Skyla Dawn Cameron

Aug 25 2014

New(ish) Release: RIVER

Today’s the day. River’s been resurrected from my harddrive and is now once again available for purchase.

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Kindle people: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MV6TJFI
iBookstore shoppers: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/river/id911131898?mt=11
ARe/OmniLit (multi-formats): https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-river-1601109-142.html
Smashwords (multi-formats): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/468771
Buy Direct (multi-formats): http://www.skyladawncameron.com/product/river/

$3.99 everywhere.

Nook will likely be live within a week; Kobo…could be months for all I know. epub files work on various ereaders, though, and are available from most of those sellers (including me). Print should be available September 1, I’m still sorting that out now.

The River Blog Tour is underway this week and you can win stuff. The stops here will be updated daily with links to the direct posts. (I will *not* be updating my blog with the stops because I will be working and in bed; bookmark that page and/or follow Melissa on Twitter and FB because she’s running this thing.)

If you’re wondering “Is this one any different than the original version?” the answer is yes and no. The basic story and characters remain but entire sections were rewritten, some unnecessary scenes were removed, and it received an overall update. There is a post going up on Thursday for the tour that details this.

And it is also probably a very bad idea to try pirating this book because I already nixed the third in the series for that reason and it’ll make me really angry right now because I cannot afford to write for no compensation. So pirates who hit my site several times a day, please have a conscience and support content creators so we can produce more books for you to read rather than the torrents that line the pockets of criminals. If you want to try before you buy, you’ll find the first seven chapters here.

I had hoped to include a different POV short story (like I do with the Demons of Oblivion series) but did not have the time. I still plan to write it sometime this fall and will make it a free download. It’s not necessary to follow the sequel, but it’s the kind of thing that broadens the overall world and characters, which you know I like to do. Details to follow.

For my brilliant self-marketing: you might like this book if you prefer animals to people, like wolves, or dig something a little different. There are no explosions or hot sex in this one but please don’t hold that against the book. Also, if you buy a copy, it can help me buy meal replacement drinks which I have to live on now, and some cat food for the hoard, and I’d really very much like that.

Defiant, nocturnal, moody–though River sounds like a typical teenager, she’s anything but. River’s a werewolf.

The life of an alpha female wolf was irrevocably changed the night she was attacked and bitten, and awoke confused, alone, and human. Three years later, thrust into a world where she doesn’t belong and living in foster care, River barely tolerates humanity and still doesn’t know who bit her or why.

But River isn’t as alone as she previously thought; someone’s been watching her, someone who holds the answers she’s been seeking. And though the human who changed her seems to be a step ahead of her at every turn, River is determined to beat his game and return to her pack and mate.

As if being stuck in a world she hates, with a life she never asked for, and faced with a destiny she doesn’t want wasn’t bad enough, River still must find a way to survive every human’s greatest challenge: high school.

Aug 21 2014

Early RIVER Tour Kickoff & Pre-order

Although the official tour start is next Monday with the release of River, the first stop is actually today at Coffee Thoughts. I talk a little about the history of the book and the crowdfunding campaign here. There’s also a link to the Rafflecopter Giveaway, a River Swag Pack featuring a tote bag, poster, wolf charm bookmark, wolf pendant, the pocket version of Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, and a DVD/Blu-Ray combo of Ginger Snaps (my favourite werewolf movie).

I’ll update the blog here once more on Monday but if you want to follow along with the tour (there’ll be stuff like behind the scenes info about River, my book soundtrack, and at some point next week the Wolfe cover reveal) you’ll find all the stops, dates, and a few of the topics here. The first four chapters are now available to read there as well.

If you contributed as a crowdfunder, your copy of River will be delivered Sunday. If not, you can pre-order River now if you like from the following places (it’ll be delivered on Monday):

Aug 18 2014

One Week Until River’s Resurrection

River_2014-sm Just one week to go.

Egads.

I admit, I set the release date and tour date to coincide with my initial promises made during the funding campaign, which was planned before I realized I’d be chronically ill with no help for three months now, so I’m kind of FREAKING THE FUCK OUT at the moment. I’m exhausted, not everything’s done yet, and I’m pushed well beyond my limits right now, but so it goes.

Today the first chapter was posted at the River site. Seven total (the first part of the book) will be available, one a day leading up to the release and tour start on the 25th. Rather than update my blog constantly, everything will be posted there, so please bookmark it for daily updates.

(If for some reason it’s not up, sorry. I scheduled it. I’m possibly asleep right now. I’ll fix it.)

Remember, River is not like my usual books. No one gets murdered. Nothing blows up. There are no guns and car chases. There is no sex and very little swearing.

Please do not be frightened by this fact; I promise, when you download it, it’s the right book and it’s really truly by me and I apologize for any confusion. I’ll make up for it by writing something terribly violent and sexy and full of cursing again soon.

