Good news came this morning from All Romance Books. My fourth traditional Regency, The Devil's Delilah, is a bestseller.
And here's the icon to prove it!
Complaint Department
Along with sending those delicious emails telling me you love my books—no, I never get tired of them, so please go on writing as the spirit moves you—some of you have approached the Complaints Window. Here are the main ones:
- How come I still can’t get your recent books on Amazon UK?
- What’s up with all the errors on the Regency eBooks?
- Why can’t I find the eBook in the digital version I need, i.e., not Kindle or Nook?
- OK, eBooks are fine for some people, but when are you going to make those earlier books available in print?
- How much longer must I wait for the audio edition?
The majority of readers phrase their requests/unhappiness more courteously and tactfully than this. I boiled it down to essentials to keep this short and to the point.
The main answer is that all these issues are being addressed. Following are the details, as I have them.
We’re not sure why there’s so much difficulty with Amazon UK, and we’re looking into it. The first three Carsington books should be available now, and the others very soon.
We’ve seen differences in quality, depending on the type of digital reader. Meanwhile, though, the team is proofreading like crazy and promises to get everything fixed ASAP.
At this point, all books that have been digitized ought to be available in all formats.
Note that Amazon & others allow readers to download the books to read on their computers or other devices without requiring the retailer's device.
We are in the process of ironing out details for Print-On-Demand editions of the eBooks.
I’m not sure what’s going on with audio books. I know discussions have been ongoing, but I don’t have a progress report yet.
I apologize for things taking so long. The trouble is, every version of my books involves some kind of contract negotiations. Sometimes these don’t work out and we have to start from scratch. At other times, it’s a long back-and-forth. And then there’s the matter of implementing whatever technology it is, and getting everything set up with retailers (like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.) My agency has been working hard on these matters—and there are a lot of things to work on! If only we could wave a magic wand or something. But hey, if I had one of those, I’d write way faster.
Illustrations courtesy Ancestry Images.
Climes are different
I live in Central Massachusetts most of the time. We're in some kind of magnetic field for snow, which means that when Boston gets an inch (and gets mightily peeved about it), we get four feet. It's not a lake effect thing. I believe the area's under an ancient weather curse. Thus, in addition to the arctic temps and charcoal-colored skies, we're buried under great mounds of dirty snow. The main wildlife is mice trying to move into the house where it's marginally warmer.
As you might expect, we don't get a lot of wading birds in my neck of the woods. Or palm trees. So these things are terrifically exciting to me. It's February! There are palm trees, some of them growing coconuts. A pelican stands so close I could touch him or her. A heron loiters in my back yard! Little lizards lurk under the doorstep and try to scurry into the kitchen when I'm not looking. They seem not to realize that people live inside—people, those giant Godzilla things they normally run away from at the speed of light.
For all those fortunate people who normally spend their winters in a warm climate, this is no big deal, I daresay. For me, it's like moving to another planet. A kinder, gentler planet.
And then I get to go back to New England before the giant insects come out.