Huge congratulations!

FATE’S EDGE is #11 on the printed list

#21 on the ebook bestseller list

#27 on the combined print & ebook bestseller list

I’m so happy for you.

All best,

Anne

Looks like I had my pity party too soon.  (In my defense, it’s been hellish three months, so I expected the light at the end of the tunnel to be an incoming train.)

Thank you so much, guys!  The house is thrilled with sales.

In related news, we will be starting work on Edge 4 shortly.  We will try to bring you the story of Richard.  It will be the story of revenge set mostly in the Weird and it will be more angsty than the last book.  If Rose’s book was a fried appetizer, William’s book was steak and potatoes entree,  and Kaldar’s story a fluffy chocolate dessert, this one will be a cup of strong, slightly bitter coffee at the end.

We are not sure yet if Anne would approve it, but we’re hoping she would.  We’d like to end a series arch on a strong note.

Some people have been asking about Jack and George stories.  If we did the kids, we’d have to jump pretty far forward in time and each of them would have to have their own books, and we only have one book left under current contract.  Not only that, but these books would likely have a different setting in a sense. Both kids are very magic and they are at their best in the magic environment.  We would either keep them more in the Weird or make it so the boys could somehow have magic in the Broken.  This would be a little different from the current hoping back and forth across three worlds situation.

Since this current project will be mostly Weird oriented, we can see if this idea is viable.

We would also like to do the thing where we show up an hour or two early and just hang out with whoever feels like showing up and chatting.  No big whoop, just coffee talk.  A favorite topic of mine is Barbara, have you seen her skin?  Like buttah, she’s gorgeous.  Still if you have any concerns or questions, just ask and we will try to answer in the comments.  Thanks again guys.

Life is a bit of a mess right now, but we’re hanging in there.

All right then, first news, then some sort of snippet.

Bouda Babes

The Bouda Babes T-shirts are now available on Zazzle in a variety of sizes and styles.  If you would like one, now is your chance. Click here to go to Zazzle.

Please note that while Keely is distributing the T-shirts with our permission, Gordon and I take no commission from the sales. This way we can keep the cost down for you and Keely is rewarded for her excellent design.

On a side note the poses the T-shirt model is doing are hilarious.

Guess Who?

Fun fact: We share a model.

Joanna Bourne has agreed to be thrown to the wolves to come and hang out with us.  If you’ve never read her work, Joanna writes some of the most nuanced historical romances, set around the beginning of 19th century.

Joanna has a new release, THE BLACK HAWK, which is an RT Top Pick for November.  So, if you ever wanted to ask Joanna something about her work or life, now is your chance.  I can’t promise that all questions will be answered, but I will pass them on.

Her Grace Olivia

While we’re on the subject of nobles, Her Grace Olivia Camarine, Duchess of the Southern Provinces, is starting a travelogue.  She hopes it will be witty and charming; however, she is quite new at this and is likely to ramble about her life, her husband, and her children instead.  If you are interested in following  her musings, here is a link.

Book Lists

C writes:

Do you know if there is a massive schedule of book release lists that publishers contribute to?  I use Amazon’s wish list to keep track of upcoming books I know I’m interested in, but it would be nice if a categorized list existed.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of a unified list, but here are a couple of places you might find interesting.

Literary Escapism does a really good rundown of the new titles.

So does Dear Author.

Every publisher also releases a catalog.  This might be a good resources because it shows all titles by imprint, not just by genre.  Here is a link to Penguin catalogs and here is a link specifically to Berkley Mass Market for the Fall 2011.

New Friend Releases

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Well, now I have to write and if I make my word count, you will get a Monday snippet.

We would not do that for the following reasons.

Monopolies

First, we dislike monopolies.   They are, dare I say, un-American.  That said, I love Amazon, I enjoy buying movies, toys, games and even books on Kindle.  We own a Kindle and are quite happy with it.  Actual dead tree books, we don’t buy from them so much.  I guess I would rather go to a store, preferably an independent books store. like Powell’s or Murder by the Book, and pick the book up in my hands.  We benefit greatly from our books being sold on Amazon, mostly again, on the Kindle.  Having our books on Kindle, in turn, allows me to go and spend that book money on the aforementioned toys and games.  I can not help but wonder at some point if I will be like Tennessee Ernie Ford, owing my soul to the company store.  Obviously that is an exaggeration but do you want to be Amazon’s employee and customer?

If you don’t think Amazon wants to be a monopoly, you are a more trusting person than me.

