This post is addressed to reviewers. The ARCs are finally up on Edelweiss and Netgalley. Hopefully the technical difficulties are behind us.
If your request was rejected
If you are a non-US reviewer or if you are a US reviewer but have been rejected, we invite you to email to Brandi at brandi.bolden202 at gmail. Please put “ARC of SAPPHIRE FLAMES” in the title of the email or it won’t be seen. Please list your reviewer credentials: your blog, or link to Goodreads account, Facebook Page, etc. This will help you get approved.
We can’t guarantee that everyone will get approved. The final approval is handled by Avon publicity department. To pass that hurdle, it helps if you are someone who can create advance publicity for the book, i.e. reviewers who have a blog, reviewers who have a large following on Goodreads or high reviewer rank on Amazon or a large presence on social networks. If you have a small blog and you post one review every 3 months, unfortunately, the publicity department may not be able to accommodate your request.
Please don’t email us if you do not fit these criteria. We will give away some ARCs when we get them. This ARCs roll-out hasn’t gone smoothly and we are trying our best to get a handle on the amount of work that’s already overwhelming.
Thank you so much for your patience, everyone. We apologize for the delay and other issues.
This seems to be a very generous way to address your concerns about this ARC roll-out. Sadly I’m a regular reader and will have to wait! I think Nevada and Rogan are my all time favorite story line.
Same here! 🙂
This post is a very gracious way to inform people about the problems with getting this ARC out. ?
I have to wait too. For those who can get their hands (or eyes) on the ARC: have lots of fun reading!
I got approved! Woot!
Totally different subject – I just got offered a job at the North Channel Library in Houston, Texas. It’s a promotion from my current job, but since I’m in CA I did the entire interview process by phone and haven’t visited. I’ve been trying to research the area but got back conflicting data on crime/safety.
Any housten/texas folk here? Would you recomend a single woman move to the channelview suburb of Houston, or is it not a safe area? I’m desperate here and just trying to find SOMEONE with knowledge of the area who can give me some info. Thanks!
I’ll admit being able to attend Ilona book signings is item #1 one on the “moving to texas pros” list 😀
Harukogirl, it has been a while since I lived in the Houston area and don’t know if the crime rate has changed since I lived there. I lived in the northern part of Houston, but I don’t remember Channelview being a non-safe area. The main concern about the Channelview area is flooding. Check the flood zones before you buy a house. I would also recommend getting flood insurance wherever you live in Houston.
thanks, that’s good to know!
Have you tried http://www.crimereports.com? It was useful for me when I was researching neighborhoods. At that time, one of the counties I was interested in didn’t participate, but that was 10 years ago, so I’m betting more police departments participate. I did a quick look at just Houston at large, and it did have reports, so that might help a bit. Once you pick a place, you can also get alerts when a crime is committed in your area.
Welcome to Texas! Be prepared for heat and humidity in Houston. It may not be quite as bad as the Dallas/Fort Worth area (where I’m from), but be warned. Also, mosquitoes could be bad. ?
OMG Stay in CA!
Something I always did when moving to a new area was to check with the local police department for that area. They will usually let you know what areas are not safe to move into (high crime rates, heavy drug use zones, racial or other high violence and so on) and which areas are better than others as far as police call-outs. Good luck!
I live in Houston! Channelview isn’t the best suburb to live in. There’s not much to do there, but I suppose that really depends on your lifestyle. If I had to work there and wanted to stay kind of close, I’d live in Deer Park. If you don’t mind a bit more of a commute, living in town is wonderful as there’s loads of fun to be sought for any kind of person. Safety depends on the neighborhood you choose to live in (like most large cities). You have your hipster hoods like Eado and the Heights. Montrose used to have the most unique and inclusive vibe and while it still does, it’s getting more and more yuppy. You have your young professional also yuppy hoods like Midtown and Upper Kirby. Then you have your super rough areas like Sunnyside and some of the wards. I grew up in Pasadena and am super comfortable hanging there (gimme allll the taquerias!), but I can also see why some people get nervous about going there. Haha. I’m rambling now, but I hope this helped a bit. Anywho, wherever you pick, welcome!!! We’re happy to have you! 🙂
Just minutes away is the Clear Lake area where I live. NASA land. But if I were single, I’d check out midtown. You’ll have a reverse commute. Do not live in Channelview. And, although Deer Park is much better, it’s not a good place for singles.
