The random—and not so random—musings of a quirky Regency romance writer.
No one with that many people in her head can possibly be normal...

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I Made a Mistake. I'm Sorry.

With the receipt of a less than glowing 3-star review, I have come to the realization that I may have made a tactical error. In releasing my books out of order, I have caused preventable confusion. In failing to market them as a series, I have caused even more. This was nearsighted of me and I apologize for it. 

Since I can't undo the damage I've done, here's a list of my currently released titles in the order they *should* be read: 
  1. Betrayal (1816-1817)
  2. Deception (1818)
  3. Spellbound (early 1820)
  4. Heartless (late 1820)
  5. Redemption (1821)
It seems, however, that I've made the mistake of setting myself into a course that I can't alter. The next book up for release is Honor, a story that takes place a year or so before Betrayal. Part of me never wanted to release Honor but readers have demanded Connor's story. He is an intriguing secondary character and probably deserves his turn in the limelight. It will be taking another step back in time, however, to make his story available. You see my dilemma. 

In conclusion, I apologize for this error. I pray my readers are not too upset with me for overlooking the possibility of this result. 

6 comments:

S.M. Carrière said...

Hardly something to be so apologetic for! If the reader cannot understand, I don't think that it's your fault.

Don't take the criticism to heart. You're awesome and one cranky reviewer won't change that!

The Heartless Gamer Girl said...

This reviewer is actually one of my biggest fans and I applaud her for posting her honest review. I am in no way denigrating her or her review with this blog post.

But her review wasn't the only one that mentioned confusion, especially in regard to secondary characters. There have been enough now that I felt the need to apologize.

Thank you for your kind words, Sonia. You're pretty darn awesome yourself. ;o)

Yammy McYammers said...

Maybe you could state that they are all companion novels, and like you did, list the time when they happened. So often, authors end up going backwards, it's not such a big deal.

I am thoroughly enjoying Deception right now.

With every new review, we learn. :)

<3

The Heartless Gamer Girl said...

I'm so glad you're enjoying Deception, Paige. Honestly, I think the biggest disappointment to this reviewer was her love for Heartless and seeing Derringer take what seemed to her as a huge step back in personal growth. It can be a bit jarring to see a character you like grow into one you love and then go backward. Even with the knowledge that Deception is a "prequel" of sorts to Heartless, it would still be hard to accept. (Did that make any sense?) Anyway, thank you for stopping by! :o)

Cynthia Schuerr said...

Jaimey, you are awesome! So don't let it get you down. It's a live and learn world. Your fans love you!

The Heartless Gamer Girl said...

Thank you, Cindy! I'm not letting it get me down. On the contrary, the review was a real eye-opener for me with parts that coaxed happy tears.

The reason there are important secondary characters: I like to share what's happening to them after the "happily-ever-after". Perhaps the real problem lies in not marketing them as a series...?

This is definitely a live and learn type of business.

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