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FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON trailer

  • Dec. 20th, 2009 at 10:41 PM

Meant to post this earlier today but I got busy doing other things. Some of you will have seen this, since I re-Tweeted my publisher's post on it Friday night, but for those of you who haven't, here is the trailer for FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON. Hope you enjoy it! I also received an early Christmas present from Romantic Times when reviewer Jill Smith had this to say about FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON: "Book by book, Frost builds her reputation as an author who delivers only the best." RT gave FDOC a Top Pick rating, too. Needless to say, I am extremely flattered by both the comment and the rating :).


(Note: the trailer has sound, so if you're browsing at work and don't want to get caught, turn your volume down ;-).





If for some reason the embed code is acting up, here's a link to the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/JeanieneFrost#p/a/u/0/k1zhJysS3mQ

Also, I uploaded a few cool fan-made trailers up on my Favorites page on YouTube, which you can check out here. Aren't they neat?:

http://www.youtube.com/user/JeanieneFrost#p/f

And in more Christmas-came-early news, I just found out that Germany bought translation rights for FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS, and Cat & Bones # 5. A lot of good things happened in 2009, but there were some tough knocks, too - though I usually don't blog about those. Everyone has enough of their own stresses without me piling on mine :) So this was a very nice way to close out the year, and of course, it wouldn't have happened without reader support. Once again, thanks so much!

Holiday randomness

  • Dec. 16th, 2009 at 1:44 PM

In these last two weeks of the year (pause to wonder where the hell 2009 went) blogging will be scarce. You can still see some occasional daily mutterings from me on Twitter , if you're so inclined, because that doesn't require complete sentences. In fact, most of the time, complete sentences are prohibited on Twitter ;-). December is a big birthday month in my family, plus of course there's the holiday, and on the 19th, it's my wedding anniversary. Gifts need to be procured for all these things, and don't even ask me if I've tackled my Christmas shopping yet, so some mall time might be on my plate very soon.  
 
In writing-related news, I'm happy to report that my editor liked the revisions on ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS and the book is now winging its way to a copyeditor. I'm also happy to say my editor liked the first several chapters of the next Cat and Bones novel, which I sent her at the same time as revisions for EKOD. So at the back of ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS, look for an except from Chapter One of the as-yet-untitled next Cat and Bones novel. My editor and I agreed that we couldn't excerpt much deeper into the book or there would be too many plot spoilers. Yes, you can take that to mean things hit the ground running with the next C&B book. Hey, Cat and Bones have had some time off, so they should be up for it, right? *wink*  
 
In non writing-related news, I've discovered a deep love for peppermint-flavored coffee and Godiva dark chocolate macaroons. One of these things I'll still be able to enjoy after The Great Sad Day of the Beginning of My Diet on January 2nd. I leave it to you to guess which one, heh. Until that Great Sad Day, however, in addition to the macaroons I will also indulge in a favorite holiday treat - eggnog. Yes, if you think about the ingredients, eggnog is revolting, but I love it and it's so rabidly unhealthy that I can only justify having some during the last two weeks of December. Therefore *checks calendar*, pumpkin spice eggnog, here I come! :)  
 
Another holiday tradition, aside from Artery Abuse caused by my consumption of lots of high-sugar, high-fat yummies, is watching Christmas movies. Not necessarily the ones appropriate for small children, either, lol. Here are a few Christmas movies that make me laugh and feel better about my own loving, dysfunctional family:  
 
The Ref
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Santa's Slay
Bad Santa
Scrooged
Gremlins  
 
My favorite "child safe" Christmas movies are probably A Christmas Story (young Ralphie's tendency toward profanity - edited by the movie - cracks me up), A Nightmare Before Christmas, and It's A Wonderful Life. I don't think I'll have time to watch all my favorites this year (deadlines, deadlines), but I'll try to sneak in a few.  
 
I intend to blog again before the end of the year, but just in case I don't, happy holidays, whatever you celebrate, and Happy New Year to everyone as well! Let's hope 2010 sees an end to the recession, lost jobs, home foreclosures, and some of the other crappy things that 2009 had way too much of.  
 

FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON contest winners!

  • Dec. 13th, 2009 at 12:55 PM

Contest for an ARC (advance reading copy) of FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON closed at midnight last night and all I have to say right now is wow. After I went through and deleted any double/triple/more entries, the total number of entries came in at exactly 1,100. *faints* I passed the flattered/humbled stage around 400 and watched with happy shock as the entries continued to come in. You guys are awesome! Hugs and cyber-kisses to all of you!

With only 4 ARC's to give away and 1,100 entrants, I know 99.9% of you won't be happy with the results and for that I'm truly sorry. I don't get many ARC's and I give away all but one for myself and one for my parents (because, you know, without them there would be no me ;). Promise to hold more contests when I get my author copies of FDOC at release time, though.

