Last Christmas, Decadent Publishing became the first company to publish one of my adult novellas in paper, along with several other authors, in a holiday anthology. That was thrilling, and I am so proud to have that on my shelf.
But, as of today, I now have a novel all of my own in paperback, and I am over the moon!
Please know I mean no slight against ebooks when I say this is a dream come true. When I was a child and began writing my "books," I naturally dreamed of them being in paper form. Things have come a long way since then. (Frankly, though, I knew right away when watching Star Trek: TNG and admiring their little electronic reading devices that that was where literature would wind up, so I'm not surprised by the popularity of the Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.) I am always pleased when one of my works becomes available to readers with ereading devices, of course. But, somewhere deep inside, a little 12 year old me is jumping up and down right now.
I now have a paperback novel! Like, for reals! Like, one I can send my Mum! (I am really happy, so please pardon the gushing.) I also couldn't be prouder that it is this novel, Textbook Romance, a book I am pleased to present. Aside from my first novel, Strings Attached, this one is closest to my heart.
Take a look at the NEW print edition page right here! I'm pretty sure it will be available on Amazon and B&N, as well, soon, and should also be available at any bookstore that does special orders.
Thank you, Pink Petal Books! You've made a dream come true for me.
Just a quick note to let you guys know how the upcoming paperback-babies are faring, since their due dates are fast approaching.
Textbook Romance is very nearly all set for its Sept 13 release in paperback! I spent a good portion of this week giving it another read through, and it's speeding its way to the print formatting process over at Pink Petal Books. The cover will stay the same, thankfully (I do love this one!), and I haven't seen the proofs for the back cover and such, yet. But, I am certain it's bubbling along as expected.
I really enjoyed the chance to re-read it, to be honest. It may be hard to believe, but once a book is edited and out, it tends to fade a bit in my mind as I move on to the next project. While the story and the characters leave fond impressions in my mind, re-reading these books after release is an odd blend of familiarity and newness.
As to the anthology, All I Want, which will also be releasing in an ebook bundle at the same time as in paperback, things are progressing for the Oct 3rd release. I am finishing up my last-chance read through on the five original stories in my Rebel Ink holiday series, making sure they're all in order, and will be doing some more serious edits on the new short next week. We've already seen the cover, and it is beautiful!
I'm looking forward to having more reading format options out there, and I can't wait to get my hands on those paper lovelies!
Have a great weekend, all, and thanks for reading.
I know what you're thinking. We're in the New Age of reading, and eBooks are the way to go, right? That's fair enough. EBooks have opened a lot of doors for a lot of writers, myself included. But I can't help but confess that paperbacks are why I got into this business. I longed to see my name on a spine or two. Last Christmas, I sort of got my wish when Unwrapping Scrooge was included in a paperback anthology from Decadent Publishing. It was thrilling to finally sign something with a real pen. I admit, I felt Accomplished.
Right now, I am looking down the road at two paperbacks - the release of Textbook Romance in paper from Pink Petal Books in September 2012, and the paperback/eBook bundle of my Rebel Ink Press holiday shorts in October 2012. Currently, I am considering cover concepts for the RIP anthology and mulling over titles.
I'm excited.
While I'm not decided on whether I will send my RIP collection to my Mum (they're rather graphic, and, though she's no prude, I am a chicken), I can't wait to send her a copy of Textbook Romance. Sadly Strings Attached never made it to print, so this will be the first novel I've had that I can mail to her.
So, that's my big whirl at present. My teaching term ended with June, and I've been resting up and cleaning/organizing with much of my vacation hours so far, but also preparing for these releases. Soon, I will start looking for promo ops for them, and gearing up the release festivities.
Some musings on the wanderings of muses.
Since I'm among friends, I have to say that I feel these books have some importance to them. I mean, as in Importance to My Life Story kind of importance. Recently, I have been struggling with some Questions. Where am I going? What am I really doing in this business? Some of my answers have been dismal. Many times, I thought to quit. I still do, some days. But, I know something's about to change. Things can't stay this way forever, and these books feel like a milestone.
Over the past year, I've started working on several "Top Secret" projects. No, I'm not bringing down any governments. I've been working outside romance, and outside erotic romance. I've been working on a few different things, including my academic book, and some stories with bittersweet endings, and some with horrifyingly dark corners, ones without romance, a personal story, and one in particular that has consumed much of my thoughts for some time.
Why don't I talk about them here? I guess because it's awkward to discuss "leaving" romance with people who know primarily as defined by my romance.
I have not, and will never, stop loving romance as a reader. I'm not likely to permanently stop writing romance, either. (I have no less than seven romances of various lengths in draft, semi-complete, outline and/or treatment stage, so I do expect to return, eventually.) But, right now, I need to get these other stories off my chest. I need to see if I can do something successful. Something a bit outside my comfort zone.
