People sometimes ask about the admin side of things. People are interested to see what’s behind the curtain, so here is a small sampling of our emails.
Looking behind the curtain is a huge mistake.
Who is who:
- Erika Tsang, our Avon Editor (Hidden Legacy)
- Anne Sowards, our former Ace editor (Kate Daniels)
- Nancy Yost (Our agent)
I color coded emails for you to help you keep them straight. This was Thursday.
Erika: Hi! Lovely seeing you both this weekend, and thank you for joining us. Your readers certainly had a great time 😊. Behold a draft of the EMERALD BLAZE cover. Do you think she’s too sparkly? I may want to tone down the fairy dust a bit, and also a darker green perhaps… Let me know your thoughts!
Gordon: Wow! Do we like it? No, we love it. Leave it as is, please don’t change it. Don’t go changing as Billy Joel said to his first wife.
Me, calling to Nancy: The cover is amazing. We don’t want to desparkle.
Nancy: The cover is amazing.
Brandi: I sent the statistics for the last month. Did you all get the statistics?
Anne: Dear Ilona, Gordon, and Nancy,
I am writing to let you know that MAGIC TRIUMPHS will be featured in a BookBub promo on 12/8/19. MAGIC TRIUMPHS will be priced at $1.99 from 12/1/19 to 12/15/19. Please feel free to promote on social media, but we ask that you confirm the price change has appeared at all online retailers before doing so. In general, retailers should all have converted the price by the Tuesday following the initial change.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Nancy: From authors, agent, and various innocent bystanders:LOVE IT!!!Keep the sparkles!! Green is perfect color as-is.My one comment is: what is that yellow squiggly thing below her sword-hand, mid-thigh? It can go away. All else remains, pretty please. (but really, out of curiosity, what is it?!)
Brandi: Please confirm the receipt of statistics.
Amazon: Guten Tag, hiermit möchten wir Euch mitteilen, dass sich unsere Email Adresse ändern wird. Ab Ende Oktober werden wir eine neue Email Adresse verwenden: author-crossing-de@apub.amazon.com Solltet Ihr Fragen haben, könnt Ihr diese gleich an die neue Adresse richten. Lieben Gruß, Katharina, Laura und Marie vom Autoren-Team
Nancy: wunderbar! And do I need to follow up on Harper Amendments? did you sign/send back? are they lost in the NYC postal system or the beleaguered inbox of The Author Known as IA?
Me, to Gordon: What amendments?
Gordon: Beats me.
Me: Nancy, umm, what amendments?
Erika: The squiggly thing looks like an arcane circle scribble…
Well, glad you all love this and I should take my win, but…are you sure we don’t want to change her jewelry? I love the bracelet but maybe get rid of the necklace? Or a different necklace?
Me, calling to Erika: But we love the cover…
Erika: Okay, okay, I will leave it as is. I am thrilled you love it.
Me, to Gordon: Now we have to just write the book that doesn’t suck to go with the cover.
Gordon: No pressure.
Amazon: Guten Tag, hiermit möchten wir Euch mitteilen, dass sich unsere Email Adresse ändern wird. Ab Ende Oktober werden wir eine neue Email Adresse verwenden: author-crossing-de@apub.amazon.com Solltet Ihr Fragen haben, könnt Ihr diese gleich an die neue Adresse richten. Lieben Gruß, Katharina, Laura und Marie vom Autoren-Team
Nancy: These amendments. ::forwarding email from 17 days ago::
Me: Do you need the digital scans and paper copies?
Nancy: Yes, please.
Brandi: Will someone please confirm the receipt of statistics?
Me and Nancy: Statistics received.
Brandi: THANK YOU!
Me, to Nancy: Scans of signed amendments attached. Yay Japanese translation.
Me, to Nancy: Could we talk to Gene about buying rights to cover images for the SF and EB? They are stunning images and it would be amazing to use them for promotion.
