Tag: publishing

Hooch and Howls Preorder Is Up!

Posted on by karennacolcroft

On Leap Day, I put my historical M/M/M novella up for preorder! Hooch and Howls was originally published in 2012. When I looked through it with an eye toward rereleasing, I came across one scene that completely made me cringe. The original concept of the story was that the werewolf, Malachi Powers, was affected overly strongly by even the smell of alcohol, with the result that he joined in on sex with two humans without their consent. As originally written, consent was given retroactively (the humans said they were fine with what had happened), but given that I wanted Malachi to be a *heroic* character since he appears in the next Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat novel and is being spun off into his own novel and possibly series, I couldn’t leave that scene as written.

So for the rerelease, I did some major rewrites of that scene. While Malachi is still affected by the fumes of the hooch the humans spill, and he is admittedly spying on them when they start their sexual encounter, he quickly realizes he shouldn’t be there. And the humans *explicitly* call to him and invite him to join them before he does anything.

The rest of the book has been revised and re-edited, and it will be released wide on March 14 in digital versions. I’m also doing a paperback version of it because I like having physical books. You can find your retailer and preorder your copy at my universal book link. And here’s the cover!

My Next Releases

Posted on by karennacolcroft

Last week, I blogged about the book I was worried I wouldn’t be able to rewrite in time to release it in May.

I’m not quite sure how I pulled it off, but I did the necessary rewrites in one DAY this past week. An 11-hour day, but still, one day. So May’s release will be, as originally planned, A Fighting Chance, the follow-up to Chance Met. I need to do another round or two of editing on that book before it’s completely ready, but now I know I’ll be able to accomplish it.

Before that, on March 14, I’ll be rereleasing my novella Hooch and Howls, with some rewrites from the original version that was published in 2012. That will be up for Kindle preorder on February 29, and I’ll be sharing the cover art then.

In July, I’ll be releasing Take Some Tahini (Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat 6).

And in September, I’ll be rereleasing Dawn Over Dayfield, a suspense-with-romantic-elements novel originally published in 2016.

I’m planning to have a holiday story ready in November, but I haven’t completely planned that one yet.

Beyond that, I’m not stating definite plans yet, just in case things change. For 2025, I’m not entirely certain whether I’ll have 4 or 6 releases (or maybe just 5) in 2025, but I have a little while to figure that out.

Release Schedule Changes

Posted on by karennacolcroft

I’m still fine-tuning things. The advantage of being a self-published author is the flexibility to change my release schedule as needed. The disadvantage of being a self-published author is that I’m the one who has to make those changes.

Hooch and Howls will be out on March 14, as previously announced. That book is nearly ready to go; another round of proofreading and the cover, and it will be complete. I’ll be putting it up for Kindle preorder on February 29, and it will be released wide on March 14 (meaning it will not be available through Kindle Unlimited).

Take Some Tahini (Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat 6) will be out on July 11, as previously announced. I’m working on edits for that one, but I’m confident it will be complete and ready to go in time for Kindle preorder on June 27 and release on July 11. (I have not yet decided whether it will be in Kindle Unlimited for 90 days, as I did with Tempeh for Two, or just go wide off the bat; stay tuned for more on that.)

On May 9… I’m not sure. Originally, that was going to be Hooch and Howls, and my novel A Fighting Chance (a follow-up to Chance Met) was supposed to be the March 14 release. I flipped those two because Hooch was closer to being ready than A Fighting Chance. I figured I could easily get Fighting ready for May.

That was until I got the notes back from my beta reader. I had known *something* was not working with Fighting, but I couldn’t figure out where the problems were. My beta reader pointed all of the issues out to me, which I greatly appreciate. With her notes, I can see exactly what she’s talking about, and now I understand why the story wasn’t resonating for me.

But… I am not completely sure I’ll be able to fix those problems in time for a May release of this book. And to be honest, between the depth of the issues and the fact that it’s a follow-up to a book that was released a year ago, I’m starting to wonder if I actually *want* to fix those problems and release this book.

When I was working on Chance Met in early 2023, I realized that expanding that book was going to take longer than I’d anticipated, especially since at the time, I was also dealing with the immediate aftermath of my mother’s passing and trying to help my dad cope with paperwork, cleaning out the house, and so on. I completely changed my 2023 release schedule with very little notice to readers, because there wasn’t much else I could do. And at the time, I committed to only stating my release schedule 6 months in advance. I thought that would give me enough time to solidify things while making it easier for me to tweak and change the schedule without having to backtrack on releases I’d already announced.

But this time, because of the need for more extensive rewrites on A Fighting Chance, I’m going to have to say “Please stay tuned.” The March and July releases for 2024 are definite. I have plans for September’s release. But for the time being, I’m going to have to start working on A Fighting Chance and see whether I can actually regain my joy with this story and whether I’m capable of getting it ready for May 9. I will know for certain what May’s release will be by the time I release Hooch and Howls.

