Update: I’m going all in. Everything except the novella’s should be on KU now, the novella’s will be on next week after I make some cover tweaks. It’s scary going Amazon exclusive, but I’m going to give it a good six months to see if it was the right decision or not.

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As soon as I heard about Kindle Unlimited I felt giddy with excitement. A chance for readers to devour as many books as they want in a month? Sounds fantastic. While I can’t partake as a reader (it’s currently only available to US customers), I certainly can offer my books in the pool of reading choice.

But to do so, I have to enrol them in Kindle Select, which means they need to be exclusive to Amazon for the enrolment period (90 days at a time). I’ve not been a fan of amazon’s exclusivity clause before now, but this new program has got me excited enough that I’m going to test it out.

I’ll be enrolling everything except the Desperately Delicious series of short stories (Update: Desperately Delicious is in now, too). That means my novels: Trance, The Feathered Lover, Feathered Bliss & A Feathered Child will be included, as will my novella’s The Brute and In His Sails. Also the new novella’s in the Bad Boys series (coming over the next few months) will also be enrolled.

Depending on how well they do (or don’t do) I’ll decide after the 90 day period whether to keep them in or put them back up at the other stores (Update: I’m giving it six months to be fair). Obviously I need to see what is best for me financially, but I also need to know what is best for readers, too. So I don’t know if I’ll continue at this stage, but I’m quietly optimistic. The Kindle Unlimited program just feels like it’ll be a success.

What about you. Do you like the KU program?

Tabitha 🙂

I’ve been debating on whether I should change the cover for Trance.

I’ve been experimenting with both the new and old over the past month to see if it had any impact on sales (it didn’t) so now it’s down to which one I personally prefer. I just don’t know.

What do you think. Should I change the cover?

Old Cover

New (Maybe) Cover

New or Old. Which one?

As Feathered 3 comes to completion a few weeks later (or months if you want to go by my original schedule) than I predicted, I’ve begun to re-evaluate my deadlines. I have to face the facts that I’m not as fast a writer as many other successful romance writers.

I envy those that can put out a book a month, or even in two months. If I was writing shorter, then I could definitely do that, but now that I’ve made the switch to novels (and not looking back), I can’t keep up the pace. I realistically believe I can put out two or three novels a year, and that’s writing full time, but more than that? It’s not going to happen.

My writing process

My process for writing has evolved over the years. As I become more proficient in writing and crafting, I’ve found that a lot of what I was doing in the beginning of my career, doesn’t work for me anymore. Pantsing, where you make up the story as you go, doesn’t work for me (although I really wish it did as I enjoy writing into the nothingness and seeing what emerges). Stories that I have tried pantsing (such as my two novella’s In His Sails and The Brute) are simply not as good as those where I’ve taken time to think about the plot before hand and craft an outline (The Feathered Lover, Trance).

I’m glad that I’ve discovered this early into my career, because it means that if I follow the writing formula of outlining and knowing what I’m going to write before I write it (even if it strays sometimes), my work is going to better.

Not all writers are the same (thank goodness! originality rocks!), so I’m not saying that those that ‘pants’ their novels are not as good as those writers who outline. That would be silly. All I mean is, writers are different. We use different methods to find the story, different ways to bring our characters to life. It’s part of our ‘voice’ as a writer. There is no ‘right’ way to write. There is only your way, which you’ll discover, adapt and change up a million times probably before something fits.

I sometimes wonder if I should go back and fix up Brute and Sails. My plans for the future is to use them as loss leaders for novels that will use the same characters, so maybe I’ll leave them as is. It’s a time factor. Should I fix them up, or spend my time writing new works? It’s hard to say which will be better. I’m inclined to leave them as is and get on with the millions of other stories that are bouncing around my head.

What’s the next novel going to be about?

Which brings me to let you in on what I’m writing next. It’ll be a novel based on Beauty and the Beast. I’m using the jerk guy from The Brute novel as the male lead (with a new heroine). I think it’ll be super fun to try and turn a complete asshole into the love interest. I really like the idea of having him change by the end (isn’t that what all good stories are about – change?). I’ve been catching up reading the original Beauty and the Beast novel by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (not the Disney version – LOL).

I know it’s been adapted many, many times by romance and erotica writers. But I want to do my own version, I’m itching too. My fingers want to get started right now (although I need to beat-it-out (outline it) first). And I have a rule that I can’t start something new until the current project is finished and published.

But I so so so baaaaadly want to write it.

I estimate (ha!) that it’ll be published around August/September. We’ll see. 😉

Until then, enjoy Feathered 3 (The Feathered Child) which comes out mid-May. I’m tying up a few loose ends and then sending it to the editor on Monday. I’ve briefed the cover designer on the new cover direction and can’t wait for the trilogy to be completed. I hope you like it.

Happy reading.
Tabitha. xx

I’ve had a few emails lately, asking where A Feathered Child, the third book in the Feathered trilogy, is.

I know, I know. I had planned on having it out last month. It was bolded on my production calendar and kept mocking me, telling me that I had to get started on it. I even put the date November 2013 (which we’ve passed) in the back of Feathered Bliss.

But I missed it.

I won’t give you excuses, but I will tell you that it’s my number one priority for 2014. I hate having unfinished projects. I’m not going to give a date yet, but it should be within the first quarter. If I start writing in January, then I’ll give myself three months for writing, editing, cover design and final production. It might get out earlier than that though if the story starts flowing as well on paper as it does in my head. We’ll see.

Other plans for 2014 include a second and third book (novella length) for The Brute (making it a trilogy as well), and a standalone novel called Sublime (which I’m actually about a quarter into already).

After that, I have a hundred thousand ideas, and will need to make a decision on which one to start next.

All in all, it should be a very busy (and exciting) 2014!

Until then, take care and be loved,

Tabs xx