Romancing the Inventor ~ Your Questions Answered (Q&A with Gail Carriger)

So my next novella, Romancing the Inventor, finally has all its preorders up and running!

Amazon

Apple iBooks

Kobo

Nook

Drrectly from me as .mobi, .epub, and .pdf

This one is in the Supernatural Society novella series. Thank you to everyone who has already preordered, within 12 hours of the Chirrup going out Amazon had the ebook listed as a Best Seller! Preorders are important because they improved visibility and discoverability.

Print?

I’m trying to time it so that ebook and print distribution happen around the same time. However, making print available for pre-order on Amazon‘s Createspace is outstandingly complicated (read the comments too, it’s INSANE). From my perspective? There is too much that can go wrong.

So I’m going to simply post RTI for sale in print shortly before the actual publication date. It may take a while to distribute through the system, link up with the ebook version, and Amazons outside the USA (for example). Also, physically printing and shipping delays matters.

Look I’m sorry, but they don’t make it easy for us self-publishing authors to time things perfectly. In this instance, digital is so much more of a pleasure to work with, that digital readers may reap the benefit of a prompt release. I swear I’m not trying to punish anyone for their reading preferences, it’s a matter of backend propinquity. (And if Backend Propinquity isn’t the name of a band, it certainly should be.)

What exactly does this mean if I want a print copy of Romancing the Inventor?

1. You will not be able to pre-order print from Amazon.
2. The print will appear for sale on Amazon as close to Nov. 1 as I can manage. Could be 48 hours after, could be 2 weeks.
3. The two versions of the book may not immediately appear together on the Amazon book page.
4. Oddly, you may be able to preorder print from Barnes & Noble and your local Indie bookstore and get it on time.
5. Shipping may add an additional 2 weeks, regardless of venue.

Signed Editions

I will try to arrange the same deal for this book with Borderlands as I did with Poison or Protect. If you want a signed edition you’ll need to call them up to order it. There is a chance this may be the last signed edition I offer for a while because of some new CA legislation that makes it very challenging. (If you are in CA and like signed books, you might consider writing to your local representative.)

Audio

I’m struggling with this side of self publishing. It’s very expensive and time consuming. I’m still trying to do audio of Poison or Protect. The decision to do Romancing the Inventor one will ride entirely on the success and bother of that one. Audio is not something I am willing or able to do myself and so I have to find someone who can produce to my very exacting standards in sound quality, voice acting, and working relationship.

Before you ask, I’m not happy with Aux/Audible/Amazon’s contract for voice work so that avenue is out. I am still trying, I promise, it’s just difficult to do properly. And I won’t do it any other way.

Why Indie Authors Must Start Producing Audiobooks

More?

Further reads that pertain to why Gail is writing what she’s writing, and publishing how she’s publishing:

• Small is beautiful: from Jane Austen to George RR Martin, the novella is making a come-back.
• Print is Still Important
• The Future of Print Books: Why They’re A Secret Self-Publishing Weapon

{Gail’s monthly read along for October 2016 is The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey.}

NEXT UP

Romancing the Inventor: A Supernatural Society Novella

A steampunk lesbian romance featuring a maid bent on seducing a brilliant cross-dressing scientist who’s too brokenhearted to notice. Or is she?

{Gail’s monthly read along for October is The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey.}

GAIL’S DAILY DOSE

Your Moment of Parasol . . .

Your Infusion of Cute . . .

Funny Victorian Era Photos – Silly Vintage Photography

Your Tisane of Smart . . .

Ironically, Camouflaging Octopi & Squids Are Colorblind

Your Writerly Tinctures . . .  

Picture This: The Author Photo as a Tool (my headshot is used as an example)

Book News:

Quote of the Day:

“He had the sort of flowing accent you rarely heard these days, an old BBC accent, the type where you knew the speaker had been brought up to hate rudeness above all other sins.”
~ Snow on the Roof by J. Leigh Bailey, Mari Donne, Amy Rae Durreson, Tray Ellis, Kim Fielding, Laylah Hunter, John Inman, Linda James, Rhidian Brenig Jones, Anne Regan

Tags: Q&A, ROMANCING THE INVENTOR, Supernatural Society