Dazed and Confused

They aren't reading my books in Japan ...

Before I was ever published, I joined a romance writers group.  Back then, I was in awe when my pals Paticia Ryan (who also writes historical mysteries under the name P.B . Ryan) and Kathryn Shay would bring in copies of their books that had been translated into different languages.

Back then?  I'm still in awe.  Many of my cozy mystery author friends have had their books translated in Japanese (off the top of my head I can name Leann Sweeney, J.B. Stanley, and Hannah Reed ... and I know there are many, MANY more.)  Lorna Barrett or Lorraine Bartlett?  Fuggetaboutit!

Okay, I admit it.  I'm jealous.  I want my books translated, too.  My agent says, "Be patient." She also tells me that other countries look for different things in their cozy mysteries--not booksellers.  I had hoped my Jeff Resnick would have sold to the German market, but I fear my lack of sales here has killed that dream.  : (

So I was thrilled this morning to check my sales for my print books and find that a copy of Recipes to Die For had sold somewhere in Europe and I was going to get paid for it!  It wasn't translated, and I don't even know what country it sold in, but it sold for Euros.

Weeeeeee!

The truth is, I'm waiting for more and more countries to get on the ebook bandwagon.  It won't mean my books will get translated, but there are a lot of English-reading people out there.  Currently my books are available online in countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain.  The sad thing is, how many people in those countries have e readers (Kindles in particular).  I know I sell quite a few stories in Australia (thank you, Apple), and sales for Kobo readers have picked up a tiny bit, but I'd love to find a much bigger--GLOBAL--audience for my work.

Any ideas on how I can spread the work about my books to foreign countries?

Another title experiment . . .

What can I say?  There's a reason I hold contests to title my books.  I'm really NOT very good at it.  Okay, sometimes I get lucky.  I thought Dead in Red was a good name.  And Cheated By Death. And Bookplate Special.  Otherwise, other people have named my book. (Doesn't mean I always like those titles.  A Crafty Killing?  Come on.  (Thank you Penguin Marketing.  NOT.))

So when I uploaded one of my more romancy e short stories I found myself looking at my original title (Valentine's Day) and grimacing.  So, after much soul searching, I renamed it Are You Lonely Tonight.  (And it's not the same as the Elvis song...just reminiscent of it.) 

The first cover was okay.  When we did it, that's the kind of cover people were doing (with the bands of color--or in this case black and gray).  I thought the woman looked wistful.  Maybe she looked like a bimbo, because the story didn't sell well.  (Of course, short stories aren't known to be hot sellers, anyway.)

Just last month we changed it to a color photo of a wistful brunette.  Guess what?  Sales still stunk.  Only one thing left to do.  Change the title.

So there we were, driving down the Pennsylvania turnpike last week and I asked my pal and passenger Leann Sweeney what she thought.  (This, after giving her a brief description of the story.)  She thought about it for a moment and blurted:  Love Heals.

Wow.  Short, powerful, and it describes the story in a nutshell.  (She's good.)

So for better or for worse, Love Heals is now out there.  Now to see if this marketing ploy actually works.

In case you're interested, here's the blurb:  It's the most romantic night of the year and Diana Mason is alone.  She broke up with her boyfriend because he wanted a playmate not a soul mate, but it's someone else who haunts her thoughts on the most romantic of holidays.  Is there a chance he's thinking of her, too?

Kindle ~ Nook ~ Smashwords

So does this title (and cover) grab you?

 

One Last Cover

And yesterday Mr. L finished updating the last cover.  Will this be for the last time?  Who knows.  Last week I Googled a title by one of my favorite authors and saw there had been TWELVE covers for that book over the past 30 years.  Some were better than others--some downright awful ... but every couple of years they rerelease the book and give it a new look.

And here's the new look for my Jeff Resnick story Bah! Humbug.

Same (partial) picture, different look.

What do you think about this one?

From This to That!

On Saturday, I posted on the Cozy Chicks Blog about how I'm updating my covers.  (AGAIN!  And you can see the first two there.)  As it turns out, I'm getting a teensy bit better at being an art director.  And Mr. L is getting a LOT better at doing the covers for my indie books.

