Two releases and a giveaway!

You've never read
bedtime stories like these

Today is release day for my collection of erotic bedtime stories from the Penguin Random House romance imprint, Loveswept! What's this, you say? FANTASY, on Spacefreighters Lounge? 

Yes! But don't be fooled by the cover. In BEFORE SHE WAKES, you'll also find: 

• "The Dragonfly Prince," a post-apocalyptic, recombinant-DNA story based on my sci-fi romance novel THE OPHELIA PROPHECY. 
• "Raven Takes a Pearl" and "The Kelpie's Prize," both steampunk stories. 
• "The Garden Rules,"' a contemporary story that incorporates a fun piece of nanotech. 
•  "Willa and the Wisp," a paranormal set in post-apocalyptic New Orleans. 

That leaves a single pure-fantasy story (but...DRAGON SHIFTERS!).

Big shoutout to Laurie, who served as beta reader on this one (and, well, all the other ones). I am VERY pleased with reviews so far. This from one of my favorites: 

Pure INDULGENCE!! ... Each world was so interesting that you just couldn't help but be sucked in ... Grab this now and be prepared to be whisked away to fantastical lands! I know I was captivated throughout! (The Jeep Diva book blog)

I think I had more fun with this than I ever have with a writing project. I began it as a writing experiment. And even later when my agency encouraged me to get serious about it, I never intended to seek a traditional publisher. So I tossed out all the "rules." Each time my internal critic would nag me that a particular scene or plot twist was just going too far, I very intentionally shoved her out the door and did what I wanted. And I think that's coming through in reviewer comments. Here's another example:

For those readers with a sense of adventure who are looking for a change of pace and aren’t afraid to go there, Before She Wakes is a wonderful, sexy, titillating trip to the other side of speculative fiction, that side you’ve been curious about but until now, haven’t been brave enough to try. Be bold. Take the plunge. And have some fun. (Books, Bones & Buffy book blog)

If you'd like to test-drive this one, you can read the most sci-fi story  ("The Dragonfly Prince") free. 

Sworn enemies. Dark secrets.
One last hope for peace.

And in related news ...

I got the rights to THE OPHELIA PROPHECY back earlier this year, so it has been out of print for a while. This new story collection got me motivated to get it out there again. (Especially considering "The Dragonfly Prince" was my editor's favorite, and it's a favorite of Goodreads reviewers as well.) So this is a double release week! The best part is it has a lovely new cover (by the fabulous Danielle Fine) and a significantly lower e-price than the original release. For the time being it's only available for Kindle. 

In celebration of the releases, I'm giving away 3 e-books. You can choose the title that you prefer (keeping in mind OPHELIA is Kindle-only for now). In the comments, name a fairy tale you think would make a great SFR retelling, OR list what human/animal transgenic organism you think would be the coolest to see. (I'll know your choice of books based on that. Be sure to give me a way to contact you!)

Happy release day! 

The Short Story Conundrum #amwriting

Artwork by Danielle Fine

My very first post at Spacefreighters Lounge was as a guest on the 14th June 2011, blogging about my inspiration for a short story I'd just self published the month before - The Bones of the Sea. (As a side note, I don't mark that as my debut publication because it was an experiment in all respects). It was the first short story I'd really managed since leaving school (my normal word count at the time was 40K and above). And the only reason I'd self published it was to 1. Test out the whole process of digital self publishing, which was still fairly new in general, and certainly very new to me, and 2. Because even at 3000 words I felt it was too long to publish on my blog for readers.

While I kept my novels and novellas going to small presses (until May of this year, when my main publisher and the third out of the four I've had then closed, and I took the decision to wholly self pub), I self published another three shorts, and had a fourth included in Tales from the SFR Brigade, a self published anthology (in which I helped with the Amazon version and produced a print edition for giveaways).

My sales figures are not huge, and Amazon's frankly cruddy decision to only pay 35% royalties on works under $2.99 (I refuse to charge that for a mere 10K words, though I know plenty who do) means each sale earns a pittance. That said, my second short story Terms & Conditions Apply earned back its editing costs in eighteen months, and paid for edits and artwork on the next two short stories (neither of which have achieved the same payback). Terms was a small but consistent seller.

Scifi Romance Short
GOODREADS | Available at...  
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Oyster
ARe | Smashwords

Until this year. Poor ebook sales are why my main publisher went out of business, and I've seen a very definite drop in sales of my shorts. Going wide and/or experimenting with KU have failed to change that. Right now, my recently re-released novel Keir is my best seller, accounting for over 90% of my sales. The only time any of my shorts have seen movement is when I've done free days (but they did pick up a few new reviews, so I consider that a bonus).

So, the purpose of all this rambling? I've taken the decision not to release any more short stories as separate pieces from next year. The costs in editing and artwork aren't being repaid, and they don't appear to be helping me with exposure by having more titles. The fact that the cover for the short story generally costs the same as one on a novel means the edits can often cost less than the cover, just FYI.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing short stories though. I'm currently working on a space opera short for another anthology call. I also have three more shorts on holiday themes (like Hallow's Eve) almost completed that I'd originally planned to release one at a time during the relevant holiday, with a collection to come. That's still the plan, but with a twist. The collection will include the new shorts, plus some of my current ones, available in digital and possibly print. The new ones will also be available separately, but for a limited time, perhaps until mid 2016. Then only the collection will be available after that. In the future, I will only release short stories as collections, so they'll take as long to release as a novella/novel would.

