Why I’m Self-Publishing the Vie en Roses Series
Although this has not been a secret, it’s also not been something about which I’ve made an official statement, so I wanted to let readers know that, yes, I will be self-publishing the entirety of the Vie en Roses series.
Kensington did make a four-book print and digital offer on this series, and I truly appreciate their efforts to negotiate with me, as I threw up all kinds of obstacles to a new contract and they really worked hard to find compromises that would work for both of us.
However, I’ve experimented with both self-publishing and traditional publishing at this point, and I am very interested in testing out self-publication of an entire series.
I have been extremely satisfied with the results of my initial forays into self-publication (Turning Up the Heat, The Chocolate Rose, Snow-Kissed, The Chocolate Temptation).
I’ve been able to find a great editorial team to work with me, and the control over my own output and creativity has been incredibly revitalizing.
Sales on the two self-published Chocolate books, which are more than double the sales of the traditionally published Chocolate books, also suggest that this is a better move for readers. My guess is that you all appreciate the ability to obtain ebooks at a price of $3.99-4.99 rather than $8-10. That makes sense to me. I also find $8-10 a lot to spend on an ebook. There’s just something about the digital aspect that makes it very hard to do.
I am somewhat concerned about the fact that the books in the Vie en Roses series are unlikely to appear on bookstore shelves, but print readers will be able to order them, through the vendor of their choice, so I certainly don’t think established readers will suffer. (If you think you will, I’d love to hear from you about why and how. Definitely let me know what I might be missing!)
Whether it will affect my long-term discoverability is something to be tested. Obviously, to have the best of both worlds, I would like for these books to be on bookstore shelves, too. However, given that my previous self-published books sold twice as many copies as the books on bookstore shelves, I don’t think it’s a good idea at this point in time to give up anything in order to obtain that bookstore shelf presence. Certainly not to give up all rights and control, as current publishing contracts require.
I especially think it is a bad idea to sell away rights given the state of flux of the publishing industry. I’m really not sure anyone should be signing away rights for books for any period longer than three years right now, because we have no idea what things will be like in three years. My guess is that an author’s rights will be worth a lot more than a traditional publisher’s ability to place a book on bookstore shelves by then, but then my experience suggests those rights already are worth a lot more.
(Anyway, while publishers might contract to certain print runs, it’s worth noting that no publisher guarantees actual print distribution in a contract. They can’t. If you’re an author, double-check your contracts. It is fashionable, these days, for traditional publishers to talk about what they provide authors—editing, distribution, etc.—and yet not a single one of those things are in the contracts that bind authors to give up all rights and control of a literary work they produced in its entirety.)
All that said, in terms of discoverability, I would definitely appreciate any and all reader word-of-mouth during this more extended self-publishing venture. (But I already appreciated that! Reader word-of-mouth is the best thing to happen to a book ever. Thank you!!)
Since you are unlikely to wander past a bookstore shelf and spot my next book, if you are interested in future books, I really hope you will sign up to be emailed for new releases as the best way to spot that a new one is out.
And as I try this new experiment, I want to thank so many readers who have helped make these past eighteen months since The Chocolate Thief first came out such exciting ones. I hope you’ll understand my need to keep control and ownership of my work and that you’ll stay with me on this next venture!
I’m in a constant process of evaluation in what is still to me a very new world, so of course I’ll let you know if any plans change. But for now I’m very much looking forward to sharing the Vie en Roses series with you! We are looking at an August release date right now for the first book in the Rosier Family Quartet, which contains the central four books of that series (or perhaps collection would be a better word).
And keep your eye out for a couple of novellas in the Amour et Chocolat collection…and perhaps even a historical one day. (Perhaps. I’ll keep you posted.) Again, to know when those come out, sign up here. (It’s painless, and also you get to be in our monthly Chocolate Club. Oh and get a special extra scene with Dominique Richard from The Chocolate Touch dealing with the aunts from The Chocolate Kiss.)
May I just say how happy I am to be writing in a time when I can reach readers directly, and to thank all of you for being readers. Because, well…I love readers. I always feel as if we have some secret code of happiness I wish we could share with non-readers, too.
