Why re-release an OOP book?

First of all, my novel, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND, is now available on Kindle and soon will be on Nook.  Yay!  It's got a cool cover and everything.

It was originally published as LOVE, MEG back in 2007.  It went out of print (OOP in pub-speak) in late 2009 and the rights reverted back to me a few months later when I requested them from the publisher.

So why I am re-releasing it now? And in fact, why would anyone re-release a book that has gone out of print?

Well, for one thing, not many people have seen it.  Clearly!  Or else the book might not have gone out of print in the first place.  Every year, thousands of books are released by the Big Six publishers and thousands more by small and independent presses.  It's just a fact of publishing life that not every author will get a share of the marketing pie.  There are only so many spots on that Barnes & Noble table, after all. I don't believe MEG got the push it needed to get into readers' hands.

Secondly, more people have e-readers than ever before and they are always hungry for new material to read (I know I am!).  Because I am publishing this independently, I have the ability to price the book at a more-than-reasonable 99 cents.  How's that for a deal?  Seriously, I'm not trying to get over on anyone.  I know the book was previously released so I think a buck is a decent price. Anything to get more people reading it.

For a third reason, I never liked the title it came out with.  It was okay but it didn't really convey what the book was about. Way too many people commented that it sounded like a romance (and then they were disappointed it wasn't!) or that it was too generic and bland. I understand that. Which is why I wanted to go back to my original title, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND, in much the same way I reverted to FAT GIRLS IN LA for the VEE novel. The titles are eye-catching and thought-provoking and they make you want to pick them up for a look-see.

And finally...yeah, I like this story.  I like FAT GIRLS too. I want other people to see them and get to know them. I felt bad for my books when they went OOP. They were like my children who got rejected from a good college. I kept thinking, "No, give them a chance! They're hard workers and funny and sweet. They may be smaller than the other kids but they're just as smart."

You never want to see your kids rejected. So now I have the opportunity to send them off to school in my own way.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

No time for random thoughts? Ha! All my thoughts have been random this week!

Actually, the biggest thing on my mind has been the future of publishing, not simply my own publishing, although that's there too, but the big picture as well. So many writers wonder about e-books, about digital publishing, about self-publishing...what will happen to us? Will we continue to publish? Will the internet be the Great Equalizer? Will there be publishing houses with marketing budgets and so on to support us?

Here are some of my random thoughts on the subject:

1. We're looking at the wrong model. Everyone has been pointing to the music industry as an example of what could happen to books and writers: authors posting music for free on YouTube or selling for a buck a song on iTunes and then making money back on t-shirt sales and live appearances. Instead, look to the film industry and screenwriting. Back in the early 80s when computers were hitting the marketplace and there were software programs like Final Draft, everyone thought they could be a screenwriter. Pros were worried the crap would flood the marketplace and overwhelm the good stuff. Well, 20 years later, has it? No. Big movies are still financed in big ways but the rise of the independent filmmaker has meant smaller movies get seen too.

This is what will happen with publishing: the big houses will continue to support the (few) big authors and their books but we will see more indie presses going digital - saves money on printing that they can use to promote books.

2. Agents will be with us for a long time. As with big film studios, big publishing houses will lay off workers, simple as that, as they struggle to streamline. They already have and they will continue to do so. They still will publish and they still need gatekeepers. These are the agents who will continue to sift through the flotsam of manuscripts and proposals to find the gems.

This is what will happen with publishing: houses will declare a no-slush policy across the board and agents will be more important than ever in discovering new talent.

3. Follow the Slamdance model. Sure there are the big film festivals like Cannes and Sundance but all over the world, in small towns and large, there are film events that allow indie filmmakers to present their wares. A small film that might not get noticed at Austin might get some acclaim in Akron. The same is true of books: smaller book fairs can promote smaller books and debut authors who could go on to bigger and better things.

This is what will happen with publishing: more authors will be discovered in smaller towns' festivals and their books can then be promoted on the web, rather than with big marketing plans.

4. Lose the stigma of self-pubbing. When I lived in NYC, I worked on a bunch of films that were independently financed: money from friends and family, shot in a short time with non-union crews. Some of those scripts were utter junk while some were terrific and the directors went on to do bigger things. But no one batted an eye when you said where the money came from. The goal was to make a good movie. This is like self-publishing. Who cares if the book is good, right?

This is what will happen with publishing: the wheat will be separated from the chaff by the public.

Rachel Olivier's new e-novella!

"The Holly and the Ivan" (Drollerie Press) is a delightful holiday story with elements of magic woven into the romance and mystery. Rachel Olivier is a master at using just the right word. Every sentence feels chosen, not merely written. She makes me want to tether myself to a thesaurus!

Holly is a pretty barista cum girl band singer who meets 2 very different men in her coffee shop and invites both to be VIPs at her concert that evening. Mike is blond and cheerful while Ivan is dark and brooding. She feels sparks with both men and wonders how she got so lucky to meet two cute guys in one night. Her friends and bandmates remind her that she hasn't been so lucky in love lately - in a word, her love life is a train wreck!

Mike and Ivan, however, are not who they appear to be, as we soon learn. Ivan is following Mike and trying to save Holly for reasons that are known only to him. Holly, unfortunately, learns the hard way - yowch! First, however, there's a charity performance of Holly's band, Canto Sybilla, where the showdown between the men occurs - where dark meets light and Holly is the casualty. Will she survive to meet either man and if so, will it be her choice?

I love how Rachel Olivier adds touches of fantasy to our everyday, mundane lives: the bottomless pocket that holds the right change for a tip - or a gorgeous silken dress! A magical blessing over a crowd that makes the night more special for everyone there...is that the real reason we have such a great time at rock concerts?

(You mean it's not the contact high?)

I often find fantasy cold and suffering from pretension. Too many characters have weird names. The dialogue is often stiff and faux Olde English, the prose overwrought and overwritten, the plot convoluted. But Rachel's stories are immensely entertaining and readable and I enjoy them as much as I enjoy stories from the best urban fantasy writers like Emma Bull, Melissa Marr and Holly Black (well, those are my favorites!).

For just a couple bucks, you too can delight in Rachel's story. Check out the link here to Drollerie Press and download a copy for yourself. And ignore the "erotica" tag. This story is pure romance.

This was a new experience for me, reading an e-novella. I don't have an e-reader so I had to download the novella to my desktop as a pdf file. Fortunately, my computer is a tiny notebook so it was quite comfortable to read while laying down. The graphic design was beautiful, the font easy-to-read and unlike a real book, it was simple to make the typeface larger or brighter as the sun faded and I had less light to read by.

Digital vs. Paper

I gotta say, one of the absolute coolest things about being a writer is getting letters from readers. I mean, actual letters: thoughts jotted down on paper and sent out in an envelope with a stamp through the US Postal Service and delivered to my door (or my publisher's door).

Don't get me wrong, I love emails too. I completely dig seeing a letter from a reader in my inbox, one that says "Hi C. Leigh, I love your book..." But a letter on a piece of paper just seems so real. The writer went to such trouble to get it to me! So naturally, I respond in kind - and that too seems so real to me.

I mention this because of the ongoing debate about e-books and traditionally-printed ones. A book on paper, like that fan letter, just feels authentic. I understand e-books are the wave of the future but I hope the future doesn't come too soon.