But this should be a better deal for everyone all round. The planned collection will contain seven titles in all, with three of them being brand new, previously unreleased works. I'll probably price the collection at $2.99 depending on the word count, a bargain since the separate releases would be $1.50. It means those who have already bought some of my short stories will overall have paid a bit more if they buy the new collection as well, (unless you picked them up on my free days. Sorry!) but in all that would be seven shorts for what would have cost $10.50 individually. It also means I should be able to put the collection out in print for those who prefer a paperback to digital, therefore giving new readers access to those shorts that are currently digital only. And a bit more bang for your subscription buck when/if I put them into KU. In the meantime, I get 70% royalties from Amazon instead of the measly 35%.

So what do you think? Do you think that's a fairer deal than the separate shorts, or do you prefer to try out one short before committing to more from the same author? Or would you be cross at having to buy the whole set to get the new stories if you'd already bought the previous shorts? (Bearing in mind that's why I will offer the new shorts individually for a limited time for this collection.)

Status Update
First round edits on the still unamed space opera short went back to my editor on Wednesday, and Reunion at Kasha-Asor (a novella length side story in the Redemption series for Keir) has gone in for first round edits this week. I hope to have a new cover reveal very shortly! Second round edits for Keir's Fall should be back any time. What possessed me to juggle three sets of edits at once, I don't know...

Meanwhile, I've been working on those new shorts for my proposed collection (teaser - it includes an Easter themed SFR, a winter SFR, and a f/f angel story, shhhh!).

Happenings
It's the second week of Scream! For the Cure. As always, go check out the basket of books coming up for auction this week by going HERE, and remember to come back to bid on Friday. My post on why I'm screaming went up yesterday HERE if you want to know why I'm so devoted to the cause.

This week I'm taking part in Audra Middleton's Villain Visitations on the 7th October. Come meet the oh so creepy Siah-dhu from Keir...if you dare!

Ping Pong
Greta and her guests will be sharing their favourite book characters on Thursdays for the next few weeks - come back and see who they love best and why.

This is Pippa Jay signing off...

A HEART FOR COPPER: A "pick your path" steampunk romance

For about six months now, I've been working with an interactive fiction site called SilkWords. I met up with the site's founders at their first focus group. I thought they had a great idea, and I was looking for editing work. It turned out to be a match made in heaven.

SilkWords' founders are Keri and Boyd Multerer, a wife-and-husband team. Boyd founded Xbox Live and was the director of development for Microsoft's Xbox One. Keri (who has a background in environmental science and genetics, how geektastic is that?) is a mom of three who knows that for many women, reading for fun is a luxury not often savored. The Multerers' goal with SilkWords was to provide a fun, interactive, and emotionally satisfying entertainment option that doesn’t require a huge time commitment. 

SilkWords was born this past Valentine's Day. I've been working with the Multerers as their partner and senior editor, setting editorial direction and vetting submissions (and pretty much anything else that needs doing because this IS a startup). I've also been itching to try my hand at a "pick your path" story (many of you are probably familiar with Choose Your Own Adventure stories from childhood), and as my book tour for THE OPHELIA PROPHECY wound down, I made it a priority.

Today my first "pick your path" story goes live. It's also the first short story I've written since my contract with Tor. Here's a little bit about A HEART FOR COPPER, whose heroine is a sort of Pinocchio / Tinman mashup (though nicer to look at):

An automaton created by an inventor's son, Copper has finally been given a heart by her young master. Her choice of whether to keep the key or give it to him will decide her fate in this steampunk fairy tale. 

"A Heart for Copper" artwork by Indie Designz.
Read the story for $1.99, or by subscription to SilkWords.

One of the things I enjoy about writing and reading "pick your path" is you don't know for sure what to expect. We only require one HEA per story (though typically stories have more than one), which leaves the author free to explore multiple possibilities. Also makes it kind of fun as the reader, trying to pick the right path to the true romance ending. We are looser about erotica submissions, requiring only one positive or hopeful ending. Anything with at least one HEA is labeled romance.

In COPPER, this flexibility allowed me to fully explore consequences of the first choice point, which is a play on choosing the dark or light side of the force (the quick/easy v. the hard).

If you're interested in A HEART FOR COPPER or other SilkWords stories (including DANGEROUS RENDEZVOUS by The Galaxy Express's Heather Massey), you can read all the introductions free (up to the first choice point). To read more you either buy the story (my story and Heather's are $1.99) or sign up for a subscription. SilkWords also offers at least one free story a month for folks who create a free membership.

The Science Fiction Romance Brigade's bundle in the Brenda Novak auction includes a year-long subscription to SilkWords. And SilkWords is also offering a year-long subscription coupled with a year of Godiva chocolate in a separate listing ("A Year of Romance").

Bid at: http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

SilkWords is an exciting idea and has been a super fun endeavor. When I first heard about it I couldn't believe no one had done choice-based stories for romance, the most popular fiction genre. And erotica? Boy is it a natural for this format (MF? FF? MFM? Bondage? Domination?). Future phases of the site will expand the interactive reading experience to include reader and author interaction, with the goal of building a community around the concept. We're also looking at publishing connected stories, set in the same world but written by different authors. The possibilities are endless, really.

Did you read CYOA stories as a kid? (I know my books were dog-eared.) Have you written a CYOA?