I'm not going to write anything that will shame me, or betray the ethics, optimism and light I hold dear and have always tried to bring out in my romance works, so have no fears. I'm still Anne Holly - just one trying on some new shoes for a bit.
I would love for you all to join me as I brave the new frontiers, and I will be sharing more about this in the coming months, as I break in those new shoes.
And have no fear - I have a romance all outlined for NaNoWriMo this year! With luck, at least two of those aforementioned projects will be in the can by then, at least in draft form, now that I have a bit of a break from teaching.
One last note before I end this ramble: Some New News.
The Editors at Rebel Ink Press and I have tentatively agreed to include a new story in the collection, which will be exclusive to that bundle/paperback!
Reached by Facebook consensus, the holiday I am tackling is St Patrick's Day, and, like the other stories, it features a miss-matched couple flung together over thew course of a holiday. Also like the other ones, it will be a slight homage to some of the romance subgenres I have loved over the years. This one plays with "single dad," "small town" and "travel romance" tropes, especially those made great by the HQ SuperRomance lines - only, you know, erotic. I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of it!
I'm rusty at it, I find. I hadn't expected to be back writing sizzle and snogging so quickly. But, it's also kind of fun, and I look forward to seeing what becomes of it.
And, for the paperback I've dreamed of for so long, it's totally worth it!
As you may already know, I detest the word blurb. A little too bodily-function sounding for my liking. However, I do love having them finalized, so here we go...
My brand new blurb for Textbook Romance!
Chase after love? As a single mother, Professor Liberty Sullivan knows better. Between her flighty mother and a disastrous history with men, she's pretty much soured on the whole concept of romance. Personal freedom and self-reliance are her new guiding mantras. Raising her son and being a career star are the most important things now.
Then she meets Seth.
An ex-cop who’s making a new life for himself and his daughter, Seth Webster has every reason to play it safe. Then he meets Liberty. Prickly about love, following some crazy anti-romance curriculum, she still makes Seth's heart pound. And a lifetime of cop instinct tells him he's about to teach Liberty that this romance will be anything but by the book.
Many thanks to my very friendly and helpful editor Julie. Here's hoping for a cover soon, as well, and we're expecting MS edits to begin shortly!
How can it already be mid-December? The days are simply flying past these days, even though my lack of sleep these days also make parts of the week crawl by. In Real Life, I am up to my neck marking, trying to get the term papers marked by this weekend so I can be shod of this class before the holidays. It's going slowly, but surely. At least the exams are all marked and done, so I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I also finished my holiday shopping, aside from groceries, and am looking forward to getting in some R&R very soon.
In the meantime, I have some news that I felt I should quickly run down...
First, I have a new contract all signed and off in the post. It might have even arrived, depending on whether the snail mail cart was pulled by one mule or two. I have signed my newest full length novel off to Pink Petal Books, a new company to me - but not a new company, itself. In fact, it's fairly established for an ebook company, and I am very pleased. They seem to like the book, my editor seems friendly and enthusiastic, and the company seems to have a good reputation for contemporary romance, which seems to be fading with other companies. Yes, I am very pleased.
The book, currently entitled Textbook Romance, is the story of Liberty, an anti-romance university prof, and a wonderful single father who seeks to change her mind. I confess a lot of it takes place over Christmas, but I have opted to release it for Father's Day, since Seth's dadhood is such a huge, adorable part of his character. It will be out in ebook in June, with luck, and in paperback in September 2012. I am thrilled to have another contract to look forward to - I was getting antsy, since my Rebel Ink series finished off.
Second, I guess it was that ARe newsletter interview, and possibly all the appearances I've been doing, but Unwrapping Scrooge has taken off in a big way! I'm very happy, but a little confused, since the book came out last year. But, hey, I'm certainly not complaining - it's been great, and I'm seeing the sales in general go up. Perhaps someone liked Unwrapping Scrooge so much they decided to try the others? Who knows! Whatever is going on, I'm grateful.
Third, I have hired a PR company, Sizzling PR, to book a month long blog tour for me and my Valentine's Day book V-Day, so that's exciting. It sounds so grown up and professional, doesn't it? It was certainly affordable, so we'll see if it results in a few sales. V-Day is a good little book (in my humble, totally-unbiased opinion), so I hope it gives it the leg up it deserves. I am also running a month-long promo on TRR for Strings Attached all of January, so hopefully we can create a bit of synergy between all the books. I'm learning as I go.
(I am open to guest shots and interviews of all sorts for Jan-Feb, and then again all summer, so contact me if you have spots open!)
I will be around a lot over the next few weeks, still promoting the Christmas books, along with the New Years book. Please come on back this weekend for the blog hop, and keep an eye out for the other blog hops and blogfests and interviews and guest posts and reviews, etc, etc, etc, that I have going on. (See the "Events" tab above.) To be honest, I can't remember everything off the top of my head any more.
Well, back to marking. Thanks for checking in. I'm glad I managed a little news update today. Some fairly invigorating new developments, no?
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