Rob's Stats

The one bit of news I was hoping for came in today: my January release Stay the Night debuted at #88 on the USA Today bestseller list, which makes the seventh Darkyn novel in a row to appear on it, and now they can call the entire series a USA Today bestseller. This makes the people in NY very happy. I'm just relieved the waiting is over.

I was not expecting STN to make the Times list at all; there are just too many books out at the moment by very popular authors, including some multiple titles belonging to two white-hot vampire series that have TV and movie tie-ins. When that happens they tend to dominate the list and keep the rest of us not-as-popular writers off. That, combined with the book being sold two weeks before the lay down date and the inappropriate changes to the cover art pretty much guaranteed that the book wouldn't make the list.

Despite all the problems I've had with publishing the Darkyn books over the past four years -- and there have been plenty -- I still feel I've been very fortunate. Once more my readers stood by me, supported my work, spread the word and created a following. You can't buy that. Publishers can't give it to you. There is no marketing trick or advertising widget or secret handshake that magically bestows that on you. You can only hope to earn it by doing your best.

I appreciate all you guys have done to help me finish up this series on a positive note. And I think I can now, because while I doubt pink will ever be the new black, Rob's book actually did make the Times list. #27 on the extended mass market bestseller list. So I thank you all for that, too.

Robin Arrives

Stay the Night, my seventh Darkyn novel and the story of Robin of Locksley, has made it to the shelves and now concludes this series. An excerpt of my upcoming November '09 release, Shadowlight, is included in the back pages.

I was going to post the actual pink version of the cover art, but evidently I'm not that mature yet.

I always like to finish what I start, and it's a good feeling to know this set of stories is complete. The journey from If Angels Burn to Stay the Night was not an easy one, but as I wrote my way down the road, I learned a lot about myself and what I can do. I know my approach to this series was decidedly different from that of my peers, but I hope I was able to contribute some new ideas about story to the genre.

That's about it. If you have a couple of bucks left on a bookstore gift card from the holidays, and you'd like to see how the Darkyn series wraps up, I hope you'll invest in Stay the Night.

Thinking Pink

Since I found out about the unattractive changes made to my cover art for Stay the Night, I've been wrestling with how best to deal with it. You all have been great sports and kept me smiling at times when I probably would have yanked out all my hair. So I thank you for the many comments, e-mails, and immensely helpful support. I would look terrible bald.

Charlene, you single-handedly kept me from doing something really stupid by suggesting I write this, and I owe you.

I did consider using the unwelcome pink color scheme to help promote the book when it's released on Tuesday. Surely no one will be able to miss spotting the novel, not even from the International Space Station, but we're supposed to promote our books and it was tempting to use the screwup as a gimmick.

Some of you suggested I tie in with the release a charity drive for breast cancer research, since that noble cause also uses pink as as symbol. I have to be honest -- as nice as it would feel to turn this around and use it to raise money for charity, I'm not comfortable with that. I think we should all donate to worthy causes, but not because I didn't do my job.

I dropped the ball on this book because I was busy, and didn't follow up on the cover art as I should have. I trusted others to do the right thing instead of making sure they did. It's a very tough lesson, and an embarrassing one, but as long as I've been doing this, by now I should have already learned it.

Some people have said I've overreacted, and that's probably true. This is just one book, after all. I've published plenty of others. I'll publish more. Who cares? I should be grateful that I am working and published when so many other writers aren't, and that's also true. As an author I am expected to be a cheerleader of Publishing, and forever shake my pom poms, and act as if every disaster was all part of the plan.

(I had quite a bit here to tell you just how I feel about the pink pom poms I've been handed, but it was really depressing and I don't think whining to gain reader sympathy is a way to sell books, either.)

Bottom line, it's my name on the book, my novel printed on the pages, and my responsibility to see to it that it's handled appropriately at all stages of production. As undignified and unfair a situation as this is, I really have no one to blame but myself. This is my book, warts and all; the buck has to stop here. I promise you that I will take this unhappy experience and use it to be more vigilant in the future.

As for the promotional aspect, I'm not going to treat this novel any differently than the other six in the series. If you like my writing and want to read the story and see how the series ends, I would appreciate the sale. But don't invest in Stay the Night simply because it's got an ugly pink cover, or may glow in the dark, or can double as a tanning bed. Don't plunk down your hard-earned money only because you feel bad for me. Buy it because you want to read what's inside. That is the only reason you should ever buy any book.

Revelations

As they did each December, the day shift workers at Knight's Realm left work to enjoy a month-long holiday with pay, courtesy of their immortal employers, the Darkyn of the Realm. Those left behind didn't mind the absence of their human servants. They looked forward to four weeks during which they could indulge in real versions of the medieval contests and battles they usually performed to entertain the thousands of tourists that visited the popular Orlando attraction each year.

