I was talking with a friend – not Jeaniene, before you ask, heh. This is a friend with whom I have a weekly phone call. Last Friday we found out that Fated Blades had peaked at #4 on Amazon, which surprised the hell out of me. The series is 10 years old. By every measure of traditional publishing, this should have been a dead parrot.
Me: I don’t get it. This was supposed to be a side project and it’s blowing up.
Friend: It’s because it’s you guys. And you haven’t released anything for so long.
Me: … Blood Heir came out in January.
Friend: … No.
Me: January 11th of this year.
Friend: …
Friend: …
Friend: … Well it feels like forever ago. With COVID and all the other problems.
There have been studies done on the passage of time. Some people say that time during crisis like pandemic seems to move slower, others that it moves faster. It’s poll time.
Loading ...To add value to this completely silly post, here are some quick answers.
Pre-orders. I get sooo many notifications to pre-order. How does this affect the authors bottom line?
Preorders are great for us. There are some instances where some self-published authors don’t want preorders due to certain algorithm-related concerns, but they simply don’t offer the book for sale before the release date. If you see a link to preorder, it’s a safe bet that the author would appreciate you buying it.
Why do preorders in the first place? Because we have very few opportunities to grab your attention. Life gets busy, people forget about the book coming out, and if they preorder it, the book arrives automatically via digital channels or mail.
Some of you won’t believe me, because you are excited about books from your favorite authors and you can’t imagine how anyone would forget about the date.
September 16 Fated Blades Available for Preorder. Tags: Kinsmen.
September 17 Oh Boy, post celebrating Fated Blades record breaking sales
September 20 New Calendar from Luisa Preissler, Fated Blades cover prominently featured.
September 23rd…
People don’t always get to read every blog post or every press release. Some of you glance at the blog once in a blue moon and that’s why we have brightly colored banners to catch your attention. Preorders buy us a little bit of time to reach a wider potential audience. That’s all it is. There are no other financial incentives for us. We don’t get paid more or les from preorders.
Please don’t feel obligated to preorder.
We want you to order our books on your terms. A sale is a sale, preorder or not. It allows us to continue writing more books.
Are authors from other countries who write in English but are obviously read all over the world encouraged to use American vs British English, or does it matter to the publishing world? I’ve read foreign authors who “sound” American and others who don’t. Is this an author’s voice choice or an editorial choice? Do non-US English versions get localized spelling? Does it depend on who your primary publisher is such as US market vs UK first like JK Rowling was?
I don’t know. We are not one of those authors and I honestly have no idea. Maybe someone who was originally published in UK can answer in the comments. I can tell you that when Golliancz (I probably misspelled this) originally bought the rights to first 3 Kate books for distribution to UK, they did edit them to reflect British spellings and slang.
Is there a blog post somewhere about how HA feels about movie/TV rights to their shows?
We’ve answered this before, so let me summarize briefly. The way this process works is as follows: typically a smaller studio buys rights to the book and develops a packet proposing a film or a TV series. They then take it to major studios and places like Netflix and HBO and shop it to them trying to get a pilot made. If the stars align, which happens very rarely, the studio likes the project and they proceed. This process can be stopped at any time. I know someone who was in the process of filming, with the cast selected, and the studio shut the production down for completely unrelated concerns.
It’s very difficult to get a TV show. It’s harder for someone like us because our work is weird and would require a lot of special effects. We would need a serious budget commitment.
As to how I feel about it. I’ve given up. I don’t believe we will break on screen. On one hand, it would exceptionally beneficial financially. It’s not that the studio would pay us a great deal, but any screen presence is a commercial for the books. Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, GRRM, Julia Quinn, their sales soared. Even if the project is cancelled after it airs, the sales still explode. Of course, that would be great.
But I am also superstitious. I believe that everything in life has a price and I try to be careful what I wish for, so I no longer stress out about any of this. Once in a while our agent lets us know that something is being shopped and I am like, “That’s nice.” First, you are giving up creative control. Second, you invite greater scrutiny of you as a person and I treasure our privacy. Third, the fandom is never fully happy with the adaptations.
If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I like our life the way it is. We have enough money to pay the bills and we have awesome readers. That’s enough validation. 🙂
Time Moves Faster team here!
This is me ????
Just wait until you have kids. Then the first date is their birth, you blink and they’re off to college.
While you’re still wondering how the child is walking and talking at the same time.
“Just wait until you have kids. Then the first date is their birth, you blink and they’re off to college“
Amen to that Alex! Blink and your kids are in college, blink again and they’re graduating!
When, exactly, does this happen?
My child’s ten and it feels like it’s been *much* longer since they were born.
It happens when they graduate college. When you’re in the middle of raising them, it feels like forever. Then you go to their college graduation, and someone has a toddler, and you’re like, “That was my kid yesterday!”
Mouhahaha
This is scarily accurate ????
+1! I wanted an option on the poll for it to say “3 months ago.” Somehow it is September and in my head it is approximately April.
I want to add to my above comment that I love hearing your voice on the House Andrews blog, Mod R. This blog has been a happy space for me during the very challenging times of the pandemic, and getting to regularly hear from you, (as well as from Ilona and Gordon, of course) has been a lovely source of comfort, humor, and joy. Danke schön from Berlin!
Gern geschehen! ???? Hope for happy days soon!
Nalini Singh says on her blog that she is in the “future” since she lives in New Zealand. I know when I do the time difference from Texas, New Zealand is 17 hours ahead of us. So when it’s 7 am here, it is midnight there, or when it’s 7 pm here, it is noon the next day there. 😀
I also know the time difference in NZ since I try to keep up with the All Blacks (rugby).
I have also become adept at converting things to Texas time, from London :D. Sometimes I misfire and send Ilona Sonic the Hedgehog memes at 11 pm hehe.
OMG – Mod R, are you based in London? Guess that answers if you’re Kid 1 or Kid 2 :). You’re so fabulous that you must be related to HA somehow!!!1
No Kid hehe. I have not even met House A in person, but maybe one day :D.
I would have bet real money that you were one of the Kids.
I will take that as a massive compliment ????
I think that some of the House Andrews kids did do some of the moderator functions before, but they have jobs and school and pets and lives, … and the job became more complex and all the more important to have someone besides the authors sorting through comments and helping to keep the peace.
Thank you to Mod R, because things seem organized, questions are grouped and answered, and you entertain us while our favorite authors are busy writing (or taking a much needed break) … all that despite what feels like increased traffic on the Comments.
Oh, and I very much like your icon/avatar (it’s cute). Thank you for all your hard work.
Ditto to above! It’s been a pleasure to see the little quizzes you have posted and the deep website pulls have been so lovely! I had thought I had scoured the website for all the good short snippets, and you find even more!
Hope that all is well in your part of the world. Thank you for your hard work supporting much beloved authors!
I think they would make you an honorary member of House A. 😀
I’m in Uk too and used to have colleagues in Houston. I set up my Outlook to have the second time zone. Saved my head when I was knackered.
I just finished rereading Blood Heir and it finally hit me. Derek ate the guardian’s heart and he knows the true future. Obviously I was too excited to notice on the first read through lol.
For me personally, having a TV or movie made out of my favourite books is more often than not a disappointing experience. That still doesn’t stop me feeling excited if something like The Edge series or Innkeeper gets the tv/movie treatment because the world building is so unique.
Yeah. I missed that the first time too.
