Ghosts of Kingston Cottage was originally published in October 2013 by
Entangled Publishing. This past summer I was getting book two ready with my
editor when some decisions were made that too much of the story’s voice was
being lost in edits. So, my editor and I decided that it would be best to
revert the rights of the Revenant Investigations series back to me and I’d
write another book for her. Which, I did, and I love that one very much :)
However, the rights reversion left me with a dilemma: go through and edit Ghosts of Kingston Cottage and
self-publish, or edit and submit to another publisher.
I’d never had this
issue before so I spent a couple of months thinking about what to do. Part of
me wanted to self-publish the series and offer it as a bundle around Halloween
(my editor’s idea, actually). That appealed to me greatly, but I really did not
have the funds to do so—cover art, hiring an editor (because book three needed
all rounds of editing done), and such costs a good amount of money. Still, the
decision was a heavy one for me and I’ve lost count of how many times I wrote
lists of the pros and cons. Ultimately, I chose to submit to another publisher.
Evernight Publishing
had already published four of my books: two romances, and two urban fantasies
under the name October Weeks. I love working with them, so I decided, since the
books are novella length, to submit to them. Even knowing how awesome they are
didn’t stop me from being nervous about submitting a book that had already been
published. But, to my delight, they accepted the first book. After the contract
was signed for the first book I went ahead and submitted books two and
three—both were accepted and are under contract, soon to be released!
I believe that
submitting to another publisher was the best choice for me, but making that
decision also made it clear to me that the chances of me self-publishing in the
future are probably very slim. It’s not just the financial side—I learned that
I prefer to work with a team and not have the full burden that comes with
self-publishing bearing down on me. Is there a slim chance that I’ll change my
mind for short stories? Maybe, but the likelihood is still low.
To all of those trying
to decide to submit or self-publish, I understand what you’re going through.
And the only advice I have is to really think about what you want for yourself
as a writer, and do your research! I learned a lot about what goes into
preparing and releasing a book on my own by talking with those who’ve done so,
as well as reading about self-promotion—which is a whole different kind of
beast than when you have someone helping you. Yes, you still do your own
promoting, but when there’s a person or team helping you it eases the stress of
it I’ve found (for me, anyway).
For readers, are you more
willing to buy self-published books by unknown writers? Or are you more apt to
try a new author who is published by your favorite publishers?
Ghosts of Kingston Cottage
Revenant Investigations
Book One
Libby Bishop
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Date of Publication: November 13, 2015
ASIN: B017Y1ZD72
Number of pages: 85
Word Count: 25,335
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Book Description:
Medium and paranormal investigator Arabella Pierce is sent with her crew to Kingston Cottage, a haunted Maine seafarer’s cottage on an isolated island. For this investigation, her boss has stuck them with skeptical reporter Lucas Brown. Though he’s hot as they come, Arabella can’t trust a man whose sole job is to discredit her and the work she does. Not after what happened with the last few skeptics…
All Lucas may want is the truth, but that doesn't change her feelings towards him. And when the ghosts appear, she and Lucas must work together—in tight quarters—to convince the resident ghosts to move on before a storm strands the entire crew on the island. Can Arabella put aside her prejudices long enough to see what the ghosts are trying to tell her? And if she does, will she and Lucas have a shot at a lifetime?
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/kqBRTzessns
Excerpt:
“And what
investigation are we doing? You didn’t say.”
“Kingston
Cottage.”
Arabella stared
at him, shocked. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “The
owners contacted me last week, and informed me they need to sell the house as
soon as possible. They want to put it on the market this month, due to personal
reasons. In order to do that, they need to know what’s inside … and how to get
rid of it.”
“No one has ever
been allowed to investigate it…” she trailed off in awe.
Folger smiled.
“Until now.”
She couldn’t
help but return his smile. The feeling of a fresh, no-one-else-has-done-it kind
of hunt was too much of a thrill to pass up. Historic Kingston Cottage was
located on a small island, all by itself, and had been rumored to be haunted
since before Arabella was born. She had seen pictures and taken boat rides past
the island, but she’d never set foot on the private property.
“When do we have
to be at the docks?” she inquired as she stood, grabbing her coat off the back
of the chair.
“Seven o’clock
tomorrow morning. Don’t be late. Dustin is taking you over. But, Arabella—” She
looked at him, knowing that tone. “It’s just going to be you, the reporter,
Nick, and Lena. I need the rest of the crew on a different hunt.”
She paused at
the door. Nick was one of their tech guys, and Lena was a lead investigator,
like Arabella. Five more investigators rounded off the team. But the more she
thought about Folger’s decision to use a small crew, the more it made sense,
especially within the limited space of the cottage. “Nick and Lena,” she began,
“do they know about the … ‘reporter’?”
Folger rolled
his eyes, clearly hearing the quotation marks in her tone.
“Yes. I asked
them not to speak of it until I talked to you myself. I think that was best,
don’t you?”
Arabella chose
to ignore the rolling eyes. “And the reporter?”
“He’ll be there
at seven sharp as well. His name’s Lucas Brown, and he’s a serious reporter.”
She nodded
slowly, not really believing him. “I’ll check in when we get there.”
“Please do, and
be sure to pack extra clothes. You know how storms brew up suddenly here. I
don’t want you all stranded without necessities. The owners left you some food.
Expect to be on the island at least three days, maybe four. Oh, and there’s
also a generator in the basement if you lose power.”
“Good to know,
and it was nice of them to leave some food.”
“Yes. They’re
good people.”
She found it a
bit strange that the crew wasn’t going to meet the owners before the
investigation, and stranger still that she had never met them. Noble was a
small town along the central Maine coast—it was pretty rare not to put a name
to a face.
“Oh, and
Arabella,” Folger called as she left his office. “Try not to push him into the
bay.”
About the Author:
Libby Bishop is a paranormal romance/erotic romance author.
She loves reading, movies, Lindt dark chocolate, autumn, the SyFy Channel (Haven and Bitten!), and spending time with friends and family. She has one fat, fluffy cat who thinks she’s queen of the house…and really, she is.
She also writer dark fantasy/horror under the name October Weeks.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LibbyBRomance
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/octoberlibby/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/octoberlibby/
Tumblr: http://octoberweeks.tumblr.com/
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