I'm Doing It! (Ebook publishing, that is.)

It has begun.  I've got a budget, I've paid for covers, and I have one book scanned and another going out shortly to be scanned.  The budget is a bit more tight than I had anticipated, because I thought I'd get one book cover at a time, but it turned out I ended up getting two.  Still, they're so gorgeous that I don't regret it.  I just have to pull in the belt elsewhere, and get other things later.

The books?  The Marriage Scheme and A Special License.  They were the first books I published with the now-defunct HarperCollins Regency line, under my pseudonym Kathleen Elliott.  They're going to be published in ebook form under my real name, and with luck I'll have some good sales.  I haven't yet decided which one will come out first, but it will have to be one after the other; that's all I can budget for, in the hopes that the proceeds from the first book will help fund the publishing of the next.

It's been a tough market job-wise, which is why I'm jumping into this.  Since we've come back from my husband's overseas assignment in Germany in January, I haven't been able to find a job, despite years of experience as a technical writer and editor, not to mention being a damn fast typist. We still have a college loan to pay off, a mortgage, and so on.  We can make it on my husband's salary, but it's going to take a loooong time for that loan to be paid off if so.  We'd like to have some space of time relatively debt-free before he retires.  If he retires!  Good thing we saved up when we were in Germany.

My dear hubby has fronted the money, and I sure hope his investment pays off!  I'm crossing my fingers whenever I'm not writing.  And hoping and praying it all works.

And the covers?  Oh, my, my, my.  They are more than I had imagined they could be.  This is the one for The Marriage Scheme.  It was created by Kate Race of Visual Quill (a division of Artitudes Design) over in Issaquah, WA.  This cover exactly conveys the mischievous nature of the young heroine, Miss Georgia Canning, who schemes to get her widowed mother remarried, while trying to figure out what she needs to do with the rest of her life.  While it was originally published for the adult romance market, I think it's totally appropriate for a young teenager who is fond of Jane Austen.

Here is the one for A Special License.  I loved it as soon as I saw it.  At first, I didn't think it conveyed the story as much as The Marriage Scheme (and asked poor Kate to create another one), but the more I looked at it, the more I thought it had a more adult, yet still very traditional Regency feel, which is very appropriate for the story.  I showed it to a number of readers and writers and the majority thought this one was more intriguing.  Then I showed the choices to my mother, who was firm in her opinion that this one was it.  :-D   The votes were overwhelmingly pro-intrigue.  I did ask that the other cover be saved for a future book (The Reluctant Cavalier).

Speaking of which, yet another Regency romance of mine will be reissued as an ebook:  Miss Carlyle's Curricle.  I, however, will not be republishing that myself.  Signet contacted me not long ago, asking if I would like to have that book (and others) included in their new and up-coming Signet Regency ebook line.  I hesitated...on one hand, I wouldn't be earning nearly as much per book if I went with Signet.  On the other hand, I have always considered Signet the premier publisher of Regency romances.  When my first two books were accepted for publication at Signet (The Devil's Bargain and The Vampire Viscount) back in 1994, I was thrilled, since Signet Regencies were my favorites back before I even began writing them.  Unfortunately, the line died along with other traditional Regency romances.

Still, I was curious to see how one of my books would do profit-wise in comparison with my own efforts.  And a nostalgic, perhaps foolish, part of me wanted very much to see Signet Regencies come back again.  So I said yes to Signet re-releasing Miss Carlyle's Curricle as an ebook for their new ebook Regency line.  My more practical side is going to keep a firm eye on the royalties I receive from Signet and will be comparing them to what I receive from my own self-publishing efforts.  

Signet should be bringing their Signet Regencies ebook line out in about March of next year (2012).  I'll let you know for sure once I get a firm date.  As for when Scheme and License will be published and available for your Kindle, iPad, Nook, or Sony eReader, I'll post it here and on Facebook as soon as I know myself.  :-)