Quarterly Update
Welcome to the quarterly update from author J. K. Spenser. We are well into the start of the fall season here in North Texas, but we haven’t had the first frost yet so the foliage hasn’t started to turn. The trees are all still sporting green leaves.
I’m sure most will agree that with COVID-19, 2020 has been a difficult year. I’ve weaved and bobbed, followed the social distancing guidelines, and have worn a mask when out in public. So far, my family and I have managed to stay virus free. I hope those reading this and their families have been just as fortunate.
J. K. Spenser Writing Update
I’ve been focused on the Vulvarian Saga series lately and the writing has progressed nicely. Rebels of Vulvar, the second book in series dropped on Amazon last week and is now available in digital (Kindle) and paperback. It will soon be available (in paperback only) at Barnes & Noble. If you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can download and read the Kindle version free.
I would like to thank everyone who supported the book with advance orders on Amazon. Rebels of Vulvar has been one of the most successful pre-orders I’ve had for any of my books. I’ve been very pleased with the sales numbers since the book was released and it has been gratifying to see so many Kindle Unlimited subscribers are reading the book too.
This week, I completed the final Outlaw of Vulvar manuscript, the third book in the series. It is off to the editor now and will ship to booksellers in plenty of time to meet the scheduled publication date, which is the first week of January 2021. So, if you have pre-ordered Outlaw of Vulvar, as promised, Amazon will be shipping it January 5, 2021. The paperback version will likely be available a few days before the electronic (Kindle) version.
Being as objective as I can (since I wrote the book), I truly believe Outlaw of Vulvar is the best book in the series thus far and it is packed with action and adventure. I hope you will give it a read.
Last but not least, I’ve started writing Goddess Queens of Vulvar, the fourth novel in the saga. We put up the Goddess Queens of Vulvar book page on the site today, so if you click on the link, you can take a look at the book cover and the summary.
The book hasn’t been set for pre-order yet, so I don’t have any bookstore links for it. Now that the cover and summary have been finished, the publisher tells me it will be available for pre-order soon.
There will be a significant change beginning with this fourth novel. I’ll talk about that next.
The Vulvarian Saga is Going Wide
With the publication of Females of Vulvar, the first book in the Vulvarian Saga series, all the books thus far have been made available to Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers to read free. While we truly love our Kindle Unlimited readers, many fantasy and science fiction fans choose to purchase their electronic books from online booksellers other than Amazon. As a result, the publisher feels we are failing to connect with a lot of readers who might enjoy the series. It is believed the series would do very well at Apple and Kobo in particular. So, a decision has been made. Beginning with Goddess Queens of Vulvar, all future books in the series will be available at all online retailers.
Kindle Unlimited is a great deal for readers who read a lot of books, but candidly, it isn’t such a great deal for publishers and authors. Amazon pays a fraction of a cent per page for each page read by an Unlimited subscriber. As a result, publishers only receive a fraction of a book’s retail cover price even when a reader reads the complete book. That means an author only receives a fraction of the royalties she or he would have earned from an actual book sale. So, yes, the decision is primarily economically driven. But it is expected the series will reach a wider audience. I’m told the demographic group that purchases the most fantasy science fiction novels generally buy their electronic books from Kobo or the Apple Store.
Nothing will change with the first three novels for now. Publishers are contractually obligated to leave books on Kindle Unlimited for a set period of time where Amazon has exclusive rights to the digital editions. But as those contracts expire, as a minimum, the second and third books in the series will transition to wide distribution and will no longer be available to read free on Amazon. The decision hasn’t yet been made on the future of Females of Vulvar. That first book will either remain available free to Unlimited subscribers or if the publisher decides to include it in wide distribution it may become permanently free from all retailers. That is a standard practice in the publishing business since offering the first book in series free is a good way to introduce a series to new readers who might not otherwise buy and read a book written by an author they unfamiliar with. It gives new readers a try before you buy opportunity.
Sadly, I can’t thank the person personally who wrote it, but some awesome anonymous Amazon customer left a very kind and thoughtful 5-star review on the Females of Vulvar Amazon book page. Reading it made me day. The feedback the nice person who took time to write and post the review let me know that for at least one reader I had accomplished exactly what I’d hope to do when I wrote the book. I hope you will click the above link and read as it is truly stellar. So, whoever you are anonymous Amazon reader, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great review. I’m happy you liked the book.
Small independent publishers don’t have the resources that the big traditional publishers do, which makes book reviews so important for authors like me. If you’ve read one of my books and enjoyed it, I’d be so grateful if you took a few minutes to write and post a review. Reviews help other readers find books on what has become a very crowded ecosystem. If you’ve read a book you enjoyed, chances are there are other readers who would enjoy reading it too.
That’s all for this quarterly update. Until next time, stay safe out there. Hopefully, at least by sometime early next year, we can all put the pandemic behind us.