OMG, I didn’t catch that at all and I’ve read it 2x….thanks for sharing that info and I will now go back and reread that, AGAIN 🙂
I’m still scarred from my first experience with a movie not being even close to the book (Black Stallion!) I started to hope when the first two Harry Potter movies stayed true to the books but then came the third movie and my favorite book of the series. Sat there the whole time during the movie fuming it wasn’t even close. Oh well…have to laugh about it and go back to keeping expectations low.
If you want a really messed up book to movie try this one.
Navaho space commando(retired) on an alien world with his animal team=book vs blond barbarian fighting evil mages with his animal team=movie. The name of both? Beastmaster.
I heard that the author, Andre Norton demanded her name be removed from the credits because the movie had no resemblance to her book.
Having said that, Goodby, Mr. Chips with Peter O’Toole and Petula Clark was better than the book, the only instant I can think of where that happened.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest for me is the only exception. Have yet to meet another.
M*A*S*H the stage play is more like the book. (It is more of a drama with a few humorous scenes.) The movie is close. The TV series, not as much. Love Alan Alda – his Hawkeye Pierce was the soul of the TV show. But it had more slapstick and comedy than the book or stage play – would not have lasted as long on TV without it.
The movie Slumdog Millionaire and the book were different but both were very good – so I enjoyed both
The movie Blade Runner is SO much better than the book. I’ve often wondered how they created such a great movie out of such a terrible book (do androids dream of electric sheep).
+1
I read the book after I saw the movie and disappointed in the book, which for me is very unusual. I normally like the book better.
Another author whose blog I follow said she thought that The Princess Bride movie was better than the Goldman book, but I haven’t read that book.
I never could figure out how a movie company took a VERY short Heinlein story (Starship Troopers; it’s listed as a novel, with 263 pages) and made it into a full length movie.
Huh. Maybe instead of time perception, my perception of the length of books is a bit off!
Actually short stories make better movies than full length novels. Novels have too much content that needs to be cut. Novellas fit better with the about 2 hour length of any movies. The best books that have been adapted are from short stories.
I said that last wrong the best adapted movies are short stories.
By stuffing it full of a boatload of CGI. I still remember watching that movie, my friends and I spent the first half chanting under our breath, “BRING ON THE BUGS!”. Waste of a movie except for the fantastic work by Tippett Studios.
I never got over how on the ad they played Blur song 2 when they jumped out of the transport, woo hoo and out they jump, sat through the whole movie and it didn’t happen.
So disappointed.
Yea, Beastmaster was one of my favourites from her. Have you read the follow up books that were co written? Different mind set, Altho she tried. I may not watch any shows, movies, that is supposed to be IA books. I know the studios will wreck the stories.
Yeah I have the three sequels by Lyn McConchie as well as the original sequel. I think Beastmaster’s Circus was one of my favorites after the original novel.
Oh god I HATED that movie. It was a brilliant book with a logical reason for a Native American central character and they just ruined it. So glad to hear that Norton repudiated it.
I was so excited to see that when Beasymaster came out. I was sooooo disappointed. I felt cheated. How the heck did that go from scifi to a fantasy anyway. I can only imagine how Andre Norton felt about it. I miss her and still reread her books.
VI Warshawski, John Carter. Nuff said. Cried a little with how they butchered my beloved John and the critics who complained it was too derivative though Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired so much current scifi.
One of my favourite movies, an animated film called The last unicorn, is a fairly accurate adaptation of the book it’s based on due to Christopher Lee who was a big fan of the book and was hired to voice the antagonist (probably not a coincidence)
He allegedly kept going up to the film makers during recording with a copy of the book advising them that ‘this scene needs to be more like the book’, ‘you need to include this bit of dialogue from the book’, etc.
Since they were recording the actors dialogue ahead of doing the animation and it was Christopher Lee advising them they just followed his advice.
Almost all movies are disappointing compared to book. Only exception was Silence of the Lambs. But if the movie or TV series was animated, I think the KD series or Innkeeper would totally work.
I’m so excited to see what future he saw. Especially since that influenced Kate and Curran being able to have another kid!
Time experience is weird since COVID – since so many days looked exactly the same, they blur and I have serious problems remembering what was when…
On pre-ordering: as a reader of a lot of series, love pre-ordering, because it’s out of my mind then and I still get every new release as soon as possible.
My life has been jam-packed with dramatic and life things for almost a decade now. My sense of time is severely distorted. During of the earliest, biggest things, at least 3 years and me disappeared into a black hole.
I think your pre-sales are soaring because you are a fantastic writing team. Your ideas use researched topics and present as rich and unique. There is humor. There is heart. There are a good stories and character arcs. You run a kick-ass blog and are generous with your experience. You care and it shows. We, the BDH, love it all.
Thank you!
I agree 🙂
“…you are giving up creative control.” Thats the wrong way to do it the best adaptations were the ones that didnt sell creative control to hollywood idiots. At least at my humble fan opinion the more you let execituves have decision power the worst you get. So please never give up your power of veto if there is ever a tv series/movie. Also if you have asked me before this post I would say that blood heir come last year… not even the end of last year I would have said it was a around a year and half or more.
Ps I would love an Kate Daniels universe comic/manga and/or tv show/anime
” Thats the wrong way to do it the best adaptations were the ones that didnt sell creative control to hollywood idiots.”
The only authors who can get that deal are megasellers like Stephen King, and Tom Clancy, and probably neither of them got that deal on the first adaptation. J. K. Rowling’s sales were stratospheric already, so she could afford to hold out, which is the only reason she got any say at all. She’s the exception that proves the rule. The studio is only going to offer as much control as they’re comfortable with the author having, which is none. For almost any author, selling their rights means selling their rights. If you don’t want to sell your rights, you don’t get the sale. Period.
My counter argument: Eragon, Percy Jackson, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Golden Compass, My Sisters Keeper. I rest my case.
I suspect it depends on the circumstances/personalities involved. Simon Pegg/Nick Frost’s production company has purchased rights to Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London. I suspect that could prove a VERY good pairing. OTOH the adaptation of Daniel O’Malley’s The Rook was a completely different story.
I agree that looks like a match made in heaven. Ben Aaronovitch wrote for Dr. Who before he wrote that series. He’s in a much better position to navigate that world than the typical author, and could even be tapped to write some of the screenplays himself.
OTOG Sue Grafton was also a longtime TV writer, and that’s exactly why she adamantly refused to sell the rights to her Kinsey Milhone series.
OTOH. Perils of insufficient review.
Not familiar with My Sister’s Keeper, but the others were all YA megasellers before the rights were sold. You have basically proved my case.
Nope becouse from the begining I said I hoped they dont sell the creative control or at least the power of veto. Those authors didnt even have power to veto what producers or directors did and thats why we got such bad films. If I had the house Andrews talent I would avoid Hollywood at all cost and look into smaller production companies and sell the fineshed products to Netflix or HBO maybe contact some talented japonese or Korean artists and try anime first and only then they would have more options that would force the bigger Corporations into better deals but Im not an expert so I can be wrong.
My understanding of Maltese Falcon was there were a number of attempts to make the movie that didn’t do well, it was only when they went back to all the original dialogue from the book that it was blockbuster.
I’ve reread a lot (okay, all) of your work thru the pandemic. Over and over and over again. Something about revisiting known stories, there’s no anxiety. I’m not alone; I’ve seen articles about people rewatching movies, TV, etc.
Fated Blades is such a treat because how many times can I reread Silver Shark? Many times, as it turns out. But still. Having something new, that still *feels* safe and familiar?!? That’s the pandemic sweet spot right there!
So happy you’re releasing paperback for the Kinsman. I’ve already made space on my shelf!
