Novel Peeps and Serial Peeps, Check This Out!

Posted on August 3, 2013 by admin

Hey Guys! Since THE ARRANGEMENT series has a truckload of new fans, I wanted to post a reminder that I write books for people who novels, and for people who serials. Both groups have gravitated toward the ARRANGEMENT series, which is incredible.

Novel peeps, your books are coming but they obviously take longer. STRIPPED, DAMAGED, DAMAGED 2, SCANDALOUS, and SCANDALOUS 2 were all written for the novel lovers.

TRYSTAN SCOTT, SECRETS, and ARRANGEMENT were written for the serial peeps. Just pointing out that there are two groups of fans that want different things.

And since the novel lovers have been asking for more Ferro family novels, there will be more. In the mean time, try not to eat the serial people for loving short books.

I posted this in facebook yesterday and here are some of the replies:

“Love.. love… love …. totally loved them..they are my favs .. And pls keep them
coming” -Sharifa Jan-Silva

“I’m a fan of both! Everything you write rocks!” -Kelly Gunter Atlas

“Love them all absolute fav characters are Sean & Trystan.” -Samantha P.

“As I have read all your ferro brother books that are out I have to say don’t listen to the people saying to end the arrangement. I love it and I’m more of a novel reader but I like the serials simply because they come out faster and they are awesome. You’re an amazing writer. Till your next novel/serial comes out ill be waiting patiently and can’t wait.” -Kristalynn Jarvi

“I’m a novel lover, I hate when the serials stop suddenly, with that said, I love all your books. Once I stop, I can’t put them down.” -Sarah Mcmillan Dozor

Sean and Trystan, you say? Hmmmm. Should I mention that both men are in STRIPPED?

No, you don’t have to read the serials to know what’s going on. Each series is stand alone, which means they can be read independently of one another. So novel peeps can stick to their novels, or not. Totally up to you. And serial peeps, don’t freak out. I’ll keep writing your serials with kickass cliffhangers.

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Serials, Series, Novels, and Cliff Hangers – Oh My!

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

There are some fans who wanted me to spell out the difference between novels, serials, novellas, etc. This post is for you guys.

First, I want to say thank you for reading my book. If you stumbled on THE ARRANGEMENT serials and are confused, here’s a good place to start.

I think there are a few things going on that are causing confusion. I’ll try to clarify, but I want to start off by saying that I write books with cliffhangers. If you hate cliffhangers, you should totally read books by another author because I’m not your girl. I’ll just piss you off. Seriously. A lot of people like the shock value and it drives other people nuts. Everything isn’t for everyone and that’s totally okay. There are lots of great books out there and lots of great authors.

I’m going to start at the beginning. There’s some confusion over general terms. Books come in different lengths and there are terms that identify what’s what. Since readers can’t pick up a book in the bookstore, a lot of the tactile part of the book purchasing experience is gone. For example, a mass paperback is a smaller book and they vary in length. You can tell what it is by looking at it. When buying an ebook, you’re stuck relying on word counts or terms and lots of people don’t know the specifics.

A novelis a book that contains over 50,000 words. There’s a range, but to be considered a ‘novel’ that’s a good starting point. Most of my novels are around 60,000 words or 325 pages (5×8 trade paperback size). A novel can be part of a series or a stand alone.

Stand alonebooks don’t have continuing story lines. They end and that’s it. Series can be done different ways, but the main thing is that the same characters appear from book to book.

A serialis a book that is typically shorter (anywhere from 5,000-30,000 words). My serials are sagas. SECRETS has 5 books total and is complete. I was asked to be part of a special New Adult Romance group that is publishing holiday stories this year. So, there will be an additional holiday edition of SECRETS. There is no cliffhanger at the end of 5 and there was no intention of writing a 6th book, although I have fans begging me for one.

THE ARRANGEMENT serials were originally written for die hard fans to have something to read between novel releases. So instead of waiting months for a novel by their favorite author, they get something every few weeks. Unlike SECRETS, THE ARRANGEMENT series is fan driven. The last three times I asked the fans if they wanted me to wrap things up or keep things going, they said keep going. THE ARRANGEMENT is an on-going saga. It does not have a set number of books at this time. That will drive a lot of people nuts, but even more people like it that way.

As for honesty, THE ARRANGEMENT serials are marked as serials with a word count on each listing. If you missed serial, it says how many words there are. If you missed how many words, then there’s a page count. There are ways to tell what it is. If I was given a clearer way to mark the serials, I would. Amazon and the rest don’t have a way to replace the tactile experience of buying a book, so it’s written into the listing as clearly as possible. e.g. If the book is not a stand alone, it says it on the listing like on DAMAGED. Scroll down and you’ll see:

Genre: New Adult Romance

Length: Novel, 348 pgs
Damaged 2 coming Summer 2013 <– That indicates it’s not a stand alone, and the the volume number is on the title bar for the paperback DAMAGED (Vol 1).

