It’s one of those… it’s decision time…points in my career.

Writing is full of them.  Many of these decisions suck.  The ones I’m making right now aren’t fun, but they have to be made.

Namely… about Grimm & the FBI books.

I’m probably going to be putting the Grimm series to bed.  When I have time in my schedule, I’ll write Will & Mandy’s story, but that’s probably going to be it.

The FBI series may be either over, or pushed to the side for the foreseeable future.

The Grimm series, as much as I love it, and I do love it… I have more fun with that series than any other one out there, save for the Kit books, but the books barely scrape by.  For some reason, it’s just never caught on well.

The FBI books are just slowly going…pffft.  I may not be shelving that one yet.  I’ll see how things go with the releases of The Unwanted and The Protected, but The Reunited and The Departed, two of the better books I’ve written just didn’t do all that well.  When you put your heart and soul into a book and the sales just aren’t there…sometimes it’s a good idea to move onto while you can.

I know ‘numbers’ aren’t a reader concern, but they have to be a concern for the writer.  As I’ve said when talking about the Hunters books…

In the end, I had to make a hard decision.  Writing can be full of them.  A writer’s daily life is all about the words…but in our business lives, if we don’t focus on something else…numbers and sales, we can end up being one of the writers who don’t keep writing for a living.

Since I kind of like what I do, and since my family kind of needs me to keep working…well, in the end, I knew what the right decision was, even though it wasn’t an easy one.

Does this mean I’m absolutely shelving these two series?

As far as the FBI books go?  Nah, not absolutely.  The Unwanted is a novella coming out from Samhain, an experiment of sorts.  It’s going to have a lower price and maybe that will appeal more.  If it goes over well, maybe it will just work better in that format.  It will require those who like print to wait longer to get the books, and I’m sorry for that, but sometimes you have to make those hard choices. I’m a prolific writer, but that doesn’t translate to high-selling.  It just means I write a lot.  People have heard of me, but hearing of me doesn’t mean they’ve tried me and some of the series that just aren’t catching on, well, it’s coming down to decision time.  Either they catch on, or I let them go.

I’ve got a few options with the FBI books, so I want to try those out.  But I don’t see that many options with the Grimm. I’m going to be honest, I’ll probably wind that series up soon. If something wild and crazy hits me for Rob or Finn, I may write those later down the road, but I’m not counting on it.

Those who enjoy the series, if you want to help keep them going, the best thing you can do, as I discussed yesterday… word of mouth & reviews.  Those reviews key into that discoverability thing and without that discoverability factor, it makes it harder for people unfamiliar with my work to find my books on retailer sites, namely Amazon and BN.

I won’t be making a hard and fast decision on the FBI books until I see how The Unwanted goes.  Maybe it will turn around.

Tomorrow…I have slightly better news.

I had a reader ask me why the Amazon & BN reviews matter… 

I’ve noticed you’ve been pushing for more reviews…the book club thing and periodic requests for reviews, etc on twitter, FB.  I don’t ever pay attention to them.  I ask friends or go to blogs.  Store reviews just don’t matter to me.  What’s the big deal?

Well, bottom line… they are a very big deal.

I can’t claim a lot of hard knowledge on this but these are some of the things I’ve discovered with selfpublishing.  The number of reviews I received on Blade Song helped get me some of the ‘promo’ deals, like the daily deals, which actually benefits readers, too.

But again, this is just stuff that’s either been my experience or things I’ve learned in workshops, etc.  None of this has come straight from the horse’s (Amazon/BN’s) mouth.

Reviews at Amazon and BN add up to two key things:

• ‘discoverability’
• ‘promo’ offerings from online retailers offer (sales, etc)

So what’s with the ‘promo’ thing and what does that matter?

The promo thing translates to sales…and who doesn’t like sales, right?

X number of reviews can lead to things like

• ‘daily deals’
• ‘gold box’
• other stuff

 Reviews alone aren’t going to get the daily deals, gold box deals, etc.  The majority of the reviews need to be positive.  Your pub has to push for the deal, there’s wrangling and hassling, etc.  I didn’t do any of it to get the daily deal… Inscribe did it all for.

