Monday, March 19, 2012

A Tale of Two Debuts

A writer’s life has some crazy peaks and valleys. There’s the peak of learning a publisher wants to buy your manuscript—and then there’s the valley of having the publisher cut its editorial staff two months after it buys your book, ultimately landing in such financial hot water that it releases no books whatsoever in the month you were expecting to be published. That’s what happened to me when troubled Dorchester Publishing postponed the release of my debut regency, A Tryst With Trouble, to January 3, 2012, only to decide in December that it needed to go through “a reorganization and reassessment of [its] product lines.”

From The Every-Day Book; or, The Guide to the Year, by William Hone, 1825.

Dorchester gave the book a new release date of April 1, 2012—April Fool's Day. I don’t know when or if the book will be released, but it’s not on the list of upcoming titles at Dorchester’s website. I recently requested my rights back, so contractually the publisher has twelve months to publish the book or the rights should revert to me. There’s also the possibility that another publisher will buy the rights and publish the book, which would certainly be better than having it tied up indefinitely in bankruptcy proceedings. For now, A Tryst With Trouble is available on Netgalley for reviewers, where it’s receiving four- and five-star reviews.

Which brings me to my new debut release, Ruined by Rumor, to be published by the wonderful Carina Press. It’s a marriage-of-convenience story. I received the cover art for the book late last month:

I covet the hero's library.

Isn’t it gorgeous? That’s the heroine, Roxana Langley, about to be kissed by her responsible, tongue-tied neighbor, Lord Ayersley.

Working with Carina has been a dream—great communication, great cover art, great enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to being published at last. Ruined by Rumor should be available on Netgalley for reviewers in mid-April, with its official release to follow on May 21.

I hope you’ll give it a look.

5 comments:

Karen Dobbins said...

I'm so sorry you've been caught up in the Dorchester entanglement. But I'm so glad you are having a positive experience with Carina and have something else to focus on besides the mess at D.

Also, kudos for asking for your rights back. Better to be proactive then not.

I know for sure that both of your books are fantastic--whenever they may be released!

Patricia Preston said...

Great cover! Good luck with both your books.

Alyssa Everett said...

@Karen - Thanks for the kind words! I just learned that RUINED BY RUMOR received a four-star rating from RT Book Reviews, which takes a bit of the sting out of all the bad news about A TRYST WITH TROUBLE's release (or lack thereof).

@Patricia - Thanks, Patricia! Carina does an awesome job with its covers. I'm wondering if my hero might even be the same cover model as on your ALMOST AN OUTLAW, just with different hair and wardrobe.

Linda said...

I can't seem to find your books in any online store I frequent. I'm an international reader & Kindle doesn't work (I hate amazon!) due to geo restrictions.

I love historical romance & both books sound like something i'd like to read.

Alyssa Everett said...

Linda, would the Nook format work for you? Barnes & Noble has RUINED BY RUMOR available for pre-order here: http://bit.ly/GQHilw It should go up on the Carina Press website (ebooks.carinapress.com) a little closer to its May 21 release date.