Essentially, we decided (and mostly thanks to my pal Shelly Thacker) that my covers needed a more uniformed look.  I was more or less happy with some of the stock photography, but not with the fonts.  I'd also had a discussion about fonts and typesize a month or so ago with my good friend Pat Ryan, who is great at covers.  (She did the covers for my Jeff Resnick novels).

So, rather than go into more detail, why don't I just show you the results?

Abused -- A Daughter's Story:

 

Are You Lonely Tonight?

An Unconditional Love

 

Prisoner Of Love

And so, for a little market research.  (You guys get to play my focus group.)  So, what do you think of the changes?  Would you be more inclined to buy the stories with these new covers? 

Car Trip

So, last week I went to Virginia to not only visit my good buddy Ellery Adams, but to do a signing at the Short Pump Barnes & Noble in Richmond, but also to participate in a cozy mystery panel at the Virginia Festival of the book.  Both events were terrific.  I met a lot of new readers, and did many drop-in signings at bookstores in the area.  (We were pooped!)

Since I don't fly, we drove to Virginia. Losing a few days of work was out of the question, so I needed to be able to write during the journey.  The problem is, I get carsick if I try to read. I decided to give Over The Counter Medicine a try. 

Can you say Bonine Motion Sickness Protection to the rescue?

I'm very pleased to say that the Bonine worked great.  Okay, I was writing longhand but I managed to get quite a bit of work done on the next Booktown Mystery.  The down side?  I was pretty sleepy.  But I got more work done with the Bonine than I would have without it.

Do you get motion sickness, and if so--what do you use.  (Anyone try those Sea-Bands?)

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P.S.  BTW, if you're heading to Malice Domestic and want to buy a trade paperback copy of The Cozy Chicks Kitchen (our delightful new cookbook), let us know NOW. We're taking advance orders but will ONLY BRING COPIES FOR THOSE WHO RESERVE THEM in advance. We'll be ordering them this week. You'll save a dollar off the cover price and won't have to pay for shipping! Additionally, six of the Chicks will be at the conference and would be glad to sign your copy!  (If you're going to the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA -- you can pick one up there, too!)

Just send an email with the subject line of COOKBOOK OFFER to us at cozychicks(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll make sure you can pick up your copy at the conference.

Remember, we're only bringing enough copies for those who reserve in advance.

Happy cooking!

It's so cozy (and tasty)!

For those who don't know, I'm a member of the Cozy Chicks blog and I post on Saturdays.

We're like-minded cozy mystery writers who've banded together to talk about our lives, our writing, and ... food.  As it happens, we all love to eat (and it shows more on some of us than others).  With that in mind, we decided to put together The Cozy Chicks Kitchen, a collection of killer recipes.

We had such fun picking out a title, a cover picture, and collecting more than 100 recipes--some written by us, some "written" by our characters--and let me tell you, mouthwatering?  You better believe it!

In fact, that's just how Julie Hyzy, author of the White House Chef and the Manor House Mysteries put it.  She said:  "THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN is chock full of mouthwatering gems. Everything is here: main dishes, desserts, salads, soups, drinks, and did I mention desserts? Don’t miss this fabulous collection. I’ve got both the ebook version and a hardcopy. Get yours today!"

The ebook edition is now available, but fear not--the trade paperback is in the works and will be ready in the next 2-3 weeks.  I'll let you know when it comes out.  But for now, if you've got an e reader you can find it for: 

Kindle  ~  Nook  ~ and for all other ereaders at Smashwords.

We hope you enjoy meeting and eating with us and our characters!

Pet Peeve Thursday: Cross the Line – I Dare Ya

by guest blogger Kelly McClymer

I started reading with Dick and Jane. Kids today have many more colorful options, but Dick and Jane gave a big advantage to this budding book lover: they made everything else I ever read seem interesting and fun. I felt there was no boundary too far to run from Dick and Jane. And Spot. Mars? Sounds like a grand time. A little house on the prairie? I’m there. A windswept Prince Edward Island in the early 1900s? Sign me up. Narnia, or a time warp? Oh yeah.