But it’s not just the promo thing.  Increased reviews leads to increased discoverability.  You show up in search results more…people who looked at this also looked at…etc, I think.

If people aren’t seeing your book, they can’t buy your book.

Once you hit X amount of reviews on Amazon (and I think BN), you move into a different ‘algorithm’ which means your books show up more on book searches.  When your books pop up, more people see them.  If your books aren’t popping up a lot, then people can’t see them to buy them.  Decreased book sales will eventually lead to your publisher deciding not to renew your contracts…and that leads to canceled series.  Which has happened to me twice.

Yes, the readers looking for you will find you, but the casual buyer?  Not so much.  The browsing days in a bookstore are fading so the discoverability factor for online shoppers is becoming crucial.

The market is getting tough and yes, reviews are important, more now than ever.  You don’t have to be a professional reviewer… just say…hey, I liked this book and here is why.  Or even…this book didn’t appeal as much…and this is why.  I don’t want to be that author who is constantly begging for reviews, but if you enjoy a book of mine, if you feel inclined to leave a review, posting it to Amazon or BN is a huge help and I very much appreciate it.  :)

Updated to add… I have a group who is doing the group read picked out.  Thanks for the interest!  Please note, I am very limited on the print titles I receive from Samhain and the most I can send out for this one is 5-6 so it made picking rather difficult this time…thanks for the interest and I’ll be doing another one soon.

So this is a small-ish sort… I’m looking for 5-ish people who are into print books to review and talk up this one.

Sometimes a second chance is all you need…

Playing for Keeps
Jacob McCoy and Dana Cochran have known each other for years, but the timing has just never been right. Then she invites him over to play with her and Mason Caldwell…and things get complicated.

Jacob loves Dana so much that he’s even willing to share her with Mason. But a red-hot threesome isn’t all that he wants from her.

When tragedy strikes their fledging relationship, Jacob has to convince Dana that pushing him away isn’t the answer. He wants to be in her life forever. And some things are worth fighting for.

A Forever Kind of Love
Chase and Zoe were the high school golden couple, but Chase couldn’t resist the urge to experience life outside their small town. Now that he’s back, it’s no big surprise she’s married. The kick in the face is she married his best friend.

Zoe has filed those bittersweet memories with Chase under “moved on.”She loves her life, and Chase keeps an honorable distance. When the horribly unexpected occurs, Chase doesn’t expect her to fall into his arms. But he never expected that this time, she’d be the one hitting the road.

Warning: Contains enough emotion to have you reaching for the Kleenex, and love scenes hot enough to have you reaching for a cold drink.

these are two ebooks that have been published and combined together for a print anthology.

I’m looking for maybe a small book club, five members, because I only receive a small amount of books from Samhain, so my supply is limited and since this is a print compiliation, there’s not a finished ebook of these two…plus, well, I want to pimp this book as a whole.  Because guys,  this book is beautiful.

I’m not just talking the cover, but the cover’s finish.  The book feels like velvet.  My guy is in the printing industry and he says they put a matte finish on it.  I don’t know. I think it’s brushed velvet or something, but it’s amazing.

So… anybody in a small book club and maybe wanna make this a summer read?  If you’re curious what this is about, just click on this button.

please note…this isn’t a contest.  I’m offering to sponsor a book club in exchange for word of mouth, etc.

If you’re interested, please leave your name below or contact me at shilohwalker2011 at gmail.com

Winners from the Deadly Desires Giveaway…

Michelle Wilson (wins book)

Viki Sloboda (wins book)

Danielle E Tweet (wins book)

Krystle Watts (wins the GC)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ladies, if you can email me the following info…

• the email you would have used to enter the contest (verification-I’ve had confusion with two Jills/Marys/Sues claiming the same prizes, etc, so I need that email)
• if you won a book, please give me the email to send the book to
• the format you prefer.

Krystle, I need to know which email you use for claiming GCs, and which store, Amazon or BN.

send the info to shilohwalker2011 at gmail.com. You’ll get an auto-reply…I’m traveling some still through mid June so that’s just so I’m not overwhelming dealing with travel, work and trying to stay on top of email.

