With: Lizbeth Selvig
Congratulations to "Colleen C.", the winner in Lizbeth's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!
Think of the most
beautiful animal you can and chances are it’s one of nature’s elegant or agile
creatures with memorable, lush coloring and a luxurious, unforgettable
tail: a leopard, lion, monkey, lemur,
panther, or even a strong, brilliant dolphin with its skillful, long-bodied
flipper. These animals are not only beautiful and memorable, they are
long-lived and at the top of the food chain. In other words, they stand out.
Did you know that books
can have long tails, too? In the publishing world, the life of a book weeks and
months after its release is known as its tail and the longer it is, the more
people remember the story or discover it as a new book long after it first
appeared. I.e., it stays at the top of its literary food chain!
Needless to say, authors
dream of long tails, and the best publishers, large or small, care deeply about
creating a long tail for their books because it affects bottom lines.
One of the most amazing
and exciting things about the publishing business today is the way authors can
help create long tails for their books all on their own. Between e-books and
indie publishing, stories can live for a very long time—much longer than the
“olden days” when a book was available for readers only as long as it stayed on
the shelf in a book store.
Thanks to online book
retailers, readers can easily find an author’s backlist—or most of it—and even
an older book is always new to a new reader. It’s positively exciting.
I’m going through all this
because, while I’m thrilled with my current series—Seven Brides for SevenCowboys (which features six sisters and their long lost cousin who learn they
have inherited their family’s fifty-acre ranch in Wyoming and must figure out a
way to save it, or lose it—and I hope you’ll go and discover it!) I’m really
excited that my current publisher, Avon, has re-released one of my older books
into some retail outlets this month, giving it new life—a longer tail!
The book is “Rescued by a Stranger” and it’s one of my favorite stories from my very first series set in
the fictional small town of Kennison Falls, Minnesota. I LOVE this series
because it stars my home state, it features my very favorite, unique and quirky
secondary characters, and I have never fallen out of love with my four heroes
from the four books.
“Rescued by a Stranger” is
the story of Chase Carpenter, who winds his way to Minnesota from Memphis and a
life and a tragedy he’s trying to escape. When he meets Jill Carpenter he finds
a strong, smart, talented veterinary student who has her own life decisions to
make. In addition to being a gifted future vet, Jill also has Olympic
Equestrian Team potential. But in order to ride in the big time, she’d have to
give up her life in Kennison Falls. With Chase there is an age gap, only a
short summer for them to be together and, most concerning, a huge secret she knows
he’s keeping but can’t get him to divulge. What makes things difficult is the mega-watt
attraction between them and, as the summer goes on, Jill’s discovery of more
and more reasons to make Chase a huge part of her life and the decision she
eventually makes.
In this book, along with
Chase and Jill’s chemistry, there’s a crotchety but loveable old farmer, a
conniving sister, and a dog who may just be part angel. I love these people and
their animals like they were part of my own family.
You don’t have to go to a
store to find “Rescued by a Stranger.” You can find it right online in either
paperback or e-book, along with the rest of the series. And I’m as excited to
tell you about it now as I was when it first released. I would love for you to
check it out—give it’s long tail even more length.
And when you do, I invite
you to take a look at the rest of the series, too: “The Rancher and the Rock Star,” “Beauty andthe Brit,” and “Good Guys Wear Black.”
You’ll find that the books follow each other and yet stand alone as well—and
some of them are even on sale for a short time.
Giveaway:
So, that’s the beauty of
the long tail for authors in a nutshell. To celebrate, I’d love to send one
commenter a paperback copy of “Rescued by a Stranger.” Just tell me if there’s
any author you’ve discovered from one of his or her backlist books. Whose “long
tail” have you helped to create?
I wish you all happy
reading—and many new, wonderful reads—even if they aren’t actually new books!
Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST June 30th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.
Hi Lizbeth, glad to hear Rescued by A Stranger is being re-released and getting a long tail :) I think I would have to say it was Tessa Dare and her Spindle Cove series. I found a copy of the second book in the series at my library and it intrigued me enough to go get her first book and now I absolutely adore that series and grab anything of hers I can find!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Ada
Hi Ada! :-D
DeleteI love Tessa Dare, too. And, what's cool, is that I discovered her through the Spindle Cove series just like you did! Plus--she's a super awesome lady, so you have good taste all around!
Congrats on your continued success....it must be really exciting to see people discovering your older work for the first time. I remember picking up one of Karen Marie Monings highlander series books, loving it and then being so excited to discover there were more before and after the story I read. It's always fun to discover a new favourite.
ReplyDeleteGoldgirl149 at hotmail dot com
Hey Laura! Karen Marie Moning is another amazing author. What a treasure to find her books like you did. Thanks so much for sharing that--it makes me want to go pick up those books again :-) And thanks for being here today, too!!
DeleteOh goodness, I'm new to the romance genre so I've discovered almost everyone through their backlist. In particular though, I adore Donna Grant's and Lisa Kleypas' backlists. Donna Grant's current releases are all set in the same world as her backlist so it was fun catching up and having the anticipation of new releases all with one author. And oh Lisa Kleypas...she writes some of the best heroes. I'm still working my way through her older books but all of them a gems!
ReplyDeleteHi You! I love this--you're just the kind of wonderful romance reader we all adore. So excited and enthusiastic. AND you do those wonderful playlists ;-) I adore Lisa Kleypas and, since I'm a contemporary girl, I love her contemporaries almost more than her classic classy historicals! So glad you stopped by today!
DeleteI love finding an older book and getting hooked on an author's work... the most recent for me would be Laura Griffin!
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen! Yup--exactly. You've found the secret. And I admit I know Laura's name and work but have yet to read her. So--with your endorsement I'll have to go grab one of hers!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deletecan't think of any
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Congratulations on re-release :)
ReplyDeleteSherrilyn Kenyon :)
bubacka07(at)outlook(dot)com
Hi Bube! Glad to see you here. Sherrilyn Kenyon! What an amazing backlist to start with :-) She's amazing.
DeleteI've been more a genre which is JAFF. One of the books I read and reviewed Miss Darcy's Companion by Joana Starnes, which came out on 5/12 is still in the Top 100 in 3 different categories in the Kindle Store. I think that's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteacatlover2003(at)gmail(dot)com