Each time I finish writing a book, then finish all the publishing tasks that are now my responsibility, I refine my understanding of how long everything takes. I know how long it takes me to write a book, but all the other stuff is still a bit squishy. Every time it firms up, something changes so the refinement needs another tweak.

What’s changed this summer is my ability to offer a pre-order at Apple much sooner than I was able to do before. Like a traditional publisher, I can set up an “asset-less” pre-order – that means the book can be listed for sale before the book file is completed and uploaded to the portal. This is extremely cool, and will make ordering much easier for you. The twist with an opportunity like this is that I can’t mess up: if one of my books is ever NOT available on the listed on sale date, then I lose this opportunity forever. I really don’t want that to happen.

So, I’ve calculated all my upcoming publication dates and added some squish for  variables (like subcontractors becoming busy) and then added another chunk of time just to make sure all is good. I”m hoping that this will work smoothly, that I’ll have a little less stress, and even that I’ll have some time in between to work on new projects for 2015 publication. My hope is to publish linked books much more closely together in 2015.

The wonderful thing about this strategy (which maybe makes up for pushing back the dates now) is that from this point on, when the cover is done, I’ll give you a firm publication date. 🙂 And yes, I’m hoping one day to get a pre-order capability at Amazon. That one’s tough, but I’m working on it.

Here’s where we stand:
Beguiled – on sale July 24, with a pre-order available now at iTunes and KOBO.

The Frost Maiden’s Kiss – on sale August 26, with a pre-order available now at KOBO and one processing at iTunes.

The Warrior’s Prize – on sale December 29. The pre-order will be available at KOBO and iTunes in the next week or so.

Firestorm Forever – on sale February 2015. I’ll pick a date when the cover is done, and it’ll be available for pre-order at KOBO and iTunes then.