And now, to the winners! As usual I used randomizer.org to pick the winning entries because there's no way I could choose between everyone myself. So, Randomizer was consulted and this is what it said:

Research Randomizer Results

1 Set of 4 Unique Numbers Per Set
Range: From 1 to 1100 -- Sorted from Least to Greatest

Job Status:

Set #1: <input ... > 278, 610, 665, 1075


Those entries turned out to be: Lori Tomlinson, Shae Birch, Anna Lemkau, and Susann Max. Congrats!! Expect an email from me asking for/confirming your shipping address and I hope you like the book :D.

To everyone else, thanks so much again for your enthusiasm with the contest! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Readers rule!

Tis the season....for insanity

  • Dec. 9th, 2009 at 2:27 PM

Dear Homeowners Association,

I can appreciate your six-page notice informing residents of all the different things they'll need advance permission for in preparation of the holiday season. Yes, some people do like to deck out their townhouses like they're channeling Clark Griswold from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and while I personally like a slew of decorations (even though I'm too lazy to put them up on my own unit), others may consider them an eyesore. I can also appreciate how certain large lawn decorations might interfere with the community sprinkler system and why that would be an issue. But when you put down that residents need to file a written request and wait for association approval before they can put a potted plant on their porch, I think you've gone mad with power. I don't even have plants, potted or otherwise, but if I did and I wanted to put one on my porch, either hung or set on a table, it's ridiculous that I'd have to ask permission from the association in writing first. Most patios in this neighborhood are screened, and all have privacy gates. I shudder to imagine that the money I spend on quarterly fees might be going toward the newly-formed Plant Police, who are tasked with the responsibility of peering through the screens and gates of residents to see if any unapproved plants are loitering on porches.

Seriously, even the Grinch would say you've gone overboard.

Best Regards,
An angry, soon-to-be-plant-owning resident

FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON contest

  • Dec. 5th, 2009 at 3:54 PM

Okay, time to make good on my promise for an ARC contest for FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, Night Huntress World, book one.





A short explanation for those new to the blog/series. The Night Huntress World novels are spin-offs from my Night Huntress series where side characters previously introduced in the Cat and Bones novels now get the spotlight as the hero/heroine. Each Night Huntress World book is a stand-alone, not the start of a new series, and they're written so that readers who've never read any of the Cat and Bones books can pick them up without feeling like they're coming in at the middle of everything.

Please allow me to give a little history behind FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON. About a year before my debut novel even released, I told my editor I wanted to write a book featuring Spade as the hero because I knew exactly who he'd end up with and she'd meet Spade's future heroine in my second Cat and Bones book. Spade showed up only briefly as a side character in my debut novel, but I explained to my editor that I knew his whole history and what circumstances would get him and the heroine together (even though the heroine hadn't even been seen on page at this point). My editor very gently replied that first we'd have to see how this series sold before we could talk about doing spin-offs on it. Publishing is a business, of course, and "but I really wanna!" takes a backseat to a profit and loss statement, lol.

Fast forward almost two years later. I had my new agent approach my editor with - you guessed it - two proposals for spin-off novels from the Night Huntress series. My editor bought both of them and asked me which I wanted to do first. It was a no-brainer - I wanted to do Spade and Denise's book. I'd been thinking about their story for about four years at this point. Plus, the plotline in the Night Huntress series had progressed to where Spade/Denise's book would fit perfectly into the overall timeline of events, even though their story can still easily be read by people who've never picked up a Cat and Bones book. Therefore, getting to write FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON was my reward from readers. Your support gave me the chance to write a book I've spent years thinking about. Thank you so much. I truly could not have done it without you.

And now, before I get all blubbery over this post, to the contest details! If you want an ARC (advance reading copy) of FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, book one in the Night Huntress World, send an email to frostlight1 AT yahoo DOT com with "FDOC" in the subject line. Contest opens now and ends Saturday, December 12th 11:59pm Eastern time. There will be four (4) winners, and yes, I will ship the book to the winners no matter where in the world they live. Winner will be chosen by Randomizer.org as usual, because I could never pick among all of you myself.

For more details about FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, check out the description, teaser page, and first chapter here: http://www.jeanienefrost.com/first-drop-of-crimson.html

Good luck and thanks again, everyone!

Do you hear what I hear...?

  • Dec. 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 PM

No, I'm not bursting into Christmas caroling (though I do like that song ;). I'm happy to announce that audio rights for the first two books in the Night Huntress series, HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE and ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, have been sold. So, one day in the future - sorry, don't know exactly when yet - those books will be available to listen to on tape. Approximately every fourth email I've gotten over the past year has asked "why aren't your books on audio yet?" Well, I'm thrilled to say that they will be soon!


A little detail behind why this has been a long process. When I sold my first five novels, audio rights were included in my contract to my publisher. So only my publisher had the rights to produce audio books. They did not, however, elect to exercise those rights. *shrug* That's how it goes sometimes. When I got a new agent (Nancy Yost), she informed me that I could get the audio rights back for my first two books and try to sell them myself. Apparently there was a clause in my contract that stated if x-amount of time had passed since the books were published and the publisher still hadn't elected to make audio books, I could request to have the rights revert back to me. So that's what I did, and eventually the rights for my first two novels reverted back to me, whereupon Nancy sold them to an audio publisher. Here I will pause to sing Nancy's praises, because without her examining my old contract to find the fine print about the audio clause, I would never have known I could get those rights back.