Lack of Editing and Agent Oversight

Second, as the article mentions, many authors publishing through Amazon neglect to employ their own editor or agent.  It is a process that has the potential to cut out not only the publishers, but the agents as well.  Let’s take these point one at a time.

First, the editing.  Sometimes, as the old saying goes, it is better to be lucky than smart.  We were beyond lucky to have Anne Sowards give our first book a chance.  Since then she has made every book better.  If we went the Amazon route, we would lose her and I have no doubt the books would be poorer for it.  What sort of editorial process do the Amazon exclusive books go through?  The article states that “Amazon executives, interviewed at the company’s headquarters, decline to say how many editors the company employed or how many book it had under contract.”  We don’t know who these editors are or how thorough and experience they are.  We are not now, nor in truth will we ever be at the point of not needing input from an experienced editor.

Next, the agent oversight.  Many authors are negotiating deals with Amazon, without the assistance or advice of an agent.  Again, we have been doubly blessed, not only do we have Anne, we also have Nancy Yost as our agent.  Have you ever read a publishing contract?  They are complicated and if you are not careful you could get, excuse my language, screwed out of a good bit of money by wording you don’t understand.  Especially if you are a new author.  A good agent will protect you and guide your career, and for that they deserve their 15%, and most of them, I suspect, work very hard to earn it.  I know for a fact that Nancy looks over and sends the contracts back to our publisher two or three times before we even see them.

A good agent is a buffer between you and your publisher.  If we are behind on a book, which never ever happens, Nancy can call our editor Anne, and get us more time or smooth things over.

Honestly, it puzzles me why anyone would choose to go through Amazon without services of an agent.  Suppose we went the Amazon exclusive route and we made a mega deal, choosing to cut out our agent, even if that person did an excellent job managing our career and without her we would not be getting the deal.  Not only is it a dick move, but now we’re screwed.  Who is going to look at our super new contract and tell us if it’s kosher?  Who is going to sell our foreign rights?

Fans

Third, and perhaps most importantly, what about the fans, won’t somebody please think of the fans?  Drama aside, not everybody owns a Kindle, what about fans who have a Nook, or like to shop at B&N or a local book store?  Will your book be available to them?  Can iTune fanatics like myself buy the audio books for iPods or iPads?  Will your fans be forced to purchase Kindles to read your books?

Many independent stores are flat-out refusing to stock books from Amazon imprints.  Where are you going to do a signing and meet the fans?  Personally we will sign anything with our name on it, but what local books store will have you if everybody brings in the books they bought on Amazon?  the stores must make money to survive.  I don’t know yet how to sign a Kindle, maybe a cover. 

I just think that it is ill advised to put all of your eggs in the Amazon basket, at least it would be for us.  We are not opposed to Amazon.  We love getting 70% of the royalties.  But we don’t want those of you who choose to shop at BN or Books-A-Million or Powells to feel like we don’t care if you exist.

And that kids, is my very long answer to a short question.  Agree, disagree, any and all opinions and comments are welcome, this is a topic open to much debate.

This is inexcusable.  Sadly, even if the authors can file a class action suit against the publisher, I don’t really know if the money would ever be recovered.  I have a feeling it wouldn’t.  I don’t think there is any money to be had.

Working with a publisher has its benefits and drawbacks.  The editorial input can be invaluable, the distribution can be wider, the final product can be of higher quality.   But as a writer, you are surrendering your work and control of your career, at least partially, to someone else.  That’s why I like Ace – they are an old established publisher, who is less likely to go up in smoke because of actions of one individual.

On why you should never talk to the cops

And finally, just to let you know that humans aren’t the only ones who go on rants, here is a kitteh. (Looks like a Siberian to me.)

I am down in the dumps this morning, so I am going to stop yammering and get to work. I really don’t feel like writing witty romantic conversations this morning.  Sadly that’s exactly what I have to write, because that’s where the narrative is.

Monday Facebook Snippet:

Raphael took my hand and led me to the middle of the floor.

“What are you doing?” I asked through my smile.

“If I have to listen to another recount of how Hurricane Olivia is going to destroy life as we know it, I’ll lose my mind.”  He turned me, still holding on to my hand, maneuvering me into a classic dance pose.  His arm slid around my waist and I shivered.

“So you thought dancing would be better?”

“Yes.” He began swaying.  “Pretend to enjoy it.”

“You like screwing with me, don’t you?” I began swaying too.

“Well, since we decided not to screw each other anymore, I have to get my fun somehow.”

Since we’re playing that game…. I tilted my face up to his and gave him a lovesick gaze.

“Do you have to sneeze?” he asked.

