This Year, I Will Be Brave...

This is the cover of my next book.  I'm hoping to get it up as an ebook by the end of the month and as a CreateSpace paperback shortly after.  I'm really excited because, even though I released an enovella this fall, this is my first full book.

I wrote Adulterer's Guide years ago - it was the book I finished just before I sold my first book, 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy to a publisher.  I loved this book.  And there were agents and editors who loved it too, but decided to pass on it.  Why?  It didn't "fit" or "wasn't marketable" or would "frighten children and woodland creatures" and then there was the little thing about Adultery in the title.

So, this book went away and I thought I'd never do anything with it.  But then, the epub revolution started.  For the past year, I've sold my backlist of published books through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.  I added a novella to the Bombay Series (my publisher said the series was "over" but my fans begged for more).  And I realized that I would be an idiot not to take this book, dust it off, polish it up and update it to give it another chance.  I also realized that this might be crazy and I might lose a lot of sleep over it, but that's beside the point.

Like the other books, it is contemporary, humorous romance.  Unlike the other books, it isn't a mystery and the love scenes are (blushes) kinda steamy.  Like, a LOT.

The story is about two people, both forty (another death sentence for the book - I was told, even though I'm 45 and I read books), who after being ditched by their spouses for the big family vacation - find themselves next door to each other.  Oh, and they were high school sweethearts.  Their marriages are beyond repair when they meet but I wanted to make sure it wouldn't offend my readers.

I found a fan who'd been through divorce ala-adultery and asked her to be a beta-reader.  Then I held my breath.  If she didn't like it - that was it - back under the bed.  I'm somewhat brave - but not THAT brave.

She loved it.  I was stunned.  So I sent it to my friend, Gemma Halliday for a blurb.  She read it and she loved it. 

And that's when it occurred to me that the epub revolution is all about this kind of thing.  For years we've been told by NY that a book is great, but won't sell/fill out a price point/will resort to arson - if released to the public. 

This was my chance to take a book that I loved writing, that a couple of fans loved reading, but was completely doomed according to the publishing industry.  But if it found a few readers who loved it, that was enough.  I don't have to appeal to the whole market.  It's just not necessary anymore.

It took a loooooong time for this lightbulb to come on.

So, I'm taking a chance and doing it myself.  I'm resolving to be braver in the new year.  It's scary, and it's intimidating.  But I'm going to do it. 

And if I can do it - you can do it.  Right?  Right!

Leslie Langtry