What about the other books in the series, you ask? Well, I'm in the process of requesting the rights back for my third and fourth novels, because the contractually-allotted time period has again passed for my publisher to produce audio books themselves. Once I have those rights back, hopefully Nancy can work her selling magic again so the rest of the series will be out on audio. Cross your fingers for me :).

In other news, I've been busy writing Cat and Bones #5, plus doing revisions on ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS, so blogging has been scarce. I will, however, very soon be holding contests giving away ARC's (advanced reading copies) of FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, so consider this your head's up to check in on my blog in the coming days if you want a chance to win it.

Happy (almost) Friday, folks!

THREE DAYS TO DEAD winners!

  • Nov. 25th, 2009 at 11:49 AM

Sorry this post is a little late. Storms swept through my area and knocked my internet out this morning. But, I have good news to make up for this post's tardiness. Due to the whopping response to the THREE DAYS TO DEAD contest (184 entries in one day!), I'm kicking in another copy of the book that author Kelly Meding will sign and ship. So, there will be two winners for this contest instead of one.



Without further ado, Randomizer was consulted to find two winners and this is what it said: 26, 90 (tried to copy the graph but LJ is acting up and it kept giving me errors on the entire post, so I gave up).

Those entries turned out to be: Chanelle Loftness and Aimee Saunders. Congrats! Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did :).


To everyone else, sorry you didn't win but I leave you with the consolation prize of my favorite Thanksgiving joke:



A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

In desperation, John threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued...

"May I ask what the turkey did?"



Have a great holiday!



THREE DAYS TO DEAD contest

  • Nov. 24th, 2009 at 9:40 AM

***ETA: Contest closed, winners drawn. Thanks, everyone, for playing!***


Busy trying to fit five days of work into three because of the shorter holiday week. I don't see a huge chance of success with that, so I expect to be working through the weekend to make up for taking Thursday (Thanksgiving!) and Friday (driving back from relatives!) off. Oh well, deadlines show no mercy, lol.

Enough about me, however. Right now I want to talk about Kelly Meding . If you haven't heard of Kelly, her debut novel THREE DAYS TO DEAD (excerpt of chapter one available at link) releases today.



From the back of the book:

She’s young, deadly, and hunted—with only three days to solve her own murder…

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue – in a stranger’s body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there – her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night, she and the other two members of her Triad were star bounty hunters — mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives, but also convinced the city’s other Hunters that Evy was a traitor . . . and she can’t even remember what it was.

Now she’s a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice – and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days, Evy will die again – but this time, there’s no second chance…


I was lucky enough to get an early look at TDTD. To be honest, I was feeling a little burnt on urban fantasy before I started the book, but my attitude quickly did a 180 once I began reading and I was soon reminded of why I'd fallen in love with the UF genre to begin with. My editor and agent can confirm that I am a pain in the ass who hates everything very picky about giving out blurbs, but I loved the book so much I had this to say about it:

"Action-packed, edgy, and thrilling, THREE DAYS TO DEAD is a fabulous debut! Kelly Meding's world and characters will grab you from the first page. You won't want to miss this one."

Other authors like Patricia Briggs, Gena Showalter, and Jackie Kessler also had glowing things to say about TDTD, but hey, why take someone else's word that it's a great book when you can find out for yourself?

With that in mind, I'm holding a contest giving away a copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD, which Kelly has kindly agreed to sign. If you want to be entered to win, just email me at frostlight1 AT yahoo DOT com with your name and I'll enter you in the drawing. Contest open to US residents only (sorry, international readers, I'll catch ya next time! Promise).

Because it's a short week and I'm going out of town, contest is only open from now until I roll out of bed and check my computer tomorrow morning (usually around 9am Eastern). Winner will be randomly picked by computer with trusty old Randomizer and one lucky person will have a great book to read this Thanksgiving weekend.

Good luck!

Event Horizon

  • Nov. 19th, 2009 at 12:57 PM

I spent way too much time yesterday clicking back and forth between Dear Author and Smart Bitches, reading up on the comments after the announcement by Harlequin about their new "Harlequin Horizons" line. Even though I swore to myself that I would stop reading and get back to work, as more information came out, I couldn't resist. Clicky-refresh-clickety, repeat.

For those of you who, like me, ended up reading the hundreds of comments on each site...well, you're probably also nursing a headache now and you don't want to read anymore about it. Take some Excedrin and move on - you have all my sympathy. For those of you who haven't heard of the hoopla, thankfully, some people have taken the time to sum it up so you don't have to hurt your eyes/head reading all the comments yourself (though really, if you're an aspiring author who's ever thought about self-publishing or vanity-press publishing, take the time. Read the first 200 or so comments. They contain a goldmine of information (http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/want-to-self-publish-how-about-harlequin/) or (http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/11/18/malle-vallik-harlequins-digital-director-answers-questions-on-harlequin-horizons/).

For those who want a calm, organized recap of what happened, Jackie Kessler did a very comprehensive recap of the events here: http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog/2009/11/19/harlequin-horizons-versus-rwa/

And an updated version from Jackie here: http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-day-after-harlequin-blinks/

And now, for those of you who want my take on this, which is neither calm nor organized, read on!

