Category Archives: Publishing
About Apple Distribution
Some of you have been asking why Switch isn’t available at Apple yet. I’ve asked Smashwords again, and it turns out that my suspicions were right – there’s been a change in Apple’s process. They added some new content rules and processes in late February or early March, one of which is to try to ensure that minors can’t buy erotica from Apple’s site. So, even though they will continue to sell erotica, the review process for erotica has changed.
Apple reviews all files manually before posting digital books for sale as part of their quality control process. That’s why it takes one or two weeks for books to appear there after distribution. BUT the change means that works labelled as erotica now are subject to another review that can take 8 more weeks. So, the process of review can be three months for erotica for the Apple site.
And you’ve guessed it – Switch is in the midst of that process. There’s no telling how long it will take for it to appear on their site. The first transmission of the book to Apple was in mid-February, then it was sent again March 3. I’m not even sure which would be the start date they’d be counting from. 
At least we now know what’s going on and what to expect.
Small Technical Issue
While I was sick, I uploaded all of my books directly to KOBO – that’s the kind of job that doesn’t take a lot of energy or concentration. They’re all there now, BUT the ratings and reviews have disappeared.
I’ve added the new tracking numbers to Goodreads, as this should help the Goodreads reviews to appear on the KOBO site. But KOBO tells me that there need to be reviews and ratings on the KOBO site to prompt the feed from Goodreads.
This is where you come in. 
If you’ve bought one of my books from KOBO, could you please review it on their site and rate it? Also, if you did that before, it will be gone – the directly uploaded book appears as a new book, and the data from the older version is lost – so I’d appreciate if you could do it again.
All Ella titles on KOBO are in this listing right here.
Thank you! This is a bit painful, but it means that new books will be available more quickly to you KOBO shoppers, and also that I’ll have more control over the pricing etc., on the books.
I’ve just discovered that I can upload directly to Barnes and Noble as well (YAY!) so next week, you Nook users will have the same request from me.
Now, back to finishing SWITCH…
A Tweak
I was reviewing the proof for the print edition of The Wedding Anthology and had a Eureka moment. The ending of Forever Bound had been bothering me a bit and I finally realized what had to be done.
I’ve added about four lines to the end of Forever Bound. That revised edition was uploaded this morning to Amazon and Smashwords. It still has to be approved for premium distribution from Smashwords to other portals. Depending where you bought the book, you’ll either automatically get a notification of the new edition being available or you’ll need to ask for it.
Don’t scroll down if you haven’t read it yet, because there’s a SPOILER ALERT HERE.
Just in case you can’t stand waiting, those lines are:
“You’re just in a hurry to get tied down,” Ryan teased and Jess laughed.
“Maybe I am. Do you have any problems with that?”
“Not one,” he said with finality, then kissed her with a sweet heat that made their friends and family break into loud applause.
They were forever bound, and that sounded exactly right to Jess.
KOBO
I “met” someone from KOBO online this past week, and have learned something wonderful. It seems that I can publish directly to KOBO without having ISBN#’s. I thought otherwise. So, I’ll be setting that up and publishing everything directly to KOBO in the next week or two. That will mean that new titles will be available there sooner, which is very exciting. I like Smashwords, but sometimes the feed to other portals is really really slow.
I would have to have ISBN#’s to go directly to Apple (and I hear that it’s harder to do) so you Apple people will have to continue to be patient. I’ll keep listening, and maybe will learn something that will enable that to change this year, too.
Edited to add – I’m going to modify this plan slightly. I’ll finish SWITCH first, publish it directly to KOBO and everywhere else, THEN go back and move the other titles to feed directly to KOBO.
New Version of Always A Bridesmaid
I ended up with a small continuity error in Always A Bridesmaid, after Forever Bound was completed. Essentially, the last scene in AAB has to happen in the afternoon instead of in the evening. I uploaded a new version of the story to Amazon and to Smashwords this morning, and will do the All Romance eBooks update today. Depending on what portal you use, you’ll either automatically get the updated version when it becomes available or will need to request it. I called it version 1.2, but I’m not sure that passes through the entire distribution channel. Or it might be tagged with today’s date. (?)
It will (of course!) be correct in the anthology, both in digital and print.
You Did It!
Thanks to everyone who reported to KOBO about wanting my books. Last week, ALL of my books were shipped from Smashwords to every portal. I’m so excited! It’s been very frustrating to see so many books sit so long with the “will be shipped” message. Thank you thank you thank you for reporting and making a difference.
These portals are overwhelmed with content, but they are very consumer-focused. They respond first to requests from their customers. This applies to all books and not just mine – if there is something that you want to buy for your device and don’t see it available, please email the vendor and make them aware that you are disappointed. They might not answer your email, but your post can change what they do. It can certainly speed up something that they’re already doing.
Now, let’s have a little review of what shipped where and when. Usually the titles will take 7 – 14 days to appear on any portal after they have shipped from Smashwords.
Always a Bridesmaid went to B&N on Oct 24 and KOBO on Oct 27.
Deception went to B&N (an updated version) on Oct 24 and to KOBO on Oct 27.