Happy reading! May you find many wonderful books! It’s an exciting time to be an author and it’s an exciting time to be a reader, and I’m glad we’ve spent some time together on the same page. I certainly hope we’ll see more of each other.
All the best,
Laura
(PS My husband said not to show you all that second photo because I look so weird in it, and really, truly I don’t look that weird most of the time. I think. But in the other one in that vat of roses I look like an insane person about to commit Murder with a Handful of Roses, so I really had very little choice. I just wanted to show how very amazingly incredibly awesome the research on this Rose series has been. This is from a few years ago, actually, when I first started. That’s not my hand, in the first photo. It’s the hand of Joseph Mul, patriarch of the most important family in rose production in the Grasse area, who was kind enough to let me research with him.)
ktgrant
Good luck, Laura! I can’t wait to see and read your new books. :). It’s a great time to test the self publishing waters. I’m currently doing the same.
Amy Pope
I always look forward to anything that you have written, Laura! I spent the morning pruning my 40 rose bushes…they fight back! Argh…but so much pleasure during the growing season. I am very excited to read the Vie en Roses series! I’m just guessing, of course, but I think that your plan of self-publishing will prove to be very successful.
Laura Florand
Thank you both! And Katie, best of continued success with your own books.
40 rose bushes! You should share a photo when they’re in bloom, Amy. They must be beautiful!
Sharlene Wegner
I still prefer print, so if I have to go to Amazon to get them, that is fine! Just keep writing those special books!
Andrea @ The Bookish Babe
I am new to your works, but am already a big fan. Best of luck on your continued success in self-publishing. I look forward to spreading the word about your lovely, brilliant books!
Laura Florand
Thank you so much, Sharlene and Andrea! Both of you have been really kind already about spreading the word about these books (everybody who has commented here has, in fact) and I really appreciate it! And thanks so much for the good wishes.
Karen
I’m happy there will be more books to read!
I’m sure I will book bully – I mean help spread the word – about the new series. lol
I’ll be reading whatever you write no matter how it is published and I’m happy you have found what works for you.
Laura Florand
🙂 I’m sure that’s called gentle persuasion, Karen. Never bullying. 🙂 Not even when you bang them on the head with the book until they read it. 🙂
But more seriously, thank you again for all you do! Your support has been so generous and so appreciated.
Maureen E
I have been curious, so thanks for letting us know what’s going on! Experimenting with a variety of different formats seems like an attractive option for several authors I know of, and it’s great to see people finding what works for them.
Sue London
Good luck on your self-publishing adventure! I love all the rose pictures because it was like I could *smell* this blog post. Now I want to sit in a vat of rose petals.
Anne
I “discovered” your books in November, I think it was, and since then I’ve read, and reread them, and recommended them to others. “Think Paris, and chocolate… in a book.”
I kept searching on Amazon for The Chocolate Temptation from the time I finished the previous book. Your website only said January/Mid-January. Once it was up there, I bought it.
(And I know the information could have been in a newsletter, but I have subscribed to so many author newsletters through the years that usually end up straight in the junk mail folders after a while, so I tend to avoid subscribing to them anymore.)
For example: making the books available for pre-order on Amazon, before the publication date. (I don’t know how feasible this is with self-published books, but it would be a huge advantage.)
When I am in the middle of a good series, and the next book is coming up… but not yet published – I will preorder it if it is available. Similarly, with coming books from authors I enjoy.
If it is not available for pre order, I might add it to a “to read” list on GoodReads, but that would also require it to be listed there. (And for me to remember to buy it when the time comes around that it eventually becomes published.)
By the time I’ve read book 1 in a series, if book 2 is mentioned by title in the end of it – I do expect to be able to preorder it on Amazon – or add to my GoodReads list. Both with Amazon and GoodReads I’ve experienced Untitled books, and “expected publication” books being listed, so it should be possible.
I have 22 books on pre order from Amazon now, and though I might forget the titles from when I buy them to the time they download to the device: the best days are the days when the “forgotten” pre ordered books download early morning, and I can spend an hour reading a new and delicious book before getting out to face the day. 🙂
Laura Florand
Thanks, Anne, for all your thoughts! It’s good to know your experience. And I’m so glad you’re enjoying these books.
