What the heck is she doing?
Over the course of the past year, you’ve no doubt seen a tidal wave of re-releases from me. I suspect you’re thinking “what the heck is she doing?” The answer is simple. I’m old. Okay–not old old. Just an older writer. So…many of the contracts on my earlier books were coming to term, which left me with a decision to make. Keep them with the publisher or take them back. I opted to take them back. In the past couple of years, I’ve begun self-publishing and the truth is it suits me. This may come to absolutely NO surprise to some of you, but I’m a bit of a control freak! Publishing my own books gives me complete creative control over my work. Everything from the cover to the price to the marketing of the stories is in my hands.
The truth is I haven’t loved every cover I’ve ever gotten. Authors are given little to no input on covers at some pubs. There is nothing worse than seeing your beautiful baby in an ugly outfit. And there were quite a few of my books that were selling for ridiculously high prices, which made them cost prohibitive for readers on a budget. By taking my books back, I could fix the things I didn’t like, put a fresh face on old stories and try a little creative marketing. The learning curve has been steep, but I think I’m a bit savvier now than I was last August!
Today, I thought I’d offer you a quick recap of my Do Over books to let you know what I’ve changed and why. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the new covers, titles, etc.
The Wild Irish series. I was delighted to “reclaim” these books because I’ve always loved them so. First of all, let me say–I didn’t change a single title or word on the inside. If you bought the books from Ellora’s Cave, you own the stories. They are the same. However, all 8 books have new covers that I absolutely adore. The first book, Come Monday, is permanently free. That means new readers can test drive the series without dropping down a dime. If you like Come Monday, you can find the first four books in a reduced price box set. Four books for the price of two.
The Foreign Affairs series. This was an exciting do over for Lexxie Couper and I because we genuinely loved writing these stories. However, for some reason we couldn’t quite work out, they never really sold well. This is one of the great mysteries of publishing and something that drives authors nuts – trying to determine why some books sell while others don’t. Unfortunately, I’m not sure anyone’s ever really solved the puzzle. By grabbing these books back, Lexxie and I had an opportunity to see if we could turn the low sales tide. I’m happy to say…we did! The stories remained the same, but we changed the titles (dropping the gangly Misplaced in front of all the descriptors) so they were pithier and hotter. We made some super sexy covers with that bright splash of purple. And then, we lowered the price. These books were grossly overpriced with the publisher, so we followed the same pattern I’d had success with on the Wild Irish books. We made book one, Princess, permanently free and we created a reduced-price box set. You can now get all four books for the price of two with just one little click.
The Lowell High series. These two books released during my very first year in publishing, so they were LONG overdue for a facelift and some work. I basically changed everything about them! I’d always hated the original covers, so I gave them new ones that I adore. I was never fond of the titles. My original titles were unavailable with the pub, so I was left with Retreat and Covert Lessons. Retreat was okay, but I thought Covert Lessons was sort of dumb. So…Bound by the Past (Retreat) and Covert Affairs (Covert Lessons) were born. I actually did rewrite these. I cleaned up my rookie mistakes and took another stab at the ending of Bound by the Past. It was a romantic suspense and I always thought I’d wrapped it up too quickly. I took the opportunity to expand upon the ending and make it more exciting. I also made them more affordable. They’re longer stories (novel-length) and you can grab them for $2.99 each. If you haven’t given them a look, I hope you will. They remain two of my all-time favorites. Also, don’t forget to pick up the fun companion short story, Scoring. It’s a freebie.
The Scoundrels series. Oh man…these books fall into the HATED THE COVERS category. Big time. Now? Two of my absolute favorite covers ever. The stories remain the same, titles the same. However, I’ve put together a box set that includes the original two stories, Black Jack and White Knight, as well as three companion short stories I’d written in the same world. You can grab all five of those stories in the Scoundrels box set for a pretty reasonable price.
The Madison Girls books. I don’t really call this a series because it’s just two connected books. Kiss Me, Kate was my very first book with Ellora’s Cave way back in 2008. Dear Kate feels like a lovely old friend to me. I didn’t mind the original cover on the book, though I’ll admit Rhian Cahill sort of cursed me when she mentioned a fairly…um…how can I say this politely? Let’s just say the female cover model’s headlights were on HIGH beam. Once they were pointed out, I couldn’t UNsee it. I started calling it the Pointy Nipple cover. Damn that Rhian! The stories remained the same, as did the titles. The two books have new covers and are in a box set. Buy the set and save a buck!
And miscellaneous others! In addition to the series listed above I’ve also re-released three other stories–Spitfire, Rekindled and Assume the Positions–with new covers and prices. While I’m not saying much about them, I really do hope you’ll check them out. The two cowboy stories (Spitfire and Rekindled) are only .99 cents and Assume the Positions is a super-fun romantic comedy (the perfect beach read).
For now…that’s it on the re-releases, but that doesn’t mean I’m finished. I recently received the rights back to my very first published book ever, Erotic Research. It’s going to be off the market for a little while as it needs some work! I’ll keep you up-to-date on its progress.