+1000
Absolutely. I’ve been spacing out my rereads between series because they are such a comfort. Being able to jump into stories where the ending is known and the characters are familiar, and still feel like I am learning the ways that House Andrews does their world building and foreshadowing. There are books that don’t hold up after several re-reads, but all of House Andrews’ does!
Time moves fast for me. One moment I’m enjoying my weekend, the next, I’m back a work. Oh well.
When I know a book I will like comes out to pre-order, I go ahead and do it. That way it’s like Christmas all over again when I get the book downloaded. 🙂
I read Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series when they were first published. I liked them, but over time stopped reading them because the newer books, to me, got boring. So when I found out it was going to be a TV series, my eyebrows went up. Everyone was so excited about it at first, but now it’s a mixed review. I haven’t seen it.
The Bridgerton books can be a fun read. However, Shonda Rhimes who is the producer for the series on Netflix is very much for diversity of the cast and added a subplot about the king and queen that does not exist in the books. Both are fun, both are different animals to be enjoyed each for it’s own merits. Both were well done.
I have a huge problem reading a novel then seeing the movie too soon after I have read the book. Scripts do not reflect the novel very well. True Blood is a prime example of going so far off what is in the book it is not recognizable. What really pissed me off about True Blood is that the did not even follow the rules of the world that Charlene Harris created. That was a huge problem.
Meg Cabot’s Avalon High is another prime example of a twist of the Arthurian legend which I quiet enjoyed. Disney made it a movie and it was unrecognizable with a totally different plot and I wondered why buy the rights to the book and then change it beyond all reason. The movie sucked BTW.
Oh my god, yes – Avalon High was great as a book because of the unusual twist on the Athurian legend. And that’s what they cut from the movie to make another teeny romcom *facepalm*
When i worked, currently unemployed, a week could feel like this:
Arrive at work, its Monday.
Morning break, Tuesday.
Lunch, Wednesday …huh?.
Afternoon break, Thursday … wait?.
End of day, Friday…..like WHAT?!?… where did the week go???
When I said this to my boss, he just laughed,
“It will feel even faster when you get older.”
Gahhhh!!!!
It’s been forrevvveeeerrrrrrrr.
I love vernacular when it’s truly authentic, and among other things, it has to fit the character. I can’t imagine Kate in London. I’m currently reading the “Rivers of London” series by Ben Aronovitch. The main character is a young police constable of mixed African and cockney heritage; he’s also an apprentice mage. His father is an amateur jazz musician. The cultural stew has an intoxicating aroma! And I’m learning new British slang, like “flannel” (smooth-talking around a subject you don’t want to talk about), and “nazareth” (a thrown-together place for fencing stolen goods). Culture and location are an integral part of a good character!
Here’s a couple for you (just in case you read it): There’s a spanner in the works and it’s a sticky wicket. The first is slang for there is something wrong. The second is slang for something uncomfortable. There could be other interpretations for either one.
I used both of them in class one time. My professor, who was born and raised in India, looked at me like how did I know those two phrases.
There are so many Indians and Pakistanis here (central North Carolina) that we actually have a cricket league!
You might have to talk some flannel around that sticky wicket.
Beware the Nightingale! The audio book narrator, Holdbrook-Smith is excellent too—up there with Raudman.
Great series found it a couple of months ago.
I LOVE that series!!! ????????
There’s a “follypedia” wiki that’s very useful, includes some of the slang that non-brits struggle with. Careful though, spoilers abound. Also links to short stories 🙂 https://follypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Glossary
That is one of the best series around. Automatic buy. I understand the audiobooks are excellent as well.
I completely agree. Things on screen are never what we imagine as we read, that said, I’m praying it happens. Any of your series, any books… I would love to see Kate as an HBO or Starz series, like Outlander.
Time has been slow for me. I feel like we’ve been hitting roadblocks and bumps in the road at every turn.
I have been on my last year of college for 17 months. My final classs and internship will push it to 18 mths because our youngest got Covid the week I should have started. And it seems the stars aligned that my oldest who live 5 hrs away at school, is quarantining as well because a roommate has covid and told noone. So it adds 3 weeks to his year long course.
And my brother in a whole different country was sick as well. He is still however scheduled to come see us at Christmas fingers crossed they make it. I have a 4 yr old neice and a 1yr old nephew I’ve not yet met and I would love to squish them and have them play with their cousins.
????????????for your family holiday!! ????⛄????
I pre-order everything of yours.
There’s another author I would pre-order, but she’s one of the ones who does the release-day thing. Sometimes I get notified the day the link goes live on Amazon (usually the day before release) because she and I are on quite friendly terms now and she knows I will tell her what I think of her story.
There’s a scene in her latest that involves a ghost horse being quite rude to the villain of the piece – it gave me the same kind of laugh I get from some of your writing.
Maybe it feels longer because technically we got our first taste of Blood Heir before it was released in January. So, it feels like it was more than a year ago.
“The fandom is never happy about adaptations”- Eh, that’s true. With some of my all time works being adapted recently, I learned to be cautiously optimistic about similar news, but I saw things getting downright toxic in fandom circles on some occasions.
As my good friend said many years ago “time is an exponential function of age”
Definitely warped by pandemics imho ????
Oddly enough, I had a dream that I was *in* a Kate Daniels-universe movie last night. Well, in the movie, but also critiquing the casting decisions. Then my lousy alarm went off and ruined all the fun.
I keep re-reading your books because they are some of my absolute favorites… right now re-reading the Hidden Legacy series and enjoying it tremendously…
cannot wait for the next book in that one.
And that’s the crux. For all of the series I can’t wait for the next one. Hugh? Julie? Anything from the Edge? Innkeeper?
Of course I’ve already preordered Fated Blade 🙂
I wish there was just a way to like blog posts 🙂
On the pre-order thing, yeah, it’s easy to miss release dates. Like, I read this blog, so I’m not going to miss HA releases. However, with authors who don’t have something like this to keep me up to date, books can fall through the cracks. There have been a number of times where I had completely forgotten that a book was coming at all until I got the “your preorder was fulfilled” email. And while I don’t need to preorder HA books, I might as well, because I’m not going to not buy them.
“ Some of you glance at the blog once in a blue moon”.
LOL. Your modesty is very cute.
But it’s true. I only pop in when one of the email headlines or something on Facebook catches my eye.
Time definitely is not linear, this year seems to have flown compared to last year. Our son is 26 and I get startled when I realize I was married at his age.
The reason your book is soaring on pre order is readers kniw and trust your writing, that it won’t let them down, bc despite your internal angst nothing of yours I have read has been anything less than satisfying, last several years have been ‘holy ****’.
I agree your books would be challenging as a movie or series bc of cgi, but wow would it work, I would bet on it. Animated is interesting, would take out some of the special effects issue w live action.
To be fair, my birthday in March feels like it happened more than a year ago.
I’m one of those people that while I think it would be cool to see my favorite books turned into movies/tv, I know in reality it most likely would be disappointing. There are very few adaptations I truly like (The Last Unicorn and Stardust come to mind immediately). I do however wish the stars could align and there could be a specific HA project. I got really into the Syfy series Face Off (makeup effects competition) and there was a spinoff Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge where practical effects artists (non computer) competed for a job at the Henson Creature Shop. The final challenge was a intergalactic waystation where three travelers met and shared stories (Henson remember so puppets). Watching it I thought INNKEEPER! I would love to see Innkeeper done by Henson’s shop. It would amazing. Imagine Orro, space chickens, the lees!
I loved Face Off! Wish they could have kept the series going! There was a series from 2007 that only had one season… On the Lot that was a competition of people who wanted to be film makers/producers. They would produce short films, some were really good, in various challenges. The winner was able to work with Dreamworks. It was so good that I was very disappointed it did not have more seasons.
