Spacing Releases—to Keep Readers Hooked

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In my last post, I talked about production time for self-publishing and traditional publishing and how much shorter the lead-time for self-publishing is.  Basically, you have the ability to publish a book quickly once you’ve got a finished product.

But how often should we release books in our series?  How far apart is too far?  Can books be released too close together?

Paul Anthony Shortt commented on a post recently that he thought the studio behind the  Lord of the Rings trilogy had done an especially good job pacing releases.  Even though they might have had a film ready to go earlier, they released a movie every year at about the same time.  Paul remarked that this seemed to increase filmgoers’ anticipation for the next movie.

I think a book a year, per series, can definitely work.  That’s what my publisher seems to prefer for releases.  My Southern Quilting mystery series is set for a yearly release from 2012 through 2014.  But—there’s also the need for longer production time that plays into this decision.

But I will note that for my other traditionally published series, (the Memphis Barbeque series) the strongest seller seems to have been the book that released five months after the previous release.  I think all the characters and the setting were fresh in readers’ minds and they saw there was a new release…and they bought it.

So there’s something to be said for a release in a series every 6 months, too.  But can too many releases get too overwhelming or lessen the anticipation for the next book?  Can readers get fatigued with our series?  Can we glut the market with our books?

So these are my pros and cons for a book every 6 months:

Pros:
The previous book is still fresh in readers’ minds.
Your name/the series name is still fresh in readers’ minds.
If you’re writing a continuing series (a real serial, instead of each book in the series acting as a standalone), then readers will be excited to see where the story picked up.
Seems to spike sales for the previous books in the sales.

Cons:
Deadline pressure for writers (unless they already have backlist books or trunk books)
Readers might lose interest if the books seem to come out all the time…decreases the “specialness” of each book.
Possible difficulty sustaining series quality
Might have to juggle your promo and writing at one time.

Yearly releases:

Pros: 
Less deadline pressure for writers
Potential for developing additional anticipation from readers/hype
Easier to maintain series quality
Easier to write books for more than one series in a year

Cons:
Could a yearly release make it easier for readers to forget us? 

Of course, I’m thinking all these things through in a rational way and realizing how organized this type of regular production schedule for self-publishing can be—and then I do exactly the opposite.  :)  Right now, I’m having to squeeze in my own projects in between my traditionally published projects (and, obviously, the traditional projects have got to come first…I’ve already been paid in advance for those.) So my self-pub schedule has been very erratic so far.  I launched two books in 2011 a few months apart—one was backlist, one was written for a publisher but they didn’t buy it.  Then I was finally able to write another book in the series in July/August and released it last month.

In retrospect, I’m thinking it would have been smart to sit on one of those books that I released three months after the previous one.  To build it up a little more steadily.  So instead of releasing the book in November following the previous book’s August release, maybe I should have waited until February.   Then I had a traditionally published June release and would have had my late-October release.  That probably would have been perfect.

So far, the biggest spike in my self-pub sales has been after either a traditional novel or a self-pub novel releases.  So that makes me think that regular releases, whether traditional or self-pub, can be important to drive sales.

We might also want to consider the time of year we're planning to release our book.  Before Christmas (October, November,  early December) is clearly a good shopping time.  But what about January?  What about all the people who got Kindles in their stockings? Summer can be dead…but people also buy beach books in the summer.

What are your thoughts on spacing book releases and the best time of year to launch a book?

Image:  Morguefile: Rezdora70

Traditionally Published Titles and Rights

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I wanted to touch on a topic today that not everyone is going to relate to, but one which I think is important—self publishing backlists or restarting discontinued series.

I have one traditionally-published book that was contracted before I got an agent. I negotiated that contract myself. And negotiated it poorly, no doubt, because I ended up with a one book deal….as opposed to my two series with Penguin, where I had three book deals at the get-go.

At any rate, that was Pretty is as Pretty Dies. When the publisher decided not to sign me for more books (early 2010), we parted on good terms. I still had readers for the series, who were emailing me quite a bit to ask about the next book. I wasn't sure what to do.

My agent for my other series suggested that I shop the series out with either Penguin, who’d previously been interested in it, or St. Martin’s…meaning, of course, that she’d represent me and get a cut if we went in that direction. But to me, I was already working on other series and didn’t want the hassle of shopping it out and the delay of another contract and the back-and-forth, drawn-out nature of negotiations. On top of that, there would also be production time—it would just take forever.

So I did nothing. :)

Toward the end of 2010, the self-pub buzz was really growing and I started considering taking the series directly to e-reader. It took a while for me to make that decision….probably six months.

One of the reasons I was nervous about it was that I wasn’t sure how to get my rights to the characters back. Or when those rights reverted to me. My agent hadn’t worked with me on that book, so I couldn't consult with her, and I’m not great with legalities or contracts. I read my contract a few times and made some sense out of it….but not a whole lot.

So I finally, in March 2011, wrote a very simple email to Midnight Ink….along these lines:

I'm writing to confirm that my rights to the character of Myrtle Clover have reverted back to me, as the author. Midnight Ink published Pretty is as Pretty Dies, a Myrtle Clover novel, in 2009. A sequel was offered to the editorial staff in early 2010 and was rejected, about a year ago. I'm now interested in taking the previously unpublished sequel directly to Kindle instead of shopping it to another publisher, and wanted to confirm that's not a problem for Midnight Ink.

Actually, that’s the exact email I sent to them. This is what I heard back:

Your question regarding the follow-up to PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DIES and the status of rights was forwarded to me.

You are correct regarding your right to take the sequel title directly to Kindle yourself. You have that right based on our decision not to publish it under the Midnight Ink imprint.

We wish you good success with the book on Kindle or even with another publisher.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

That was directly from the publisher, Mr. Krause, himself (one nice thing about working with a mid-sized publisher.) :)

This process was resolved in the same day. There was no need for me to have put it off the way I did.

Then it was just a matter of hiring an editor, finding a cover designer, and getting someone to format the book for the different ereaders. I also bought ISBNs from Bowker, simply because I’m old-fashioned. Who knows if that will end up being the right thing to have done?

The two books that I’ve put up on Kindle have sold well for me and resulted in thousands of dollars of income that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. Yes, y’all, it’s worth the trouble and handwringing and inconvenience to get a backlist up there or to get an unpublished title from a suddenly-canceled series up there.

Last week I got another email from Midnight Ink that the print rights for Pretty are reverting back to me, since the book will go out of print. They made sure to let me know they’re holding onto the ebook rights for that title, though. So make sure you know what you’re receiving when you get a letter or email from your publisher.

This is the notification I got on that reversion (and the exclusions for the rights reversion are pretty clear):

Midnight Ink hereby returns all international and domestic rights to you to the above named title with the following exceptions:

Ebook

English large print rights (domestic and international)

Note that this rights return does NOT include rights to the covers, interior or exterior artwork. Nor does it include typography or electronic files.

When I procrastinate, as I’ve mentioned before on the blog, it’s usually a clear sign that I’m not sure how to proceed.

But that’s okay. If we think through the steps we need to take, making progress a little at a time, then we just check off the items on our list as we work through them.

The main point of this post is….if you aren’t sure about your rights, just ask. Don’t let this hold you back from taking the next step of self-publishing. Either contact the publisher directly, as I did, or an intellectual property lawyer. It’s not that much trouble and you can continue your series, self-publish your backlist, and increase your income.

And make your readers happy. I’ve heard from quite a few that have been delighted that the series is continuing.

Have you considered self-publishing old titles? Or self-publishing in general? Is there a pattern to your procrastinating? How do you work through handling a big project (like self-publishing a backlist or continuing a discontinued series)?