I agree with you, Deer Park isn’t the best for singles. All of my friends there are married or are welders/roughnecks living close to work. I threw it out there more for the proximity to Channelview. I wasn’t sure what would be considered a long commute to someone outside of Texas. Haha. I’d live in the Heights or Eado if I didn’t already set down roots and if I were disciplined enough to not eat allll the food around there every day.
While I can’t specifically address your Houston question, I have moved over 30 times across the country and have found a quick and easy rule of thumb. Go drive through an area and look at the cars. Are the cars late model and kept in good condition? Are the properties also in good condition? Aka lawns are neat, mowed, landscaping cared for? You will always have a few exceptions, but overall the condition of the cars in particular and the houses/apartments in general is a pretty good rule of thumb.
I’ve done that too. The cars, especially, are a great indicator of a neighborhood.
Just moved from Houston to San Antonio. Agree with the other posters re Channelview and Midtown. The Heights are great if you can afford them; Rice Military is fairly nice as well. Some of my friends recommended an area just north of the Heights also as a more affordable option. An important question to ask about any place you rent is whether it has ever flooded. Climate change is really impacting the city; they’ve had three hundred-year floods in the past five years. If an apartment/home has flooded, you don’t want to chance getting caught there in the next one.
I love in San Antonio!
We’ve lived in Houston for ten years now, and I like it a lot. People are friendly, and there are lots of good restaurants at reasonable prices. I guess you’ll be working for the Harris County Library System, and I’m only familiar with one of their branch libraries, where the people are great. In general, I’ve found that the libraries here in Houston are relatively new buildings. Also, the Harris County ebook selection is awesome.
Lots of luck in whatever you choose!
There is Houston, TX sub on reddit with 116,000 members – I’m sure of you asked over there you’d get some sound advice from locals. Not sure if I can post links, but will try in a follow up response to this one.
Link to the sub is: https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app
I’m sorry that there seems to be no end of stress for you! All the reviews I’ve seen so far are stellar and hope they make it all worth it!
Lol while i’d love an arc I’ll read release day and pimp anyway to my bookbub followers and fan page as usual. They’re used to me incoherently squealing about your releases anyway. /shameless.
Which reminds me, I need to make sure my preorder is done as soon as I emerge from this tooth extraction blur of pain and painkillers. Bllleeehhhhhhhhhh…
Very true story. I have strongly considered ramping up my blog that I have neglected for a few year and making it for book reviews just so I can apply for your ARCs! Then I think, “ok, that’s crazy” and go pre-order! 😀
No, Not crazy at all – it ran through my mind too!
Thank you for your generous offer! Although on NetGalley I could only “wish for it” (since I don’t live in the USA), the request on Edelweiss is still pending (I’m crossing all my fingers for it to be approved)…here’s hoping! ????
I really hope it won’t come down to the email and that the wait won’t be too long.
Thank you so much, y’all are the best!
Alas, I am but a poor, normal reader. I’d also probably make hash out of any review I wrote (first version would be all spoilers, second version would make no sense once spoilers were removed, third version would be mind-numbingly pedantic, “This is a book. It has pages. See the pages. They have words. They have a lot of words. Read the words. You will like the words. Or you will not like the words. It depends what words you like. That is all. Goodbye.”) But, I wish I had a copy.
Haha this is totally what my review would sound like except the frost few sentences would be a long incoherent chiiii!
Pan-tsu, pan-tsu, pan-tsu.
-Chi
(Chobits)
Come on.
You WILL like the words!!!
Don’t undersell it.
Also, at some point, someone will do something magical. And there will be at least kissing. It’s THAT kind of a book.
Now, where’s my book????
That’s how my review would sound too!! “It has pages you’ll love it….”