This night, however, the Kyn lords and lady paramount gathered in the guard's hall had come together for a grim purpose. They had but to wait the arrival of one last suzerain, Robin of Locksley, whose flight out of Atlanta had been delayed, before they carried out the unpleasant task that had befallen them. As they sat around the king's table, they brooded or toyed with their goblets of bloodwine, each avoiding the other's gaze.

Jayr, a slim, dark-haired female who had spent seven centuries serving as seneschal to Aedan mac Byrne, the former suzerain of the Realm, now presided as lady paramount of the territory. She had never used her gender as an excuse to evade any of her duties, but for the first time in her long life she considered doing exactly that.

She glanced across the table at Lucan, suzerain of the southernmost American territory. "You are quite certain of this, Lord Lucan? For if it is some sort of sick jest of yours--"

"Your enormous confidence in me warms my heart, my lady," Lucan drawled. Big, blond and utterly lethal, the former chief assassin of the Kyn had silver eyes that now gleamed with malice. "But it is the truth, and you have seen the evidence with your own eyes." He gestured toward the white plastic FedEx envelope sitting in the center of the table, which no one would look at.

"Aye, but we all know you've an evil wit, assassin," Aedan mac Byrne, Jayr's lord and life companion, said. The enigmatic blue tattoos on his broad face did not hide his disgust. "'Twould be like you to inflict a hoax like this on the lad and the rest of us for your own entertainment."

"Scotsman, even I would not be so cruel. But I do know best how to deal with it." Lucan picked up the envelope, rose, and carried it toward the fire burning in the hearth.

"No. You must not keep the truth from him." Valentin Jaus, the Chicago suzerain who resembled a fairytale prince, said as he stood. Yet even as the words left his lips, Jayr's body became a blur and streaked around the table.

"I thank you, my lord," Jayr said as she appeared between Lucan and the fire, and held out her hand. "But you cannot do more than delay for a few weeks the inevitable humiliation he must suffer."

"Who must suffer?" Robin of Locksley asked as he strode into the room. His beautiful violet eyes shifted as he scanned his friends' unhappy faces. "And why the devil are you all sitting in here in the dark?"

"Mon ami." Thierry Durand, as tall as Aedan but much broader and darker, left his seat and went to clasp hands with Robin. The warrior-priest, who had once been a killing machine whom all men feared, spoke in a soft, kindly tone. "Come and sit down with us. We must . . . talk."

"All right." Robin's frown eased as he saw a familiar green eyes in the shadows. "Gabriel, good Christ, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe, rescuing our brothers and sisters from the Brethren."

"I had to come when I heard . . . that you would be here," Gabriel said, his long fair hair gleaming as he turned his fallen angel's face away and stared into the fire.

Robin turned around slowly. "Jayr, why is everyone not looking at me?"

"We have some news, my lord." Jayr took his arm and led him over to the table. "'Tis not all bad, although . . . " she glanced down at the envelope in her hands. "It could have been much worse. That is how you must think of it."

"Think of what?" He saw the address on the envelope and grinned. "Is that my book?"

"Yes, my lord, but--"

"Well, give it here." He seized the envelope, and tugged on it when Jayr wouldn't let go. "'Tis my book. I'll not wait until January like the rest of humanity to lay eyes on it. Give it to me." He wrestled it out of her grip.

"We had no warning about this, Locksley," Lucan said, his voice gruff.

"Of course you didn't," Robin agreed as he tore open the envelope. "They never send her author copies on time. I thought I'd have to steal a shipment off a truck to have one to give to my lady for Christmas." He took out the book inside the envelope. "So how did you manage to get . . .this . . ." he stopped speaking as the firelight illuminated the cover, causing it to glow brightly.

Aedan mac Byrne came to stand beside him, and rested a big hand on his friend's shoulder. "'Tis not as bad as you think, lad."

"It's pink," Robin said, his voice flat and distant.

"More rose than pink, I would say, my lord," Jayr put in quickly. "'Tis not a color one sees every day on books about our kind."

"Or even every century," Lucan muttered under his breath.

"Mine was but a cold silver and blue," Thierry said. "Yours is so much warmer. Like . . . the promise of spring."

"It's pink," Robin said again. "My face is pink."

"When the Brethren were torturing me for two years in their dungeons," Gabriel said, "I would have thanked God to have seen such a book. Or a face. Or anything at all, in the end."

