General Discussion – Release Week! And a Windowed Release.
After four dry years, it’s finally release week again!
As I’ve mentioned, my alter-ego, Alex Westhaven has been working on a book about beets. And that book is finally ready being released this coming Friday, June 3rd. Beet It is a short story in the Death by Veggies series, and it’s available for pre-order on Amazon now. I’ll post the blurb below for anyone who reads horror and might be interested.
I’m doing an experiment with the release this time, and I’ve been working really hard to get this book out ASAP in order to do that. I follow some big name authors online, and occasionally they ask their fans how they like to read. I read the comments, naturally, and I was honestly surprised by how many readers read exclusively from Kindle Unlimited books.
I’ve never put my books in KU before, simply because Amazon requires exclusivity for at least 90 days to be in the program. Which means if a book is in KU, it can’t be available anywhere else, which has always rubbed me the wrong way. I want anyone to be able to read my books on whatever platform they prefer, so I’ve steadfastly refused to give Amazon those exclusive rights to my ebooks.
But…what about the readers who only read in KU? I want them to have a chance too…if there are enough of them to make it worth my while.
I want to publish a Death by Veggies collection in October (pulling together all four stories plus one more), and I want that to be available all over from the start, so I needed to make sure that Beet It would be out of its exclusive contract by then. Hence the rush to get it published in early June. This way it will be out of contract by early September, which is plenty of time to publish it on all my other normal platforms, and also include it in the collection this fall.
Obviously I still want those who aren’t in KU and don’t use Amazon for reading to be able to get a copy of the book before the KU period is up if they wish, so I’m also publishing the paperback on Ingram and Amazon. That will be out on June 10th, and it will be available everywhere, including for bookstore ordering.
So we’ll see how this windowed release model does, and when it’s over, I’ll decide whether I want to try it again with other books, or just stick with publishing widely so I don’t have to give that 90 day exclusive period to Amazon.
Now, if you’ve made it this far, here’s the blurb for Beet It. If it sounds like something you or someone you know might like, feel free to pre-order it!
The beets Tara Pyle grows gives her body extraordinary healing powers. But when she tries to share the bounty with her boyfriend, Colin, the results are devastating. Under the scrutiny of both the police department and the hospital staff alike, Tara turns to the one person who can help her unravel the mystery of her precious beets. But will she be able to handle the unsavory truth?
Reading List
A flash fic piece by Carol R. Ward (editing!)
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood (short story)
In Defense of Plants by Matt Candeias, PhD (non-fic)
The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Watch List
The Lincoln Lawyer (Finished – I seriously hope there’s another season in the works.)
Outer Range (Finished – that last episode was…what? I have more questions than answers. Season 2 please! )
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount)
The Equalizer (Paramount/CBS)
NCIS (Paramount/CBS)
Listening List
Writing Excuses
The Creative Penn
Alli’s (Alliance of Independent Authors) Self-Publishing Podcast
Pop Quiz!
Are there any vegetables you hate?
I actually don’t hate any vegetables – I really like most of them, if prepared correctly. I’m trying to think of the last time I actively didn’t like a vegetable, and…I can’t think of one!
Post Round-up
Alex Westhaven (last updated: May 27, 2022)
The Writer’s Desk (last updated: May 28, 2022)
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