Make sure you give me the above info so I can get you your prizes ASAP.  Per my disclaimer, people have 2 weeks from today to claim their prizes.

thanks for playing!

Today’s Saturday Snippet…the theme?

You were always on my mind.  And Vaughnne is on Gus’s mind.  A lot.

read more here…coming in Sept.

~*~

He’s too young for the burden he’s bearing…

Fuck.

Did she think he didn’t know that already?

He shoved a hand through his hair, knocking his ballcap off in the process.  He hurled it to the floorboard and turned his head, staring outside as the landscape zipped by.

The view is nice…

Innocuous words.

But what she’d pushed inside his mind…

Damn it.  He did not need that inside him just then.  The knowledge that she felt the same heat he’d felt.  No.  He didn’t need that all, yet at the same time, part of him…

Part of him wanted to grab her, haul her into his lap and just…feel.  Give into what he had inside him, what she obviously had inside her.  Skim his hands up that long, slender back and tangle them in her hair as he feasted on her mouth.

That greedy, selfish part wanted to strip her naked and ride her until the both of them were too drained to even move. That part of him knew just how long it had been since he had a woman, touched a woman, kissed a woman…wanted a woman.  How long it had been since his life revolved around anything beyond watching over Alex, nights spent pacing the house as he fought to make sure the boy was safe, hours spent watching over him.

That part of him wanted to touch her.  That part of him wanted glide his hand through her hair and draw her mouth to his, see if she’d taste as wild as he’d imagined.  She wouldn’t be a sweet and gentle woman in bed, he didn’t think. He’d had sweet and gentle lovers.  She’d be heat and power and passion, and he’d lose himself inside her.

If he could have given into that.

But it wouldn’t happen.

Alex…his focus was, and would always be, Alex.

“How long have you been running?” she asked quietly.

He slanted a look her way and then looked back out the window.  “Too long.”

Four years.  Six months.  Twelve days.  He flicked a glance at the clock, calculated the time change.  Thirteen hours and nine minutes.

Since Alex was eight…the day the boy’s youth and innocence and life was shattered, right in front of him.

The night his mother…

He closed his eyes and tried to stem the flow of those memories.

Please…you must promise…

He was trying.  Damn it, he was trying. 

Myla Jackson
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Caris Roane
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lissa Matthews
TJ Michaels
Mari Carr

So there’s a big hullabuloo (is that how you spell it?) going on because an UF writer turned erotica writer is having some issues… her UF doesn’t sell, and she doesn’t like that.  Her erotica writing does… and she likes the money, I think, but she’s not really into erotica.  She thinks it’s trash.

I don’t want to go into this a great deal… she’s wrong, plain and simple.  Dismissing an entire genre as inferior?  Yeah, I seem to recall SF people who view UF as inferior.  A bunch of lit folks who smash down all genre books.

Disregarding an entire genre because you don’t get it is narrow-minded, at best.  And it’s all wrong.

To quote the awesome David Morrell who spoke at the RT Awards Show…

There are no inferior genres, just inferior writers.

Every genre has its lousy books, and every genre has its gems.

Just like every genre has books that are going to be overlooked…books that people poured their heart and soul into, and those books just don’t sell worth shit.

My Veil series was cancelled because of low sales.  Does that suck?  Yep.  Do I blame the readers?  Nope.  Sometimes a series just doesn’t connect with the right group of readers.

Every genre is going to have books that sell like gangbangers.  I mean… hello, Fifty Shades of Grey, right?  That thing sells like mad.

The author in question, Kendall Grey said crap that was insulting.  She was dismissive of her readers who laid out their hard-earned money, who enjoyed her work, who complimented her.

She was dismissive of an entire genre of writers who spent a lot of time crafting their work… Ms. Grey bemoans how she spent years crafting her UF trilogy, how much money and time and energy, and then she wrote an erotica book that earned $10k.  Hey, that’s awesome money, go you… but she doesn’t get why the books she loved didn’t make the money, and the book she doesn’t seem to care about did.  Well, she thinks she understands.  Readers like simple.  They don’t like art.  I looked at her art…it didn’t catch my interest, and I’m a diehard UF lover.  Sometimes, that happens. A book just fails to connect with the right group of readers.

