Good News & Stuff

Good News! Word is definitely getting out about Hunter's Moon. Not only are we ranked really well in the Early Adopter list, and on Barnes & Noble.com, but we're now starting to be listed on secondary sites -- sites that are served by Ingrams. Since Ingrams is one of the major distributors this is a REALLY BIG deal. Besides, it's just COOL to see our book appearing places like WalMart.com and Target.com.

We've joined a couple of Yahoo boards/sites. Very interesting. Very cool people. The battle between E and Print publishing still rages on, but a seemingly growing number of people believe in BOTH -- that each has their own merits. Nice, since that's my take. Print publishers have high enough overheads that they have to look at the "business" side, and can't necessarily take chances on things that are too far out of the mainstream. E-books, with the low overhead, can take those kinds of chances. They can BE more edgy and avant garde. As far as all of the prejudice between the two venues regarding the types of contracts and freedoms... well, all I can say is READ THE CONTRACT. If you can't live with the terms, DON'T SIGN IT. I've heard nightmare stories regarding both print and e contracts.

One of the interesting things I'm learning from the "boards" is that I'm far more middle of the road/mainstream/conservative than I would've thought and that's not a bad thing. I know that a lot of what we write is less romancy, more action and generally "dark" sometimes than a lot of what's out there, but it's not anywhere in the neighborhood of some of the e published stuff I'm hearing of.

I'm really proud of our work. When I look at how much we've improved in the last two or three years I'm just amazed. Working with such good editors has made a huge difference. I'm hoping we'll KEEP making those kinds of strides forward. I think we can if we work at it. Cathy and I have both had serious discussions about our commitment to quality, and to making sure that the characters are true to their natures; that we have a variety of characters witih different personalities, attitudes, education, etc.; and that we don't just throw sex in to pander, but that if it's there it's because it "fits." I'm more conservative about that than Cathy is, but we work it out on each book. I think the books are stronger for it.

Wow, this is turning into a really long post. I'd better shut down before I bore everybody to tears. Have a great day!

Cie