Category: Moon Promise

April 22, 2019 Books, Moon Promise Post a Comment

RONE Awards and Independent Publishers

Once again, the RONE Award nominations have gone out, and I’m proud to announce that Moon Promise is a nominee in the Paranormal Romance category. It was reviewed by the magazine last year and was given 4.5 stars (out of 5). The awards will have now moved into the second stage (the public vote), and, as I did before with Bound, I would ask you NOT to vote for my book.

There are many great books in the running that do deserve your attention, though. To vote, you need to register or be registered with InD’tale magazine (which takes but a minute). This is to make sure you vote only the once.

If you don’t know what the RONE is, here’s how the process works, taken from InD’tale’s website:

“Each year InD’tale Magazine honors the very best books in the Indie and Small publishing industry by awarding the prestigious RONE award. To achieve this award, a book must go through the most comprehensive process in the industry today, with three distinct areas of focus.

1. All books in each given year (January 1st – December 31st) must have been read and reviewed by our professional staff of reviewers and be given a 4.5 star rating or higher to qualify as a nominee. […]

2. All nominees must then be voted on by the reading public. The books with the highest number of public votes will progress on to become finalists. […]

3. The finalists will then be read by a group of industry professionals consisting of editors, writers, professors etc. […]”

InD’tale is one of my favorite magazines. It introduces writers, features stories, and offers a comprehensive section dedicated to reviews from different genres. The reviews are honest and well written, with a good balance between synopsis and opinion.

Let’s get honest for a second about publishing. If you enjoy Paranormal Romance or Urban Fantasy (or Cozy Mystery or Scottish Highland Romance…) and are a voracious reader, you will be reading books that have been independently published or published via a small publisher. Big-name companies like Penguin, Tor, or Random House simply do not publish the volume of books to meet demand in those genres.

In addition, they’re looking for the big new thing (BNT) in publishing. And even though this BNT may take off and sell tens of thousands of copies, most of us genre readers are looking for new, original takes on the same tropes to feed our habit.

Those two things are not the same.

Take me. I’m addicted to strong female heroes with a bit of sass that get the job done, and stories set in the real world but suffused with paranormal elements. Put an original twist on it, and you’ve found a faithful reader in me.

Finding that combination among new releases from the big publishers isn’t easy. They exist (look at Darynda Jones, Patricia Briggs, Kim Harrison, Ilona Andrews etc.), but simply not in the volume I need. To sate my appetite, I must turn to alternative publishing (which, for the sake of brevity, will here include both independent publishing and small publishers). This is where I’ll find great stories and memorable characters—tailor-made for me.

If you’re thinking the quality will be awful, then you’re about twenty years behind the times.

I know from personal experience (of publishing on different levels) that the more control an author has over their books (independent vs. small publisher; or small publisher vs. big publisher), the more rigorous the editing. Hey, our books are our babies! The result may not be perfect, but that’s down to human error rather than a lack of effort or care. In addition, authors who receive an advance from a large publishing house must deliver books by a certain date. In alternative publishing, you deliver when the book is ready, and not a day before.

Alternative publishing is under pressure from oversaturation of the market (great for readers, bad for new authors), from retail giants like Amazon (although Amazon is our most important sales platform, too), from large publishers (they can’t make mass fiction work on their business model but consider alternative publishing the competition), from reader ennui (if you read 100+ books a year, it is time-consuming to provide reviews for them all, so you don’t post any), from lack of opportunity (getting books into libraries or shops is almost impossible), and so on.

This is why InD’tale magazine is so important. It does not only feature authors from all levels of publishing but also celebrates great books based on merit rather than publisher. It offers reviews for stories I truly wish to read, giving alternative publishing a legitimate seal of approval. And their RONE award is (IMO) one of the most important awards for genre fiction, which is why I urge you to vote—just not for my book.

Thank you.

February 5, 2019 Audiobook, Moon Promise, Urban Fantasy Post a Comment

The Joy of Audiobooks

With the release of my latest audiobook, it’s time go back and look at when my love for audiobooks began.

When I was a kid and my mother had no time to read me bed-time stories, I was allowed to listen to one side of a vinyl record or tape of stories for kids. In the beginning, those stories were fairy tales or cutesy little anecdotes. Then I moved on to series, including one about a talking elephant Benjamin and his best friend Otto, or another about a young witch called Bibi. In my early teens, I switched genre. “The Three Investigators,” for example, offered crime and excitement in every episode.

Today, I listen to all sorts of books at any time of the day. While doing my chores, while driving, in bed, or even simply to relax. Watching TV is fine, but audiobooks are still books with all the joy they bring. Vivid descriptions, cracking dialogue, nail-biting action… If I fall asleep while listening, that’s fine, too. I pick up the thread the next day at the last bit I remember. Luckily, we no longer use tapes, which used to involve a lot of rewinding and fast-forwarding to find the right spot. Digital audiofiles require nothing more than a swipe.

Anyway, once I started writing and publishing my own books, I naturally wanted them to be available in audiobook format.

Producing audiobooks involves narration and production costs. It can take a narrator several hours to create one hour of finished product. That explains why audiobooks are more expensive than eBooks, but I think they’re worth the purchase price. The first time I listened to Guarded, I was amazed to see my characters take on shape in my mind in a way they hadn’t when I wrote the book. Next up was Bound, narrated by Brian Callanan, a broadcaster and multiple Emmy-award winner, who had me hanging on his every word right to the end.

Now, in Moon Promise, Phoenix McKay brought all her experience as a theater actor to bear, creating an outstanding narrative I’ve already listened to twice (!). You’d think that after writing and editing a book and then approving the audio file I’d have had my fill of it, but each listen brings new twists. Through her magic, a line my character said with understated wit becomes a line that makes me chuckle. A suggestive tone adds an unexpected dimension to dialogue that had held no special significance when it was first conceived.

If you aren’t a convert yet, let me assure you that buying audiobooks is as straight-forward as buying digital books or music. One of the easiest ways is via iTunes, in the same way you’d buy an album. Another is via Amazon or Audible (Audible being part of Amazon). You can listen to it straight away on your computer or via the Audible app on your phone or tablet (your purchased book will download onto your device in the same way a book would). It really isn’t complicated.

Audible have this amazing subscription-based plan where you pay a regular monthly fee (less than $15/£8 a month) for one credit, which you can exchange for any audiobook you like, no matter the original price. Better yet, you get Moon Promise absolutely free, simply by using this link if you live in the US or this link if you’re located in the UK (click here for France and here for Germany). Better yet, if you try it and later decide audiobooks aren’t for you, you can cancel your subscription and get on with your life—but I bet you’ll be hooked.

My most recent purchases are Becoming by Michelle Obama, Blood Noir by Anita Blake, Waking Up Dead by Margo Bond Collins, and The Feynman Lectures: Masers and Light. The last three I’d already owned and read in print/as eBooks, but as I said, listening to a story is different. It’s nostalgic, warming, personal, and just a little indulgent.

PS: If you’re already subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll get an awesome chance to win a free copy of Moon Promise to celebrate my new release.