I've talked about branding before. How once you get a certain genre of books out there with your name on them (or even before, as was the case with me—sometimes just having books under contract is enough), you are branded as THAT genre author. I was branded as a paranormal author. But if you recall, I did put out two novellas that were outside my brand. Remember these?
The third novella never came out. Want to know why? My brand was working against me, so I had the series pulled. Yes, I talked to Swoon Romance and we agreed to take the series down. Why? Because I decided to create a pen name and write contemporary romance as Ashelyn Drake. Also, when I wrote the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series, it wasn't a novella series. It was a full-length novel. And with my new brand under Ashelyn, I wanted that full novel back because that's how I always envisioned the story to be told.
Well, I didn't just put the book back together. I did a major rewrite. I deleted the first three chapters. Yup, gone! I got right into the heart of the story and backed off the tennis theme that previously ran throughout the book. Why am I telling you all this? Simple. Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak is now a novel titled Perfect For You, and it's coming out in September through Swoon Romance. It has a gorgeous new cover that is being revealed this Friday with YA Bound Book Tours. (You can sign up to help with the reveal here if you're interested.)
But I'm not sharing this story today because I have a reveal coming up. I'm sharing my story because sometimes things don't happen the way we envision them, but that doesn't mean that we can't take things into our own hands and change things. Luckily, Swoon Romance was great about helping me with my vision for this book, but I was prepared to self-publish the title if I needed to.
So just because things don't happen the way you want them to at first, don't be afraid to make changes and alter the future of your book. I'm really glad I did.
Check it out!
Sophomore year in high school comes with its own set of problems. You’re no longer a freshmen, but you’re still two years away from ruling the school. So, you sit and languish in a kind of purgatory until junior year, when things start to get interesting.
That is, unless during your sophomore year, you find your boyfriend making out with another girl in front of your locker. Then, interesting takes on a whole new meaning, and that’s what happened to seventeen-year-old Meg Flannigan. It’s no wonder her self-esteem suffered a major hit.
Now a senior, Meg catches the eye of not one, but two guys at school (I know, right?). They happen to both be gorgeous, and each vies for her attention in the most flattering of ways. Sounds good, right? Not if one of the guys is her boyfriend, and the other one wants to be.
Meg doesn’t want to lose Ash. They’ve been together for almost five months, and she’s falling in love with him. But Noah. Ah, Noah. He’s the irresistible guy Meg has been crushing on for two years, and she isn’t ready to send him away either. But stringing both along could have disastrous results, leaving Meg in the cold once again.
One thing’s certain. Meg needs to decide between Ash and Noah soon, or she’ll lose her perfect match forever.
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You're so right about things not always turning out the way we envision them. I'm glad it's working out for you. Congratulations on the new book. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beverly!
DeleteGood for you, Kelly. I'm excited for this novel because I read the first two novellas and loved them. Can't wait to see how the story ends!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so happy to hear that. I hope you like the changes that were made. Even the parts you read are different. :)
DeleteSo interesting to hear about how this series has evolved. I'm glad your vision for it is coming true!
ReplyDeleteMe too. I'm thrilled things are working out for this story because it has a special place in my heart.
DeleteThat's a smart thing to do in life, to reevaluate and strike out again on a different path. I personally think life is never what we expect it to be, sometimes it's better than we imagine, and sometimes, not so much, but there is always something for a person if they keep pushing.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Brenda. We have to keep pushing forward and finding ways to make things happen for us.
DeleteSo true Kelly. Whatever fits! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it all worked out! Excited to see the cover. Congrats- you're a book producing machine this year. =)
ReplyDeleteYou just made me realize I have 5 books coming out this year. Please excuse me while I go faint and then figure out how I'm going to pull this off.
DeleteFascinating and gutsy. Thanks for sharing the story behind your story, Kelly.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Always happy to share my experiences.
DeleteI have been listening to several others going through the turmoil of, do I or don't I create a pen name. Right now I am still working on a few books in my current genre, but that is a worry or me. What if I want to get back to my paranormal love. Will I need to take on a pen name? I suppose some of that might be, hoe 'branded' am I. Your Face of Death series did so well and was strong, I am sure that has a hand in it.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you. Though I think the more well known you are, the less need for a pen name. I'm not a common name, so I needed to have a pen name. But look at big names who can write whatever they want under their real names and not worry about branding. In a perfect world, it would be like that for all of us.
DeleteOkay. Never thought of it that way. So become a best seller then switch genres. Got it :-) If you are a common name I am in trouble.
DeleteI'm looking forward to seeing the cover!
ReplyDeleteKelly, your inner fire and determination is truly inspiring. In the business, we're continually learning as we go along. There's no straight path to success. It's about getting derailed and finding our way back to the center. It takes a lot of dedication in order to leap over these hurdles. I know it's not easy. But you help me see that it can be done, and with grace :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Faith. That's really sweet of you to say. I'm a determined person, maybe too determined sometimes. ;) I guess, we'll see.
DeleteThanks for sharing this--it's really interesting to see this side of things, especially because it's not talked about a ton. Best of luck with the new (or revamped!) release!
ReplyDeletelol I talk about everything. ;) I figure my experiences might be helpful to someone.
DeleteInteresting to read this post. Yes, we can change what we want,
ReplyDeleteNas
Yes, we can. :)
DeleteAwesome advice and an excellent example! Glad to hear that Swoon Romance is so easy to work with and that you were able to make so many changes to the book. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
I'm very happy Swoon was so accommodating. :)
DeleteI admire Jane Yolen for refusing to be boxed and branded. But if you are, you might as well run the show.
ReplyDeleteI think it's much easier for big names to design their own futures, but the rest of us can find ways to make things happen for us too. :)
DeleteThat's pretty cool of your publisher to go with it. I don't worry too much about my branding, but maybe I should
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of people who have overcome branding issues, or, like me, you can find ways around them.
DeleteOh and congratulations on the updated novel!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGood for you, Kelly! I hope it all works out well for you. Thanks for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Allyn!
DeleteIn a way I regret the new(ish) furor about branding, but I'm glad you could find a way to make this work for you!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I wish branding wasn't an issue, but at least there are ways to get around it.
DeleteInspiring Kelly! Thank you for reminding me how important it is to believe in yourself and your work even if it means you need to rework it to be all it can be.
ReplyDeleteAw, well I'm glad you were able to take that from my experience. :)
DeleteThanks for sharing. That's the thing about publishing. As you said, things don't always go the way you want. But, you can't give up. Great advice. Glad things worked out for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Auden.
DeleteIt's excellent that you took things in your own hands about the direction of your brand and your publisher (Swoon Romance) totally backed you up! And that cover is lovely. I especially like the font choice!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover so much. It fits the story well. And I'm so excited Swoon was onboard to redo this. :)
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