IMO, pitching the Harlequin brand to writers through information on the Harlequin Horizons website (and in other places) when in reality, writers under that line won't be getting the Harlequin brand after all is disingenuous. IMO, referring rejected slush pile authors who submitted to traditional publishing lines at Harlequin to Harlequin Horizons is unscrupulous. I don't say this because I think self-publishing or vanity presses don't have a right to exist (as the Harlequin Horizons spokesperson Malle seemed to dismiss all criticisms toward the new imprint), but because it appears to be a classic bait-and-switch. I feel bad for the writers who will take a world-wide publisher like Harlequin at their word that this is a way to become a Harlequin author without enduring the rigors of the slush pile. Despite Malle’s claims that the two brands are clearly separate (Quoting Malle, “Horizons books will not have Harlequin branding. Horizons is a separate brand and will carry the double-H Horizons logo on the spine only, NOT the Harlequin brand.”) it’s easy to see how a writer going to the Harlequin Horizons site wouldn’t know that. First, if the name of the imprint is Harlequin Horizons, there’s a big reason why writers might think that being published under it makes them a Harlequin author. Plus, on the Harlequin Horizons website it says “We know you love Harlequin novels…why not write your own?” (http://www.harlequinhorizons.com/harlequin.aspx ) So to me, the name, that pitch, and being referred to HH by Harlequin in their query rejection letters will lead to a lot of writers thinking they’ll be Harlequin authors through Harlequin Horizons, even though Harlequin's spokesperson seems to think it's perfectly obvious that writers will know they won't be.

To those who ask, why am I (and other authors) upset about this? I can only speak for myself, but it burns my toast because when I started on my path to publication, I had a lot of dreams but not a lot of knowledge about the industry. That combination resulted in me being ripped off when I signed with an agency that required payment for submissions. Took me paying several hundred dollars before I realized I was getting scammed and dropped them. Sites like Writers Beware and the now-defunct Miss Snark ‘s blog were the ones that educated me on the "money flows TOWARD the author" mantra that kept me from getting taken advantage of again. That’s why I have links on my website for writers here , here , and here to try and help those who, like me back then, were looking for information on the publishing process and who were directed to a lot of “pay to play” sites instead. It's lovely to assume that every writer who seeks publication has first educated themselves thoroughly on all the ins and out of the system and knows exactly what they're getting for their money, but then there's reality - and many businesses have turned a healthy profit on the reality of writers not knowing a lot about the system. Example: self-published/vanity press books seem to max out at sales of only 200 copies (source: http://howpublishingreallyworks.blogspot.com/2009/03/sales-statistics.html), so the vast, vast, vast majority of those authors never even come close to recouping their costs. One can argue that I, and other writers who paid good money for bad snake oil, had it coming because we didn't do enough research in advance, but it was still a case of companies profiting on a combination of dreams and ignorance. Call me an idealist, but while that's perfectly legal, I don't think it's necessarily laudable.


I tried to articulate that more briefly in my comment on Smart Bitches, which was in response to this statement by Malle Vallik from Harlequin on writers and self-publishing. Because I’m too lazy to find where it is and link it, I’m copying it in its entirety here:

Malle - "There are a number of reasons to select self-publishing including as a way to see their work in print – to give copies as gifts, to have a bound copy to help in finding an agent, or simply as a keepsake."

Me - *goggles* I hope all of their potential clients are rich, then. Because otherwise, spending thousands of dollars to self-publish your book just to give it as gifts to family/friends? Or keep it yourself? The same thing can be done for about twenty bucks with a printer and a nice binder folder. Plus, the idea that an author should self-pub so an agent can have a bound copy to read for query consideration makes even less sense, since that agent won't be able to sell a previously-published novel to most publishers. Just my opinion, but if that's Harlequin's take on uses for a self-published novel, THAT should be clearly stated on their website, instead of the bolded "Dare to Dream: Potential Discovery Opportunities" or "Reach the stars and prove dreams do come true."

Also, for Malle and others who scoffed at "brand dilution" being a result of this new imprint, well, it only took a day for that to happen: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/11/harlequin-hacks.html

I’m guessing author Carol Mortimer is not amused at having her traditionally-published novel be the poster child for an article called “Harlequin Hacks” about Harlequin Horizon’s vanity pub imprint. See how easily The New Yorker took the "HH" on Carol’s cover (which actually stood for Harlequin Historical) and confused with the new line of Harlequin Horizons that will also, when books eventually release under it, be branded with "HH"? Sure, no confusion resulting in brand dilution there /end sarcasm.

And now, I really am getting back to work :).

**ETA: After several comments from readers, The New Yorker admitted their error in showing a picture of Carol Mortimer's book as an example of the new Harlequin Horizons imprint and took it down
.


**ETA, 2: From agent Kristen Nelson's blog, Harlequin is "dismayed" that RWA followed their own rules and booted them out. Seems that Mystery Writers of America will follow suit in December if Harlequin doesn't change its new "pay for editorial feedback" venture that's advertised on every submissions page of their website. You can read the MWA's formal statement on Kristen's blog link above. Side note: I hadn't even heard of a pay-for-feedback program from Harlequin. Cue me vomiting.

