Chloe Neill's Blog, page 113
March 9, 2011
Merit on Bravery
A new quote from HARD BITTEN to whet your blog tour appetites:
"You give me thirty-two inches of folded steel and I'll take on anyone you want." -- Merit
"You give me thirty-two inches of folded steel and I'll take on anyone you want." -- Merit
HARD BITTEN BLOG TOUR
It's time, ladies and gents, to sign up for the HARD BITTEN BLOG TOUR.
The HBBT will take place from April 17 through May 8.
If you're interested in joining the HBBT, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:
1. HOW TO JOIN: To join the blog tour, send an e-mail to calendar [at] chloeneill [dot] com. In that e-mail, suggest a SPECIFIC date on which you'd like to host the HBBT.
You must request a specific date in order to be included on the calendar.
Don't worry if it takes me a few days to respond to your email and confirm your date. You only need to email back if you haven't heard from me before April 17.
The first fifteen people who sign up for the HBBT will receive a free bundle of HEXBOUND and TWICE BITTEN bookmarks for your own swag giveaways. Just include your mailing address in your email request.
2. WHAT'S INCLUDED: Your spot on the blog tour can include one or more of the following: (1) an interview with me (no spoilers, please!); (2) an interview with a CV character; and (3) a swag pack of CV goodies (US/Canada only, please).
If you'd like to interview me or a character, please send no more than 10 interview questions to calendar [at] chloeneill [dot] com in an email (no attachments, please). I try to respond to all interview requests at least three days prior to the scheduled interview. You are welcome to send a reminder.
3. CONTESTS: It takes 2-4 weeks to send contest prizes once I receive the winner's name. You are, of course, more than welcome to send a reminder e-mail.
4. TOUR BUGS: Feel free to use one of the images below to advertise your spot on the blog tour!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP IN GETTING OUT THE WORD ABOUT THE CV BOOKS!
The HBBT will take place from April 17 through May 8.
If you're interested in joining the HBBT, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:
1. HOW TO JOIN: To join the blog tour, send an e-mail to calendar [at] chloeneill [dot] com. In that e-mail, suggest a SPECIFIC date on which you'd like to host the HBBT.
You must request a specific date in order to be included on the calendar.
Don't worry if it takes me a few days to respond to your email and confirm your date. You only need to email back if you haven't heard from me before April 17.
The first fifteen people who sign up for the HBBT will receive a free bundle of HEXBOUND and TWICE BITTEN bookmarks for your own swag giveaways. Just include your mailing address in your email request.
2. WHAT'S INCLUDED: Your spot on the blog tour can include one or more of the following: (1) an interview with me (no spoilers, please!); (2) an interview with a CV character; and (3) a swag pack of CV goodies (US/Canada only, please).
If you'd like to interview me or a character, please send no more than 10 interview questions to calendar [at] chloeneill [dot] com in an email (no attachments, please). I try to respond to all interview requests at least three days prior to the scheduled interview. You are welcome to send a reminder.
3. CONTESTS: It takes 2-4 weeks to send contest prizes once I receive the winner's name. You are, of course, more than welcome to send a reminder e-mail.
4. TOUR BUGS: Feel free to use one of the images below to advertise your spot on the blog tour!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP IN GETTING OUT THE WORD ABOUT THE CV BOOKS!
March 8, 2011
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose . . .
As I noted below, one of the main reasons I've been absent from the blog of late is my tight deadline for DRINK DEEP(CV 5), which is scheduled for publication in November 2011.
Although I hope this book will has lots to offer in the end, it's been a struggle to draft thus far.
Perhaps I say this about every book I write (Jeremy?), but this one feels like I'm dragging the word count total up the side of a mountain. I'm on schedule to finish on time--if I maintain a pretty high level of productivity until my deadline--but the slowness of the drafting so far scares me in a bone-deep way.
I can't imagine I'm the only writer who's felt this way. There's definitely a roller coaster aspect to writing. You can get great news about a publication offer one day, only to learn that the money is stomachpunch low. You can get a royalty check for one book, only to learn that returns exceeded sales on another. A five-star Amazon review might follow (or be proceeded by) a two-star review that insults your writing, your characters, your morals and your intelligence.
