Book In Hand

Most authors remember the thrill of holding their first book in their hand.  The UPS guy delivers that box packed with unmarked, perfectly new and untouched books with your name as the author.  They even smell good.  It was thrilling.

Today my sixth fantasy romance novel, Tiger's Mate, was released in ebook in April and today it came out in paperback.  I'm thrilled to have another one of my books in print and I'll be ordering some copies for myself tomorrow.  My publisher, New Concepts Publishing, is a small, but successful and well-established publisher.  Like most small, independent publishers, you won't find their books in the big stores.  Borders (if they're even in business later this week)  won't set up a signing for my romance novels.  With independent bookstores on the endangered list, it's more and more difficult to find venues to sell my print books.  That used to bother me.

I've grown past my need to see my book gracing the shelves in a bookstore, though I still love that, and come to the realization I make more money off the sales of ebooks.  And I don't need to search across three states to find a bookstore willing to set me up at a table inside the front door. The number of print books I'll sell won't pay my son's college tuition next year but each one is an extra little treat. I hope some people put it on their 'keeper' shelf.

As an author, do you see more of your earnings from ebooks or print?  Do you have a 'keeper' shelf for the books you want to keep and reread over and over again?

One Good Woman Released in Print

Woohoo! My publisher released One Good Woman in print two days before Christmas. I'm thrilled to have it out so soon after the e-book releases. Even more, I hope there's hundreds of thousands of new owners of e-readers out there.

One Good Woman is the culminating novel of The Chronicles of Solonia, a futuristic series published by New Concepts Publishing. Two recurring but much loved characters from the first three novels, The Greater Good, The Lesser Evil and A Ruthless Good find their own happiness in a destiny determined from when they first met. I think readers of the first three books will be completely satisfied with the answering of questions raised by the first three tales.

I know of several of my readers who always wait for the print book but I'm really hoping some of the lucky people received their new Sony or other reader for Christmas decide to give one of my books a try.

How about you? Did you receive an e-reader for Christmas or did one of your friends? Did you buy one for someone? If you did get one, are you going to purchase some authors you might not have tried on print?

Still Feels Good

Yesterday I finally received the print copies of my latest release, A Ruthless Good. I was busy doing some major cleaning in a spare bedroom and didn't even realize the books had been delivered. I took a break to get my mail and there were the boxes on the front porch. I didn't open them right away but went back to my cleaning.

Then when I was ready to sit down and get back to my WIP, I finally opened the boxes. There it was, my work in print again. A book in my hands, everyword my own. The dedication in the front and bio in the back, all my own creation. I have three books already released and four more under contract. Will it ever get old? Will the thrill of holding those books in my hands go away? I hope not. Even if I eventually sell over a hundred books, I hope I still get excited to open those boxes and lift out the first, perfect shining copy.

My romance books sell more in ebook format than they do in print and maybe someday all books will be ebooks. I don't think that will happen during my writing career. I expect to savor more boxes of books and the scent that wafts up when I cut away that packing tape. Now all I have to do is figure out what I'll do with this cover during booksignings. I'm not sure how it would go over in a library.