• What’s in a date …

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    A couple of folks have asked me when Spider’s Bite is coming out. Since my new publisher, Pocket (part of Simon & Schuster), does things a little differently, I thought that I would address that here on the blog.

    Technically, Spider’s Bite is a February 2010 book. But the on-sale date — the date the book is supposed to be on the shelf at the bookstore for you to buy — is Jan. 26, 2010.

    Why? Well, Spider’s Bite is a mass market paperback, and Pocket has a policy of releasing all their mass market books the last week of the month before they’re supposed to come out.

    New books usually come out on Tuesdays, like new DVDs do, and most books usually come out on the first Tuesday of the month. So really, the release date for Spider’s Bite should be Feb. 2, 2010. But because of Pocket’s policy, folks get the book a week early on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010. At least, they should — sometimes bookstore don’t put out the books when they’re supposed to for all kinds of reasons (the books didn’t arrive on time, Johnny called in sick that day, whatever).

    So why does Pocket release the books a week early? I’m guessing here, but I would assume it would have something to do with sales. Most mass market books don’t stay on the shelves that long — a couple of months if you’re lucky. So Pocket is getting an extra week of sales in by releasing their books a week early.

    I also think it could have a little something to do with helping an author get on a best-seller list. Since most new books come out at the beginning of the month, I would think the competition to make a list wouldn’t be quite as strong at the end of the month. In other words, everyone eager to get their hands on their favorite author’s latest book would have bought it the first week it was out at the beginning of the month, not necessarily during the last week of the month. At least, these are my theories — I could be completely wrong. (And if I am, someone please let me know).

    But more and more, I’ve been noticing publishers who are releasing new books in the middle of a month. For example, the release date for Kresley Cole’s latest Immortals After Dark book, Pleasure of a Dark Prince, is Jan. 19, according to Amazon — which is in the middle of the month instead of at the beginning. (And yes, Cole is published by Pocket just like I am).

    And this same thing will happen with the next two books in my Elemental Assassin series. Web of Lies, a June book, will be out on May 25, while Venom, an October book, will be out on Sept. 28.

    So that’s the deal with the release date. You should be able to get Spider’s Bite as early as Jan. 26 — which is only a little more than a month away now. Not that I’m counting down the days or anything … 😉

  • Snow daze …

    We’re supposed to get a significant amount of snow in my neck of the woods today and over the weekend. According to the Weather Channel, you’d think the world was coming to an end with all the watches and warnings they have posted.

    I don’t mind a little snow, and it looks like we’re going to get our white Christmas a week early. I just hope the power doesn’t go off, especially since I have a ton of book stuff to do this weekend.

    Anyway, if the snow is headed your way, hope you stay safe and warm! 😉

  • ·

    A different kind of book …

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    I’m still basking in the glow of the Publishers Weekly review, but today, I want to talk about a couple of things that are mentioned in the review, namely this:

    Bodies litter the pages of this first entry in Estep’s engrossing Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series … Fans of Estep’s humorous paranormal romances (Jinx; Hot Mama) may be taken aback by the gritty violence and steamy sex, but urban fantasy fans will love it. (Feb.)

    In other words, Spider’s Bite is a different kind of book than the ones in my Bigtime series. Spider’s Bite is dark and gritty, violent and sexy — it is not a lightweight comic book spoof like the Bigtime books are. The main character in Spider’s Bite is an assassin, and Gin does kill people in the book — in fact, she kills a lot of people in the book. She wouldn’t be much of an assassin if she didn’t kill people, now would she?

    So why am I bringing this up? Well, because I want readers — especially those who enjoyed my Bigtime series — to know what they’re getting with Spider’s Bite. Because it’s definitely a different kind of book, and those looking for a more lighthearted read may be disappointed.

    We’ve all seen blog posts bemoaning the fact that an author has switched genres, and I’m sure that I’ll get some e-mails from readers telling me that they don’t like Spider’s Bite and that I should have written another Bigtime book instead. So why didn’t I do that? Well, there are a couple of reasons.

    First, my previous publisher decided that they didn’t want any more Bigtime books. As much as I love writing the series, I have to eat and pay my bills just like everyone else. And in the book market right now, dark, gritty, urban fantasy and paranormal romance is where it’s at — that’s what editors are buying and that’s what readers are reading.

    Second, I had been wanting to write an assassin story for a while now and penning an urban fantasy gave me the opportunity to do that — and really stretch myself as a writer. That’s important to me because I think that writers who write the same kind of book over and over again get stale. I know that I’ve loved the first few books in a series only to be disappointed by the later titles that just seem like retreads of those first great books (Janet Evanovich comes to mind).

    But I hope that my Bigtime readers will give Gin Blanco and Spider’s Bite a chance. In the end, I think that Spider’s Bite and my Bigtime series have a lot of the same elements in common — a sassy, sarcastic, kick-ass heroine, cool world building, lots of fight scenes, and some sizzling romance. Everything is just much darker in Spider’s Bite, including the humor. In fact, I’m billing the book as dark, fun, sexy urban fantasy — we’ll see if my Bigtime readers and others agree.

    What about you guys? Do you like it or loathe it when an author switches genres? Share in the comments.

  • Publishers Weekly says …

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    Several folks were nice enough to let me know that Spider’s Bite has been reviewed in this week’s Publishers Weekly. Here’s what the reviewer had to say:

    Spider's Bite finalBodies litter the pages of this first entry in Estep’s engrossing Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. In the corrupt Southern metropolis of Ashland, weather witches mingle with vampires, giants, and dwarves. A mysterious client hires assassin Gin Blanco, known as the Spider, to murder a whistle-blowing financial officer named Gordon Giles. Then the client attempts a double cross and brutally kills Gin’s mentor. Now Gin, a stone elemental with a hard-boiled attitude, a closely guarded heart, and a penchant for throwing knives, has to join forces with one of the few honest cops in Ashland, sexy detective Donovan Caine, who hates her for killing his partner. Fans of Estep’s humorous paranormal romances (Jinx; Hot Mama) may be taken aback by the gritty violence and steamy sex, but urban fantasy fans will love it. (Feb.)

    Engrossing! Urban fantasy fans will love it! That’s a solid sentence-and-a-word of like. Huzzah! It’s really sad how jazzed a good review makes me. Writers … it takes so little to make us so very happy. 😉

    Although there’s actually one little thing that’s wrong in the review — there are no weather witches in Spider’s Bite. None at all. What the review should say is that elementals mingle with vampires, etc. There are four main kinds of elementals in my book — Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. And really, elemental is just a fancy word for magic user.

    Still, a sentence-and-a-word of like — I’m doing the happy dance! 😉

  • And the winners are …

    Thanks to everyone who left a comment about what they like most about the holiday season, and congrats to the winners:

    Spider’s Bite ARC: Sara M.

    The copy of Fragile by Shiloh Walker: Donna S.

    Three copies of Hot Mama (one per winner): Shannon, Xid Trebor, and Wendy.

    Winners, please e-mail your snail mail addresses to jennifer@jenniferestep.com so I can send your books to you.

    And if anyone wants some free bookmarks for Spider’s Bite, just e-mail me too, and I’ll tell you how to get them. I’ll be doing some more contests after the first of the year to promote Spider’s Bite, so check the blog for those. And be sure to sign up for my e-newsletter. Every month, I give away free books (and sometimes other stuff) to subscribers.

    I hope everyone has a great holiday season. Happy reading! 😉