Which brings me to my pet peeve (thanks, Lorraine, for letting me vent today): people who are afraid to cross genre lines. They make seemingly reasonable statements like, “I only read cozies.” Or romance. Or thrillers. Or Oprah picks. Or more inflammatory statements like, “Romance is brain fluff.” or “Science fiction is about ideas and I like books about people.” In some quarters, them’s fighting words.
 
Sometimes I wonder if I may have been afraid to cross genre lines at some point if my parents had not bemusedly encouraged my vacuum-cleaner-like book choices (start at the beginning of one library shelf, and work my way across, down to the next shelf, and the next, and the …). That kind of reading history inoculated me from believing any common genre prejudice.

Science fiction is not about people? Of course it is. I knew that because I ran across John Brunner’s classic The Sheep Look Up on my uncle’s living room end table when I was 12. That book is all about people, and science (and how corporate greed is toxic to the people – and it was written in the 70s).

Romance is brain fluff? Snort. I’ve been married for over 3 decades, and there’s many a romance (and a few science fiction, mystery, thrillers and fantasies) that’s helped me through the minefield of the romantic relationship many a time – and entertained me along the way.

Fiction gives me insight into human beings (even when they’re disguised as robots or vampires). I need that insight, because – as I discovered while raising a son on the autism spectrum – I’m really not good at picking up people clues in the real world.

I’m proud to say I’ve never met a genre line I was afraid to cross. Some I like more than others, but every genre out there offers me some new perspective on people, life, living, and myself.

Which brings me to my secondary pet peeve: publishers’ fear of genre mixing in anthologies. When you find an anthology, it usually has similar genre stories (maybe a publisher will be daring and mix in some romantic mystery, history, suspense…maybe). But usually they stick stories into same genre boxes.

At Backlist Ebooks, we thought outside the genre box for our anthology of backlist tales. Our stories cross all the lines: mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, contemporary, horror, you name it. After all, our authors have backlists in multiple genres. Many of our individual authors cross genre lines within their own backlist. I write historical romance, science fiction, YA (fantasy and contemporary humor), and whatever else strikes my fancy.

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This anthology, Tales From the Backlist, is a work of hope by the members of Backlist Ebooks. We want to support our fledgling backlist author platform. And we hope that readers may dare to cross a genre line or two and find a new genre playground or two that satisfies the reading itch. Take a chance and cross the genre line with our short stories. I dare ya.
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Kelly McClymer has one foot in traditional publishing, with her YA series The Salem Witch Tryouts, and one foot in the indie publishing world, with her backlist Once Upon a Wedding historical romance series. To scramble things up further, her Tales from the Backlist story "Diapers, DIshes, and Demons" is a literary fantasy about a woman for whom post-partum depression is a very real -- and annoying -- demon. You can find Kelly at her website http://kellymcclymer.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

 (P.S. Lorraine has a story in Tales from the Backlist, too.  It's my Jeff Resnick story, COLD CASE.)

Speaking of covers . . .

One of the great things about being an indie author is that if something isn't working, you can fix it--or at least play with it.  That goes for your title, your book/story description, and covers, too.

One of my favorite short stories hasn't done all that well.  Okay, so it's kind of a romance, but it's got a lot of heart and for a long time I was disappointed that it didn't sell.  Not for lack of trying.  I submitted the story four times and they asked for three rewrites.  But we just couldn't come to an agreement on certain aspects of the story.  In the long run, I'm rather pleased that I have full control over it.  And although it's not a huge seller like say ... oh, I don't know -- A Crafty Killing and The Walled Flower, in the 18 months it's been available, it has earned me more than I would have gotten at 6 cents a word way  back when.

I changed the cover for the 3rd time last year about this time. I also changed the title for the third time.  So you see, this little story has been around the block a few times, trying to find its way and its audience.