Michelle, the bookkeeper: Good afternoon Ilona,
Attached to this email is the engagement letter that goes into effect 1/1/2020. Please sign and return by December 1.
We will continue to operate under the existing engagement letter through 12/31/2019.
Of course if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Have a wonderful day!
Michelle Lawrence, CPA
Nancy: Got it; and re: the Ristay story? That’s why we own pets. Calling you re: art, and also SOTB.
Phone call with Nancy.
Amazon: The 47North team is excited to let you know that Dina – Macht des Zaubers will be promoted via Kindle Monthly Deal in the DE marketplace, starting 11/1/2019 and running through 11/30/2019. Your book will be offered at 1.99 EUR during the promotion period.
During this promotion, strategically selected titles are offered for reduced price and are displayed on the Amazon Homepage, supported with mailings, onsite and device campaigns.
Beginning 11/1/2019, you will see the promotion here: http://www.amazon.de/b?ie=UTF8&node=4845912031. If you navigate to that URL before that date, the page may not have refreshed with the new promotion, or, it may be empty. If that’s the case, check back on the official start date and you should see your book listed.
Regards,
Amazon Publishing Marketing Team
HEB, grocery store delivery: Thank You for your order.
Please see a summary of your order below.
You can view your order history at any time.
Because who has time to grocery shop, right?
So now we see how the sausage is made. Yikes!
Looking forward to the green sparkly book cover…and its contents.
yes, yes, please keep the sparklies. Looking forward to cover and of course book whenever it arrives!
So excited for the book whenever you are ready to show us! Yes to green sparklies!!
Thanks for a peek behind the curtain.
Can’t wait to see the sparkles! When do you get to write?
Better you than me! I just get to enjoy the stories. Thank you!
Loved this, but why all the emails in German? Was it the same stuff you finally got word about in English? Does that happen often? Thank goodness for Google translate, I guess!
Makes me feel like you’re playing Wack-a-mole while juggling plates and hopping on one foot. Phew! I need to go lie down now.
Indeed! Made me dizzy…..
Looks and sounds like my work inbox, without the helpful color coding…
yes and like mine – but i am not trying to write books as a “sideline” … puh…
How do you have time to write? LOL! Also, can’t wait to see the Emerald Blaze cover! It sounds amazing!
Kitty picture was needed. My adrenaline is pumping.
+1. Hi Tuna!
+1000!! Big pretty kitty! Tuna rules over the writer desk.
Good lord… How do you guys get any actual writing done??
I tend to make a face every time my work computer chimes that I have a new email and celebrate when it doesn’t pertain to me and I can delete it. No really, I have put my arms in the air with a “Not mine!.” Lucky for me, my boss enjoys laughing at my weirdness lol.
+1. Except I work from home, so no one is around to laugh at me…which might be a good thing as sometimes my face is more of a glare that my computer had dared to chime with a new email.
So many people helping to create the books we love ????????
It takes a village, but the true MVP is obv the delivery service ????
I’m pretty sure Amazon Germany just authorized the reconstitution of the fatherland. Or possibly they like the sparkles also. One of those.
Love it.
Wow. I’m amazed that you have time to write! Thanks for the wonderful stories – both published and blogged.
Thank you for the cute kitty picture. Does the kitty or any of his associates make house calls? I have serious madness at work. (And sparkling water doesn’t provide the same “armored defense” as caffeine….!)
????These are along the lines of the texts I have with my sister (who lives in Anchorage) in response to questions she has regarding our mother (who lives about 30 miles from where I now do)- No. No. Yes. She really said that. Why the Hell did I move back here from DC??!!
Good job keeping it all straight.
I am amazed you can keep all that straight. Kudos!
Is there such a thing as too sparkly? ????
What is the yellow squiggly line????