“Shut up.  I’m pretending to enjoy your company, just as you said.”

“Try not to strain anything.”

“Oh, I won’t.  I’m very good at faking it.”

That shut him up.

Wow, we were overwhelmed by the amount of entries for the contest, there were nearly 1200 comments.  Due to the sheer awesomeness of our readers, we had to rethink the plan of giving away 25 e copies and change it to 2 per page, for a total of 44 copies with an additional 6 bonus winners.  Given the fact that some who commented did not want to be entered, contestants actually had a better than 1 in 25 chance of getting a freebie.

So, if you did not win, have no fear, Silver Shark is available for purchase as an ebook at the following retailers:

Amazon

BN

iBooks (It’s not up right this second, due to it still being under review)

For internation readers: we are working on having Silver Shark being available at AR

Without further ado here are the winners by page and comment number.  Ilona should have already sent you the novella in your preferred format.  If you see your name and comment here but did not receive one, please contact us.

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Winners by Page &  Comment #

1) Jade-37 &  Kerri-49                                                                                     13) Wendy-43 & Tine-11

2) Maggie-19 & Mel Thomas-39                                                                     14) Lea-18 & Sam-4

3) Cardnoc-32 &  Zora-23                                                                                15) DLyte-5 & Pia Newman-48

4) Carol Jay-16 & Sue-6                                                                                   16) Onion-37 & Pfeffermintzee-12

5) Sarah N-47 & Angie-3                                                                                  17) Diane-25 & Ms Book Junkie-17

6) Barbie Doll-14 & Jage-38                                                                             18) Laura-20 & Steve-22

7) Colette-12 & Word Spinner-31                                                                    19) Nicole-7 & Amie-28

Kayley-22& Brenda Hyde-7                                                                        20) Shannon-7 & Gigi-40

9) Rebecka-6 & shewhomustnotbenamed-18                                               21) Nell L-25 & Bill G-12

10) Laura L-47 & Erin Richards-39                                                                22) Stephanie J-18 & Lindsey-3

11) Rista-6 & Cin-44                                                                                              

12) Amanda-9 & Rebe Loves Books-31

Yeah, that shortcut with the space where I just stuck a bunch of planets on some blue background did not fly.  I had to go back and draw my space properly.  And the clunky eye piece had to go.  On the plus side I have learned that shape tool in Photoshop is my friend.  Also, remember a while ago I yammered on how you need editorial input and all that?  That jumped right up and bit me in the butt.

Since we will be publishing this thing through the agency, we had to make sure that it at least passed the muster.  So, after seven versions of it, we did better.

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I am still not 100% on the font, and I will try to get some kind of quote on the cover from somebody, but aside from that I am happy with it.

If you missed a Questionable Client in a Dark and Stormy Knights anthology or One for the Money in Death’s Excellent Vacation, now is your chance to grab these two stories.

Official synopsis:

New York Times bestselling authors Jeaniene Frost and Ilona Andrews bring you two short stories of paranormal.

Jeaniene Frost’s story, One For the Money, features vampires Cat and Bones trying to protect a spoiled heiress with a price on her head and an undead hitman on her trail. Previously published in Death’s Excellent Vacation. Also includes the first three chapters from Jeaniene’s story in The Bite Before Christmas anthology, as well as a sneak peak at ONCE BURNED, the first novel in the new Night Prince series.

Ilona Andrews story, A Questionable Client, is a prequel to her award-winning Kate Daniels series. In a world beset by magic waves, Kate Daniels works as a mercenary. She is tired, hungry, and there is foul-smelling blood on her boots. All she wants to do is to go home, but when Mercenary Guild offers her a job she can’t refuse, she find herself protecting a man against Russian wizards. Previously published in Dark and Stormy Knights. Also includes first two chapters of FATE’S EDGE, book 3 in the Edge series, and first two chapters of Magic Grieves, a Kate Daniels novella.

So far we only have the Nook and Kindle links as active.  Additional buy links are coming.  If you are an international buyer and are unable to download it, please don’t worry, we’ll make sure that you will have an opportunity to purchase this e-book.

Buy at BN

Buy at Amazon

If you would be interested in reviewing this volume, please drop me a line with Magic Graves Review in the subject line.  Please specify Kindle, EPUB, or PDF file.  We can’t honor all requests due to time constraints, but we’ll honor the first twenty five or so.

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Silver Shark Update

The agency has reviewed the file and pronounced it good.  I just sent it off to the copyeditor.  The cover is NOT turning out.  Nothing but dorkiness.  Will post mockups if I ever get it to the point where I am not embarrassed by it.