I’m hoping to get River up for preorder on a few sites in a few days. Unfortunately, I can’t do that until I hear back from River campaign contributors so I can fill in the thank you page. To protect anonymity, I don’t want to release names without permission, and I asked for that along with a few other things I needed to send print and ebooks. Please check your spam folder and fill in the form if you haven’t already. If I have nothing by Wednesday, you won’t be included on the thank you page. If I don’t hear back about what format you want your ebook in, you’ll just get a PDF. If I don’t know what backlist books you want, I can’t send them. If I don’t know who to sign your print book to, it’ll just have my signature and no customization. I don’t have the spoons to keep following up and the form just takes a few minutes to fill in. Please and thank you, I *really* want to give you stuff.

If for some reason you indicated you wanted perks when you donated but have changed your mind, I’d like a clearly written note stating that. I’m obligated to fulfill the terms of the Indiegogo agreement and I don’t want to get in trouble for not doing so. Thanks.

Aug 09 2014

I Just Can’t Even

http://readersunited.com

I just…

I…

Um…

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Okay. Lots of people say smart things and do thorough takedowns of this wtfery. I will leave it to John Scalzi, Chuck Wendig, and Matt Wallace. The New York Times covers the bizarre Orwell bit as well. Because, I mean, even if you AGREE with Amazon, these tactics are just…I don’t even.

I will say, I’ve seen a lot of “I don’t have a dog in this fight.” The thing is, I do. I do as a reader who buys Hachette published works–sure, I’d love ebooks to be cheaper, because I’m a poor bitch with little money.

Except that THE MARKET decides what ebooks should cost. I don’t need Amazon fighting that fight, thank you–CONSUMERS ALREADY DO THIS. Price an ebook at $14.99. Some people will pay that, Some people won’t. If lots of people won’t, the price will shift. If lots of people do, hey, bonus for the writer, editors, artists, marketing teams, and everyone else–it gives the publisher more money to pay people and invest in new books. If it means I have to wait a few months or a year for the price to come down (like I do with video games! and DVDs!) or buy a mass market paperback instead, or watch for sales, then I will. Duh.

Further, I have a dog in this fight as a writer. A chunk of my income comes from Amazon–I can’t change that, as readers like to buy there and I’m happy they have that option. I have absolutely no leverage if they decide to screw with KDP terms; I either give up 80% of my income of just accept what they do. Now, they might fuck with my terms eventually anyway, but you know what? I like that Hachette hasn’t backed down. There is a lot more going on here than just ebook pricing terms, but it also comes down to who gets to decide how to price things: the people who make the content or the retailer. I will be quite concerned if Hachette gives and the precedent is set here.

So. Go read what smart people have to say, if you care. Or shake your head at the absurdity if you don’t.

I’m going to go feed my cats now.

As a reminder, all of my work (some exclusive, like 9 Crimes) are available for sale by me directly right here. All formats. DRM-free. No middleman.

*cough*

——-

ETA: I’ve been chatting on Twitter. My personal opinion? The absurd letter is noise, a distraction. It’s riling up their base and getting the rest of us talking (like I did here!)–the purpose wasn’t to change minds, because if it was, it would be worded with nuance and less inflammatory. Yeah, it could be a PR fuck-up, but this has happened over and over with Amazon–you’d think they’d hire a new PR team. At this point, it’s deliberate. It’s impossible to say what the noise is distracting people from, but I’d watch the company very closely. Not conspiracy theorizing here–this is just pretty basic politics. Which I’d find quite fascinating if it was occurring in an industry I don’t work in.

Aug 04 2014

The River Update

riverwolfe Although I’m a little behind my self-imposed deadlines because of health issues, we’re still on track for the end of the month for River‘s re-release. The only thing left for me to buy will be the paperback books to ship to contributors (which might end up being early September instead of late August).

So, River Resurrection contributors: an email will go out likely this week with a link to a form telling me what e-format you want River in and other stuff I need to fulfill campaign perks at the end of the month. Thank you for your patience.

The tour has a bunch of stops scheduled–if you have a blog and want me to visit, get in contact with Mel ASAP. These are just guest posts and interviews (if any come up), that’s it, and I have a lot of posts to write so the sooner the better. Tour dates are August 25 – August 29. There’ll be a swag prize pack up for grabs that week as well.

There’s a River site set up, or at least the bare bones of one, that’s a central hub of all things River-related, including tour links. On Monday, August 18 (in theory), I’ll start posting a chapter a day of the book for the week until the tour/release date for seven chapters total. Everything will be linked up there.

Finally, there is a…60% chance of a short story that’ll be included at the end of River. It basically depends on whether I’ll have time to write it, but it’ll be Daryl-POV and set during the novel’s timeline. I might also do one to include with Wolfe set about ten years after the end of the duology. I also might not, but the idea’s there tickling my brain and I usually listen to that.

I think that’s it for updates. I made the mistake of eating today and now I think I’m dying, so I’m going to lie down for a few hours because this is my life now. More updates coming in a few weeks!