Sometimes, you can do all the supposed ‘right’ things…and nothing happens.  There is no magical cure or shortcut or answer in this business, and I think that might be the root of the problem.  She’s looking for answers, and she thinks she found one…

Readers, in her opinion, basically want trash…that’s what her post boiled down to.  She thinks erotica is trash, writing it is selling out and there’s the implication that her readers are dumb. Yes, I had to pick up my jaw off the floor, too… she earned $10k and instead of… wow, thanks guys…she insults them.

If you want to read more about the mess, you can check out Lauren Dane’s rant.  When she puts on her ranty pants, it’s a beautiful thing. And that’s as much detail as I’m going to go into.

The meat and bones of what I want to get at is this…

On twitter the other day, a comment was made by Jane of Dear Author (paraphrasing here…) It’s insulting readers when an author knocks their own work….

And I disagreed.  Not, at all, because of what Kendall Grey said, or what she thinks.  What she said was insulting.  It was dismissive.  I don’t really write a lot of straight erotica.  The closest thing I have is Beg Me.  Erotica isn’t generally my cuppa but Ms. Grey’s comments still come off insulting as hell.  Many women like erotica… they are becoming more comfortable with their own sexuality and rock on with that. Nobody has the right to dismiss them or insult them or make them feel belittled for it.

The reason why I disagreed with Jane is this… I often think a lot of my writing sucks.

And I need to rethink how I think.

It’s not that I’m putting out ‘garbage’ as one twitter follower said and thinking…hey, look at what these suckers might buy…

My line of thinking is this:

I’m a perfectionist and I’m never satisfied with what I put out.  Eventually, I have to let the story go and move on, so I can write the next one.  Because I can do better with the next one.  And the next one.

I know I have a talent for writing.  I know that, in my gut.  I read books by Lynn Viehl and Nora Roberts and Ilona Andrews and Stacia Kane and I think…wow. I want to be able to do that.  I want to suck people into my stories and hold them in tight so that they can’t let go until the very last page.  And if the story I’m writing doesn’t hold me like that, then I don’t know if it’s good enough.  But I can’t trust my own judgement because I’m a harsh critic.

But it’s also been made clear, very clear… (insert mollified face here) that it’s not really doing a reader justice either to so vocally put it out there like that, and I’ve been known to do that.

This is entirely my problem and I’m sorry if anything I’ve said in that vein has bothered one of my readers. That totally wasn’t my intention at all and I will work on it.  I’m never going to be one of these authors who can honestly (and I can’t say something if I’m not being honest on it) say hey, my books always rock, check me out…

I will be blunt and say I think that’s a tricky road to walk, too, because in this industry, arrogance can be a downfall. I don’t ever want to get to the point to where I think I rock.  I really don’t.  I’ve, sadly, seen several people who let arrogance and success get in the way.  Once that gets in the way, the writing…the story will suffer, and for me, it’s always about the story.

My stories are in my blood and I don’t want them to suffer.

But…the upside to me being critical is that if you see me saying…Whoa, I think I really did something amazing there, that means that book blew me away.  Because I am so critical on myself.  Books like Blade Song, Night Blade, Wrecked and the Ash trilogy are books that actually caught me by surprise.  These books, when I finished them, instead of…I need to do better, it was like… huh.  These are pretty damn good.  Which seems to be a decent indicator, because those books are the ones that have hit really well with readers.

In the future, I’m going to try to ‘retrain’ how I think.  Logically, I know I can write and I get that.  My satisfaction, or lack of, comes from a desire to improve, and it has nothing to do with putting out less than the best book I can.   If the book is less than the best I can do, I put it aside until I can make it my best.

I write the best book I can, but each book improves the craft and I can’t get better unless I keep writing.

Instead of the ‘this book sucks’ line of thinking, I’m going to try and go with… this book might not be as good as I wanted, but it’s the best I can do. Onto the next one.

And readers, please don’t ever let any writer, or anybody else, make you feel inferior because of what you read.  You’re awesome and I love you.

