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Thursday, July 22, 2010

It's a Cruel Summer--I'm back to Working 17-Hour Days Again

It’s been a busy summer. I haven’t been online much and everything from the website to social networking sites could use a little TLC. Hopefully, when my darling children return to school, I can catch up with a little virtual living and send Patty the new updates for the websites.

I’ve had a slew of emails regarding the upcoming Siren Publishing title Winning Virgin Devotion, Book Five in the Winning Virgin series. It’s exciting to hear how many of you are anticipating the next installment of the Winning Virgin series. Right now, there isn’t a firm release date. As soon as I have some information for you, I’ll post more details right here.

Speaking of new submissions and upcoming releases, Breakfast by the Sea has been submitted for consideration. Once there’s news to share, I’ll let you know. I’m anxious to post a book blurb for this novel but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Watch the blog and social networking sites for more information.

Other news to share: I’m thrilled to be one of Passion in Print’s debut authors. Passion in Print is set to release Waking up the Arguably Dead later this summer and I think the book is well suited for their line-up and hope you will too. A dark paranormal, Waking up the Arguably Dead has a lot of humor as well as dark elements with plenty of spice. By the way, if you haven’t checked out Passion in Print, run over and take a look: www.passioninprint.com.Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Aspen Mountain Press will release more of my books later this year. I’m very excited about the relationship I’ve formed with my editor and publisher at Aspen Mountain Press. I can’t say enough terrific things about the AMP crew.

Great things are happening at AMP and combined sales for Domination Plantation have long since exceeded the national average. If you’re out there in the World Wide Web today wondering where to submit your manuscript, I have a track record with AMP and it’s a mighty good one. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this publisher. Take a look at what they’re looking for by going to www.aspenmountainpress.com. You’ll be glad you did.

Moving on: A few of you have written in regards to the reader’s group at Yahoo. After proposed and promised manuscripts are submitted, we’ll get things kicking there again. I’ve been extremely busy with family matters and trying to catch up on writing. Until something changes, promo and chats must take a back seat. Authors, you are welcome to promote your books and readers, you can chat there anytime you like. However, I just haven’t had the opportunity to join in and participate like I’d hoped. For those of you interested in stopping by, feel free to visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/destinyblaine_romance/ whenever you can.

Let’s see, what else? Fourteen manuscripts have been promised or proposed under several different pseudonyms. My goal is to finish those by the end of the year and that will be a huge stretch. Half of these are full length novels and the other half are short stories or novellas so free time is pretty much a thing of the past.

Lots of you have asked about sequels! Domination Plantation and A Matter Among Four stayed in the best selling erotica category at Amazon for many, many months. I’m happy to say similar works are planned. A sequel for Domination Plantation will be sent off to Aspen Mountain Press next month and I’m working on another Lewisburg, Tennessee story to follow A Matter Among Four. The third installment will be sent to Siren Publishing this fall.

I love passing along links I find. For those of you with a keen eye on Amazon and the eBook industry, take a look at this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/technology/20kindle.html?emc=eta1. Ebooks are outselling hardcover books. Are any of us surprised? I’m not. This, to me, is a reflection on all of us out there promoting e-books as well as our trade paperback and mass market titles. E-book authors are selling well because most of us are promoting well. It’s great to see the numbers supporting what all of us suspected anyway. Make sure you visit the link above!

Funny thing happened to me not long ago. Actually, I’ve had very similar scenarios throughout my career but I thought I’d share this story. Many e-book authors will probably enjoy this.

One of my son’s friends recently asked me if I was a ‘real author’. He said that his mom had told him that my books weren’t on the shelves in the bookstores so I wasn’t a real author but an e-book author. She also told him I self-published my books which is why I was an e-book author. None of this made sense to me but whatever. I don’t try to understand folks anymore. However, I did grasp something from the experience—most people don’t have a clue about the book business unless they’re working in the industry.

In any event, this kid gave me a little food for thought. First of all, let me just say, I don’t self-publish BUT I WOULD. I know how and I believe I could do it well. I choose not to. I’m not organized enough. I don’t have time. I don’t want to. But I could.

Secondly, my books are in the bookstores. My real estate titles are sold at places like Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and even The University of California Berkeley Book Store (http://tinyurl.com/2ccezae).

And finally, it would not hurt my feelings if all my books stayed in e-book/digital format.

You might ask why. It’s simple—the money. It’s a known fact that right now, e-book authors are paid more per copy on their e-books than they are on their print books. Best of all, e-books are on the rise and Amazon’s numbers prove it. I’m thrilled to be part of such a wildly successful book movement.

So back to my son’s friend. Am I a 'real' author? Hell no. I live in a fantasy world. I don’t have to be a real author. What is a 'real' author anyway? I don’t have a real ego to inflate by calling myself a 'real' author, but let me tell ya what’s nice. The real checks I’m paid for all those books out there with my name on them, regardless of the format. Hmm… Yes, I like those. I like them well enough to call myself a working author. And that's good enough for me.




Until next time, much love!

Destiny Blaine

1 comment:

Savanna Kougar said...

Destiny, 'working' isn't the word. I'm not certain 'hard working' is even the word.

It simply amazes me how productive, as well as fantastic, of course... you are as an author... real, not real... whatever.

Me, I prefer to stay on the fantasy/otherworld realms of my stories.

ALL BLESSINGS!

Welcome to Destiny Blaine's Online Journal

Welcome to Destiny Blaine's Online Journal
"An Award Winning Bestselling International E-book and Paperback Author, Destiny Blaine and her pseudonyms top the charts at Amazon, Bookstrand, Barnes and Noble, ARE, Mobipocket, and other retailers online and off. Scroll down for a list of available titles, works in progress, and coming soon dates for debut titles.”

Author Bio

An award-winning, international bestselling erotic romance author, Destiny Blaine writes under several pen names. She lives in East Tennessee and spends a lot of time in Connecticut and Virginia, where her granddoll resides.