Saturday, July 25, 2015

Reverted titles, too

I, too, have a book or two that has come back to me, and like Janet, I'm not quite sure where to go with it. I did re-do 3 books already with the titles I wanted and covers I wanted. And I did one more for the same reason (it had a cover I absolutely hated).

But this last book is one I'm not sure what to do with. So I may just wait and get Janet's report when she comes back and see what she has to say. I'm not going to RWA, so I hope she'll provide a full report!

Friday, July 17, 2015

Reverting titles and heading to a convention

For the past several months I've been cleaning up my contracts with one of my oldest publishers. My books had a good run there and the contracts have expired so over time I've emailed them asking for my rights back, pointing out that either the contract duration had expired (most were for seven years) or that they no longer met the minimum number of copies sold to be considered "in print". In the ebook world it is very important that a contract have clauses in it so that the book can be reverted. Life of copyright contracts don't make any sense for an author to sign given how fluid the publishing world has become. You never know what the next big push will bring.

So I now have most of my books back and need to decide what to do about them. There are so many possibilities. I can do final edits, find a cover, and upload to Amazon, Smashwords, and the other ebook distributers' and that's what I have done for some titles with moderate success.

But more recently I've simply sat on the titles, thinking that perhaps it would be better to come up with a real publishing plan rather than continue to roll books out without one.

And so next week I'll head for the RWA national conference, where I'll sit in many seminars about the topic "what to do with reverted titles". Even a short review of the schedule shows many relevant seminars for me to attend and I'll be making a list of the ones I feel will be most interesting.

Hey I might even talk to a traditional publisher about my work. Not expecting much there but it could happen. That's the point of going to a conference, to find out just what is going on in the publishing world. Accompanied by 2000 of the people most like me in the world, it should at least be exciting.

Cheers,
Janet Miller/Cricket Starr/JL Miller


Monday, July 13, 2015

Suspense! Cover Reveal of FEAR LAND by Rolynn Anderson

"I see fear in a handful of dust."
So said T.S. Eliot, renowned poet, who, as it happens is a 'high-reactive,' a human beset with anxiety. How he became a profit-making, revered writer is another story.  His sentiments about fear lead into my novel, FEAR LAND, a suspense story about many strains of anxiety.

I'm giving you a sneak peak at my cover and blurb and can't wait to tell you when the novel will see the light of day.  As you can imagine, a novel about anxiety...those who have it and those who treat it...is challenging enough.  Add suspense and a truckload of villains and we've got major fun...and stress.

Here's the cover and here's the blurb about FEAR LAND.  I'll let you know when you can buy the book on Kindle and CreatesSpace.

Tally hates to hear rants from people’s brains.  What does she do when those mind-screams threaten the man she loves?
****
Tally Rosella, an acclaimed psychiatrist who helps children fraught with anxiety, avoids adults because their brains rant at her.  But the chance to start a second child study and connect her findings to PTSD, sets her squarely among devious colleagues at a big California university.

Army Major Cole Messer, Tally’s new neighbor, won’t admit that trauma from combat tours in Afghanistan, destroyed his marriage and hampered his ability to lead.  As a teacher of college ROTC and single parent, he’s focused on enrolling his highly anxious son in Tally’s study and getting back to active duty.


Someone is dead set against Tally’s presence at the university, and blowback from her battles with co-workers put Cole and his son in jeopardy.  Watch what happens when people struggling with shades of anxiety collide with corrupt, revengeful foes.