I’ll love to send an e-mail to Brandy… but my chances to be approved are slim or nonexistent: I’ve just posted a few reviews on goodreads, I haven’t got a personal blog, and english is not my mother tongue (if you ever add more Spanish vocabulary to the stories I’ll be happy to help, though) So thank you for providing us with this additional opportunity to get an ARC, and good luck to the readers that have the criteria to apply for it.
Same here, but mother tongue Portuguese. Well, at least I could wish for it in netgalley. I can only hope ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I’m just a normal everyday reader, who leaves reviews and Amazon or Goodreads as much as I can. (I read so many books, if I reviewed every book I read my tablet would blow up lol) just kidding, I would love to review your books, but I lack the creds. Never had a blog, I have no idea how to start one honestly…. I will gladly pick up a copy on release day, and leave a review on Amazon. Thank you for the generous gift of ARC books, you guys are AWESOME!!
Do you get points for how many times you try to pre-order the book? I’d totally nail that qualifier.
? Thanks, I needed that laugh!
Okay, sounds like you are in need of deep breathing and a couple stress tabs. Who knew ARCS could be such a problem. Big red circle around release day or the last day of promotional tour whichever comes first. Does the stress ever end for you? Somewhere in your history someone must have cursed you to have an “interesting” life because you certainly do! We’ll just keep hanging out riding the wave of your book release issues until the book magically appears in our hands.
I was approved by NetGalley! But I can’t read it until I finished the book for review I’m reading now !
My review skills come from a theatre performance background, which would run more on the lines of “the soprano lead was under pitch on her big number, and the wigmaster was not a friend to the male second lead, but overlooking the design clash of costume vs. set color choices, a pleasant diversion on a rainy Wednesday evening”.
Trufax: when I saw the post about the ARCs being available on NetGalley, I got all excited and thought about applying.
Then I saw the “US only” and “large following on GoodReads” and thought, “Oh well, such is life.”
Because I totally get that it’s a promotional and someone with only a couple of hundred followers *probably* won’t be able to contribute much to the promotion.
Also? I genuinely don’t mind waiting until the book’s released. I’m more than happy to pay a few dollars for the enjoyment I get from your books. So I’m all good with leaving the ARCs to someone who can do more good than I can in promoting it 🙂
I’m not a U.S. resident so no dice for me but I think I am not going to e-mail either. I will wait til August and get my pre-order and then handsell it when I work. I will leave copies for other people to maybe qualify this time.
I applied and was rejected by Netgalley. It was a long shot, but I get quite a few romances and cozy mysteries. I was already fortunate since I’ve read Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh. – it’s fabulous. I review on Netgalley , Goodreads and Amazon. I am trying to get in the habit of Bookbub too. But I don’t have a following or a blog. I’ve already pre-ordered and if Amazon is late I will pitch a hissy fit. Congratulations to all who got ARCS.
Thank you for being so gracious and generous to your readers! It’s so nice of you to give reviewers who got rejected a chance. I’m so sorry the ARC process for Sapphire Flames have been stressful, and I really hope things will go smoothly moving forward.
I do not qualify but seeing this post makes me sooo happy because we are one step closer to me being able to get my hands on it!!!!
BTW, you guys are super generous with your readers always and this is just the latest example! Hope everything goes super smooth from this point forward!
Something may be wrong with the arc download file on Edelweiss. The pages are blank except for the contents page. All my other downloads can be read just fine.
I’m a SF-nut and love the Honor Harrington series. The (Electronic)ARC’s for that series are for sale on the Baen site for a hefty price compared to the official release. Maybe it’s an idea to do something similar for your ARCs. There would probably be a market for it.
When I say they are for sale, I mean they are for sale before the official release date. Who would pay for an ARC after the official release, after all 🙂
House Tremaine, because without some new blood the house will die out . It needs to survive because Houses Lin and Shaffer aren’t ruthless enough to crush someone’s mind (and let’s face it, some minds just need crushing.) Truthseeker, because Victoria would respect nothing less. I’m from the US.
Just checked on Net Galley – not available at this time. Been waiting on my request from Edelweiss for a week – no response. Sigh. Just thought I’d share the info. Normally, I would be a good candidate – have written many book reviews, am long standing Board Member for our local library support/advisement group, and am on multiple social media sights.
‘social media sites’.