Tag Archives: Kindle Unlimited

Publishing timeline, KU, and other updates

Things have been hectic for me lately. Both of my sons have had some rare/unusual health problems, and my oldest spent several days in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. It was a similar issue to what happened to him last September when a virus triggered rhabdomyolysis (mentioned in this post), but it hit him even harder this time even though it was only a cold. I detailed what has been going on to my Facebook fan group if you’re interested in finding out more. We have begun to recover from that (the adults in the family got sick right after the boys began getting better and it was brutal on us too), but at least I can start catching up on author-related matters again.

The health issues did set me back a few weeks on my writing/book release schedule. I’d hoped to have Cast by Flames out by the end of July, but it’s now looking like mid-October (updated). Sorry for the delay, but I’ll be working hard to get it done and out to you all. After that, I’ll begin work on the Galadon novel with the hope of releasing it early 2024.

Kindle Unlimited News

I originally planned to pull the Dragon’s Breath Series from Kindle Unlimited early next month when the current 90-day term expires. Having said that, in recent weeks the ebooks have been getting borrowed and read at an increased rate that makes me hesitate to pull them. I’d hate to catch people in the middle of the series and cause them to be unable to borrow the rest, so I may leave the ebooks in the program for the rest of the year. The series would have gone back to KU around the time Cast by Flames released anyway.

Also, I am considering putting the Sensor Series in Kindle Unlimited for the very first time. Sales have slowed down for those books on the other retailers, so it would be a good chance to let readers try it in KU. This is also in anticipation of my returning to that universe next year (after I’m done with the Dragon’s Breath books, of course) when I begin work on a fresh spin-off series with Kerbasi and an all-new heroine.

For those of you who haven’t tried the Sensor Series and have no idea who Kerbasi is, let’s just say he’s the super powerful antihero who you fantasize about murdering in terrible ways only to find him growing on you later down the line. I continue to have readers email me about him getting his own books, and I’ve been brainstorming how to make them work best for a while now. I’ll post more on that early next week. For now, I’ll probably start moving the Sensor novels and novellas over to KU in late May or early June. I’ll let you all know for sure soon.

Really excited about the ideas percolating in my head and all the writing to come. Feel free to let me know your thoughts!

The Dragon’s Breath Series is in Kindle Unlimited!

Writing and publishing updates for September 2022

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I’ve got a few news items for you all. Mostly, it relates to the Dragon’s Breath Series, but also a side note about the Sensor Series.

First, Stalked by Flames is no longer free and back to its regular price. I hope everyone who wanted a copy managed to grab it over the last few weeks. In the coming days, I am going to start pulling the Dragon’s Breath Series off of the other retailers so I can start enrolling the eBooks in Kindle Unlimited. This is going to happen one at a time, so those who are still working their way through the series from Nook, Kobo, etc have a reasonable chance to get the next installments before they’re gone. After that, the series will only be available on Amazon. I know times are tough right now, and for some readers, it’s easier to borrow books.

For those who have already read Captured in Flames, I’m sure you’d like an estimated release date. I’m shooting to have Torn in Flames out by Christmas, but I won’t say for certain until I’m farther along in the book. I know many of you are itching to find out what occurs next, though, so I have posted the first two chapters (almost 10k words) on another page on this site. You can read them here. I’m working on the novel every chance I get because I definitely don’t want the wait to be long for this one!

Also in regards to that, Torn in Flames is the sixth installment and then there will be one more afterward to wrap up Bailey and Aidan’s story (making the total seven). I plan to do a spin-off with Galadon as well once the main series is complete. His will be more romance focused, but still plenty of action. If all goes well, book 7 and his novel will come out next year (2023).

As for the Sensor Series, some people have been asking if I’m totally done with it. Obviously, I’ve had a lot of other things going on with my life and needed to wrap up the Dragon’s Breath Series first before considering anything else. Having said that, I’m still wanting to do at least one book with Kerbasi because he’s fun and the most requested. Please let me know your thoughts.

Kindle Unlimited?

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The author community is buzzing with the latest news about Kindle Unlimited (KU). A $9.99 a month program Amazon released a few days ago where readers can borrow an unlimited number of ebooks (though they can only keep ten at a time).

From a reader’s standpoint it’s not a bad deal. It gives them the opportunity to try out books they might not have otherwise and if they don’t like them? They can return them, never to see those works muddy their Kindle again. If they do like them, they may even go on to pick up more from the author. Amazon has managed to include some well-known titles in an effort to expand the selection (currently at 600,000) and tempt readers into giving the program a chance. Having said that, you’ll still find more than a few favorites not available.

For independent authors, there is a good reason their books may not be there. Most self-published novels (with a few exceptions) are required to be exclusive to Amazon if they want their book in KU. What exactly does that mean? An author must pull their participating ebooks from all other retailers so that the only place they can be found is Amazon. For some writers this isn’t a big deal, but for others it is asking a lot.

There is also the question of how much an author can earn within the program. As it stands now, a short story will earn the same as a full-length novel for each borrow. No one is quite sure how much that will be, but estimates are as low as 30 cents a download (after the reader passes the first ten percent of the book). This gives less incentive for authors to put their longer works into the pool. In fact, it may give rise to a greater number of serial books where it would require more downloads to get the entire story, thereby earning the author more money.

I know some of you may choose to sign up for KU and I do think that’s great. Heck, I’ve considered it myself as a reader and may give it a shot. For now, though, I won’t be putting any of my own books into the program. There seems to be a lot of kinks that still need to be worked out and I’m not interested in limiting my work to just one retailer. I do have fans who prefer Nook, Kobo, or iTunes and I don’t want to force them to make a decision as to how to obtain my books…or not.

How things play out in the future I cannot say. I might write a stand-alone novel that I feel is a good fit for KU or I might experiment on something with other urban fantasy authors for a different kind of work. But for the Sensor Series (and any of the shorter spin-offs), it’s going to be staying out unless some of my concerns are alleviated. Particularly the exclusivity factor.

I hope that this doesn’t inconvenience any Amazon readers who decide to try KU and that they will continue to pick up the Sensor books as they release. If you’ve got your own thoughts on the new program, feel free to leave a comment below. I am curious to hear what others think.