COMPLETED SERIES: (7 novels, 7 serials)

SCANDALOUS (novel, no cliffhanger, was originally a stand alone)

SCANDALOUS 2 (novel, no cliffhanger, was added b/c of fan demand)

SECRETS 1-5 (serials, cliff hangers, ea vol is ~20K-35K words)

CHRISTMAS KISSES (stand alone novella – approx 20K words or 100 pgs)

DEMON KISSED 1-5 (novels, length: 60K-100K words each, series, cliffhangers)

STONE PRISON (novella, 78pgs, stand alone)

SERIES IN PROGRESS:

DAMAGED (2 book series, novels, cliffhanger, book 1 is out, book 2 will be released in June with no cliffhanger and conclude the series)

THE ARRANGEMENT (serials, 20K words each or 100 pgs, cliff hangers, the # of volumes is fan driven)

TRYSTAN SCOTT (serials, 20K words each, cliff hangers, anticipated number of volumes: TBA)

BANE (novels, trilogy-3 books total, cliffhangers)

Series will start to criss-cross but readers do NOT have to read each series to understand what’s going on. Each series is “stand alone.” This makes it more exciting for fans who have read everything.

Serials are not for everyone and that’s okay. I tell readers to read what they like. I think that more authors will write serials over the next year, because there is a demand for shorter books and people want to get as many books as they can, as fast as they can, from their favorite author. My favorite authors have out books that are less than 100 pages and cost $5 each. House of Night novellas (short books) are $9.99 each. There are tons of other works that fall anywhere between there. I hope that Amazon will give us more tools to make it blatantly obvious which book is which type, but right now they do not.

If you want to know what THE ARRANGEMENT books would look like in person, there are book that are the same length as THE ARRANGEMENT on sale at WalMart or B&N for $4-$5 a pop. They’re the Harlequin titles that are mass paperback size and thinner.

I want to thank you guys for writing. It’s a shame I can’t participate in Amazon’s boards and answer questions directly as they come up, but it’s prohibited.

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Dude Is This Serial Thing 1 Book Broken Into Pieces or What? (aka whats the difference b/t novels and serials post)

Posted on March 4, 2013 by admin

A lot of people have been asking me about my serials. They want to know why they’re so addicting. Is there a reason for it? Totally! It’s the way the story is written. Serials pack a punch.

Don’t know what a serial is? Or how it’s different from a novel? Then, you’re in the right place. A serial is a story that is being told in successive parts. They are chronological installments of an overarching story line with smaller stories happening in each part.

There’s an assumption that my serials are chopped up novels, which is not true. Some writers do divide single novels into pieces and release them separately until the whole book is out, but that’s not what I’m doing with my serials at all.

I’m gonna tell you what I do. Get ready! There are pictures!

My serials actually have a very different structure than my novels. You can feel it when you’re reading. Some people haven’t been able to put their finger on exactly what it is, but they have figured out that the serials aren’t the same as novels and that the differences go beyond the length of the books. My serials are unique because they are a different format all together.

Here is a pic of the plot line for my novels (above). A visual helps. When you think back to the novels I’ve written, you’ll be able to see it. The structure of the story line is a bell curve. The story starts off and builds. You get to meet the characters and discover the primary conflict. As the story continues, you learn about the characters and their relationships over hundreds of pages until you reach the climax of the book. The climax is when the main conflict hits the fan and everything explodes. As that conflict resolves, there is an unfolding of events that wraps the whole story and ties it with a bow. There’s closure. The story is complete. You read about 300-500 pages about Ivy, Abby, or Kahli and immersed yourself in their world for hours and hours.

My serials are different than my novels. They are NOT one book chopped into multiple parts. They are actually written differently. The way the serials are constructed gives the reader a different experience than if the book was a novel. Look at the pic below. This is the structure of my serials.

All of my serials are written this way. They start off with a quick introduction of the primary characters and the main conflict. Then, they build tension quickly with the story unraveling swiftly towards the ending. The primary conflict comes to a head, the situation explodes, and then the story stops. Cliffhanger. The next serial begins and does the same thing, slowly building tension until the primary conflict in that episode is confronted.

Serials have a dual personality. They each have their own story line, but they are progressing in an overarching story line, as well. Each volume has an independent conflict, but it also addresses the primary conflict in the series.

THE ARRANGEMENT is so addicting because it follows the serial structure. If I took SCANDALOUS and broke it up into five parts, your book would read weird. Novels have different pacing and a different structure. Novels are like watching a long movie (Titanic). Serials are like TV shows where each volume is the season finale. They have a different feel because they are different. Serials tease and have an addicting quality about them. Novels have that snuggle up with a blanket, bust out the popcorn, and settle in thing going on.

There are several reasons why I might chose to write a novel as a novel, or a serial as a serial. For starters I love that serials are fast paced stories that are packed full of emotion. I love getting inside a character’s head fast. I love that they aren’t time consuming. And, I LOVE cliffhangers. I love to write them; I love to read them. There’s just something about them that makes me so excited.

So, if you read the serials and then flip to my novels or vice versa, that’s what gives. They read different because they are different.

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