WordPlay

by Doranna

Here’s a glimpse at the first half of Backlist eBooks newsletter this month…

If you’d like to see the real thing, complete with all those nice click-throughs, then here’s a link!

by Doranna

People can come up with all sorts of lame justifications for stealing.  I have no interest in the justifications…and no sympathy for them.  Pirating digital works is stealing, and no…no one is entitled to read my stuff for free unless I put that work on free.  And pirates, no matter what they think of themselves, are not modern-day Captain Jacks.  Also, they totally aren’t Johnny Depp sexy.

That, I guess, would be my position statement on the whole thing.  And yet…

This has been an interesting week for pirates.  There was a brazen pirate shop that popped up with a huge selection of books (including quite a number of mine)…and that charged for them, too.  Well, huzzah!  That site has already hit the dust, but of course there’s already another of that brazen sort popping up.

And then there’s scribd.

Those of us who have been around the Internets for a while remember when scribd started up, and that there was a whole big lot of froo ha ha along the way.  They’re still remiss; they still allow blatantly pirated works to be posted.  But they do take them down if you ask (in my experience).

So why am I not asking?

Because the work currently being pirated there is called Heavy Metal Honey.

Heavy Metal Honey was one of Harlequin’s early e-reads, written to a fairly exacting pattern of chapters and word count.  In this case, it was published as a supplement to the Bombshell line, and it’s a story in the world of the Hunter Agency, featuring two of my favorite characters: Kimmer and Rio.

Okay, Kimmer and Rio fans…raise your hand if you’ve even heard of Heavy Metal Honey.

Exactly.

The thing is that Harlequin isn’t doing anything with that story–and hasn’t for many years–but the rights aren’t vulnerable to reversion.  So I can’t do anything with it, and I have no control over whether they do anything with it, and no one gets to read it at all, and I like that story, darnit!

So if you like Kimmer and Rio, or if you like the Bombshells, or if you like short fiction with attitude, and you happen to go to scribd, and you happen to search on Heavy Metal Honey…

Well, enjoy!  And by all means spread the word.

But pirates still suck.  Welcome to the world of the inconsistent human.

by Doranna

Sigh.  It didn’t used to matter.

I mean, it always mattered to ME, but I could console myself that strikingly nasty or baffling reader reviews didn’t matter in the big picture.

Of course, now reader rankings matter a whole lot, and one or two ugly ones can really skew the curve and affect sales.

And they still matter to me.

A nasty review is pretty obvious, both to readers and the author.  A baffling review…not so much.  Recognizing those takes knowing what’s in the book in the first place.

It’s one where you wonder if the reader was even looking at the same book.

A Feral Darkness just got one of those.  Someone is terribly upset at me for making certain statements about religion that…

Well, that wasn’t the book I wrote. 

In fact, it was the book I assiduously steered away from writing.

It would be easy to put this down to different folks/different strokes if the Catholic religion wasn’t specifically referenced several times in the review…along with the assertion that my intent is to make fun of that faith.  To mock it.

Now watch me scratch my head.  There isn’t any true presence of the Catholic church in this book (there’s a character who’s a lapsed Catholic, on the whole because of the conflict with the pagan elements).  There’s a pastor in the story, a thoughtful guy who happens to be very protestant, in his very protestant church.  I was rather fond of him, actually–I thought he tried to do his best to handle a difficult situation.

But the truth is, the book has pagan elements and pagan magic.  That’s kind of the whole point.  I wove together enough of those historical pagan elements across cultures (never mind the book learning…I called a monastary!)–to catch the eye of a British scholar, who interviewed me a couple of years ago and included A Feral Darkness in the resulting publication.  (I was beyond excited about that, yes I was!)  There’re ancient Celtic gods, ancient Celtic dogs…and one contemporary woman who has to make it all come together in the context of her rather practical life.

