the one who just might go up in flames this time …

JINX — BIGTIME #3

Thanks to her unwanted superpower, fashion designer Bella Bulluci may be the luckiest woman in Bigtime, N.Y. But luck can be good or bad, and it seems like just as many embarrassing things happens to Bella as do positive ones.

Like when a charity event that Bella plans get crashed by Hangman, a deadly ubervillain who’s after a prize sapphire that’s on display. Hangman almost succeeds in stealing the jewel for his evil ubervillain boss, Prism, but Bella’s luck helps her escape with the sapphire — along with some help from the suave and charming Debonair.

Debonair’s not an ubervillain, but he’s not really a superhero either. Still, Bella can’t help but fall for him, despite her personal vow to have as little to do with heroes and villains as possible. But with Hangman and Prism still after the sapphire, Bella’s going to need every bit of her luck power just to survive …

A FEW FINAL WORDS

At this time, I don’t have any plans to do new print versions of the books — I’m going to see how the e-versions do first. I think print versions would be cool to do someday, but at this point, I just don’t have the time or the money to get into that.

Like I said, I’m not expecting huge sales, but if there’s enough interest, I might do some new, original, Bigtime e-stories as 99-cent downloads. I also have a fourth Bigtime book written, and I may release that someday as well, if the interest in there. The book needs some work, though, including copy edits, a cover design, etc.

Right now, I’m pretty busy writing and promoting my Elemental Assassin and Mythos Academy series. Those books/projects have to come first, but the e-book market is definitely something that I’m interested in doing more with. I just have to figure out a way to find the time in between my various projects.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the e-books. If I decide to write more stories/books in the series, I’ll post about it here on the blog. But for now, I  just wanted to let everyone know that Bigtime lives on! 😉

Note: I’ve made this post sticky so it will be at the top of the blog this week. To read the other new posts this week, just scroll down.

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21 Responses to “Bigtime lives on …”

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      They are very lighthearted — much more so than my Elemental Assassin series. A reader once called them “book candy,” which I thought was a really cool description. They’re just fun, campy superhero romances. Hope you get a chance to check them out. 😉

  2. Carolyn Crane says:

    Jennifer! Congratulations! You know, I read Karma Girl years ago and just loved it. I’m glad to see these others are available. Good for you!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks! I appreciate that, and I’m glad you enjoyed Karma Girl. 😉

      You’re releasing the last book in your trilogy as an e-book, yes? I thought I saw that on some of the blogs …

  3. Edie Ramer says:

    Thanks for the shout out. It was my pleasure to help you.

    I loved Karma Girl and the others! I’m sure there are readers looking for fun books like these and you’re going to be very happy with how much you make with the 70% royalties.

  4. Louise says:

    Woohoo! So happy that they are available again for Kindle. Just bought and started reading Karma Girl today. So far so good. 😀

  6. Louise says:

    Just finished Jinx, and read Karma Girl and Hot Mama in the preceeding days. I LOVED these, so funny and touching. Great job! I’d love to hear more about life in Bigtime!! 😀

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Cool. Glad you liked them. 😉

      I’m thinking about maybe doing an e-story later this year. We’ll see whether or not I can squeeze it into my writing schedule …

  7. Victoria Goldy-Rhodes says:

    First off, big, huge congratulations on getting the Bigtime series back! I was so excited to see this post!

    But, *slight frowny face*, I had already purchased these for the Kindle! *headdesk* I’d love to repurchase these for you to show that there is more interest in the books, but with me already paying $7.99 for Karma Girl and Jinx and $11.99 for Hot Mama, I just can’t justify it in my budget.

    However, the second you release any new books for Bigtime, I’ll be one of the first in line to pick them up for my Kindle!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks! I appreciate that.

      And no worries at all. Money is tight these days. I’m just happy you wanted to check out the books in the first place.

      Cool. I’m hoping to maybe do a Bigtime e-story for Christmas as a 99-cent download. We’ll see if I have time in my writing schedule to get to it …

  8. Amelia Ann Dobogai says:

    I also bought these 3 books for my nook, last year at the $7.99 and $11.99 price. Are the books exactly the same or has any material been added? If it has I will come up with the additonal money for the new ebooks. I know some authors often change the content of their books when they are reprinted. Thank you.

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      The books are basically the same, so if you have them already, I wouldn’t buy the e-versions that I’ve released. There isn’t any bonus content or anything like that in the books.

      I know how tight money is with everyone these days. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the e-versions you have. Happy reading!

  9. Amelia Ann Dobogai says:

    I don’t know if my commemt was received. I do not have my own website. I was asking if there was any new content in the release of the bigtime series as ebooks, as I also bought the books for my nook at the $7.99 & $11.99 price. Thanks again.

  10. Debbie says:

    Love the new covers! I adore the Bigtime books and sigh every time you tantalize me with the fourth unreleased book. Hopefully the ebooks will do well enough you’ll consider releasing it. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

    Good luck!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks! I appreciate that. I’m hoping to maybe do a Bigtime Christmas short story as a 99-cent download. Just depends on if I can make time to fit it into my writing schedule. I’m going to try, though.

  11. CatScott says:

    I *loved* The Bigtime Series!! I have it in paper trade and mass market paperbacks. I don’t currently have an e-reader, but do have a Kindle app on my computer. (For the record I really, really wanted Jinx to come out in paper trade. That cover was totally delish!)

    I love when an author releases short stories from their series in e-reader format. I snatch them up!! Ilona Andrews has done this and just released a short story e-anthology of sorts with Jeaniene Frost. Love that!

    C.E. Murphy does this great thing where she sends out an email or blog post about doing a short story but asks fans to pay in advance. It’s great for the fans and seems to work out for her, too.

    I love some of the freedom e-publishing allows authors. I’m still a little jaded, but when there are perks such as a possible 4th Big Time story?!!! How could I ever complain?! 😉

    If you write it and release it, I will purchase and read it. Pinky swear!

    P.S. Love the new artwork on the series! I was never fond of the mass market artwork. Poor writers. I wish they gave you guys more input!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the Bigtime books and that you like the new artwork. 😉

      I do have a fourth Bigtime book written that I hope to e-pub someday. In the meantime, I’m hoping to do a Bigtime holiday short story this year. We shall see …

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