Jayr touched Robin's arm, the muscles of which felt like inflexible iron. "Women do like pink, my lord. Humans dress their little girl children in it all the time." She grimaced. "Not that I am saying you look like-- that is--"

"They made me pink. Like a rat's tail. And my eye -- my bloody eyes are not blue." Robin met her gaze. "I am Robin of the Hood. I am the greatest thief of all time. I have been many things, but I am not, nor have I ever been, pink-faced or blue-eyed."

"That settles it." Lucan pulled on his long, black cloak. "I will go to New York and deal with this."

"You cannot slaughter the staff of an entire publishing house, my lord." Jayr saw his expression. "Very well, you can, but you must not. They are mortals. We have sworn to live among them in peace."

"And you have sworn to stop killing," Jaus reminded him.

Lucan shrugged. "So I forget my vow for a day or two."

"Has it shipped?" Robin asked. When no one answered, he shouted, "Tell me now."

"Yes, my lord, it has," Jayr said. "In three weeks the distributors will begin delivery to the book merchants."

"We could siege the warehouses," Aedan said thoughtfully. "Aye, and burn them to the ground. The mortals have insurance."

"They will only print more," Thierry advised him. He tried to take the book from Robin's white-knuckled grasp. "Do not allow this to toy with your sanity, Locksley. 'Tis not worth it."

For a long time Robin said nothing, and Jayr began to fear that this indignity had destroyed his mind. Then, at length, he spoke.

"She wore a pink scarf, the first time we danced together." Robin traced his long, scarred fingers over the ridiculous colors on the novel's cover. "I used it to blindfold her, later, in my penthouse."

"Indeed." Lucan perked up. "What happened then?"

Robin seemed to come out of his trance. "None of your damned business." Straight black hair fell over his eyes as he bowed his head. "It is done, then? I cannot stop it from being released?"

"No, my lord," Jayr said gently.

"Very well." He tossed the book onto the table. "I have business to attend to. My lords. My lady." He bowed and strode out of the hall.

"I knew this would be bad," Jayr said.

Valentin Jaus rubbed his eyes. "I will go after him. Of all of us, I understand his pain only too well." But before Jaus could follow, Robin reappeared with a mobile phone and a bottle of blood wine.

"Yes, that's right, love. I want to buy all fifty thousand copies. And put in a back order for another fifty. No, of course I'm not the author. I'm simply a very good, extremely wealthy friend of hers." Robin took a drink from the bottle, looked at the other Kyn and grinned. "Now, how quickly can you deliver them to Atlanta?"

(This post is dedicated to author Charlene Teglia, who kindly gave me the idea, and all my visitors, whom are now and forever Robin of Locksley's personal heroes.)

Dilemma

Having a tasteful, cohesive look for your novel series is really an important aspect of marketing your books. I've been very fortunate with the Darkyn series cover art, and I've been able to contribute to the process by making suggestions, such as the deep violet color theme for Evermore's cover art and selecting and submitting the image used for the e-book cover art for Master of Shadows.

When I was sent the art for the seventh and final novel, Stay the Night, I considered it my favorite cover of the series. It was a little different than the other books, but the depiction of Robin of Locksley was just about perfect and the warm browns, ambers and violet color scheme fit in with the rest of the books. It was gorgeous, and no one could possibly screw it up.

Evidently that faint sobbing sound I heard while I was congratulating myself was actually Jesus, weeping.

The last digital version of the cover art I was sent about a month ago remained in the original colors. I didn't see the final edition cover art for Stay the Night until the day before yesterday, when a copy arrived for the holiday auction. I was expecting what I had been shown, but at some point during the production, someone in NY decided Robin of Locksley would look better depicted in pink.

Yes. You heard me. Pink. It's not just pink, either. It's bright, florescent, metallic pink, with no trace of any of the original colors.

I won't waste your time by describing my reaction (just imagine the biggest explosion you've ever heard, triple it, and you'll have the general idea.) Now I have to decide what to do about it.

Maybe you guys can help me. If this debacle was your headache, would you:

1) Spread a rumor that pink is the new black.

2) See if Mattel wants to consider the series as a possible Barbie franchise.

3) Weep until you rupture your tear ducts, go blind and don't have to look at the damn thing anymore.

4) Lie to all your readers and say that Robin is actually gay but you forgot to mention it in the novel.

5) Run around the U.S., buy all 50,000 copies, and burn them on the sidewalk in front of your publisher's headquarters.

5a) Run around the U.S., buy all 50,000 copies, and make the book #1 on the Times mass market bestseller list.

5b) Run around the U.S. with 50,000 paperback-size copies of the original cover art and a really big bottle of glue.

6) Send all of your readers a Pepto Bismol promo widget (tablet with instructions to chew it before they look at the cover.)

7) Apologize to the author of whatever book you considered to have the most inappropriate cover art you've ever seen.

8) See if any of the chicklit writers will help you promote the book.