I found that turning OFF the e-mail program after a certain time made it far easier to actually work back in the day when I ran a business. I just set a time of day to go through them, and when I got done with what had arrived that day, I shut it down. I learned that trick from my father. If he was busy, his phone could ring all day and he wouldn’t move to pick it up. I had to answer my phone because phone orders were my bread-and-butter, but e-mail can and will wait for you to download and read it. Not much is so urgent that you absolutely need to tend to e-mail all day long. You can easily walk around and tend to other things while you talk on your phone, but you have to stop, read, and type a response to e-mails.
Meanwhile, “Emerald Blaze”? My favorite stones are emeralds. My most-preferred color is green. hee hee hee hee hee! Looking forward to your next book, no matter if it’s another Innkeeper or another Hidden Legacy. Hugh never did interest me much. I mean, yes, it’s Kate Daniels’ world, but her world fascinated me for years and she’s all settled and working and raising a family now. I figure she’s pretty much gotten her Happily Ever After and she can rest now. For a while, anyway.
And welcome home! There’s not much like getting back home after having to be away, smiling and greeting people whose names you’ll never really know and whose faces you will not see again.
Love the cat.
+1 I used to turn my email on and check voice mail every 2 hours, answer everything, then shut it all back down. It amazed me how horrified people would get. “You shut it down?!? ” Yep, I sure did.
Not just authors anymore. Business owners and operators. Lots more work.
So….what IS that yellow squiggly thing?
????
I just asked the same thing? Curious minds want to know!
I believe Erika said it was an arcane circle.
Erika: The squiggly thing looks like an arcane circle scribble…
That is my daily inbox ????
As a German speaker I am fascinated that Amazon now sends business emails using the informal “you” instead of the formal “you”. As far as I know this is kind of a controversial thing, with mostly young business owners or cutting edge kind of places taking the plunge.
I’m tired just reading about your emails. Well if you guys can deal with all that I can go do a few household chores and call it a day ???? After all it is Friday!
Happy Weekend
In a nutshell the life of a small business owner, all the bricks get laid on your back. No matter how competent your helpers are, the bottom line is it’s your name and responsibility to oversee production. Fortunately there is two of you to share the load. Lucky us we get the end results without the stress! Have a great weekend!
If it helps to have company, my tech job inbox looks similarly multi-threaded. We have tools to help track incoming, planned, and progress because there’s a lot to keep track of.
A gas service drives a mini gas truck around the work parking lot and fills tanks. We have a gas station across the street. Because who has the time for that?
Ah the glamorous side of being authors 🙂 Too much to keep track of!
Looking forward to the green sparkly book!
In the midst of all of this, you find time to keep in touch with us. I am constantly amazed at your abilities in both writing and social media. I’m tired just volunteering in kindergarten, then going to the gym, eat a quick lunch, then picking up kids from school, and going home to prepare dinner. I bow to your superior skill and planning!
*deep breath* You’re supposed to do all of that AND write…. right….. ????
Sounds like you have your hands very full. I am so very glad that I am not an author. I bet you also get a slew of communications from friends and family too. How you get anything much done I don’t know. Just know I really really like your work and will continue to purchase and read it as long as you want to write.
No more Anne Soward? Or do you have to write more for her house?
Your e-mails sound like mine today. Only I also had to field Skype messages along with the e-mails. 😀 I was having two conversations at once. By the end of the day I was so happy to leave work. I have a feeling you and Gordon were ready to kick back and relax (I hope).
This is when deep breathing comes into play. 🙂
So the statistics were received but were they reviewed and examined?!
I absolutely love the last entry about the grocery store delivery. I did it last week when I was so far in the weeds I just couldn’t find the time to get to the store.
A sample? Sheesh! Good thing there are two of you to help keep up.????
Thanks for the email thread. It gave me SUCH a warm, homey feeling. These things are why I recommend pretty quilted wall hangings inside ones cubicle, to mute the yelps of outrage and moans of distress.
A cute kitty, and consideration of a sparkly green cover, would be even better. I look forward to reading the book that gets to wear the sparkles!