The story has done best as "An Unconditional Love."  I liked the image, but it wasn't working.  That cover was kind of done by committee.  I asked for ideas on Facebook and a bunch of readers weighed in. But it was my Cozy Chick sister Heather Webber (also known as Heather Blake) who found the image that was perfect for the story.

DESCRIPTION:  A one-night stand changes Leslie Turner's life forever when she discovers she's pregnant. Keeping the child means losing her business. Even more devastating, the baby is born with a disfiguring birth defect. Her carefully planned life falls apart . . . until years later when she once again meets her baby's father. Can they ever be a family?

Here's a short review by  Dru Ann Love of Dru's Book Musings:  "What happens when your friend's widowed husband comes into your bar and drowns out his sorrow? You drive him home and that one night of unexpected passion changes the course of your life. This was a heartwarming and tender story of one woman's journey of love and forgiveness."

Will this variation of the old cover work?  Who knows.  But it's kind of fun to try.  I might be doing more of it in the near future, too.

So, which cover do you like best?

Happy Book Day To Me!

Throw the confetti high, because the second Victoria Square Mystery is officially released today!

And just where can you get the book?  Why, click any of the links below.

Amazon ~ Kindle

Barnes & Noble ~ Nook

Books A Million

Indigo

The Book Depository

Independent (US) Bookstores

iTunes

 

 

I'm REALLY proud of this book.  If you intend to buy it, please do so this week.  If it hits the NYTimes bestsellers list, there's a chance Lorna's readers might find out we're one and the same author.  (And maybe one day the publisher will make my name large enough to be seen without a magnifying glass. <g>)

In any case, thank you all, my wonderful readers, for your letters, support, and most of all for reading my books.  You're the best!

Like Greyhounds out of the gate . . .

Hey, it's the first Tuesday of the month -- ya know what that means?

New books from my publisher, and darned if four of my friends don't have new releases this month!  The first two are from my Cozy Chicks blog sisters:

Plan Bee by Hannah Reed (aka Deb Baker)
Moraine, Wisconsin's annual Harmony Festival is anything but harmonious for Story Fischer, as a dead body makes an uninvited appearance in the parade-and the person who may be responsible for putting it there starts dating Story's mother...

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

It Takes a Witch by Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber)
Darcy Merriweather has just discovered she hails from a long line of Wishcrafters-witches with the power to cast spells by making a wish. She's come to Enchanted Village to learn her trade but finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation...

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

 

Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy
White House chef Olivia Paras and her arch nemesis, White House Sensitivity Director Peter Everett Sargeant, must work together to solve the double murder of one of the First Lady's assistants and the Chief of Staff-before they become the next victims of a merciless assassin with a secret agenda.

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette
Hayley Snow's life always revolved around food. But when she applies to be a food critic for a Key West style magazine, she discovers that her new boss would be Kristen Faulkner-the woman Hayley caught in bed with her boyfriend! Hayley thinks things are as bad as they can get-until the police pull her in as a suspect in Kristen's murder. Kristen was killed by a poisoned key lime pie. Now Hayley must find out who used meringue to murder before she takes all the blame.


Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

Give them a try -- you won't be sorry!

Backlist eBooks 99 cent sale

Have you heard about Backlist eBooks?  It's a website, it's a group of authors who've been traditionally published *in may different genres) and now have self-published their backlists (originally published by Big (and some small) New York publishing houses).  And they're having a sale!

To celebrate the holidays, many of the authors at Backlist eBooks are offering one or more of their books for 99 cents.  I'm one of them!  For a limited time, I'm offering the first Jeff Resnick book (Murder On The Mind) for just 99¢ on both Kindle and Nook.

I'm also offering my cookbook, Recipes To Die For, for the same 99¢ price.

(Some other e retailers will be offering the books for the same price ... but not for long.)

The sale continues today through January 8th, then we're back to the full price on our books.

Why are we doing this?

A lot of Kindles and Nooks will be opened on Christmas Day, or during the 8 days of Hanukkah.  We're talking MILLIONS of e readers.  We hope that many of these Kindle recipients will give our books a try.  And for readers who already have e readers -- what a great way to nab lots of great books by proven authors?

