Gateway to Arcadia Valley

by Valerie Comer

Are readers nearly box setted out? My goodness. I admit to having done my share to proliferate them (back in 2015, when they were young and fresh), but the market seems saturated. There’s no denying they’ve worked very well for authors as well as for readers. Many authors have made significant income from these sets — yes, even when the royalty from a ninety-nine-cent e-book is divided between half a dozen or more authors.

I credit my first multi-author box set with putting my Farm Fresh Romance series on the map. Readers got the first one in the set, and a decent number went on to buy the other books and join my email list. Win-win, right?

Sure. Until reader have ten more box sets on their Kindles to read as soon as this one is done! Then the read-through to additional books in the series isn’t as high, as there’s no shortage of inexpensive reading material. It takes more to jog a reader out of the box set mindset so she’ll go looking for more books by this author.

Still, I’m a big believer in working together in groups. That’s why I started Inspy Romance three years ago as a place where authors and readers of Christian contemporary romance can get to know each other. With a lot of help from my admin team and our author/bloggers, we’ve got a great community going over there.

My other go-to for group projects has been the multi-author box set, but it seems the efficacy is sliding, especially for authors determined to sell their e-books on other retailers as well as Amazon. So my thought became: what is the next step?

When is a box set not a box set? When it’s the gateway to six series in a shared world where a foodie culture and romance grow hand-in-hand!

Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley is that sort of gateway. I’ve teamed up with five other authors who love real food, gardens, farm-to-table restaurants, farmers markets, homemade bread — you name it, and someone is writing it into an Arcadia Valley Romance novel.

From the outside, Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley looks like a normal box set, except most box sets don’t have a paperback version. But each of the six novellas in the collection is the prequel to a three-book series set in the same fictional community of Arcadia Valley, Idaho. In the next eighteen months, our group will release a novel (not a novella) every single month, rotating between authors, until we each have completed our interwoven series. In the meanwhile, we’ve committed to working and marketing with each other.

My contribution to the collection of prequels is “Sow in Love,” a novella leading into my Garden Grown Romance series set in Arcadia Valley.

Real estate consultant Joanna Kraus’s ideas for fulfilling a living trust are shot down by the elderly man’s grandson. In fact, it seems like sending her back to the drawing board is his primary joy. How can a vintage 1960s house and two greenhouses generate income for the church in receipt of the trust?

The more Grady Akers gets to know Joanna, the more he finds himself hoping it takes a long time to find a solution, but his charm may be no match for the armor wrapped around Joanna’s heart. Will the perfect solution for the property be perfect to grow a love that’s just been sown?

Won’t you come along for the ride? This entire series will be available on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iBooks, as well as paperback. You can find the links for Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley here, as well as more information about the other five novellas.

Valerie Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.

Valerie is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner. She has been called “a stellar storyteller” as she injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Visit her at ValerieComer.com.

2016 vs 2017

by Marion Ueckermann

Almost two weeks of this new year have gone already. Can you believe it? Only 52 more weeks to go until we usher in the next new year. When put like that, doesn’t seem like that much time, does it? And when I look at my ‘to-do’ list for 2017…well, I feel a tad overwhelmed.

If I had to sum up 2016 in one word it would be ‘Busy.’ I’d need three words to sum up what 2017 holds for me—‘Just as busy.’

In 2016, I released nine books and one short story. Granted, three of those books I had written in 2014 and 2015, but only released in 2016. Nevertheless, marketing, covers, and editing had to be done on them, whilst still writing, editing, publishing, and marketing the other six books released.

On top of that, I was in six box sets during 2016, five of which I was the cover designer for the set. Those sets also needed marketing.

Too often this past year I thought I wouldn’t make a deadline. But, I always did because God is good. This year, I will once again cling to His faithfulness that He will never leave me or forsake me. I know I can trust Him to help me meet the crazy 2017 deadlines, as well.

In a nutshell, here’s what my 2017 holds. And while you’re reading, think about what 2017 holds for you (because I’m going to ask):

·         Four box sets:

And I can’t wait to show them off to the world. These will be published between March and June:

o   My stories are still to be written and edited. I do have one almost done, and rightly so...the deadline is looming

o   Covers done (or almost done) for three box sets—one more to go

o   For those following my Seven Suitors for Seven Sisters series, you’ll be glad to know that the last three stories in the series, are planned for three of the box sets—A Courtship for Clover will release on April 25^th in Cherish; A Proposal for Poppy on June 20^th in Forever; and A Love for Lily on July 4^th (set still to be named)

·         Overseas holiday:

On April 20^th, hubby and I will be on a Qatar flight headed from Johannesburg to Helsinki, Finland. Long haul flights booked—check. Internal flights still to be booked. We’re going on a six-week holiday overseas. Of course, my trusted laptop will be part of my baggage, and I’ll likely still be writing into the early hours of the mornings during that time. We’ll be in Finland for two weeks visiting my son and daughter-in-law, Kyle and Tiia, in Helsinki. Whilst there, I hope to visit the heart-shaped island on the outskirts of Helsinki where I set my first published book, Helsinki Sunrise (which hopefully will release in Norwegian this year).

After that we fly to the UK for three weeks to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and other friends. My plan is to get up to North Yorkshire while we’re there and visit Scarborough and Robin Hood’s Bay, the locations for A Hero for Heather, and A Husband for Holly. I hope we’ll also be able to go back to the Lake District, which is where the Blume sisters in my Seven Suitors for Seven Sisters series hail from. Kyle plans to join us in the UK for a while. 

The next stop is Italy for 7-10 days. On the itinerary are Cinque Terre, Pisa, Venice, Rome, Florence, and Tuscany (location for two stories). Kyle and Tiia will be joining us on the Italian leg of our journey. Part of the reason for this week is that Italy just looks like an awesome place to visit. The other part is research for the next point below.

·         Multi author series:

I need to write two and a bit novellas, plus design ten covers for a multi-author series due to release toward the end of 2017. The authors involved in this endeavor are super excited, and I’m glad I’ll have a holiday and research behind me before I need to tackle this.

·         IF I find the time in the next three months, I need to format six books for print, which includes designing back covers and that sneaky, fiddly spine. Because our postal system isn’t the most trustworthy in South Africa, I always try to order my print books if I’m travelling overseas and have them sent somewhere there to bring back with me. You can imagine my joy at learning Qatar airlines have increased their baggage allowance from 30kg to 45kg. And with six books to print and bring back (20-30 copies of each), I am going to need that extra allowance. But, because our internal flights do not have the 45kg luxury, I’ll need a delivery address in Italy (our last port of call before flying home), and am working on that.

Looking back eleven months, I totally get why God clearly told me it was time to give up the security and benefits of my day job, and follow my passion and what He had called me to do…write stories for Him.

As you can see, 2017 is set to be another crazy year, but with prayer, focus, and determination, I can do it. So keep a look out on my social media and Amazon author page—there are some fun and hopefully inspiring romances heading your way. Please remember to keep me in your prayers, too. I’m going to need all the help I can get.

And now, I did say I was going to ask you about your year… I would love to hear what exciting things you have planned or are happening in your life this coming year.

MARION UECKERMANN's passion for writing was sparked when she moved to Ireland with her family. Her love of travel has influenced her contemporary inspirational romances set in novel places. Marion and her husband again live in South Africa, but with two gorgeous grandsons hanging their hats at the house next door, their empty nest's no longer so empty.

Visit Marion at www.marionueckermann.net

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