Exhibition went to B&N (an updated version) on Oct 24 and to KOBO on Oct 27.
Exposure went to both B&N and KOBO on Oct 24.
Seduction, Submission, Surrender and the First Plume Anthology have been distributed everywhere since September.
The Best Man went to both B&N (an updated version) and KOBO on Oct 24.
The Second Plume Anthology went to B&N on Oct 24, KOBO on Oct 26, and Apple on Oct 17.
Thanks also for telling me about the Apple sampling issue. Smashwords is going to ship all of the books to Apple again with corrected sampling information.
What would I do without such wonderful readers?! THANK YOU!
Distribution to KOBO
I was having a look today at the distribution pattern for my books and noticed how few of them have been distributed to KOBO. KOBO has taken on the first three Plume novellas and the first Plume anthology. The other books have been available to KOBO for quite some time, so I have to think that it’s KOBO who isn’t choosing to take them on. It’s possible that this is because they think I don’t sell well there. It makes sense with so many books available that portals would choose ones they know will sell. OTOH, if the author has few titles available through the portal, he or she probably doesn’t have very compelling sales numbers. It’s a bit of a Catch-22.
So, if you are a KOBO customer and would like to see all of my books available through that portal, I’d suggest that you send KOBO a message to that effect. Digital book portals respond most quickly to demand from consumers, so it looks like solving this one is up to you. All I can do is make them available and I’ve done that bit.
Thanks for your help if you do send them a message!
Table of Contents in Digital Books
Some readers insist upon having a table of contents in a digital book, while other readers couldn’t care less. I originally published my novellas without a table of contents since I just read straight through, particularly on shorter works. It is possible that Smashwords automatically added one to those editions – their engine is supposed to do it, but I find it a bit unpredictable. If you bought the earlier stories from Amazon, though, they won’t have a Table of Contents.
From DECEPTION on, I included one in each story, no matter how it was distributed. Recently, I published new editions of the earlier stories in the Plume, with the table of contents. All of my books now have one.
If you like a table of contents and have an earlier edition of those books, chances are good that you bought it at Amazon. If so, just ask Amazon for the updated version.
A Little Bit About Distribution
There seem to be a lot of questions in the comments about when Exposure will be available at different portals, so I’m going to try to answer that.
• I publish directly to Smashwords. When I publish to Smashwords, the title goes live for purchase on the Smashwords site in about 15 minutes from upload, in both EPUB and MOBI formats.
• I publish directly to Amazon. When I upload to Amazon, the title goes live for purchase in about 24 hours, sometimes less if the queue is shorter. Amazon also distributes my titles to their other portals – Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon DE, Amazon ES, Amazon IT, etc. – but sometimes it takes a little bit longer for the title to become available there. For example, there was about a 6 hour lag for Exposure to become available on Amazon UK after it was available on Amazon US.
• I publish directly to All Romance eBooks, in EPUB, MOBI and PDF. When I upload there, the title is live for purchase immediately. I often do this upload the day after the Smashwords and Amazon upload, as it requires some extra formatting.
• My books are also distributed to Barnes & Noble, KOBO, Apple, Diesel, Baker & Taylor’s Axis, Library Direct, Page Foundry and Sony through Smashwords. This takes a bit more time, and how much time it takes depends upon how many titles are in the various queues. Here’s how it works:
First the title must be reviewed and approved by Smashwords for Premium Distribution. This has taken up to two weeks in the past, but they’ve been working on cutting down the time – Exposure, for example, was approved last night for Premium Distribution, about 48 hours after upload. That’s really good!
The second part of the process is that the title has to get into the queue for distribution for the particular portal. It can be taken by the portal immediately, in a couple of days or in a couple of weeks, depending upon the length of the queue. Exposure is standing patiently in line right now.
The third part happens at the individual portal. They all do some formatting or checking of titles before making them available for sale. This again can happen pretty much instantly or take up to two weeks.
Right now, distribution to these portals seems to be taking two to three weeks. My hope is that Exposure will be available at all of them by the end of September, so fingers crossed.
I hope that clears things up a bit!
An Update
I’m writing away, honest and true! And here’s what you can expect in the next couple of weeks.
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID is just a tweak away. Fiona gave me some trouble, but we’re all sorted out now. (As soon as Kade got determined, everything was fine.) I expect to publish AAB – which is the second story in The Wedding trilogy – by Monday.
After that will be FOREVER BOUND, #3 in The Wedding trilogy. This one is perking along – lots of good BDSM fun for the happy couple – so it will be published soon. Two weeks, worst case. I’m aiming for it to be a week after AAB but Stuff Happens.
Then, it’s time for EXPOSURE, story #6 in The Plume series. My cover artist is on vacation, so we still need to do the cover. (And I think she’s worth waiting for! The Plume covers are awesome, IMO.) The story is pretty much ready to go, so (fingers crossed) you’ll have another Plume fix by the end of the month.
In September, there will be new anthologies, in simultaneous print and digital, for The Wedding and The Plume: Second Anthology.
Plume #7 will be an October release.
Now you know!
