Teen-only BIW giveaway (+ announcements)

I have just a couple of things to announce before we get to the Teen-Only Before I Wake giveaway…

First, it’s June 1, which means that if you couldn’t get Shadow Bound (adult urban fantasy/paranormal romance) before, you should be able to get it now, if you live in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, I believe. Including e-book format. So…for those of you who have your copy, I hope you like it!

—–

I’ve been getting a lot of confused and surprised reactions (and one MASSIVE overreaction) lately to the fact that I don’t always know where/when my books are out. Sometimes I forget that publishing details like that are not common knowledge to readers/reviewers, so here’s the deal:

• I know my US print release dates. Those are the big dates. The ones they set 12-18 months ahead of time.
• Sometimes I know the ebook dates (those are usually on the first of the month following the print “shelf date”). But that is not always the case. Sometimes I don’t know the ebook is out until readers tell me they have it.
• My books release in Canada at the same time and in the same formats as they do in the US (though some parts of Canada also get a French translation that may not come until later).
• I usually have no information on foreign release dates (including UK and Australia) until someone from those countries writes to tell me my book is coming out or it occurs to me to ask one of my overseas publishers. And it rarely occurs to me to ask, because I have thirteen books in print in the US (not counting the omnibus or short stories) and they come out at many different times, in many different countries, as much as 5-6 years after the US release. So I don’t even have a starting point, in most cases. Nor do I know which publishers to ask, in most cases. This is because my US publisher has world rights to my books, which means they can choose to or not to license the foreign rights to whomever they want. And I don’t always get the message when that happens. My editor doesn’t even always get the message, because Harlequin is like the hydra of publishing. There are so many different heads, each responsible for a different aspect of the business, that communication often works on a delay. Keep in mind that HQ works with HUNDREDS of authors at a time, and it’s very difficult to keep each one of us up to date on every single aspect, with every single book.
• I rarely know that a book of mine is in printed ARC format or available on NetGalley until someone tells me (or some arrive in the mail, which doesn’t always happen). That someone is usually a reader/reviewer. That’s just the way it goes. Things slip through the cracks, and I do my best to keep up.

Okay, so that may be more than you ever wanted to know about publishing, from the author’s perspective.

—–

There’s been a glitch with the UK release of “Never To Sleep,” which was supposed to be downloadable today. They’re telling me that it is just a glitch, and that the story should be available on June 8th, at the latest. So…sorry about that! But the good folks at Mira Ink are on top of the problem.

 —–

Now for the Teen-only giveaway! If you’re a teen (19 or younger) and you’d like to win an entire set of Soul Screamers print novels, signed, click on the link below, read the rules, and fill out the form. If you know of a teen who might like to win the entire series (novels, US print editions), feel free to spread the word. The contest ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday June 3.

Do you already have some or all of the books? Great! If you win, you can give your extra copies to a friend!

Click [link removed; this contest is now over] to enter the giveaway.