It’s alive…it’s aliiiive! And beautiful, too, if I may say so myself. (g) The description isn’t up yet–it takes Amazon a few days, apparently, so I shall do my best to be patient. *twiddles thumbs*

To learn more about KISMET’S KISS, see http://caterowan.com/novels/. Or just go download a sample (or buy it) at Amazon. :-) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040SXS9S/

In short, it’s a pain–at least if you want to do it right. Sloppy is easy, right is hard. (From ebooks I’ve purchased in the past, even some of the major presses are occasionally content with sloppy. Why???)

Cleaning up the mess Word’s HTML makes…yeah, not my usual idea of a great time. Plus, I wanted to add some nice touches to the ebook, such as including the pretty cover (especially since the Kindle for Mac/PC/smartphone apps can see it in color), having the book open at the right place, and giving some polish to the design so the reader’s eyes will be happy.

I’m stubborn (and a perfectionist), and I think the finished version of Kismet’s Kiss is beautiful. With luck, readers will agree. My next formatting job should be much faster since I kept notes on what worked and what didn’t.

I’m uploading it to my Kindle to make sure every page is right, and I’ve been checking it within the Kindle for Mac and PC applications, too. The Kindle for iPhone and Android apps can only read actual Amazon purchases, so I can’t check Kiss on them until it’s for sale, but I will. (Did I mention my perfectionism?) There’s no iPad near me, alas, but after checking everything else, I’ll be feeling pretty solid about that, too.

I’m on target for an official release of Kismet’s Kiss in six days, on August 27!

I sent KISMET’S KISS to a friend who reads fantasy and asked her to check for typos before I plunge into my final formatting for the Kindle platform. This morning she sent me a note: “Just finished! I loved it! I couldn’t wait to find out how it was going to end. And I have to say… the accounts of their lovemaking were very… evocative. I’m very impressed with your descriptive abilities ;)”

Heh heh. This is the beauty of combining fantasy and romance–getting to create an otherworld story with magic and adventure…AND great sex.  :-D

Several NY publishers had a tough time with KISMET’S KISS because it didn’t fit neatly into the marketing boxes for either fantasy or romance. That’s important to them because bookstores need to know where to shelve the book, and usually it will only be shelved in one place. So bookstores need to know where it goes and the publisher’s marketing department needs to know where it will fit so they can tailor the marketing plan.

But online selling is different. Instead of a book needing to fit into one compartment, it can fit into many simultaneously. At Amazon.com, for example, books can be placed in more than one category (fantasy and romance, for example) and readers can also “tag” books with more specific descriptions (such as these for Kristen Painter’s HEART OF FIRE: fantasy adventure, elves, magic, fire magic, golden heart finalist, etc.).

Selling books online will allow me the freedom to write cross-genre and not worry about those marketing boxes, and I’m grateful for that.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope we’ll have local bookstores and libraries far into the future, since they’re some of my favorite places and have given me many wonderful memories. To do that, they’ll only need to adjust to readers’ changing needs. (Espresso Book Machines, for example?)

On the KISMET’S KISS schedule for today: polishing up the front and back matter–the bio, quotes/reviews page, acknowledgments, author’s note, etc. Wheeee!

I’m going Indie and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

KISMET’S KISS will be coming out by the end of this month on the Amazon Kindle ebook platform, so the book will be available for any PC, Mac, smartphone, or iPad, as well as on a Kindle itself. (And psst…the third-generation Kindle will be coming out around the same time!)

2010 has been a bit odd for me. I got an offer from a respected small press to publish KISMET’S KISS and thought things were going to work out, but the publisher and I parted ways and I needed to decide what do with this novel. It didn’t take me long to know.

KISMET’S KISS had three agent offers, two publishing contract offers, two Golden Heart nominations, eight contest finals total, and three wins. And I’ve been eager to try publishing on the Kindle platform. I’ve had a Kindle since early 2008, and it has shifted my perspective on many things.

I am completely excited about going DIY with this book!

I’m not making any decisions about my other novels just yet, but meanwhile readers will be able to actually read my work. (That’s quite a concept, after a decade of waiting, LOL.) And I have the joy of creating the cover art and being responsible for the final look and feel of this book. As the author who has lived with this story and its characters for more than four years AND as a perfectionist, I love that!

Life is good. :)

“Best-laid plans” and all that. I completely forgot that the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood (the 2009 Golden Heart® finalists) always have a “free-for-all Friday” and that my job with a Friday post was open up our blog to a good discussion!

So, I think we’re handling that nicely today: “Free-for-All Friday: Hero Edition!” Stop by, give us your thoughts about alpha vs. beta vs. gamma heroes, or ask us questions on the topic of your choice.

Meanwhile, I’ve rescheduled my own announcement. Alas, the next available Sisterhood blog date is on another Friday–two weeks from now, on August 27–but I’ll make it work well. I definitely think there will be discussion. :) And I’ll have another big post up at the Sisterhood on September 7.

Yep, I’m such a tease.

Oh my blog, how I’ve neglected you…

Yes, perhaps Facebook has upstaged you in my affections.

But big changes are afoot for me and my novels. Good changes. :)

I promise I’ll do a more informative post by Friday.

.

(UPDATE: I’ll leave this post up, but because I’ve chosen to take a different path with this book, I’ve redacted the publisher’s name.)

.

Yep, that’s right!

KISMET’S KISS will be published this year.

(Holy schnikeys, that’s fast–and lucky!) [Publisher] specializes in fantasy and science fiction.

KISMET’S KISS has been through the war and lived to tell the tale. It got me three agent offers. It’s an eight-time contest finalist (including twice in the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart®) and a three-time contest winner. And I love it like hot and damn.

Here’s part of the description I used to pique [publisher's] interest last summer:

On a faraway world in the medieval, Middle Easternesque realm of Kad, a deadly epidemic strikes the royal house of Sultan Kuramos. Only a magical healer from an enemy land may have the skill to save them. He doesn’t expect that healer to be a woman.

Varene, too, finds surprises in Kad. The feisty healer anticipates the sultan’s arrogance, but not his courage or his selfless care of the ill–or the possibility that the epidemic is the curse of a vengeful goddess.

Varene’s mystical talents are condemned by Kuramos’s culture and her presence triggers a plot to overthrow the sultan. Yet as he and the healer toil for the cure, he loses his heart to her. She falls for him as well, but how can she relinquish her homeland and her principles for the sultan—especially when he already has six beautiful wives and his family may be cursed?

My head is still spinning about the release date. Only a few months to go before KISMET’S KISS is out. Wow, so much left to do… I’d better get cracking!

2009 was a very weird year for me. My hubby and I (and the felines) moved across the state twice in five months due to his job. No other way to say it except That Sucked.

And yet, I also got my first contract offer. That Did Not Suck. In the end, I turned down the contract due to a sticky clause in the contract that the publisher wouldn’t negotiate. That was a tough call, but I know I have to be smart and keep an eye on the future.

Now it looks like I’ll have an offer from another publisher. This pub has a good reputation and may be a very nice fit for this book.

My mother has a saying: “It’s not real until it’s real.” She was referring to real estate deals where things could fall apart at the last minute. Nothing was real until the contracts were signed. I think I’ll be patient and follow her lead.

But given the suckage of 2009, I’d like to think that no matter what, 2010 will be a better year. And that’s what we all want at the beginning of a shiny new year.

So I hope that no matter how 2009 treated you, 2010 will rock your house in fantastic ways.

Onward!

Must pass along this hilarious music video geekdom on fonts. (I love Gill Sans!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHCu28bfxSI