Okay, so this is a contest post.

Win a copy of Deadly Desires… or a GC.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Worlds collide as three bestselling authors deliver two tales of danger, suspense, and steamy encounters.

Don’t Walk Away

by Shiloh Walker

Ten years ago, former Army Ranger Ethan Raintree made one hell of choice…keep on lying, or tell the woman he loved the truth. He decided to tell the truth, and she threw him out of her life. He never stopped loving her, not stopped wanting her. Celeste Harper finally had everything she wanted—or so she thought. She’d escaped her past. She’d escaped her demons. But she couldn’t escape herself…or the man she’d left behind all those years ago. Looking into his eyes ten years later, she realizes it’s her turn to make a choice—let go of that pain and take him back. Or walk away…and face a future without him.

Code Word: Storm

by Sydney Croft

The extremely secret Agency for Covert Rare Operatives is the only thing that stands between the human race and complete chaos. Now, two agents with special abilities, Annika Svenson and Creed McCabe, are sent to stop a man who has harnessed the power of the supernatural world. But Creed and Annika have a history that puts them at odds — and in closer, hotter contact than they’d like. In this ACRO story, which falls in the series timeline between Riding the Storm and Unleashing the Storm, Annika and Creed grow closer, despite their resistance. And with their lives are on the line, they find they must not only work together, but be together, or risk a terrifying fate that could consume them both…

Amazon | BN  | ARe | Smashwords

These two short stories contain hot guys, determined women and some sexiness. Please note…they have been previously published, but we did add some new material.

Sighing, she lifted a hand to the curtains fluttering the breeze, brushing them out of the way as she stared outside. She couldn’t see much of anything but the pale yellow circles cast by the weak streetlights. Their light didn’t do anything to lessen the gloom of the sidewalks and beyond. And although she couldn’t see him, she knew he was out there.

She knew he waited. Knew he watched her.

It was disconcerting as hell to realize that.

Easing the curtains aside, she slipped through the French doors onto the small balcony and stared down into the street. The Belle Inn was the only moderately profitable business in town. It catered to those who enjoyed spending the night in older hotels that had a history of being haunted. With the restaurant and bar attached, it managed to do a decent enough business. She stayed here every year—and hadn’t seen a single ghost.

The Inn had been redone period-style. The room she stayed in probably looked as it had back in the 1800s, with the exception of the air-conditioning and indoor plumbing.

Resting her hands on the painted wood railing of the balcony, she looked for him and tried to pretend she wasn’t. But she knew she was wasting her time. If he didn’t want to be seen, he wouldn’t.

Ethan.

He was out there.

Why?

She’d made herself clear, right?

I don’t want ever want to see you again. Nice, short, to the point.

Except she did want to see him. Man, she’d missed him. So much. Not just the physical stuff, although she’d definitely missed that. She missed him. Missed that slow, almost reluctant smile of his. Missed the way he could sit there and listen to her as though every word she said was somehow vastly important. Missed his easy strength and the way he’d made her laugh with that wry humor.

She missed feeling his arms around her at night, although they’d had precious few nights together.

She just plain and simple missed him…

Enter the contest via the widget.

Okay, due to some confusion, I’m redoing the Deadly Desires post.

This is just an FYI post.

There will be a contest tomorrow-ish.

The bloggers who did post about it have been notified.

So… Larissa, Stephanie and I sorta went and snuck this one out.

These titles were previously released in one of the Mammoth collections.

They have been expanded and revised for the digital release.

Danger. Deceit. Desire. 

Don’t Walk Away

by Shiloh Walker

Ten years ago, former Army Ranger Ethan Raintree made one hell of choice…keep on lying, or tell the woman he loved the truth. He decided to tell the truth, and she threw him out of her life. He never stopped loving her, not stopped wanting her. Celeste Harper finally had everything she wanted—or so she thought. She’d escaped her past. She’d escaped her demons. But she couldn’t escape herself…or the man she’d left behind all those years ago. Looking into his eyes ten years later, she realizes it’s her turn to make a choice—let go of that pain and take him back. Or walk away…and face a future without him.