Meanwhile, I’m going to spend part of today working on the Hooch and Howls cover art and giving myself compassion for the need to change… because change happens sometimes.

Tiny Book

Posted on by karennacolcroft

As previously announced, on March 14, I will be rereleasing my novella Hooch and Howls. This is a historical M/M/M novella, set against the backdrop of the rumrunning trade in 1930 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I’ve done some heavy rewrites on part of the story, and some minor revising and re-editing on the rest.

Because this is a novella, not a novel, I was planning to release it only in digital formats. But… I like having *physical* copies of my books. I’ve tried reading on Kindle (and I’ve had three different kinds of Kindle devices over the years), and it makes my eyes do weird things. Plus I can’t flip back and forth through the pages, and…well, I like holding a book, not an electronic device, in my hands.

So I’m considering–strongly–doing a paperback version of Hooch and Howls as well. I’m sure some people wouldn’t want it, and that’s fine, but *I* want it. I want to have a physical copy of the book to hold in my hands.

Do you prefer ebooks or physical books? Or do you have a preference?

I Have a Migraine…

Posted on by karennacolcroft

I was going to write something profound-ish, or at least interesting, but I have a migraine and can’t think about anything other than the funny jagged colors dancing in front of my eyes. So instead, I’m sharing this picture  of all of the books I’ve self-published, as Karenna Colcroft and under other names, since May 2021. Lex Valentine did the covers for Salad on the Side, Alpha Receptor, and Messages from Shiva vol. 1; I did the others.

 

Going “Wide”

Posted on by karennacolcroft

I posted several weeks ago about why my books are currently only available through Amazon. However, that will be changing in 2024.

Amazon has a subscription service called Kindle Unlimited, which allows people to pay a monthly cost and access a large number of Kindle books that they can read; those books are removed from their device after a certain amount of time, if I’ve understood correctly. This enables people who can’t necessarily afford to buy every single book they want to read, to be able to read the books they want. For a book to be included in Kindle Unlimited, it must be exclusive to Amazon, meaning that the *digital* version of the book cannot be available anywhere else, including as a giveaway (again, as I understand it, though I might be wrong about that). The print version can be available through other sales or giveaway channels, because Kindle Unlimited only deals with e-books.

When I started self-publishing my books in spring 2022, I chose to go Amazon exclusive because I wanted my books to be available through Kindle Unlimited. I knew authors who were making the bulk of their income through “page reads” in KU, and as someone who myself can’t afford to buy all the books I want, I thought it would be good to make them available to my readers who might not be able to buy my books.

However, Amazon keeps changing the rules for how they pay authors for Kindle Unlimited page reads. They’ve also made the decision to allow AI-generated books, which not only will flood the market (further reducing the amount that authors receive) but also is problematic because of how artificial intelligence is trained. Generative AI, the programs people use to “create” art, books, etc., is trained through use of existing art and books–for which the human creators of those things are NOT asked for permission and receive no compensation. One of my young adult novels has been essentially stolen to train AI to “create,” and I only knew about it because someone spotted it on a list and informed me. (I’m not going to get into all the problems with AI. Nor am I going to respond to people who say “But some of us need AI!” AI does have its place.. but that place should not be stealing the work of human creators in order to enable machines to “create” things. You can Google if you want more info about this, or check out authors like Lori Gallagher Witt who are talking more extensively about it.)

Because of those issues, I’ve made the decision that beginning in 2024, I will be pulling my books out of Kindle Unlimited as their terms expire (KU books are signed up for 90 days at a time, which automatically renews unless we opt out). I will also be releasing some short stories and shorter novellas in addition to the novels I’m planning to release in 2024, and that will start in a couple of weeks with a Christmas short story, “Christmas Eve Snow,” which will be released wide. (This story is also an alternate gift to those who subscribe to my newsletter; details are on the https://karennacolcroft.com/get-your-free-story/ page.)

Due to when the expiration dates fall, some of the Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat books will still be in Kindle Unlimited when I release Tempeh for Two in January. Because of that, I will be releasing Tempeh for Two as an Amazon exclusive (and available in Kindle Unlimited) for the first 90 days of its existence; it will be available wide in April, and between February and April the rest of the books in that series will also be going wide. Beginning with my April 2024 release, which currently is slated to be the sequel to Chance Met, all books will be released wide; none will be available through Kindle Unlimited at any point. (As with everything I determine about my writing, this decision is subject to change, so stay tuned for updates.)

I still believe Kindle Unlimited is a great service for readers. But it’s no longer such a great thing for authors.