Getting Back in Print

With a sigh of relief, I recently welcomed Wish for a Sinner back into print (and e-format of course). Wish is a key book in the Sinners sports series since it deals with the quarterback, Joe Dean Billodeaux, whose career we follow throughout the five novels. For some reason unknown to me, my new publisher chose to reissue the books in reverse order so that the second book came out last. They still held rights to the first book, Goals for a Sinner. I can be thankful for that since it made it easier for me get the books reprinted. I know authors who had only one book out with my former publisher and are still looking for a home for that book. Wild Rose immediately picked up my whole series and the three books I had planned to publish with Dreamspell in 2014. Naturally, publishers prefer fresh works that have not reached the end of their sales peak.  With a series, new readers are picked up along the way and that makes them more appealing for reprinting.

So, what goes into getting a book back into print? More work than you would suppose considering that the title has already been professionally edited. I received new galleys on all of my reprints that had to be read word for word for errors. Somehow, when a manuscript is put into book form, all sorts of things can go haywire. A paragraph indent might disappear. Two words could run together.The worst I ever experienced was in my first book with Dreamspell. All the quotes in the center of the book were turned backwards. We fixed it, but the process was tedious. Then, there are tiny mistakes you missed in the first edition which is just plain embarrassing. How both myself and an editor could read the book at least four times and not see them, I do not know, but they are always there.

Cover art does not travel with the book, but is redone unless the original artist is paid for its reuse. All mine received new covers which meant I had to fill in numerous forms describing the hero, heroine, the location, etc. for each book. The back cover blurb must be rewritten and sometimes, the author is asked to gather quotes of praise from other authors and reviews. This is highly time consuming--and frankly, I never rely on those quotes or even read them in other books.Regardless, I think the Wild Rose artists did a great job on my books. Sorry to those of you who miss seeing Joe Dean shirtless.

The Sinners reprints came out one a month for four months which meant I had to publicize each one as it appeared and order new promotional items with the current covers. Thankfully, Amazon retained my reviews and switched the covers with no special requests from me. But, I did get more forms to fill in from the Wild Rose PR people listing my favorite scene, quotes, and interesting things about me for their own efforts. I do this blog, am on FaceBook, but don't Tweet. They tweet for me, thank heaven! Anyhow, the work load was tremendous, even more so considering I had three new books coming out at the same time, the new Roses cowboy series, and the stand-alone A Trashy Affair.

 Time to write during these months: zero. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever finish a Regency I started last September. Especially since the next Roses book, Always Yellow Roses is now in edits and another book edited but never released by Dreamspell, Courir de Mardi Gras, is the next to be offered for contract.  Meanwhile, the next Sinners book is simmering on the back burner of my mind. I have a title, Son of a Sinner and a half-cooked plot so far. Am I complaining? Not at all. It means everything to have my books back in print again.