Code Word: Storm

by Sydney Croft

The extremely secret Agency for Covert Rare Operatives is the only thing that stands between the human race and complete chaos. Now, two agents with special abilities, Annika Svenson and Creed McCabe, are sent to stop a man who has harnessed the power of the supernatural world. But Creed and Annika have a history that puts them at odds — and in closer, hotter contact than they’d like. In this ACRO story, which falls in the series timeline between Riding the Storm and Unleashing the Storm, Annika and Creed grow closer, despite their resistance. And with their lives are on the line, they find they must not only work together, but be together, or risk a terrifying fate that could consume them both…

Amazon | BN  | ARe | Smashwords

These two short stories contain hot guys, determined women and some sexiness. Please note…they have been previously published, but we did add some new material.

Soooo… the original plan was that we would get it up for pre-order and all that jazz, and then I thought maybe I’d try to get it up for RT…and then…um.  Well.  Best laid plans never work well for us, it seems.

Instead, hey!  We haz book.

Please note, these two stories are not new.  They have been previously released but we did expand them a little.

Kobo, Sony, iBookstore, etc are coming.  Can’t give dates as that depends on when they get the titles uploaded.  Thanks!

So… Larissa, Stephanie and I sorta went and snuck this one out.

These titles were previously released in one of the Mammoth collections.

They have been expanded and revised for the digital release.

Worlds collide as three bestselling authors deliver two tales of danger, suspense, and steamy encounters.

Don’t Walk Away

by Shiloh Walker

Ten years ago, former Army Ranger Ethan Raintree made one hell of choice…keep on lying, or tell the woman he loved the truth. He decided to tell the truth, and she threw him out of her life. He never stopped loving her, not stopped wanting her. Celeste Harper finally had everything she wanted—or so she thought. She’d escaped her past. She’d escaped her demons. But she couldn’t escape herself…or the man she’d left behind all those years ago. Looking into his eyes ten years later, she realizes it’s her turn to make a choice—let go of that pain and take him back. Or walk away…and face a future without him.

Code Word: Storm

by Sydney Croft

The extremely secret Agency for Covert Rare Operatives is the only thing that stands between the human race and complete chaos. Now, two agents with special abilities, Annika Svenson and Creed McCabe, are sent to stop a man who has harnessed the power of the supernatural world. But Creed and Annika have a history that puts them at odds — and in closer, hotter contact than they’d like. In this ACRO story, which falls in the series timeline between Riding the Storm and Unleashing the Storm, Annika and Creed grow closer, despite their resistance. And with their lives are on the line, they find they must not only work together, but be together, or risk a terrifying fate that could consume them both…

Amazon | BN  | ARe | Smashwords

These two short stories contain hot guys, determined women and some sexiness. Please note…they have been previously published, but we did add some new material.

Soooo… the original plan was that we would get it up for pre-order and all that jazz, and then I thought maybe I’d try to get it up for RT…and then…um.  Well.  Best laid plans never work well for us, it seems.

Instead, hey!  We haz book.

Please note, these two stories are not new.  They have been previously released but we did expand them a little.

DUE TO CONFUSION, THIS IS NO LONGER TAKING PLACE. THERE WILL BE A CONTEST TOMORROW, HOWEVER.

Since we didn’t do the whole promo shebang, I’m asking you all for some help.

• The first fifteen bloggers who post about the book will receive a free download of the book.
• How?  Just blog about it.  Come back here.  Post the link.
• If you’re one of the first fifteen, you get the book. Easy, yeah?

Kobo, Sony, iBookstore, etc are coming.  Can’t give dates as that depends on when they get the titles uploaded.  Thanks!

Courtesy of Randomizer.org…

Teresa…email starting with ada*****@y****.com

She commented:

I love her Darkyn Series. I have not read the Lords of Darkyn yet. Looks like I get to add some more books to my TBR List.

Thank you for offing this opportunity!

Teresa, I need you to email me at shilohwalker2011 at gmail.com and put NIGHTBOUND in the subject line, please include the format ~print or ebook, and if you choose ebook, let me know if you have a preference over kindle, nook, etc.

thanks all!