You can access the sale page at the Backlist eBooks website.  You can view each author's offerings, or view by genre.  But please do have a look.  You might find a lot of new-to-you authors and a lot of great books.

Happy Reading!

 

Christmas Stories!

Did I mention that my editor asked me why I don't write a "winter" Booktown Mystery?  Because I don't live in New Hampshire.  I can't knowledgeably write about winter in a state where I've I've never been during that season.  I mean, I could fake it, but from what I hear, southern NH doesn't get half the snow we get here in Western New York.  (And Tricia doesn't live near the mountains, so she isn't going skiing any time soon.)

Okay, so I'm writing about ALMOST winter in New Hampshire by setting the 7th book in November.  Of course, they probably will schedule it for summer.  My friend Ellery Adams is lamenting the fact that her latest book, THE LAST WORD (which is wonderful, by the way), set at the beach (hence, a beach read), has just come out in December.  Go figure!  What were the schedulers thinking? 

But I HAVE written two SHORT STORIES (and let me be clear that they are SHORT STORIES, NOT NOVELS -- because some readers have given me terrible Amazon reviews because they DIDN'T READ THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION and were disappointed that they got a SHORT STORY instead of a novel.  Again I repeat, Go Figure!) that are set at Christmastime.

We're So Sorry Uncle Albert is about a family that finds their stingy Uncle Albert, who's been mooching off of the family for years, is actually quite wealthy.  Naturally the family isn't all that happy and decide that Uncle Albert has overstayed his worldly welcome.  And they plot to get rid of him.  It's a jolly holiday all right!  It's only available as an e book.  You can find it at these links.

Bah! Humbug is a different kettle of fish.  It's a Jeff Resnick short that immediately follows the novel CHEATED BY DEATH (as in the very next day).  Jeff and Maggie have Christmas dinner with her family, but Jeff isn't all that welcome at the dinner table, and even Maggie is puzzled as to why.  If readers go on to the 4th book in the series (and I sure as heck hope they do), this story sets up one of the subplots.  You can find it at these links.

Okay, and now for a question.  Do you think readers would rather buy ALL my short stories in one ebook collection, even the romancy ones, or wait until I have more mystery oriented short stories and then do an anthology?  (And that could take a while because I don't crank out short stories very quickly.  When The Spirit Moves You, my latest (Jeff Resnick) short story,  took me over a year to write.)  I'd be very interested to know what you think.

And if you do buy/read the above-listed stories, and like them, I hope you'll think about writing a review.  I'd sure like to see the stories judged for what they ARE and NOT what they AREN'T.

Thanks!

Check out this new anthology!

I've mentioned before that I'm a member of Backlist eBooks.  It's a group of traditionally published authors who've congregated to publish their "backlist" of books (book that were published by big or small publishers and the rights have reverted to the authors) as well as new short stories and/or novels. The genres are many -- and there's a drop-down menu on the left hand side of the website that will let you explore their members' offerings by author name and links to look by genre.  (Cozy Mystery readers will find authors they know:  Julie Hyzy, J.B. Stanley, Deb Baker, Tim Myers, etc.)

The world of Indie Publishing is kind of like the wild west in the 1800s.  Just about anybody who's got a computer can publish a book these days and charge what they want.  The authors of Backlist eBooks are proven writers, many of them award-winning and/or New York Times and USA Today bestsellers.  They've paid their dues, and they know how to tell a ripping good story--and almost always for a lot less than NY publishers are offering.

(Of course, the BEST way to see if you would like ANY e book, no matter what the price it so TRY THE FREE SAMPLE that just about ALL ebook sellers offer.  That way you will know before you buy if you like the author and then won't feel compelled to return the book if you don't like it.)

And now Backlist eBooks has published an anthology of 19 of its members to give readers a chance to test ride authors and genres that might be new to them.

Tales From The Backlist is now available at the introductory price of 99¢.

Such a deal!

