Here’s the deal…I did have a terrific post planned all about Finn McSpool’s recent adventures in my kitchen (the room will never be the same, I swear). Unfortunately, the vagaries of Amazon.com shipping means the final tool needed for the project he began weeks ago STILL hasn’t arrived.

However, Finn wasn’t going to miss out on his spot of weekly fame. Seeing me at the computer yesterday and feeling like he’d been missing out on some mischief lately, he ran over to lend a paw with what I was doing…and insisted I take photos to show off how “helpful” he was being.

I can see my productivity declining already.

Of course Finn’s version of assistance quickly degraded into him using my keyboard for a Beastie version of Dance Dance Revolution.

“The clacking of the keys makes it sound like I’m tap-dancing! Move over Gregory Hines!”

Not one to be limited to a single dance style, Finn decided my touch pad was just the spot for a bit of breakdancing (I’ve really got to limit his YouTube time).

“Wheeee!!!”

After a few too many spins, Finn was too dizzy to continue with his So You Think You Can Dance tryouts and was finally ready to assist me with some actual work.

And what might that “actual work” be? Loading The Bonds of Osteria: Book Four of the Osteria Chronicles for pre-order!!!

Even though they made me grumble recently, Smashwords has somewhat redeemed themselves by allowing a lengthy assetless* pre-order period… pre-orders that get distributed to iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. I have been playing around with Draft2Digital (another ebook conversion/distributor), and although they allow extended pre-orders, you have to beg them to for an assetless pre-order. And that pesky Amazon only allows a pre-order period of 90 days or less. In other words, Smashwords is a clear winner in the pre-order battle.

*assetless means no manuscript is needed to create the book’s retail pages.

With the book title and temporary cover I prepared earlier this week  eagerly waiting to be made use of, I whipped up a description using the over-the-top phrases I’ve cobbled together from my recent studies of other books in my genre.  By this time, Finn’s dizziness level was down to its normal status and he was ready to help me load this experiment.

After a few changes to some wording, conjuring up some keywords, and setting the official release date to 2 May 2018, I let Finn click the Submit button, and voila!

“Look what I did!”

After reading that big CONGRATULATIONS message, Finn was too occupied with running around shouting “Yay me!” over and over, leaving me all on my own to create the book’s web page…which is probably why that task went much faster than the work I did with Finn’s “help.”

I hope Finn’s fans aren’t too upset, but he’s decided he’s going to be too busy digesting Thanksgiving leftovers to appear in a post next Saturday.However, assuming Amazon gets their shipping sorted, Finn will be back in a couple weeks to show off his kitchen creativity. As for me, I’ll be back next Wednesday with some sad book news. 

What do you think? Writers, have you tried a long pre-order period before? Readers, how soon in advance would you purchase a book? Share your thoughts, I love hearing from you!!

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Get your copy of The Maze: Book Three of the Osteria Chronicles today….
For e-book fans and bargain hunters….

From now through the end of the month you can get The Trials of Hercules (Book One) and The Maze (Book Three) for only 99 cents each. Clicking on the books’ titles above will take you to a handy dandy site with direct links to all your favorite ebook retailers. 

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For those of you who love the feel of a real book, or who are perhaps looking for a great gift for a fan of epic fantasy or historical fantasy fiction….

From now through the end of the year you can get all three books in the series for only $30 (plus shipping*). That’s over $13 off the retail price!! To get this deal, just email me, let me know you’re interested, and we can proceed from there (I promise, it’s very easy and relatively painless).

9 thoughts on “Prepping a Pre-Order Despite Finn’s Flamenco”

  1. Oh, well done Finn! And clearly Tammie is delighted with all your hard work. I’m glad Smashwords have redeemed themselves in your eyes – all you have to do now is get the book written! I have to say, I’ve never pre-ordered a book so far in advance, but it does make sense… Especially if it’s part of a series, or by a favourite author. And hey, if you pre-order far enough in advance, you might totally forget about it and end up pleasantly surprised on release day! 😀

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    1. Well, technically the book IS written, it’s just written very poorly. As for myself, I’ve only just placed my first two pre-orders because the deals were just too good to resist (two bundles of dozens of books for only 99 cents) and I worried that post-release they might go up. Most of my favorite authors are traditionally published which means their books are way beyond my book-buying budget, so I just tell Mr Husband to nab me the first copy he sees coming through his work (local library).

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      1. It’s all about who you know, isn’t it? It must be great to have someone on the inside who can nab those new titles as they come in! How are those authors making money on those pre-order bundles though? 🤔 Have you read any of them yet?

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      2. Ah yes, my inside track to fiction reading. The bundles haven’t been released yet so I haven’t had a chance to read any. Many times it’s about getting exposure over making money…as in some of these books could be the first in an author’s series or might be something they hope will get you addicted to their writing. I’m hoping. To submit to a couple next year some time to see how it works.

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  2. Way to go, Finn!! Errrr… I mean, Tammie! That’s an exciting, motivational step! However, I’m not looking forward ‘sad book news’…. is one of them sick? 😦

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    1. Well, most of my books seem to be suffering from some sort of malaise, but this one is so bad off it’s going to be taking advantage of Oregon’s Assisted Suicide Law pretty soon.

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