And, the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) also gave Harlequin a swift kick out of their approved publishers list because of this (excerpted below, but click the link and read their whole statement. It's worth it: "SFWA supports the fundamental principle that writers should be paid for their work, and even those who aspire to professional status and payment ought not to be charged for the privilege of having those aspirations.

Until such time as Harlequin changes course, and returns to a model of legitimately working with authors instead of charging authors for publishing services, SFWA has no choice but to be absolutely clear that NO titles from ANY Harlequin imprint will be counted as qualifying for membership in SFWA."
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/11/sfwa-statement-on-harlequins-self-publish...

In response to this, Harlequin states they'll change their new vanity-press imprint (which they're still calling self-publishing, even though in self-publishing the author keeps ALL the profits in exchange for putting up all the money/taking all the risk, but in vanity publishing, the author keeps only part of the profts, as is the case with Harlequin's imprint) to where the name Harlequin isn't in it. No mention yet of whether they'll change any of the other practices that organizations such as RWA, MWA, and SFWA are calling unethical, misleading, and disreputable, to quote from some of the statements by those organizations.

The Agent debate - my two cents

  • Nov. 12th, 2009 at 6:09 PM

I was trolling Livejournal and came across links to this GalleyCat post where the question was presented as to whether literary agents would go the way of the Dodo bird in these newer, straight-to-Kindle publishing times. Let me be succinct – I do not agree that agents will become obsolete, but let’s look at the issue as a whole – and here’s where my succinctness ends, lol.

Is it possible to sell a book without an agent? YES. I know more than a few authors who sold their first book(s) while agent-less. So to those who say it’s not necessary to have an agent to get published – you’re right. I find it notable, however, that those authors I knew who sold their first book(s) while agent-less now have agents. Keeping the extra 15% to handle everything themselves wasn't worth it to them, even though they’d been on both sides of the agent fence. Some authors do want to handle everything themselves and will sacrifice a lot of their time to do so. More power to them, I say. The vast majority of authors, though, prefer to have someone else handle all the various different aspects of publishing that have nothing to do with writing (which is what I want to concentrate most of my work day on, personally).

Some of the comments in the GalleyCat post about agents becoming obsolete went like this (paraphrased): "Agents should be obsolete! I have an agent, but she doesn't return my phone calls, emails, or even remember me most of the time!" To that, I say the problem isn't with the agent profession as a whole, but rather between those authors and their individual agents.

Sometimes, writers will be hesitant to express their needs to their agent for fear of coming across as "pushy". This is a mistake. No single agenting style will be compatible for every writer - and just like in relationships, you don't always know what you need until you're in that relationship. Some writers only want their agents to negotiate contracts and that's it. Other writers want their agent to be active in their career far beyond just negotiating new contracts (I’m in that boat). Put together an agent/author with incompatible styles/needs and you end up with a scenario where unhappiness abounds.

In cases where an author is unhappy, a frank discussion about expectations needs to be held ASAP. If an author never expresses their unhappiness, the agent never has a chance to correct it. If, however, an author is clear about their needs/expectations and the agent still fails to meet them...then the author's choices are either to change their expectations to match that agent's style, or to leave. Neither of those choices are easy (or fun), but doing nothing while expecting things to change is a one-way trip to Frustration Land. Bottom line is that an author pays an agent for their services. If the author's miserable with those services and the agent is unwilling to change, then the author who stays anyway is actually paying someone to make them miserable (doesn’t sound very logical, does it? ;).

Granted, if the services an author wants fall more under the BFF category than a professional one, getting a new agent won’t fix that. If, for example, an author is frustrated that her agent isn't calling her back after she left a message telling said agent about the fight she had with her husband, or the cute thing her puppy just did...the issue isn't with the agent. It’s with the author’s misunderstanding of a business relationship. If an author is frequently calling/emailing/texting their agent about things that have nothing to do with his/her writing career, it’s no wonder the agent is perpetually unavailable.

If an author’s needs are business related and yet they’re still not being met, then it’s probably time for a change. It's not unusual for an author to change agents, either. I parted ways with my first agent last year. Now I'm with an agent whose style is compatible with my needs, which means I think she’s worth every cent of her 15% commission. Being unhappy with one agent doesn’t mean the entire industry is flawed. It means not every agent will be a good fit for every author, so it might be time to find an agent who is.

Agent necessity also depends on a writer's goals. If a writer just wants to be published, no preference regarding print or electronic format, distribution, advances, etc, then that writer probably has the same chance of success without an agent. If a writer is seeking to sell their book for a standard print advance (usually around 5K for a first book), or to sell to a publishing house that will distribute their book to stores nationwide, then an agent is frequently necessary. Most of the big, traditional NY publishing houses don't accept unagented manuscript submissions, so no agent = no chance to get published by them.