And guess what?  One of my stories is in there, too.  It's Cold Case, the Jeff Resnick short story that inspired the 4th book in the series, Bound By Suggestion.  Normally Cold Case is sold for 99¢ -- but if you buy Tales From The Backlist, you get it AND another 18 stories for the very same price.

Such a deal, indeed!

This link will take you to the Backlist Ebooks site where you can buy Tales From The Backlist from the various ebooksellers that carry it.  But this offer will only be good through December and then the book goes back to it's normal price of $3.99.

I hope you'll give Tales From The Backlist a try. 

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P.S.  If you don't have an e reader, you can download the book to your computer, smart phone, blackberry, tablet, etc.

And the winners are . . .

The Jeff Resnick "win a shot glass" contest is now over.  And the winners are:

Kris Bullock
Julie Daubert
Peggy Lee
Nancy Roessner

Two other readers left reviews on Amazon, but did not contact me with their mailing information. 

Thanks for the wonderful reviews.  Your prizes will be in the mail today!

 

Black Friday ...

It's black Friday -- a day when commerce expects you to rush out and spend money.

I don't know about you, but I gave up the Black Friday rush years ago.  In fact, I only did it one time and ended up spending more time waiting in check-out lines than actually shopping.  : (

Then I worked in retail for 12 years.  I found that more exciting than shopping.  Of course, I was working for myself then.  As a vendor at a crafts and antiques arcade (not unlike that found in my Victoria Square Mysteries), it was a thrill to see items from my own booth come through the checkout lines.  The holiday season was the only time of year it was worth being in business, making the other 48 weeks of the the year a time to sweat to see if I'd made my rent.

Although I'm no longer involved in retail, I do have products to sell.  My books.  And since it's the holiday season, I'm going to offer my readers a chance to try a couple of my books for only 99¢.  You can find them at Smashwords in any e reader format (and they're DRM free).  Just click the links below:

Recipes to Die For: A Victoria Square Cookbook
(a $2 savings)

Murder On The Mind (Jeff Resnick Mystery #1)
(a $3 savings)

Are you lamenting the fact you don't have an e reader?  No worries, you can download the books to your computer and read it there or move it to your smart phone, iPad, or other electronic device.

If you like them, I hope you'll consider reviewing them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, Chapters ... etc.

Happy shopping!

 

Have a Shot with Jeff

Do you collect shot glasses?  Do you use shot glasses?  Well, it just so happens I've got a bunch of Jeff Resnick Mysteries shot glasses.  (After all, he is a bartender.)

How can you get one?  All you have to do is post a review of my latest Jeff Resnick short story WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES YOU on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, or Goodreads. 

But wait, there's more!

For everyone who writes a review, I'll also toss in a goody bag filled with bookmarks, postcards, and/or buttons of some of your favorite cozy mystery authors.  (More than 25 pieces in each goody bag!)

How can you miss?

Where can you find the story?

Kindle ~ Nook ~ Smashwords

Uh-oh ... you don't have an e reader?  No problem.  You can download a PDF version of the story from Smashwords and read it on your computer, your iPad, and just about any other such electronic device.  It's easy!

And did I mention this novelette (over 12,000 words) is only 99¢?

If you'd like a shot at the shot glass ... just email me and tell me where to find your review.  (Remember to close up the spaces.)  LLB @ LLBartlett.com

Hurry -- this offer is only good until November 29.

And It's A REAL book!

The other day, I got my proof copy of RECIPES TO DIE FOR: A Victoria Square Cookbook.  My first reaction was:  Gosh, it's cute!  First of all, the cover pops right out at you.  I love the logo my cover designer made--which sort of reminds me of the covers on the Booktown Mysteries.  But I also love the noose hanging from my name, too.

Although it's a paperback, it's not a mass-market paperback (the size of the novels--this one is bigger...trade size).  One of the complaints I get about the paperbacks is that the type size is too small.  Fear not, this is readable.