I hadn’t meant to examine the interface of religions, but the character went there (she rode her bike there, actually), and I had to follow.  It was not easy writing…but maybe that’s why the book has connected with so many people over the years (and boy am I grateful for that!).

Sometimes, in order to make that connection, you have to reach far deeper than is truly comfortable.  It’s a vulnerable, vulnerable place to be as a writer.

So it does baffle (and ouch!) me that anyone could take the resulting book as a mockery of any given religion, and it makes me a little sad.  On the other hand, I think what also surprises me–a lot–is that someone who feels this strongly about the (“disturbing”) interface of religions would not only pick up the (“sickening”) book in the first place, but would read it through to the (“pathetic”) end.

It still matters to me, though.

Because if you’re anything like me, you mean to follow through on something but don’t always get there during the busy times…

The Smashwords sale ends…today!  March 9th!  All of my books are on sale in one way or another, and they’re all clickable through my pages at Backlist eBooks.  There are a couple of freebies there, including BARRENLANDS–the first book in the Changespell Saga with Dun Lady’s Jess.

(You can find that series introduction on free at most of its retailers, in fact–the details are at the Backlist eBooks page.  Amazon has been slow to get on board, but you can report a lower price to them if you’d like to see it there).

In other news, check upstream for the Imperfect Service Dog post–today is the last day to enter for freebies in that event, also!

In other, other news, I’m featured at Laurie’s Thoughts & Reviews Blog, the paranormal side of the force.  Stop by and say hello–there’s the chance to win the entire Changespell Saga (In fact, I’m so clever (shut up!) I just figured out how to include that form here!).

In news that offers no reminders but plenty of nice grins, the current book in progress (a Nocturne in my Sentinels series, Lynx Revealed) is heading to the halfway point after its first month under way.  Whee!

In final news…I think…we have snow on the ground and still fluttering around in the air.  This is probably more important to me than it is to you.  But for this thirsty, thirsty land, it is a good thing indeed!
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Got Smashwords?

Whatever your reader, you can pick up the right format at Smashwords.  And this week, you can pick up a whole buncha sales, because it’s Read an eBook Week and Smashwords makes it easy for us author folks to participate.

All of my books (26 titles!) are on sale, from 25% off to free downloads.  Given that the books are already listed below publisher prices, that makes them…well, terribly affordable.  (We do not use the word “cheap” around here!)

Most of the books are my earlier titles–some of them in updated versions, some with a bit of extra material.  There are also some original pieces (A Silhouette Bombshell that was to be released in February of that year…when they discontinued the line in January.  A couple of novellas I’ve written for the love of it.  The short story collection that quietly does its best to trickle funds toward ConneryBeagle’s vet costs).  Those are identified as such.

ePublishing does more than just get these out-of-print titles on the shelves (so to speak) again…it gives me a renewed freedom in my creativity…it gives me options.  Sales like this are a chance to give a little bit back!

My self-produced titles are all listed on my page at the Backlist eBooks site.  At one discount or another–the coupon for which is right there on the Smashwords page for each book–they’re all on sale through the 9th.  Happy reading!

by Doranna

As a book, Barrenlands has always been a bit adrift.

It’s a prequel to the CHANGESPELL SAGA with Dun Lady’s Jess, but it wasn’t marketed that way and not too many people picked up on the common factors between them.

It was written to have a sequel, but things being what they are in the publishing world, that hasn’t happened yet, either (although the chances of dramatically improved, thanks to e-publishing options!)

So there it was, tossed out on the shelves with no apparent relation to the things with which it really had a rather deep connection.

Not this time!

Now you know.  And now I can put the books together as the series they are, not to mention…maybe write that missing book between?

Order: Nook | Kindle | Kobo | Smashwords

Before there was Dun Lady’s Jess…

Magic, betrayal, and a twice-cursed exile–only one man’s determination can untangle the deadly intrigue that binds them together.

When Ehren’s sovereign and friend was killed, Ehren, First of the King’s Guard, was far away — sent on a wild goose chase by the First Level Ministry, whose number he now believes must contain at least one traitor.