Yes, the digital world is growing and will open up more chances for writers, but again, goals matter in deciding which route to take. Writing full time was a goal of mine when I started out, so I went with the avenue I felt would best help me meet that goal (nothing is certain, of course, and goals don’t mean guarantees). I turned down an electronic pub offer and a small-press offer on my first novel to slog it out through the Query Trenches looking for an agent instead, all so I could go the traditional, NY-print-publisher route. It took much longer and was much harder, but it turned out I’d guessed correctly about that being the right avenue for me to achieve my full-time writing goal.

I’ll explain: all my books are sold in Kindle and just about every other electronic format, too. But when I get my royalty statements, my electronic sales combined account for only about 6-7% of my writing income (at triple the royalty rate I get for print books, no less!), and that’s only recently. When I was first published and no one had heard of me, my total electronic sales only accounted for about 2-3% of my writing income. I’m also not counting any foreign rights money in these stats, or the percentage of money received from e-book sales compared to money received from US and foreign-right print sales would be even smaller. Based on those percentages, even the highest ones, if I'd skipped the traditional agent/publisher route and went the digital one, I’d still be working a day job instead of writing full time – and even a crappy day writing is better than a good day at my old job :). Plus, if I still had to work full time, I wouldn't be able to write as many books. There are only so many hours in the day, after all.

In summary, I believe agents play a vital role in publishing and will continue to do so, even in this brave new digital era. The fact that the vast majority of published authors are agented - even mega-successful authors who could scribble a book idea on a napkin and still have editors throw money at them for it – seems to illustrate the point that an agent's value lies in more than making a sale or reading contracts.

Tuesday thankfulness

  • Nov. 10th, 2009 at 9:33 AM

I know it's usually Thursdays that get the "thankful" posts, but what the hey, I'm jumping ahead ;-). First, thanks to everyone who responded to my call out for music recommendations. I'm punching in the songs/bands on iTunes and coming up with a playlist for Cat and Bones, book five. I don't listen to the radio, which means I miss out on a lot of new bands/songs, plus I'm terrible at keeping up with knowing when bands I do like have new albums coming out. So, your recs are much appreciated!

Getting everything off in the mail from the contests I ran for Halloween. Yes, I'm a little slow, so please forgive me. The total prizes ended up being 45 books and 10 cover flats given away. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I feel sad when I get emails that say, "I never win in any of your contests!" but there are far more entrants than prizes available, so all I can do is continue to run contests and hope people's luck changes. Speaking of that, I'll have another contest in December for ARC's of FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, which is Night Huntress World book one. Hey, maybe some of you have been saving up your luck for this one ;-).

And speaking of thankful, I received an email from my editor that really made my day. She wrote to give me an update on reprints for my series. As it stands, HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE is in its 10th printing, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE is in its 8th printing, AT GRAVE'S END is in its 6th printing, and DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE is in its 4th printing (considering DESTINED has only been out for four months, I'm kinda speechless by that). Initial print runs reflect what a publisher expects to sell combined with what book stores preorder, but to me, reprints are all about reader word-of-mouth, which makes them extra awesome. So thank you SO MUCH, readers! Without you spreading the word about my series, none of these reprints would have happened. Please consider yourselves smooched! :D

Wednesday already?

  • Nov. 4th, 2009 at 11:27 AM

Happy Hump Day - and really, what an odd saying that is, right? This week I should get my editor's notes on ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS (Mencheres and Kira's book). Already got her pre-revision revision letter last week and the good news is that revisions will be light. A case of "more detail here, more emotion there, make the ending more explosive" sort of thing. I also have my lovely critt partner's notes to implement at the same time, which, no shock, sound a lot like my editor's notes (they agree so often, it's scary). Then, once I finish implementing those notes, if I go by my normal routine, I'll throw the book at my other critt partner for her comments which I'll implement when I get copyedits. Then once I get galley pages, I'll want to change even more stuff (but can only tweak very minor things at that stage per my editor). If it was up to me, I'd never stop tinkering with a book!

But in the meantime, I'm also writing Cat and Bones #5. I'm at the beginning of the book, and that's always the scariest part for me. I can tell I'm at the more nervous stage of writing because strange things are starting to show up in my dreams. Take my dream the other night. In it, I was at my publisher's and my editor all the sudden told me that my height and weight would be added to all my copyright pages. There was even one of those big doctor's office scales in her office that I had to step on so my editor could record my weight right there. No, I didn't wake up screaming, but it was close ;-). If I were being Freudian, I'd say the dream meant that (a) I ate too much Halloween candy and I need to get back on my diet, and (b) my subconscious is dealing with my inner insecurity at this writing stage by metaphorically showing me another way I'd suffer public embarrassment, lol. Once I'm about a third into writing, I feel comfortable, but beginnings are tough. They usually end up getting replaced most of the time, too. I'm amazed that EKOD's beginning has made the cut. That might be a first for me.

By the end of writing a book, my dreams usually start overlapping with my writing process again, in even odder – and sometimes funnier - ways. When writing the end of DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE, for example, I had a dream in which I came up with the perfect way to end the book...by adding dragons. Yes, dragons. That's what my subconscious thought the ending of DFAEG needed. Sometimes, dreams/my subconscious are incredibly helpful when it comes to writing. And sometimes...they need to be ignored (those of you who've read DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE know that, indeed, there are no dragons ;).