As much as I would LOVE to see your stories on screen, I’d almost prefer that they not because I know they’d have to make tweaks and changes to the stories and it would kill me. I couldn’t move past the changes they made to get The Passage on screen and so I never even bothered tuning in; if they started making changes to your work, I’d lose my mind.
I’m team “Time’s Lost All Meaning”. Fast, slow, perpetual Tuesday. It feels like all of that all at once and all the time. I honestly need some of those days of the week underwear. I think they might help? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“Fast, slow, perpetual Tuesday” love that! What a liminal spacetime for someone to play with hehe 😀
The only thing that has lost all meaning for me as a consequence of the pandemic are bras :D. What are these artefacts of the Before Time?
A colleague introduced me to the new days of the week, Whensday and Blursday.
😀 That’s hilarious!
OMG, so true!
Its got to be one of those quantum properties.
I appreciate pre order. I can get it and forget it until it appears on my Kindle on a Tuesday morning. I’ve missed some good books because I didn’t get a preorder notification.
A preorder is not an obligation. It is a benefit to myself because I will get something from someone I want to read without having to search or fear that I missed something in between.
It is a gift & a reward & a surprise because I never remember when, ha!, talk about time moving …
This. All of this.
It is a benefit absolutely! But I’m so desperate for something good to read that I’ll also add the ‘due’ date to my calendar so I can get excited when I see it come up. If it’s really big (Kate book 10) I’ll use a day off, find a cafe or two (pre COVID) and spend the whole day reading, sighing, and starting again.
Oh I used to do that!
Take off at lunchtime, get my new book and sit and read quietly in a location where no one knew me or bothered me. HEAVEN.
I’m not sure how I’d feel about an adaptation. I like my books as books and unfortunately visual media is never as fulfilling as the read word.
And let’s never discuss the recent travesty that was The Watch….
We do NOT talk about The Watch. Oook 🙁
+1000!
Good to know. I’ll skip it. Thanks!
I never read the books. So for me the TV series was completely new. And I enjoyed it.
I actually laughed out loud at the post about Fated Blades being an old series and would not do well. The concept of an IA work not selling was the weird part for me. If only we could preorder multiple times and make the release date come sooner …..
To be fair to the poll, I would also have chosen “All of the above and/or I no longer have a sense of time and thought it was like 3 months to 1 decade ago”.
Your friend’s right. It is you guys. You have a seriously loyal fanbase, the Book Devouring Horde, and we wait continually for new books from you. Your books are entertaining, funny and have all of us wanting to find an Inn to book a room and find that secret door to take us to Baha Char for a shopping expedition.
So, I expect your books to do even better in pre-orders and sales, as more and more people discover your wonderful series of books. The writing team of Ilona Andrews has been my favorite authors for a couple of years now, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Thanks guys.
I feel like “Blood Heir” came out more than 18 months ago because of the 11 chapters that were blog posts. I’d read and reread those posts so many times by the time the entire book was actually published in January. So technically you did start giving us what was supposed to be an unpublished serial on the blog only in April(?) 2020. Not sure for the blog stalking BDH this is an accurate representation of time, the passage of.
The same publishing pace as Nora Roberts would be about right. ????
I honestly think she has magical elf writing her books
“Third, the fandom is never fully happy with the adaptations.” – that’s me. Generally if I’ve read the book I won’t watch the movie or TV show, or vice versa. I get seriously annoyed with the differences, and there are always differences!
Your friend is correct, “it’s because it’s you guys”. Whether a resurrected series like Kinsmen or a completely new one, I am buying it or rather pre-ordering it – doesn’t matter how many years in between publication. HA is that GOOD!!!
I can’t count the number of times I have re-read Silent Blade and Silver Shark. For some reason they are very comforting and just the right length of time to spend in that world before I have to resurface to reality. Thank you again for your books!
On American vs British, the only way I care is if the setting is in, say, London, and all the characters are from Britain, then don’t use obvious US language. There is an author that is self publishing books and the story is fabulous, but the setting is US kids in the US and they wear trousers and jumpers, are stood by someone instead of standing, eat British popular foods, like Curry all the time and seem to think there is always a curry shop around the corner, and don’t get me started on burnt, learnt, etc.. it’s very jarring. In short, keeping it to the setting and character makes more sense
“the fandom is never truly happy with the adaptations”…I totally agree with this!
I have watched some adaptations of my favorite books in the past, and have truly liked some of them (hated others), but in every case the adaptation did not ‘match’ what had grown in my imagination over the life of the series. The interesting thing is that what I imagined was no doubt different than what other fans imagined…and we were all correct.
I love tv and movies, and am in awe of those who can create really good tv and movies. But I think this is the real magic of the written word. It can reach people where they are. Good books and individual imaginations breathe life and color into fantastical worlds, unmatched by books or movies (no matter how good they are.)
Can books coincide with tv and movies? Absolutely! And would I be one of the first in line to buy tickets to adaptations of your books? Heck yeah! But I would always want to read the book first, and then read it again after watching the movie!
Thank you (once again) for bringing so much enjoyment into the lives of so many members of the BDH! ???????????????????? And now I’ll shut up…I talk(and write) too much!
Oooops, fingers not paying attention to brain: when I typed”unmatched by books or movies”, that should have read “unmatched by tv or movies”! ????
“Last Friday we found out that Fated Blades had peaked at #4 on Amazon, which surprised the hell out of me. The series is 10 years old. By every measure of traditional publishing, this should have been a dead parrot.”
Except that almost all your projects appeal to the same readers, unless the reader is there for something that doesn’t carry over, like they only like post-apocalyptic settings or something. So even though Kinsmen is different from HL and Innkeeper and Kate and Edge, it hits a lot of the same narrative and character sweet spots – for me at least, and based on the sales numbers for a lot of the rest of the horde!
The only one of your books that didn’t really appeal to me was Alphas, but you set expectations appropriately that it would be different so I wasn’t disappointed, just not itching for more of it.
Murphy’s Law says that how long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on.
To me, Blood Heir seems like it’s a new book because I have only read it 2 or 3 times. I don’t pre-order because for me tomorrow may not come. Rather, I keep a list of what I find is coming and get them when they’re out.
Thank you for writing these books.
I have also noticed that time seems to go faster on my days off… I blink and the weekend is over! I remember my grandfather telling me that time seems to go faster as you get older… I have found this to be true! Sometimes time seemed to drag when I was a child, now it zips by!
I hope and pray you have many healthy and happy years ahead!
I mostly buy your books on audio so if pre order audio is not available…I rarely order
I just discovered y’all this year. I’ve been voraciously tearing through your books. I had just finished the two Kinsmen stories when I saw the pre-order notice, and so, of course, I jumped on it. I love the worlds y’all build, the pacing of your stories and the characters you’ve developed.
Oh boy, you’re lucky, so much goodness all at once. I came onto HA about 4 years ago so it was (not quite) (almost) as fun for me. I envy people who find a new multiple series/books authors after they’re established. My last experience that I cherish was when I “found” the “Dune” series. Mmmmm good!
Definitely agree about time passing. For some reason every week is going about as fast as a dead snail right now, but then I look up and I’m like “almost October? WTF?” I also had a question: I’ve been reading Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes, a short, focused, and beginner-friendly romance craft book I heard about a while ago. She lays out the story “beats” of a romance plot. One thing I’ve always liked and admired about your books is how well the investigative plots are paced and how they progress from “nothing going on” to “what is going on?” to “oh no, this is what’s going on!” in the eyes of the main character. Does HA have certain “beats” that you could describe in your investigative plots specifically? Does this help with pacing or the right amount of surprise/predictability for the reader? How do you weave that in with the romance plot?