But what makes this cookbook special?  (And believe me it is NOT a mystery.  It's a companion piece to the Victoria Square Mystery series.)  The book starts out by introducing quite a few of the characters from the series and giving the reader information that isn't included in the books.  Katie's introduction tells how she came to live with her beloved great aunt Lizzie, and her love of baking.  But you'll find out (hopefully) interesting facts about people like Luther Collier, who owns the local funeral parlor, and vendors Liz and Gwen, who have a much greater presence in the third book than the first two.  But Ida Mitchell, the tag room manager, contributes a couple of her favorite recipes, too.

And the print book differs from the e book because it has graphics.  (I wonder if you can guess what recipe this graphic represents?)

I had a lot of decisions to make about the pricing of the book.  One thing I wanted to do was keep the cost down.  Hey, these are tough times, but the distribution options weren't as attractive as I would have hoped.  In order to make the book available to many retail organizations, the MINIMUM I had to charge was $6.99.  (I may yet have to charge that, but for the now the book costs $5.99.)  Even then, I would make only 17 cents per copy sold.  Therefore, I've chosen to only make it available from My e Store (via the publisher) and on Amazon.  I know--a lot of people don't like Amazon, but selling it on the Barnes & Noble site means I'd only make that same 17 cents a copy, and let's face it ... the author should make more than 17 cents a copy on a book sold.

The book went live just last night My E Store, where it can now be ordered (and where I'll get the highest royalty).  By next week it should show up on Amazon.  I'll let you know when that happens.  But for now, if you'd like to order a print copy of the book, you can find it here.

It's also available as an e book from:  Kindle ~ Nook ~ Smashwords (which has can be downloaded for all e formats).

I hope you'll give Recipes To Die For a chance!

 

E books just got better

One of the complaints I've heard about e books is that authors can't sign them for readers.

Well, forget that one, because someone has figured out a way to do it.  (It was only a matter of time.)

Like a bunch of my author pals (Deb Baker, Doranna Durgin, Tonya Thomas, Becky Barker, Michele Hauf, and more), I've registered at Kindlegraph and with all three of my names:  Lorraine Bartlett, Lorna Barrett and L.L. Bartlett.

What's Kindlegraph?  A website where readers can request an electronic (pseudo) autograph from their favorite authors. (Well, the one's who've registered, anyway.)  It's quick, it's easy, and it's free!

Can an author REALLY autograph an ebook? 

Well, not exactly.  Instead, the author can personalize a message to a reader.  What you get is a PDF file with a copy of the book's cover and a message from the author.  (Remember to include your name in your request if you want the autograph"personalized".)  You can then attach the file to the e copy of the book.  And although the name of the site has Kindle in it, these PDF files can be attached to the files for e books on just about every other e platform. (Think Nook, Sony E Reader, Kobo, etc.)

So, what do you think of this latest e innovation?

Bound By Suggestion now available as e book

I've waited a long time to be able to announce that Bound By Suggestion is now available as an e book.

Look at that cover.  Isn't it brilliant?  It was done by my friend Pat of Pat Ryan Graphics. 

Here's a brief description:

In exchange for helping her unlock the emotions of a disturbed young woman, psychiatrist Dr. Krista Marsh promises to cure Jeff Resnick's recurring headaches via hypnotism. Things start out rocky and quickly get worse when both the young girl and the doctor begin to manipulate Jeff. Soon he's experiencing the young woman's emotions and can't tell where hers leave off and his begin, and Krista has other reasons for ingratiating herself into Jeff's life. Meanwhile, Jeff's brother Richard is vying for a chairman seat on the hospital's fundraising board. Two seemingly unrelated events that suddenly converge with deadly results.

It's currently available for $2.99 from:

Kindle

Nook

Smashwords.

(It'll be available for Sony E Reader, Kobo, Diesel and iPad, etc. in the coming weeks.)

The trade paperback edition will be available in about a month.  I'll let you know when that happens.

So ... what do you think?

 

This for that

I love to bake, but I don't like the calories.  So when I bake, I often substitute the oil in a recipe with unsweetened applesauce.  (And just WHY would anyone WANT to sweeten applesauce?  It's already sweet!!!)