The pre-ordering on Amazon remains tricky. They’ve started doing this with a few authors but not everyone. I think they may start rolling it out more largely, from what they’ve said when I’ve talked to their teams at conferences, but I’m not sure when.
In the meantime, they do have a button you can click for a specific author that is supposed to send you an email only on a new release from that author. Have you ever tried that? I do have that email for new releases, and it is only used to announce when the books are available (and to draw names for the chocolate club), but I completely understand your fear of being inundated with newsletters. I’m leery of signing up for them myself and do so pretty sparingly.
Anyway, that’s just to suggest the 2 possibilities that come to mind, but I also appreciate your feedback on your process for knowing when new books come out, because it’s really helpful to put myself in your shoes, thinking about how you keep track of all the books/authors you’re interested in and how to make sure you have the information you need in the least annoying way possible. 🙂
Thanks again for all the feedback! And for your compliments on the Amour et Chocolat books. I’m really happy you discovered them and thanks so much, too, for spreading the word to your friends!
Anne
Thanks for the information about the emails in Amazon – just went and subscribed to several of my favourite authors.
Laura Florand
Thanks, Sue and Maureen! And I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures, Sue. 🙂 Even the one of me looking strange!
Christie
Laura, I’ve only read two of your books to date, but I absolutely loved them. The Chocolate Temptation is my favorite book of the year so far. I absolutely loved it – it was so sweet.
I am excited to hear that you’ll be self-publishing the Chocolate series. The high price (almost $9) for most of those books has kept me from buying them – but if the prices came down, I would jump on them. Do you know when they’ll be available as self-published books? Even if you have a rough idea, that would be useful to know, so that I can keep an eye out for them. Thanks!
I agree with the previous commenter that it would be nice to be able to pre-order your books if that’s at all possible.
Laura Florand
Thanks so much, Christie! I would love the pre-order, but that option will depend on how vendors develop their own options, really. I’ll make sure to keep people informed via my email about new releases, at least.
I don’t know if I confused, but to be clear: the Chocolate books originally published by Kensington (The Chocolate Thief, The Chocolate Kiss, The Chocolate Touch, The Chocolate Heart, plus the novellas All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate and A Rose in Winter) will *not* be self-published any time soon. I was pretty naive about publishing at that time, and my ability to recuperate rights on most of those is very, very small. (It doesn’t seem likely that sales will fall low enough on them for me to do so in the near future, anyway.) But I want to self-publish all of this next series and see how I like that venture.
Christie
Thanks for clarifying. I misunderstood your post – well, I very much look forward to your future books!
Maj
Hi Laura – I’ve been introduced to your books through Scribd, but your self-published books aren’t available through Scribd. Is there any chance that could change?
Thanks,
Arti
Laura Florand
I think you’re the first reader I’ve heard from who’s found my books through Scribd (at least who has mentioned it). How are you liking the service? I want to evaluate it more before I agree to give them my self-published books. There have been some coercive aspects to the way they are dealing with authors that I strongly object to, at this time.
Amy
I loved! Chocolate Temptation. Truthfully I wouldn’t of bought the book if it was $10 mostly b/c I had never heard of you as an author. I took a chance on CT b/c of the price. Awesome writing that brought me into the character’s world. loved the sex scenes. Spicy sweetness. I went on to buy Chocolate Rose which is good. B/c of Peter CT is my favorite.
Laura Florand
Thanks so much, Amy! I’m so glad you gave the books a try and that you enjoyed Chocolate Temptation!
DANIELA COSTA E SILVA VIANNA
Although I do realize this post isn’t new, I thought I would share my experience on how I discovered your books.
I had meet up at the mall with some friends, and, while we took a strool in a bookstore, I saw the Chocolate Thief (translated in portuguese) and upon reading the short summary on the back was intrigued.So I did found you on a bookstore. But I do most of my readings nowadays (and last year and 2014) in my kindle (or tablet). So I took note on the name and searched in my kindle. At the time, the series were on kindle unlimitted and I absolutelly fell in love.
At this point it time, I’ve read pratically everything you wrote. So I think that you mostly need to do what is best for you given any present opportunity. Being self publishing or founding the right publish company for you. Here’s to hopefully more wonderful books from you
Laura Florand
Thank you so much, Daniela! I appreciate the support. And I’m so glad you found the books!