When a First Level wizard orders him to stop searching for the assassins and instead to find and neutralize the dead king’s distant family, his suspicions deepen to near certainty.

And Ehren is determined to find those exiles – if only so that he may guard them with his life.

Other books in this series: Dun Lady’s Jess, Changespell, Changespell Legacy

by Doranna

Free, free, FREE!

I often wonder what readers think when they see ebooks listed for free.  I can’t look at that issue from my reader point of view, because it’s too much a part of my writer point of view.

I suspect it’s not entirely understood, to judge by certain sneering comments I’ve seen…

When a backlist author puts a title up for free, it has nothing to do with the perceived worth of the book. In fact, we often put our favorite books up for free. And when readers download them, we get all excited.

In a world of trying to market without a publicity department, free book downloads change how our books are presented in book stores–where and how often they appear. And unless they do appear, it’s very hard for a reader “browsing” the bookstore to see them and make a choice about reading or buying.  Unless they receive reviews, or likes, or tags, it’s really hard to get them presented to readers at all.

That’s why when we do a freebie, and it does well, it’s really exciting.  So this week, that’s why I’m all excited that TOUCHED BY MAGIC hit the #1 free epic fantasy at kindle, and then hung around that spot for a while.  Of course I know it’s not the same as being a #1 paid book, but it means a lot to me in many other ways.

(Yes, it’s still free–at Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo, iTunes, and Smashwords)

So download a freebie today!

And if you’re so moved, go to the store’s page and “like” that book as an indication of your interest, or write a little review when you’re finished reading.

We love you for it–and it’s one way you can have a voice in the kinds of titles you see.

by Doranna

New covers!  Whee!  New books available as Try-Me freebies.  More whee!  October newsletter!  Wuh, wuh, wuh!

*peeks to see if anyone buys the perky factor*

Oh, bother.  Cheerleading was never my strength.  But it’s all cool, and it’s all in the newsletter, and it’s not a big deal to get your hands on it.  All you have to do is CLICKIE HERE.

And if you want the newsletter in your mailbox, all you have to do is CLICKIE OVER THERE where it says “Subscribe to my Newsletter.”  (I know it’s subtle, but I have faith that you call can find it!)

Look!  This is what it looks like!  But none of the clickies are live.  You have to CLICKIE HERE for that.

See, I’m so excited I’m incomprehensible.

COVERS COVERS COVERS!

In the spring, I finally regained the rights to Dun Lady’s Jess, and rubbed my hands in glee–finally, I can get the series out in backlist!

I immediately started work on the covers.  I’d found the right model months earlier, and I spent hours and hours (and HOURS) hunting up the right horse images, to the point of inquiring with prestigious breeders of breeds with the right color and body type.  (Think Rocky Mountain horse, or classic Morgan–Homestead was especially helpful.)

In the end I unearthed a photographer’s series with the same horse–so the covers have the same Jess, and the same Lady.  And a little more searching unearthed a verrry nice image for Ehren in Barrenlands, the Changespell series prequel.

Putting it all together was another thing.  You know…making it just special enough.  Pushing my wee little photoshopping skills to the limit, not to mention my brainpower.  So I spent a couple of weeks at it, came up with all four covers with matching visual theme, got some enthusiastic feedback, aaaaannnnd….

It just wasn’t quite perfect enough.  Not for Jess.

You know what I mean?  Have you ever been there?  Where it matters SO MUCH, it just has to be right?  Not just right, but Right?

So I sat on it.  All summer, I sat on it.  I pretended not to think about it.  I worked on other things (there was plenty of that), and I sparred with the Lyme.  Until this past weekend, when I pulled up the files, shuffled through images, and put my thinking cap back on.

Yes yes yes!

Oh, I’ll probably twiddle with some tiny details as the books go up, because I can’t stop myself.  Because it has to be perfect, right?  But still!  Lookie!