As always, thanks for your amazing writing and I hope you have a great day.
Claire, this is not the way we write. Gwen’s process would not work for us, which doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Our outlining process can be viewed here: https://ilona-andrews.com/2017/on-outlining/
Love your books…pre-order but am known to cancel it, on Monday so I can buy it at Midnight and read it….my pre-orders don’t always download right away can be 5am before it does, so get it at midnight or wait…hmm must devour so cancel and buy is very common for my pre-orders books. Reread all, and repeat, and reread if nothing else can hold my attention. So thanks again for your hard work. On a side note why was House Andrew changed to ha…sorry brain keeps trying to make it a laugh, took til today for me to insert correct meaning. My issue. Regardless thanks for writing my favorite escapes.
I read Blood Heir so fast thay it feels like forever since it came out. I adore all your current series and always want more! Don’t care how old they are. Your dead parrot comment did bring memories of a Monty Python skit. This parrot is dead! No it’s sleeping!
It’s an EX-parrot
It does feel like a long time between books of my favourite authors although it’s usually an annual thing.
Kittens are the same it seems. Keyser Söze was a tiny guy when i picked him up in March and now he is basically teenaged at 9 months. I miss the tiny kitten stage. Not enough to get another kitten but it’s so tempting
Time is relative – always has been. Forever, waiting for something you really really want and a second or two when you dread something.
I, for one, really enjoyed reading your stuff when you were able to write a chapter a week. I understand that won’t happen anymore, but always liked it.
Producers/movies can really screw up a book. I am happy with your books.
Many thanks for your work.
+1 to all of this.
Time moves so fast from week to week but then I remember events that happened in the past and it feels like it happened ages ago… Like Blood Heir. Like for sure that came out in 2020 or something?? Haha.
I’m definitely one of those that forget the release date. That’s why I preorder. It’s like getting a little happy surprise when you least expect it
I’ve read a negative review of the American edition of a British young adult novel. They changed lots of things like pounds to dollars, the emergency number from 999 I think, to 911, British store chains to American ones…
That is why I always try to buy the edition from the authors own country for the local flair.
I usually try to preorder the book when I first see it and then I see another blog post and try to preorder it again. This is one thing I’m thankful about the kindle app. It will let me know that I already ordered it. Anyone else have this issue?
There have been times I was spared ordering something I already bought because of the display that I already ordered on Amazon. Alas, I do have some books though that were duplicated because of being in bins, not displayed on shelves. Been trying to put things in order and series together before buying books that might have been missed. I would love to have an actual library room, but instead have bookcases in different rooms like the family room, living room, 2 bedrooms and even in my closet! My daughters surprised me with long shelves on the wall by my bed where many books are able to go with brackets so the height could be adjusted.
I would love to see Ilona Andrews on TV/film. However, translating similar genre books to TV has produced – IMO – uneven results in the past. The Dresden Files on SYFY was really good and Discovery of Witches is enjoyable. But Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten just OK because it seemed to me they didn’t have the budget for werewolves in werewolf form everywhere. Which was the heart of the stories.
Plus, there’s the resultant hysteria if an actor/actress is chosen that isn’t “right” according to the fans. Some of Nora Robert’s fans had a nuclear sized loud and ugly hissy fit over the actress chosen by Netflix to star in an adaptation of one of her books. I watch a lot of British TV based on novels and OMG the complaints. Wrong hair color, too sexy, not sexy enough, the character would never do that!, etc.
Now if you ever decide to write an original new story screenplay specifically for film? That would be fabulous ????
This!
Dresden was enjoyable and has been optioned again.
I was just saying that the shapeshifters might be trouble along with the post apocalyptic setting, but Hidden Legacy could have an easier time of it.
You’re spot on about casting, though. Allowances have to be made, though. After all, it’s not going to be easy to find someone 6’9” tall and roughly the circumference of a #2 pencil to play Harry Dresden. Maybe go with relative newcomers who aren’t well enough known that they overshadow the part?
Wow, thanks for the great news about Dresden ???? Paul Blackthorne is 6’4” which was close, but still not 6’9” lol. And I agree that the Hidden Legacy world might be possible. How cool would that be?!
Just thought that if they find a tall person and others who are a lot shorter, it would seem like the person is taller.
OMG, didn’t realise Bitten was made into a TV series, going to look for it right now.
Also just found out they made Terminator 6 – Dark Fates, and I missed that too, all i can say is do they even advertise on normal TV anymore???
I tried to watch Bitten, but I felt they really dwelled on the violence because someone wanted to show how real they could make it look. Thus it felt to me as if the camera works just sit in a dead body or linger on a vampire covered in blood.
I couldn’t stomach it
A film or series could keep all your veterinarians in Texas happy for a long time..,…. You and your kids have great animals, let me say. They just ‘tend to be accident prone. Or health-need prone. But lovable. And very wanted
Honestly, it doesn’t even matter that the shorts came out 10 years ago. They were so absolutely perfect – the world building was so vibrant that it breathed, the characters were amazing with killer skills, the chemistry was smoking, and the angsty angles tugged at the heartstrings. I’ve been waiting so long for something else to come out in the same universe and not at all surprised that so was BDH ????
+1000 🙂
It probably doesn’t help that the KD books are in a post apocalyptic setting. People are getting a bit burned out on that genre which may discourage would be investors. ????
I had reservations based on how much they complained about the difficulty with the dire wolves and their fur in GoT. If that was an annoyance to them, they’d really hate all those shapeshifters.
I’m hoping someone sees Hidden Legacy for the jewel it is. Modern day setting so it should be easier to secure locations for filming. Mostly involving things the non initiated would recognize so easier for newcomers to follow. It may be tricky for them to bring Nevada’s talent to light, though. Maybe an audio distortion when someone lies?
I’d actually love to see the Innkeeper on Tv. Someone could have so much fun with Baha-char.
If the BDH can get presales up to number 4, just imagine what we could do if someone created a petition to Netflix for example.
It’s great to hear how well ‘Fated Blades’ is doing.
The sales of the 3rd kinsman book are soaring because the first 2 kinsman books are awesome.
10 years ago isn’t ancient history.
I’ve read the kinsman books again, and again, to whet my appetite.
Write on!!
From a member of the BDH who lurks quietly, usually.
I feel it’s been like that old adage: ‘the days are long but the years are short’
Maybe Blood Heir seems so long ago because it hasn’t been a year yet.
I voted “more than a year ago” because there was no “either a year ago or two months ago” option. As someone who struggles with time under normal circumstances, the pandemic time dilation has been rough. My husband only goes out to his office about once every couple of weeks and, since he works in IT, work hours sometimes end up being added to his day as needed. The kids were all doing distance learning and online classes for college until recently. What is time?
I feel like my wheel of time has skipped the entirety of 2020.
I put it down to the constant references to 2019 ie”COVID-19” and then writing the dates as 2021. It feels like 2020 never existed and yet so much happened that my brain is melting.
I don’t think you guys have any idea how obsessed with your books your readers are. So the pandemic is moving really fast for me. But waiting for another of your books to come out – the time just DRAGS! Seems like forever
Yep, I now have Monty Python in my head- This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker!
One of my favourites actually.
Also as usual very interesting insights into the world of publishing and beyond, thank you.
