Hello Friends,
Every month I am thrown for a loop at how fast time passes by. There is one good thing about it, and that’s because Spring is around the corner. I only hope the weather has checked the calendar. It’s been a very crazy winter for everyone.
The fur family is doing just fine, and I still haven’t figured out who is unraveling the toilet paper. People who aren’t pet owners don’t understand how I can find something like that funny. They are missing out on unconditional love, and entertainment. Let’s face it, hitting the TV remote in the middle of the night, or turning on the faucet isn’t criminal behavior. I’m thrilled I have such ingenious animals. Sometimes I think they are smarter than I am. Afterall, I do all the work. And I don’t mind one bit.
I also want to remind you about cyber security. There is an enormous amount of scams and spam flooding the internet, even more than usual. It’s tax season and a great opportunity for people to steal your money. Speaking of such things, I also want to remind you that there is no cost to enter our contests. If you see “YOU HAVE WON” in the subject line, DO NOT OPEN IT. The winner notifications come directly from me from my personal email.
On to more fun things. I am thrilled to announce Backwater Justice made it to # 5 on The New York Times Best Seller List. It blows my mind that we are on book #36 in The Sisterhood and, so far, every one of them has hit the list. So, thank you for your readership, your emails, and your posts.
Speaking of publishing, I am about to give you some behind-the-scenes insight into the book business. It’s the last word in the previous sentence that people seem to forget, or don’t consider books a business. I won’t go into all the boring things like profit margins, linear feet, ROI. Over the past couple of years, mass-market paperback books have not been selling well, as far as number of units that go through the cash register. Because of this, many of the large, big-box stores will not be purchasing that format. As a result of that decision, many publishers are opting to move the titles that would have been scheduled for mass market, into Trade Paperbacks, the larger version, which the big box stores are willing to carry. This will begin to take place toward the end of the year and by 2026, our favorite “pocketbooks” will no longer be available. The main reason I am telling you this is because I don’t want you to be shocked when you go into Walmart or Target and see my books are a different size, and of course, a higher price point. Believe me, this was not my decision. However there is some good news in this. The next Christmas book, Santa’s Holiday Spectacular will be offered in trade and hardcover simultaneously, so you can buy more copies for gifts. 😊
My next hardcover Fight or Flight will be on sale March 25th, and Plain Jane and Fast Track will be coming out again in new packaging. I must say, the art department did a bang-up job with the covers.
Now on to some sad news. The Lost and Found Series, starring Luna and Cullen Bodman and the colorful artists of Stillwell Art Center has ended. I was delighted by your notes and comments and appreciate them very much, but my publisher encouraged me to start a new series. This one is called Twin Lights Series with the first book, Smuggler’s Cove coming this summer.
All the best,
Fern