I don't offer these observations to elicit sympathy--I know I also have dedicated and loving fans out there, and I usually remember how fortunate I am to be in this position. But as in any hobby or career or sport, some days are just harder than others.
As in life, there are wins and losses. There are days when the words come, and easily, and there are days when sitting still long enough to draft a paragraph feels like a monumental achievement.
If only there were some guaranteed potion--some elixir--that would transmute the latter into the former.
Now *that* would be unstoppable. :)
Although I hope this book will has lots to offer in the end, it's been a struggle to draft thus far.
Perhaps I say this about every book I write (Jeremy?), but this one feels like I'm dragging the word count total up the side of a mountain. I'm on schedule to finish on time--if I maintain a pretty high level of productivity until my deadline--but the slowness of the drafting so far scares me in a bone-deep way.
I can't imagine I'm the only writer who's felt this way. There's definitely a roller coaster aspect to writing. You can get great news about a publication offer one day, only to learn that the money is stomachpunch low. You can get a royalty check for one book, only to learn that returns exceeded sales on another. A five-star Amazon review might follow (or be proceeded by) a two-star review that insults your writing, your characters, your morals and your intelligence.
I don't offer these observations to elicit sympathy--I know I also have dedicated and loving fans out there, and I usually remember how fortunate I am to be in this position. But as in any hobby or career or sport, some days are just harder than others.
As in life, there are wins and losses. There are days when the words come, and easily, and there are days when sitting still long enough to draft a paragraph feels like a monumental achievement.
If only there were some guaranteed potion--some elixir--that would transmute the latter into the former.
Now *that* would be unstoppable. :)
March 7, 2011
Seth Tate?
I think Julian McMahon is a pretty good approximation. You?
March 5, 2011
Mark your calendars...
... for March 24, for a live chat with me, sponsored by the lovely folks at LITERARY ESCAPISM! More details soon.
Knee deep in DRINK DEEP
Hallo, everyone!
My apologies for the recent silence. I have an upcoming deadline (*cough cough* April 1 *cough cough*), so I am hard at work writing DRINK DEEP in order to get it ready for its November 1, 2011 release date.
We are less than two months out from the release of HARD BITTEN, and the ARC reviews so far look positive! I am very excited about this one, and hope you all love it as much as I do.
Stay tuned in the next week or so for details about the HARD BITTEN Blog Tour... Alright. Back to writing!
My apologies for the recent silence. I have an upcoming deadline (*cough cough* April 1 *cough cough*), so I am hard at work writing DRINK DEEP in order to get it ready for its November 1, 2011 release date.
We are less than two months out from the release of HARD BITTEN, and the ARC reviews so far look positive! I am very excited about this one, and hope you all love it as much as I do.
Stay tuned in the next week or so for details about the HARD BITTEN Blog Tour... Alright. Back to writing!
February 14, 2011
Congrats!
Congratulations to Mysteriousrose and Wilson Zoo, the winners of the HARD BITTEN ARCs!
Mysteriousrose and Wilson Zoo, please email me your contact information!
Thanks to all of you who participated, and stayed tuned for more HARD BITTEN contest goodness!
Mysteriousrose and Wilson Zoo, please email me your contact information!
Thanks to all of you who participated, and stayed tuned for more HARD BITTEN contest goodness!
February 7, 2011
Some Frequently Asked Questions
You can read the basic FAQ here, but here are answers to a few more frequently asked questions:
1. Why are covers different in the US and other countries?
Generally speaking, each country has a different publisher, and that publisher chooses its own artwork for the covers.
2. Can I get a signed book, bookplate, etc?
Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to sign individual books or send out bookplates (or other materials) on request at this time. But I try to host plenty of contests and blog tour spots to let folks have a shot at Dark Elite and Chicagoland Vampires swag. You can also visit the store to buy CV and DE gear.
I can send out bookmarks in bulk to bookstores, so feel free to ask your local bookstore to send me an email request.
3. Why are your e-books sometimes more expensive than your published books? Can you make the e-books cheaper?
I can hear your frustration through the Interwebs! That said, the publisher and retailer set the prices of the books, and I have no say in those decisions. (Nor would I want to! Too much maths!)