For Thanksgiving, I baked a very rich carrot cake.  Because it was the first time I used that recipe, I decided to make it as directed--with a full cup of oil.  It was pretty darn good.  For Christmas, I made the same cake, only this time I substituted the oil with applesauce.

How did it turn out?

Pretty good.  A bit moister, but other than that it was still a very good cake.

I noticed that my local grocery store is now selling a prune mixture, which can be used as a substitute for oil, and I'm going to buy some and try that in a recipe some time soon.  (While I contemplate going on a diet and putting all baking on hold for some time.)

What ingredient have you substituted in a recipe?

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REMINDER:  Friday is the deadline for the Access Romance Holiday Scavenger Hunt (grand prize is a Kindle) and the Backlist Ebooks 25% off Smashwords E book sale.

And The Cover Saga Continues . . . .

According to the survey I took last month, you guys actually LIKE to hear me talk about the business of publishing.  So today, I'll hark once again on the cover saga.  (And if you're impatient for the end, just scroll down to the bottom of the post.)

As you know, my first novel (under the name L.L. Bartlett) tanked pretty quick.  It got moved up by four months and none of the work that needed to be done for it to be successful was done on time (like sending it out to get reviewed by the big four reviewers).  Boy did I learn never to rejoice when offered the chance to have a book publisher earlier than originally scheduled.  The cover was HORRIBLE.  I can say that, I suggested they do a phrenology head.  But I never asked for FOUR of them!!  My agent at the time said it was horrible.  "It will not sell books!"  Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The original print run was 500 copies.  I worked my tail off (and spent five times my advance) to try to sell copies to libraries--that's the only place my publisher marketed the books.  And who could blame a reader for not wanting to shell out $26 for an unknown author.  My second print run was for 132 books.  It sold out.

A year later, I sold the mass market paperback rights to Harlequin's Worldwide Mystery Library, which was essentially a book club.  The book got a very nice cover of a cold fireplace, a red leather chair, and an opened book.  The fact that the book did not have a cold fireplace, red leather chair, or such a book didn't seem to deter their marketing department.  They did a beautiful job packaging the book, and it has a very nice print run of 21,000 copies, all of which sold.  Sadly, the readers who purchased the book via the book club were not inclined to go searching for my other work -- like the book's sequel Dead In Red.  Nor did they go to my web site to find out if I wrote other books. 

I don't think the cover turned people off, but it didn't turn them on, either.

Next came the audio edition of the book.  My editor at Books in Motion assured me they'd provide me with a nice cover.  I didn't know they'd do a poor take off of the Harlequin cover.  Guess what.  Despite the fact it's a pretty good audio performance by the narrator (Kevin Foley), the audio edition (which is still available as an MP3 download ($20.29) or in CD form ($28.99), has not sold well.   Wonder why?

Back to that first cover for a minute.  I didn't even get my cover until about two months before the book came out. Uneducated as I was about the publishing business at that time, even I knew that was too late to send out Advance Review Copies.  Luckily, I had made my own.  They needed a cover.  So I suggested to my graphics designer husband that he might want to give it a try.  I asked for (and got) a deer in a target.  I proudly hung the cover up on the wall outside my office  (I still had a day job then), and asked for comments.  Universally the women said:  "I wouldn't read a book that has dead deer in it."  But there ARE NO DEAD DEER in the book I cried.  Nope.  They were turned off.

Fast forward to October 2008 when I decided to put the book up on Kindle.  I needed a cover.  I grabbed the deer.  In two years it sold precisely 381 copies.  (Joe Konrath doesn't have to worry about me surpassing him in sales.) 

It was time to change the cover once again.

I contacted Konrath's cover artist hoping he could help me, but he is very busy and was slow to answer my emails.  So I decided to go with someone else, and boy am I glad I did.  Award-winning romance author Patricia Ryan (who also writes mysteries as P.B. Ryan), had just decided to start doing e covers. She'd done her own and those for a friend, and did them very fine indeed.  The minute she said she was going into business, I contacted her.  (Was that only a week ago?)

So.  What do you think?

It's available on:

Kindle

Nook

Smashwords

iPad

Sony e reader

and more.