9) Call the new color theme "rose" instead of "pink" and say Robin is depicted as "melanin-challenged" instead of "an albino."

10) Be thankful that whatever idiot did this to your book decided to use pink instead of jaundice yellow, which surely would have done you in once and for all.

11) See if Suzanne Brockmann can spare some of those happy face stickers she handed out to her readers when they screwed up one of her covers (also see if she has them in jumbo size.)

12) Deny you wrote the book at all. Blame it on Alison Kent and let her answer the angry hate-mail.

12a) I think Alison would do that for you.

12b) If she doesn't see the cover art first.

13) Hire Pink to write and perform a promotional theme song for the book.

14) Send all of your readers free sunglasses as holiday gifts, as they will definitely need them on January 6th.

15) Start wearing a pink T-Shirt that reads, "Six out of Seven Ain't Bad."

16) Hand out free copies of the book with a stick of bubble gum tucked inside.

17) Accept it, as the book is already shipping as you write this.

17a) Accept it means you can't go all anti-pink now just because some moron ruined your cover art.

17b) Publishing is publishing, and with the frequency with which they screw up eventually you'll have to live with only black and white.

17c) And stop thinking even that would be better than this cover, you ninny.

18) Tell the readers before the book hits the shelves because they should hear it from you instead of reading about it as the January feature story on CoverArtHatchetJobs.com.

19) Request the publisher use the original cover art for any future print runs without calling them all the names you're thinking in your head.

20) Burn a copy if it makes you feel better, take a deep breath, and move on.

What do you guys think?

PBW Turns Ten

Today I celebrate my tenth anniversary as a professional novelist. Since 1998 I've written fifty-two novels, sold and/or published forty-four of them (four are currently in various stages of production), and accomplished three out of the four major personal career goals I planned to pursue ten years ago (I'm about six-eight months away from reaching the fourth, final goal.)

Ten years ago I also sold this article about the near-disaster that resulted in my first contract. I hardly recognize that goofy, hopeful writer I was, but I'm glad I was able to laugh at myself even back then. That turned out to be quite helpful over the next decade.

It's a nice coincidence that the official/final version of the cover art for Stay the Night arrived in my inbox today:



That line under my byline on the cover was my third career goal, the one I was never supposed to achieve, the one they told me to forget about, that like the rest of my goals would never happen to someone like me, etc. It's a nice wrap-up for this ten years in the biz.

From here? Onto the next ten. Or Paris. What would you do?

Early Robin

Thank you all for putting up with my lousy blogging this week. To get back on track and do something fun, I have seven ARCs to give away of my January '09 release:



Stay the Night features Robin of Locksley from Evermore, and is the seventh and final novel in my current Darkyn series. If you want more Rob, and/or to know how I wrap up things, this is the story you'll want to read.

If you'd like a chance to win one of the seven ARCs, in comments to this post name one of your favorite novel series in any genre (or if you're not a series fan, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight on Saturday, September 20, 2008. I will draw seven names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed ARC copy of Stay the Night as well as a surprise. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Sneek Peak

Ike should be hitting Texas about now, and I'm sending all the positive thoughts and prayers I can today to our friends and the folks in Texas and all around that part of the Gulf. I hope you all will, too.

My editor has given me the weekend to decide what teaser to put in the back of Stay the Night, my January '09 release. A teaser is a short scene or excerpt from another work that's offered as a preview, and is usually taken from the next book to be published by the author.

Since STN is the last novel in this particular Darkyn series set, my choices are:

1. An excerpt from the first book (as yet untitled) in the new dark fantasy series.

2. A scene from one of my StarDoc novel (either Omega Games or Crystal Healer.)

3. A scene from If Angels Burn, which never got a teaser anywhere because it was the first Darkyn novel.

I'm inclined to go with #1, because it's probably what my Darkyn readers are most interested in seeing. The problem with this is that it probably won't have a novel title in time to go to print.

If you have an opinion on the subject, what would you like to preview? Let me know in comments.

First Look

Robin has entered the building:



Excuse me, I have to go have a hot flash now.

Sneak Peek & Stuff

This is a deadline week for me, so posting will probably be a bit irregular for the next few days as I go through the usual separation anxiety and try to figure a way to pry the manuscript out of my clutching fingers long enough to get it to NY. Breaker bars may be involved.

We beta-tested the Complete Friday 20 Index that I promised to post, and our testers had problems with the length of most of the questions and how we worked the links to the original comments, so Tom and I are trying to make it simpler to read and use. Paraphrasing and switching the links around will take a little more time, but hang in there, it's almost done.

If you'd like a very early, first-draft look at Stay the Night, I've posted an excerpt over at the story blog here.