Generally, as I understand the system, e-books often are lower in price than print copies. In some circumstances, however, a retailer might provide an extra discount on the print copy of the book that makes it appear that the e-book version is "more expensive" than the print version. (Thus, even if it appears the Kindle version of a book is "more expensive" than a paper copy at Amazon, this is actually because Amazon provides a discounted copy of the paper book. The Kindle version would still, for example, be cheaper than a paper copy purchased at a brick-and-mortar bookstore.)
More importantly, e-book sales are only a small fraction of a publisher's current sales. (From what I've seen on the Interwebs, somewhere between 3-5%.) Yes, that fraction is increasing, but publishers still have all the overhead associated with actually publishing and printing the book--paying the author, paying the editors, office and overhead costs, typesetting, cover art, printing, advertising, servers and 'lectronics, web hosting, etc. The only chunk of that not associated directly with e-books is the printing bit, and when 92-97% of books are still sold in paper form, publishers still have all those costs anyway.
That said, it's quite possible e-book prices will drop in the future if (when?) e-books become a bigger chunk of the market. (Who remembers how much VCRs used to cost? Now I think they give them away with the purchase of soup.) :)
1. Why are covers different in the US and other countries?
Generally speaking, each country has a different publisher, and that publisher chooses its own artwork for the covers.
2. Can I get a signed book, bookplate, etc?
Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to sign individual books or send out bookplates (or other materials) on request at this time. But I try to host plenty of contests and blog tour spots to let folks have a shot at Dark Elite and Chicagoland Vampires swag. You can also visit the store to buy CV and DE gear.
I can send out bookmarks in bulk to bookstores, so feel free to ask your local bookstore to send me an email request.
3. Why are your e-books sometimes more expensive than your published books? Can you make the e-books cheaper?
I can hear your frustration through the Interwebs! That said, the publisher and retailer set the prices of the books, and I have no say in those decisions. (Nor would I want to! Too much maths!)
Generally, as I understand the system, e-books often are lower in price than print copies. In some circumstances, however, a retailer might provide an extra discount on the print copy of the book that makes it appear that the e-book version is "more expensive" than the print version. (Thus, even if it appears the Kindle version of a book is "more expensive" than a paper copy at Amazon, this is actually because Amazon provides a discounted copy of the paper book. The Kindle version would still, for example, be cheaper than a paper copy purchased at a brick-and-mortar bookstore.)
More importantly, e-book sales are only a small fraction of a publisher's current sales. (From what I've seen on the Interwebs, somewhere between 3-5%.) Yes, that fraction is increasing, but publishers still have all the overhead associated with actually publishing and printing the book--paying the author, paying the editors, office and overhead costs, typesetting, cover art, printing, advertising, servers and 'lectronics, web hosting, etc. The only chunk of that not associated directly with e-books is the printing bit, and when 92-97% of books are still sold in paper form, publishers still have all those costs anyway.
That said, it's quite possible e-book prices will drop in the future if (when?) e-books become a bigger chunk of the market. (Who remembers how much VCRs used to cost? Now I think they give them away with the purchase of soup.) :)
February 4, 2011
Foodie Friday
It's a bit of a cheat (in that it relies on cake and pudding mixes), but you really can't beat the taste or look of this fabulous glaze-soaked rum cake featured on Design Sponge.
I've made one before, and at Jeremy's request, I'll be making it again this weekend in a stadium pan* for Super Bowl-watching.
And to those of you who've asked, GO PACKERS! :)
* - Nordic Ware Stadium Cake Pan. I haven't used this particular pan before, but I'm assuming LOTS of pre-buttering to reduce stickage in the upper-level seating. :)
I've made one before, and at Jeremy's request, I'll be making it again this weekend in a stadium pan* for Super Bowl-watching.
And to those of you who've asked, GO PACKERS! :)
* - Nordic Ware Stadium Cake Pan. I haven't used this particular pan before, but I'm assuming LOTS of pre-buttering to reduce stickage in the upper-level seating. :)
February 3, 2011
DRINK DEEP
The cover for DRINK DEEP (CV5, Nov. 2011) just arrived in my mailbox today!