That is crazy. I literally went and checked my orders on Amazon it does feel ages ago. Smh. I am so DONE WITH THIS PANDEMIC WHY WONT IT GO AWAY. ????
If it would be a huge benefit to House Andrews, then I’d welcome a screen adaptation. However, I gotta say it: things rarely work out well when they switch mediums. At least, that’s what it seems like to me.
I agree: once someone else gets ahold of the work, they change it, because no two people have the same vision. In writing, we can use our imaginations, and we get used to what the people look like in our heads. Rarely if ever do those imaginings translate well to screen.
That happened to an author I used to read. She had an entire series, the first book got turned into a movie, and the movie flopped like a tired dog after a long walk. As a reader who then watched the film adaptation, it did not go well. I’m sure there were many people who loved it, so there’s always that.
Can’t say much on time except I have never stopped asking about Kinsmen and hoping for more this entire time. So I’m just so so so happy! It’s like the best blend of sci fi and fantasy which is why I love it so much and it’s my favorite!! Thank you.
I blame the anticipation for more as the reason it seems so long ago. It’s like trying to eat one chip once you tasted the awesome dip someone brought to the party. You keep wanting more, but the food line is long. You know others get their turn, but you just feel like it’s taking forever to go back through to get more chips and a bigger spoon of dip to go with them!
Also, I always pre-order so it’s just waiting there on launch day like the joy of finding money in your coat pocket the first time you wear it after the summer. It just makes you smile!
I keep checking but Amazon .ca does not have a paper copy of fated blades. Do I just need to be patient?
Hey Lorna
We are still awaiting Amazon response on the international availability of the paperback for Fated Blades. The paper version was a last minute addition and things are still being figured out ????.
Thank you for your patience.
I’m in Norway and would for some authors prefer to buy from the UK, but with Kindle we can only buy from the US site. Rather annoying when you are waiting for å release and it is many months earlier in Europe than in the US. American authors are no problem, their release-dates are, as far as I’ve experienced, the same in Europe and the US.
I totally agree with you. I’m living in Ireland, but are originally from Berlin, Germany. It’s slightly annoying that if a new book from HA, or Nalini Singh or Nora Roberts (or the like) is coming out, it’s first in English – which is totally fine with me. But to wait sometimes more than a year before it’s published in my native language is somewhat annoying. And one of the two main reasons why I have my favorite books always in 2 languages (and as E-Books as well as audiobooks).
Authors do not control the publication of their books in foreign countries. The publishers do :). If you want to see a book published in your native language, you need to contact a publishing house that deals with similar, or has published the previous books in the series. Usually authors are too happy to make their books available internationally.
However, expectations must be managed, translating is a laborious process and cannot happen overnight 🙂
I hope this helps 🙂
Hey Mod R,
Big Thanks on responding to me. I would never put that up on the authors -I made translations (marketing ones…) myself, so I definitely know how long that takes. And thanks to HA I have now a much better insight of what it takes to translate a whole book. I just liked to express that it’s a bit annoying. As if I would sit in a loop where the time doesn’t move. It’s kind of related to the question how the time is running for us. If it comes to books: I’m always sitting in a time-doesn’t-run-forward-loop.
😀 <3 Below is good pic of what I'm doing between the publishings:
Nine months ago, because even with several re-reads I cannot believe we got a Julie book. I am still so hyped. Metal Rose forever.
Seriously? I am not sure why you wasted the breathe (or finger muscle use?) to write the last couple of blog posts about being surprised about the Kinsmen story not being a run away hit.
LOL! You could have waited 20 years to write a Kinsmen Universe story and I would have bought and read it. LOL!
I am going to say to you what I say to my husband all the time. You are the ONLY one who doesn’t realize how wonderful you are.
Keep up the great work and thanks for all the fun on this blog.
Something Wicked This Way Comes was a marvelous adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s story. It turned out he wrote the screenplay, when I paid attention to the closing credits.
That is one story that scared the bejesus out of me in both formats. I first read the book at the end of October, after I’d gone to bed, in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. I credit the score and the effects for why the movie scared me.
I spent years of my life around the edges of science fiction fandom, which meant I met a fair number of authors, and a few who wrote screenplays. Including the college friend I sometimes mention. It’s always seemed to me that the story is the important part, and is it well told according to the limits of the medium?
Something wicked…shudder… BIG.A$$.SPIDERS.CRAWLING.ON.THE.BED. thanks for that, rock me to sleep!
Last year…but only because as a UK teacher ‘last year’ is the last academic year from Sept-July!
I’ve got a fantastic time sense when it comes to during today – the time of day it is (usually to within a minute), or length of time for tasks – but time outside of the present always seems distorted by the lens of the school year.
I think I remember reading somewhere that as you age, time seems to follow faster because you encounter more moments which are almost identical to happenings you’ve already seen before (not deja vu per se, but the old ‘did I lock the front door’ – if it’s something you’ve done 100,000 times before, your mind just files it without taking notice of it and you have to really remember whether you did it or not) – then there’s the horrible thought that as you age you have more behind you than ahead of you, so of course each year seems faster than the one before…. or is that just the teacher timetable again? With a day ruled by bells, it certainly moves fast!
The past 18 months are rather blurred together when I look back on them, maybe because there weren’t special occasions during that time nor was I able to create a lot of new and wonderful memories. I think that this might be why the time seems to pass fast while it simultaneousy feels like the publication of Blood Heir was more than a year ago, too.
Meli and Celino were my introduction to you. I have owned it in numerous iterations. It made me seek out all of your other works. I have wished for years that more in that world was coming. It is one of the few books I reread almost immediately after finishing it the first time. And even after all the times I’ve reread it since, my throat still clutches, my chest gets tight and I tear up when Celino discovers her gone and realizes who she is. There is a cadence to the story that is very close to poetical for me. I love everything you’ve written to varying degrees, but they are perfect.
I keep trying to introduce my husband to your work but, alas, he does NOT like ebooks. I talk about your blog posts all the time with him, and it wasn’t until the Lawn Orphan Mafia that I had a way to shorthand the “you know that writer who I like” preface to those conversations. I read him the whole LOM saga, which we both love and perfectly illustrates why I check the blog relentlessly for new posts. They are almost always little gems of Ilona Andrewness during the desert between new releases.
I love pre-orders BTW. Amazon Kindle pre-orders process @ midnight EST on pub day, which means I get to read them @ 9pm PST as I live in CA.
I’ve said this so many times talking to friends, but I am hopeful about the rise of (western) animation geared towards adults. Although I ended up disappointed with the plot direction of Netflix’s Castlevania, I felt that it was what I’ve been waiting for. So many supernatural, paranormal, or sci-fi works would be fantastic as animated series. I would be so thrilled to see any of your work adapted to a Netflix animated series for example, lol.
It’s unfortunate that “cartoons” or “anime” are seemingly viewed as “children’s media” when the fact is that it’s just a medium. The vehicle by which we experience the story. And I’m hopeful that with shows like Castlevania we’ll see some more adult centered animated series. (It cuts down on the whole crazy special effects budget SO MUCH too, lol.)
(Also I know it was just announced but gosh I am so excited to pre-order the print copies of Kinsmen when they’re posted.)
Agreed Castlevania was fantastic and definitely not aimed at kids. It’s weird that this stereotype continues given it is a great medium to adapt things that otherwise might not adapt well due to cgi requirements and budgets.
I feel like I should point out as someone who rarely preorders. You had a blog post recently (?) I think? About the value of presales and how that might push an author to finish a series. And then there was a preorder option, so of course I preordered to show my love. Hope this helps. It’s really because we love and listen to you even if you only hear from the negative Nancy’s.