November is also NaNo month. No, I'm not officially participating, but it's my goal to write 2K words a day, 5 days a week on Cat and Bones #5 (still untitled, as you can guess).  I'm comfortable at that pace. Some writers don't like to churn out that many words that fast, and other writers can blow away that progress while writing a better quality first draft than me. *shrug* Everyone's different. So, for those of you participating in NaNo, best of luck to you! And hey, the more writing you do, hopefully the less you'll get drawn into the stress and drama of the upcoming holidays. That's my goal, anyway ;-).

I'm also going to be updating my playlist for the C&B book. Maybe a little new writing music is what I need to get me past this nervous stage. Last time, you guys were awesome in giving me music recommendations. I ended up writing EKOD while listening to White Lies, Dashboard Confessional, Shinedown, Within Temptation, Breaking Benjamin, Stars Go Dim, Mew, and Kings of Leon – all from your recommendations (I added a little Melissa Etheridge, U2, Collective Soul, Snow Patrol, and Stevie Knicks all on my own ;).  So, based on those bands, got any new music recs more me? Who else am I missing? Any recommendations will be much appreciated!


 

Instant Winner contest!

  • Oct. 31st, 2009 at 2:38 PM

Today's Instant Winner contest prize is:






If you want a signed copy of DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE shipped to you, no matter where in the world you live, be one of the first FIVE people to reply to this post and it's yours. This is the fourth novel in the Night Huntress series and Cat and Bones have some big changes in store for them.

Good luck!

Winners! And "wild card" winners

  • Oct. 31st, 2009 at 11:04 AM

First, Happy Halloween! May all the candy you eat miraculously have no calories, lol. Meant to do this post earlier, but, I slept in. And of course, nothing comes before coffee, needless to say.



Well, lots of entries for the giveaway of 10 signed copies of HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE. 200, to be exact. Because I can never bring myself to choose, Randomizer was once again consulted and this is what it said:

     
Set #1:

<input ... > 5, 25, 32, 44, 88, 97, 129, 174, 175, 185



So, those entry numbers turned out to be SusiSunshine, Brenda Hyde,  Elizabeth Holland, Erin Lindsay, elaing8, timothy.rowe3, Daj8700, Megan Fuller, Zoe Zygmunt, and van pham. Congrats! I'll send you an email shortly asking for your shipping addresses to send you a signed copy of HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE.


But wait! There's more!

Because it's Halloween and there were so many entries to the contest, I wanted to throw in a "wild card" contest. Out of those 200 names, removing the ten winners above, I consulted Randomizer to pick ten more entries. This is what it picked:

Set #1:

<input ... > 7, 26, 49, 53, 75, 127, 147, 152, 161, 188


And those entries turned out to be J. Anderson, Brenda White, onyxciel HA, AF Stone, michelle rubalcado, Faith Imholt, Bethan West, Dr. Kay Johnson, Cassie H, and Kristen Sanders.




For the "wild card" winners, I will send you a signed copy of AT GRAVE'S END. Can't give more copies of HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE because I don't have any more. Also, AT GRAVE'S END is very Halloween- appropriate, since that novel is probably the most spooked out of my series (contains not just vampires and ghouls, but also black magic! wraiths! ghosts! and zombies!) Of course, if any of you ten "wild card" winners don't want a copy of AT GRAVE'S END, just reply to the email I'll send you with a no thanks and I'll draw another winner.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween! I'm not quite done giving out blog treats. Look for an Instant Winner contest here and on MySpace sometime today :-).
 


***ETA: Contest closed. Winners drawn. Thanks for playing, everyone!***

Today marks the two year anniversary of when my debut novel, HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, hit the shelves. It does not seem like two years since then. It feels more like one year, tops. But, calendars don't lie :).




So, to celebrate the second anniversary of my book, I'm giving away ten (10) signed copies of HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, book one in the Night Huntress series. To enter, email me at frostlight1 AT yahoo DOT com with "HTTG" in the subject line, any time between now and 8am tomorrow (why 8am? Because that's usually when I roll out of bed, check the emails, and announce a winner ;). Yes, I will ship internationally.

If you're new to my blog and want a little more information on HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, you can go here for back cover description, teaser page, and link to the first 20% of the novel available for free reading: http://www.jeanienefrost.com/halfway-to-the-grave.html 

Good luck, everyone! And Night Huntress readers, thanks so much for making these last two years as amazing as they have been! :).


Winners, coverflat contest

  • Oct. 30th, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Well, as many of you predicted, there were more than ten entries into the coverflat contest for FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON. 124 in total, so Randomizer had to be consulted to pick winners, because how could I be expected to choose? I do read every entry and thanks so much for the kind words! They are appreciated :).

Without further ado, here are the numbers Randomizer chose:

Set #1:

<input ... > 122, 52, 83, 69, 64, 124, 108, 104, 46, 9



Those turned out to be: Sonja Zeiler, Heather Hann, Beatriz Ongaro, Brittany Hyde, Faith Imholt, Kathryn Willadsen, Ala morenson, Lilibeth Ramos, Vicki O. Reggentin, and Morning Glow. I'll send all of you an email shortly notifying you by email as well that you won. Congrats!

