About Books

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    I dream of cover blurbs …

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    A while back, author Judi Fennell asked me to read her paranormal romance, I Dream of Genies, for a possible cover blurb. I thought the book was a lot of fun (you can read my review here), and I gave her blurb — Cute, quirky, and charming … a romantic, action-packed tale!

    A few weeks ago, I got a copy of the book in the mail thanks to Judi — and they used my blurb on the back cover!  This is the first time a blurb of mine has been on a book cover. Is it wrong that I find this to be super cool? 😉

    Okay, okay, enough about me. The book comes out Jan. 4 (tomorrow) so be on the lookout for it. It really is a cute read and reminded me of the old Romancing the Stone movie … but with genies, magic, and a snarky talking cat. (In fact, I told Judi she should use that as one of her future book titles — Romancing the Genie).

    Anyway, if you’re a little tired of vampires and werewolves (like I am) but are still looking for a fun paranormal romance read, you should give this one a try. Congrats to Judi!

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    Goodbye 2010, hello 2011 …

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    So we’ve come to the end of another year, and I thought I’d take a few moments to reflect. Really, though, there’s only one thing to say: 2010 was by far the best year I’ve ever had as an author.

    I had three books out in 2010 — Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, and Venom — and the response to them was just fantastic and so much more than I let myself hope for. I’ve gotten so many wonderful e-mails from folks who just love Gin Blanco and the rest of the gang at the Pork Pit. So a big thanks goes out to everyone who’s e-mailed me to tell me how much they’re enjoying the Elemental Assassin series. I appreciate all your comments. 😉

    And my sales were better too. Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies are both in their third printings, and Venom is in its second printing. This is the first time any of my books have gone back to press. Now, my printings weren’t huge to start with, but the books seem to keep selling at a steady pace, which is really awesome and gratifying. I really am grateful for the success of the books.

    I also sold a new series in 2010 — my Mythos Academy young adult series — and I’ve got my fingers crossed that it gets the same response that the Elemental Assassin books have. So now, I’ll have books out in two series in 2011, and I’m hoping to get a third series under way as well — as soon as I find time to write something new. LOL.

    As for resolutions for 2011, I’m going to keep them simple:

    1) Write more.

    2) Read more.

    3) Eat healthier/exercise more.

    4) Lose weight.

    5) Be a better person.

    Hopefully, the first two won’t be too hard to keep. Numbers three and four will probably trip me up, though. As for number five, well, I guess it will depend on how stressed I am on any given day. LOL.

    But here’s to a clean slate and the possibilities that the new year presents. Cheers, everyone! 😉

    What about you guys? What are your resolutions? What are you looking forward to in the new year?

  • All I got for Christmas was books …

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    Okay, so I got a few things for Christmas besides books (a lot of candy came my way this year). But the books were probably the most interesting — at least to me, lol — so I’d thought I’d share them on the blog today.

    For Christmas, Wheezley got me The Iron King by Julie Kagawa and Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead. Yeah, my book haul was pretty light this year, but I plan on swiping the Songs of Love and Death anthology and The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron from Wheezley when he gets done reading them, since those were my gifts to him.

    That’s the great thing about buying books for folks — I can always ask to borrow them later. 😉

    What about you guys? What books did Santa bring you this year?

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    To Amazon or not to Amazon …

    20 Comments

    As y’all know, I’ve been writing short stories to go along with my Elemental Assassin series. I plan to write at least one short story to go with Tangled Threads, probably from Jo-Jo Deveraux’s point of view.

    I’ve been offering the stories for free here on the Excerpts page my website, but for Tangled Threads (as well as for my new Mythos Academy young adult series), I’m also thinking about offering the short story as a 99-cent download on Amazon. (I believe 99 cents is as low a price as you can set on Amazon.)

    Why the change? Well, I think putting the story on Amazon would attract some new readers to my books. I know when I’m interested in a book, I tend to look at the links to similar books and click on those. Plus, a lot more folks visit Amazon than look at my website, and I think it would be a relatively easy way to market my books. And I’ll be honest, it might be a little bit of money in my pocket.

    I know that not everyone has an e-reader and that not everyone who has an e-reader has a Kindle, so I’d probably post the short story for free here on the website like normal. I’m still thinking about that or if I want to go whole hog and make the story available in a variety of e-formats. Really, it would just depend on the cost.

    I know some authors have had enormous success marketing their books through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers. But I’ve also seen blogs by other writers who’ve only sold a few copies and haven’t even recouped the cost of putting the books online in the first place. I guess I’m considering posting a short story as sort of a test run. I’ve got a couple of books that I’ve written that just aren’t right for traditional publishers for whatever reason. I figure they should do more than just collect dust in my computer. LOL.

    What do you guys think? Do you download cheap reads on Amazon? Would you download an Elemental Assassin or a Mythos Academy short story? Share in the comments.

  • Best Paranormal Fantasy …

    4 Comments

    I just found out that Spider’s Bite has been nominated for Best Paranormal Fantasy in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2010. Huzzah!

    I seriously doubt that I’ll win, given the number of best-sellers in the category, but I’m thrilled to be nominated. Here’s the link to see the nominees and vote for your favorite.

    And, yes, I’ll admit it — I totally voted for myself. 😉

    In other news, Venom was also given an honorable mention as one of the Best of 2010 by Preternatural Reviews. That’s something else I’m doing the happy dance over.

    I just want to say thanks again to all the readers and reviewers out there. The response to the Elemental Assassin series has been awesome, and I hope you guys like the next two books even more. Happy reading, everyone!