I usually look forward to seeing my favorite books on screen. However, quite a few choices in recent adaptations just don’t make sense to me. A lot of author’s original ideas are destroyed for the sake of modern ideas. The characters suddenly change their sexual orientation, gender, race, etc. to the point when their story no longer makes sense – just because the producers have a quota to fulfill.
Please don’t get me wrong – I agree that diversity and inclusion are important. But in my mind, House Andrews books remind of a chain-mail armor – or a beautiful knit shawl with a complex pattern. Every character (main and supporting) is well thought-out, has a unique and easily recognizable speech pattern, appearance, and rich background story. They are all alive and believable, they fit, they make sense together. And if one or more links would be carelessly changed – it might unravel the rest of the row or make the whole pattern into a pile of yarn, looking pretty but not making sense.
I hope that if/when any of the books ever becomes a TV show, ALs would participate in the story writing.
Talking about hating adaptations…. has anyone read The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper? I have been obsessed with these books since my teacher read them to us when I was 11. Then some years ago a movie came out and it was NOTHING like the books. I was so disappointed. I can’t even tekenen what the movie was called I hated it so much.
*remember…. *sigh* always spell check before you post…..
I LOVE those books! I have never seen the movie adaptation and that is probably for the best, or I’d be: that wasn’t in the book…that’s not how that happened in the book…that person isn’t even IN the book… well, you get the point. That was my reaction to Jurassic Park (c’mon…everybody got eaten by the dinos!!!) and The Lightning Thief, and well, you get the point.
One exception: the 5th Harry Potter movie was better than the book the book because he didn’t whine the entire time. 🙂
Yes, love those books – still go back and re-read them. And I just realised it’s almost 40 years since that first reading… now I feel old!
“It’s very difficult to get a TV show. It’s harder for someone like us because our work is weird and would require a lot of special effects. We would need a serious budget commitment.”
Ahem. KDrama which can be manhwa or light novel adaptations? I feel like a sword or broomstick wielding heroine could make a go of it. Memories of the Alhambra comes to mind as special effects intensive with less than usual plot (which yes, fell apart for various reasons for me, but they did try). A few of the ghost story types. I loved Hotel Del Luna which isn’t any more odd than Innkeeper. I admit Curran might be a bit harder to cast as most male leads are more smooth and have slightly different body types.
Nalini Singh would be great to ask about Commonwealth vs American English! I like her NZ set mysteries but can understand why some reviewers got stuck in the “X author’s name is established in this genre” thanks to your explanations around this topic. I started paying attention to the copyright name holder some time ago thanks to you two. I get that some authors choose a more “marketable” name but if they choose to use their legal ones on copyright, I like acknowledging that.
I Like the way you see it, you have enough, of course you could use more, but you dont worry about it.
TV adaptations are never good, no compare yo the book, but I’m happy for the authora when it happens.
Like in these days I saw that Shadow and Bone was on Netflix and I was like good for her, I won’t watch it but good for her
I would love to order it but I use kobo not kindle so decided to wait for the audio. I am super happy it surprised you and is doing well. I do plan to buy just not yet. As always sending you good vibes and happy thoughts.
Thank you for all the work you do.
Here’s a thought on the popularity of Fated Blades: the Kinsman series isn’t linear like your other series. Each story stands alone. So the fact that it’s been 10 years is irrelevant. I don’t have to think back to where we are in the overarching story line. I can just enjoy.
I NEVER forget a HA release date. I put it on my calendar, I set notifications, I scheduled text messages. I even go online to my local library and “recommend” any of your titles I can because no one should be denied access to a HA book experience.
I preordered Fated Blades because of the price. Way cheap. I also thought it was a Maud book at first because of the “Blade” title. I like your non-series stuff, but am sufficiently obsessed with the the series to not worry about Kinsmen. And now I’m listening to Dina and the peace summit. I’m in DFW, no HEB stores, just Central Market, but the narrator for the book pronounced HEB as rhyming with bleb, not the letters.
Is that how it’s said in Austin? I always hear the letters pronounced when it’s mentioned here.
There is an HEB store in Burleson. I make a 4 to 6 week trip to stock up on items their brand items, charro beans, pickles, that green sauce, rice with corn and poblano peppers which I use for a rice version of tortilla soup.
This reminded me that I wrote a paper in high school, around 1974, titled American English Versus British English. It was fun and interesting to write, though I am sure there is a lot of new slang and other changes since that time. The research paper had to have a thesis statement, footnotes, conclusion and resources as an assignment in Language Arts. It got an A!
Moderator R, off subject question.
I saw that there will be an Audio CD available. I can’t remember, will there also be a release through Audible?
Thank you!
Yes, Fated Blades will be available on Audible :). The aim is for it to be released at the same time as the ebook, but nothing is yet set in stone.
We will ofc update on the blog as soon as there is any info :).
“Dead parrot”? No way! Polly is just sleeping! ????
I rarely find a movie/tv series better than the books because they often don’t match the pictures in my head or the description of the authors.
I admit that I don’t keep track of the release dates. I just pre-order and enjoy the surprise when it shows up on my Kindle.
I have hit or miss with pre-orders. Once everything was fine, when you looked at the book it said it will be delivered.. then on the day of release it was just gone. Like it never had existed. It was very weird. And sometimes if pre-ordering on the Nook app, it won’t load on any other Nook device except the one it was ordered on which is just weird. Technology. It works when it wants to. It’s why I won’t have Siri or Alexa, or any of those other things, I’m sure they will take over my house and make me do their evil bidding. 🙂 🙂 (Plus they are smarter than me…)
You write, I buy and get to go someplace fantastic, meet interesting characters and have a great time! It’s always worth the wait! Always!
Preorders? Yes Please! All of a sudden I get a wonderful surprise in my inbox.
Yipeee!
Time has been so weird. When Covid started ramping up in 2020, my family started doing video calls with each other. I made a comment about not seeing them that year and my brother reminded me we had a family trip to Boston in January.
I also wanted to add some additional insights when it comes to the subject of pre-orders.
Pre-orders are also critically important on the business end for publishers and retailers.
When a publisher notifies retailers about forthcoming publications (usually in a sales book), they are pitching the book to retailers for both brick and mortar, and/or online sales. With that they have a “pre book” or “order date”, this is a date by which the retailer has to notify the publisher (or their representative) how many physical copies they want to order.
The publisher then receives information from the retailers and they can tell by interest if maybe they want to reduce their print run, or boost their print run. Also this can impact any potential adjustments to spend (reducing or boosting) for advertising, promotion, MDF, etc.
Retailers if they see a lot of early excitement for a release, they then may decide on their own to give the book higher placement in their store (online, and/or physical) to bring even more attention to the release. So featured placement on retailer produced marketing materials, spotlights, signs in store, flyers, newsletters, direct mail drops (far less common these days) etc.
For the bigger retailers, they have formulas that if they have X number of preorders for physical copies, they then need to order Y additional units, so that when the book releases they have copies to sell in store, and ship to online customers that didn’t pre-order. This way they can meet immediate demand, versus potential customers looking for the release on or after release date but discovering the retailer is out of stock, that’s bad because then the customer will most likely go to the competition instead to purchase. (We live in the age of instant gratification, people don’t like waiting anymore).
There’s some nuances if it’s a physical copy only release, an e-copy only release, or a hybrid of the two. And more nuances when you’re dealing with exclusive retailers, etc.
But it’s super important for traditional publishing and retailer models. ^_^ Strong pre-orders can lead to a huge windfall of extra promotion that could drive much greater sales than originally anticipated, and thereby boosted sales means more money earned by everyone (the authors, the publishers, the retailers).