🙂 loved reading the snippet of Actual Life.
Thought you, as authors, might appreciate: I am driving to Chicago tomorrow, several hours, and last night had some driving to do as well, and so during my lunch hour yesterday, I delved into the odious task of finding a new audiobook which I can stand to listen to (I’m very, very, very picky). I found one which, after listening to three minutes of sample, was thoroughly sucking me in, and purchased. It wouldn’t download. I gave up, got back to work, and downloaded it when I got home. As it was downloading, I suddenly thought, “I’m stressed, I’ve been having some extra issues with anxiety recently, and I have no idea what is in this new book or how much this narrator’s quirks will grate on my nerves.”
I downloaded Iron and Magic and I’m re-listening to that instead, because why take the stress of an unknown story when you can just listen to Hugh and Elara battle mrogs and bicker with each other?
omg I feel like I need a paper bag to breathe into just reading that
I came back from 2 days out of office on a work trip where I couldn’t get reliable wifi, to roughly 1300 new emails in my inbox. >_>
So this, this reminds me so much of what slogging through those were like.
Thank you for sharing. I loved reading about the business side of your lives and all the people and topics that are part of making the books I love.
Ouch! Email is great…except when it takes more time than it gives back! Thanks for the look behind the curtain!
I am so glad I’m retired. Not that I dealt with email for the place I worked – just that now I have time to deal with the (ahem!) garbage that hits my personal inbox.
Thank you for being the wonderful, organized folks you are. Since you can handle this kind of thing and still write my favorite books, my life is so much happier.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wow! I bet Tuna gets a lot of petting during this time as you try to land on both your feet and find a little balance. All those e-mails in one day?? It’s really good that Brandi is there to help out. Can’t wait to see the cover.
This was hysterical. Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see cover and read the book!
No more books with ACE?
Holy cow! Guess I made the right choice not being an author. ???? I cannot multitask like that, my mind would be so blown! Glad you’re both intact, semi-sane?, and still writing. Love your books.
Will we *maybe* get to see a hint of feathers on one of Catalina’s covers? ???? We already love her, so the BDH should be fine with a little peek.
+1
Thanks for the peek behind the curtain!
Ah yes, an hour of life office workers everywhere can relate to. One minute it’s 9am and the next thing you know it’s 4pm, you haven’t eaten lunch yet, and you haven’t started on that day’s super important project.
And yet, sometimes it’s almost…kind of…fun. Go figure!
I sometimes wonder how any creative people get work done! I watched a YouTube video of an artists like 105th video and she was saying she regretted starting the videos: comments to check, people wanting more, projects not being done because of computer stuff. Personally, I just bought a house in a different country. Six weeks of real estate agent, banker, lawyer, insurance agent. Checking email 4 times a day. It is exhausting and addicting. Everything is done now and I don’t have people to deal with any more. It is kind of sad.
Huh, shoot me now. Thank you for your truly amazing ability to be creative and cope with family and business. Blessings upon you both.
Agh! Work! Back foul beast! Ya mean authoring sci-fi/fantasy isn’t all rainbows and blood swords??? 😉
Ya good luck w all that!
Is there a safety switch on your keyboard so you don’t just say “F it all” and delete all?? Because I don’t know how you deal with that and still have time to not yell at all of us when we get whiny for snippets, shorts, deleted and any and everything we love getting from our ALs and Brandi when she can. UGH after all that I think you deserve a cup of tea and a nap lol! Thanks for the peak I’m amazed!!
Wow, I could feel my anxiety creeping up just reading that.
You’re so lucky to have each other, and supportive people to help you tackle it all.
I can’t wait to see the cover and more importantly, it’s contents.
Thanks for sharing the behind the curtain POV.
There’s a Japanese translation? Since when? I need some motivation to keep up my language skills and seeing how they’ve gone about translating the IA writing style would be such a fun way to do it…
That was delightful! I’m glad to know that people besides me have really busy email lives. 🙂