To the other 114 people who didn't win...I still have 30 more prizes to give away, and they're all books. Look for at least one more contest today! :)




Cover flat contest

  • Oct. 29th, 2009 at 4:29 PM

This is NOT an Instant Winner contest, so don't hurry and comment before reading the post, lol. I'm giving away ten coverflats for my upcoming novel, FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON. As a reminder of what the cover /stepback looks like, here you go:


                  


The cover flat also has the back cover description on the book and a marketing plan listed inside (something only me, my agent, and book sellers probably care about ;). So, if you would like a signed coverflat for FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, email me at frostlight1 AT yahoo DOT com. If I get more than ten emails, winner will be picked by Randomizer. Contest is open from now until 8am tomorrow Eastern time (Oct 30th).

Good luck!

***ETA: Contest closed, winners drawn. Thanks for playing, everyone!****

Hilarious!

  • Oct. 29th, 2009 at 9:44 AM

Saw this and laughed out loud. In case you don't recognize them, these are urban fantasy / paranormal romance authors Jill Myles, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh, and Patrice Michelle, as you've never seen them before, lol.

Check it out:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!



First posted here: http://www.theoddshots.com/2009/10/happy-halloween-from-the-odd-shots/

Instant Winner contest!

  • Oct. 28th, 2009 at 10:07 AM

As I promised Monday, I'll be hosting contests this week to celebrate Halloween (also because I haven't had any contests in a while and who doesn't love free books, right?). Check out my MySpace page, too (link on sidebar) because contests will be held there also. If you didn't read my post Monday, you need an LJ account to play in the Instant Winner contests, so sign up, it's free and easy. In the interest of fairness, when it's an Instant Winner contest, I'll try to spread them out to encompass as many time zones as possible, lol. 

This morning's prize:  
 

 
If you want a signed copy of the UNBOUND anthology shipped to you, no matter where in the world you live, be one of the first TEN people to reply to this post and it's yours. My short story in UNBOUND is Reckoning, a prequel to the Night Huntress series told through Bones's point of view.

Good luck!

 

Monday mutterings

  • Oct. 26th, 2009 at 11:28 AM

Hello all. Yes, it's Monday again (how did that happen?). It's also almost Halloween, which means the year is almost over (how the HELL did that happen???). But instead of lamenting how time seems to be moving at way-too-fast speeds, how 'bout a way to turn my frown upside down? (yes, I'm corny this morning. And also addicted to parenthesis, it seems).

A reader emailed me last week and said, "Aren't you going to hold any contests soon? You haven't had any in a while!" Well, good point, I haven't. So, this week in celebration of Halloween - and because I have a bunch of author copies to give away - there will be contests. Some will be Instant Winner, some will be email-in-to-enter. Because anonymous comments are disabled on my blog (thank the internet trolls, people!) here's a head's up to get a Livejournal account if you want to play in the Instant Winner contests. LJ is free and easy to set up, trust me. I set mine up all by myself and I am incompetent when it comes to anything technical. So, head's up: contests coming.

In other rambling, I saw The Vampire's Assistant on Saturday and liked it. It has somewhat of an open ending that's clearly the setup for more movies, but I don't mind that. I like series, be they in movies or books. Also, The Sacramento Bee had a nice mention in their paper today about me and other authors. Yes, I know, they left out Charlaine Harris (among other notables) on their list of top UF authors, but I'm flattered to be included just the same.

That article mentions the popularity of vampires in the current market, which probably comes as news to no one. However, something that amuses me is how lately, some people ask me in interviews, "Did you decide to write about vampires because the market is so hot?" Um, as many people know, the publishing process isn't a speedy one. It either moves at the speed of torturously slow, or drink-yourself-to-death-while-endlessly-waiting slow. New releases on the shelves now were purchased, on average, two years ago. My first book in the Night Huntress series was written in 2003. I started querying it in 2004, when a lot of rejection letters said that agents/editors just weren't interested in vampire books. Finally signed with an agent on a handshake agreement in October 2005. Sold to HarperCollins in May 2006, with the book finally published in Nov 2007. Timelines like mine are actually considered pretty fast when it comes to writing a first book/getting it on the shelves, and still, it took several years.

This is why I strongly urge writers not to try and catch trends. If I'd been trend-trolling back in 2003, I wouldn't have written about my favorite paranormal creature - vampires. I would have written about something else, though I don't even know what was considered "hot" in 2003/2004 because I was too busy writing books about the creature I loved. As you can guess, writing about what I love worked out well for me in more ways than one. Yes, what I loved turned out to be a popular theme in the current market, but even more importantly, it's what I love. If I wanted a job I disliked, I would've stayed at my Day Job, which had health benefits, paid vacation, required less hours, and was far easier on the ego, lol. So, think twice before trend-chasing. Chances are what's hot now won't still be hot when your book finally gets published, and then you'll be stuck writing about something you might not even really like, anyway.
 



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