And of course in a cluttered space where on social media and at retailers we’re constantly being bombarded with messaging and information, the more repetition you can do for a release the better.
Just here to note I am an awesome reader. House Andrews said so 😀
…… And BDH have also forgotten whole book chapters as though they never existed too…….because House Andrews said so????????.
As much as it pains me I have to say that I think it would be hard to make a Movie/TV Series based on KD just because the world is so insanely complex. Inkeeper on the other hand would make for a fantastic series. The “stage” would be a lot smaller since all the action happens in just a few places.
That was sweet at the end. I wish you less stress, fun with writing, more readers, more happiness and enough money not to ever have to worry about money.
I have already imagined all my favorite characters in my mind living their stories in detail, again and again when I reread the House IA novels/book series. I have already heard their voices in every detail of the IA stories told every time I re-listen to the audiobooks.
Movies are not worth it in my opinion. They will never do justice to the stories or imagination of the story characters created by House IA or make them come alive with the love-in-the-details paintings imagined by Luisa.
Everything pretty-much has felt like forever-since, not just your last book birthday. But this blog, as a tiny window to IA, and the larger BDH to share with, has been the bonus icing on the cake with a cherry on top.
Everything else from House IA that will be……. will be in its own time, and the BHD will still be there to read it whenever that is….. even a 10 year old book series too.
Recent exception: I have seen Dune Part 1 with Timothée Chalamet and went back to reread the book. This movie was beautifully done, hands down, …..and true to the book. I hope there will be a Part 2.
Rereading Kate Daniels for the fourth or fifth time and just got to the part about the Mary and the plague almost starting. And as I was reading about a deadly potential plague my heart hit my stomach and I was taken out of the book back to the real world for a second. Because we’re still living in the time of Delta and the Coronavrius. And I have to say Thank You for publishing a book about Rada and the Kinsmen universe. They’re probably my favorite series — they’re so lighthearted but simultaneously cut to the heart of deeper subjects quickly. And in the midst of what-feels-like-a-never-ending-pandemic, this feels like a world I need right now — full of light and color and wonders and still full of love and hurt and real things. The BLOOD HEIR book series being published at the beginning of the year (and in a series ongoing in the middle of the pandemic) was so, so, so needed as well — it gave something to look forward to for every post where it felt like an escape from endless uncertainty. And now this is just perfect because it feels like though the pandemic must certainly end… at some point… will it be anytime soon? Soon enough for my three year old to see his grandparents across the country again before he’s five and vaccinated? He hasn’t seen them since just he was just older than a year — right before the pandemic started — so it’s been most of his life that Grandmas and Grandpas have only existed on FaceTime. Anyway. Thank you again. This was what I needed.
““You’re alive. He’s alive. You’re together. Everything else can be fixed. It can always be worse. Much, much worse.” Trust me on this.”
Probably my favorite quote right now in the KD series. It just encompasses why I’m rereading IA books for comfort during this (still way crazier normal ever has been in my lifetime) time. Sending all the love.
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the informational post.
Put me in the preorder column because otherwise I forget when a book is coming out. Mother has a crisis or someone else has a crisis that I have to deal with and regular life …. I forget date.
Regarding movies. So far every single book I have liked be it Star Wars or Louis Lamour or comic book…. I have not liked movie. I am told same about romance stories made into TV movie and Pokémon stuff by family that likes those. Therefore I am with you.
It’s really difficult to change medias without losing continuity. Visual media is different from mental media (books be they dead tree printed or digital). I do understand that. I had a difficult time when Patricia Briggs published Alpha and Omega in “comic book” format. To me the story was similar but different story than what I read in first published paperback book.
Didn’t you release around “6” books in 2018. I think that right there gives you both a 4 year credit in my opinion.
I use to be great with remember when my faves have new books getting published but not so much anymore, now that pre-order button really makes things simpler
I feel like book adaptations almost always work better for people who haven’t read the book. It’s notoriously hard to please the original fans. Casting in particular would probably be tricky, especially if we’re talking Kate and Curran. I’m that weird person who actually pictures the people on the covers as the characters, which backfires sometimes. I always envision Kate as she was in the original covers. (I think these are the original covers). Slightly darker skin tone, not so much pretty but striking. I particularly like the Magic Bites cover. I’d personally want to see that version of Kate, as to me it hints at her heritage, but obviously people see her/the world in so many different ways it’d be impossible to please everyone. As an aside, my version of Curran is so built up in my head, I can’t actually think of an actor I would like to see play him.
The first time I saw a clip of Sofia Boutella’s fight scene in Hotel Artemis I actually thought it was something from the KD world. I’d actually love to see the books as a gritty anime series.
Wouldn’t the exclusivity of Amazon account for some of the higher standing on the kindle list? But I guess you would have all the numbers to factor that in, still after 10 years away from the series this is a true measure of the authors popularity.
I have a very fluid relationship to time. One that predates the pandemic. I am one of those people who starts a story with, “this happened a few months ago.” The event in question could have happened last week or 10 years ago I rarely actually know until well into the story.
This post made me think, I have been reading HA books forever. In my mind I have been reading you since the beginning of time and yet no book was published more than 3 to 5 years ago. The fluidity of time. Of course I know that cannot be the case so I decided to do a little detective work.
Hopefully this gives the BDH the same giggle it gave me.
I am sure that my first HA books were Kate Daniels and that as a voracious reader of series I love to find a series that has at least 2 or 3 books available. I was pretty sure I started when there were 3 books. So I take my honed detective skills to my Amazon account and look for the purchase dates of the books. Turns out I joined the BDH in April of 2011, just before book 5.
Purchase dates:
Magic Bites April 25th
Magic Burns April 25th
Magic Strikes April 26th
Magic Bleeds April 27th
????????????????????
I believe this qualifies me as an official member of the BDH. If not I offer this further qualification:
Magic Slays May 31st (I reread the first 4 before starting #5) Read 9 HA books in 1 month????♀️????♀️????????????
Thank you for writing books that stand up to the reread test.
Silent Blade was the first book of yours that I read and loved and have re-read more than once. Mind you I re-read all your books :D. This is very exciting!
I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude for writing and sharing your stories, you have no idea how much joy they bring me. Every single one of them. So thank you, and I hope you will keep writing for as long as possible. Much love,
Cecile
You have a point about adaptations. Just look at Dune. But, I believe the technology is there to create your world. Just not sure they would keep the humor that I love so much! I love your books. I am very satisfied with the way I see your world in my mind. Thanks for so many hours of pure joy!
My husband and I both love the kinsmen books. They are his favorite and he is very excited that a new one is coming out. We might be the odd ones out since we strongly prefer your side series, the innkeeper and kinsmen. (Although I also love the Hidden Legacy books as well.)
So, I am not sure how much it is related to when the last book overall came out. Instead, I think it is because it is a good series.
An Australian author I know had to fight tooth and nail to keep her series set in Aus. Her publisher was adamant that it should be set in the USA and that spelling should be USA as well. She did not want to be subsumed into the American plethora of UF books and stood her ground. They are quite popular, and very Aussie.
I would be a little concerned about whether that publisher really knew their job. I don’t care where a book is set but I do like the writing to be consistent with the setting both in terms of the story itself and the language used and that isn’t going to happen if the author is not familiar with that setting/culture/language.
Congratulations!
Reading is different for everyone.
Too much variat to think upon.
One thing is for sure. Everyone of your books show how much you care.
Thank you.
P.S. people in general always love the books more. ????