Woke up. Googled self.

Oh

my

God!

Woke up. Googled self. Found new review of latest release, but the reader spelled my name wrong – the J is not supposed to be capitalized! E-mailed publicist. Asked her to e-mail reader, force a retraction, and demand public apology.

Refreshed review for an hour, waiting for correction and contrition. Finally went to Starbucks and made anonymous comment pointing out the spelling error. Sent irritated e-mail to publicist. Why do I have to do all of the freaking work around here?

Woke up. Googled self. No new mentions or reviews.

I hate everyone.

Checked Twitter. Saw an author mention they are not enjoying a recently released book. Didn’t mention the title, but I just know she is talking about my book, because I haven’t seen her mention it on her Twitter stream before this. WHY DON’T YOU GROW A PAIR AND JUST SAY IT, YOU JEALOUS COW? Went to Amazon, gave three star review to her latest book. “Thought this was only okay. Much preferred other recent releases, like M.B.’s. She rocks!”

Blogging day. Scoured internet for blog topics. Used them all before. Watched YouTube video about honey badger for inspiration.

Created new e-mail address. Created new reader blog.

Woke up. Googled self. Found a “new” review on the twentieth search page. Written in 2008. How did I miss before? Copied and sent to publicist, with note that there might be more coming as I search through that blog’s archives.

Remembered that it’s Tweet Day. Pulled up social media guidelines. Must not put readers off by too much promo. Must mention something of shared interest. Must be friendly and open. Looked on Twitter to see frequent topics — pets, food. Spent an hour composing and editing tweet. My fluffy cat looks at me while I eat. LOL! Does yours? Plz RT

Woke up. Googled self. Found a new positive review. Sent quote on to publicist.

Compiled all quotes ever received and sent to publicist. Just in case she lost the last quote. Cc’d to editor, and editor’s assistant. Bcc’d to self, in case they pretend they never received them later. I will know.

Put the best 25 quotes in my e-mail signature, and the signature for all of my Yahoo loops.

Opened Google reader. 1000+ review blogs to read. No mention of me or my work, except one who said “If you like M.B.’s work, you will like this new author’s work, too.” WTF? No one is like me. Made note of blog name. Would delete it from my feedreader but I need to know if she spreads more falsehoods and compares me to another hack.

Reminder to self: Create new e-mail address. Review hack’s book. Make it three stars, so that it’s not too obvious. Say, “I bought this because some reviewer said it was like MY FAVORITE AUTHOR’S books, but it was only okay. Nothing like the awesomeness of M.B.!” Buy the hack’s book later so no need to feel guilty (but not during the first week, when it might help her hit a list before I do.) I support my fellow authors!!!

Checked rankings on Amazon. Called my mother and cried. She said something about my aunt’s tumor getting worse. Thanks for caring about MY problems, MOTHER!

Note to self: Heartless mother in WIP? Art imitates life.

Googled self. New review! …. “uneven pacing” — What? She gave me an A-. MINUS!!! for “uneven pacing”??? She obviously doesn’t even know what pacing is! She probably never even WENT TO SCHOOL! Why can people who obviously grow up on pig farms can REVIEW BOOKS? God!

New e-mail address and new Amazon account. Composed reply to review: I don’t know why you thought the pacing was uneven. I thought it was perfect! Wasn’t happy, thought it was too obvious. Spent a few hours editing it to: I don’t know the author, I’ve only read her books. I wonder: Do you even know how to read? The pacing was perfect! M.B. rocks! Went to Starbucks and used their internet access to mask my IP. Drank tea to soothe my nerves. Posted reply to review, then posted a review for a table so that they don’t think I made my account just to post the reply. I gave the table two stars to show I’m not easily pleased, so M.B. must be REALLY great!

Refreshed review page, waiting for response from reviewer. Nothing. Do they have internet access on pig farms? Hahaha! Beginning to think the MINUS!!! is the work of another author trying to sabotage me. Made list of who the author might be. Saw on J.M.’s blog that she uses the phrase “uneven pacing.” Read all of her blog entries, ever. Found more similar evidence, phrases used in the MINUS!!! review: “likable characters” and “hot!” Created new e-mail address. E-mailed: “I know what you did.” Jealous cow.

Starbucks closed before I had time to write! Damn it. Will have to get the words in tomorrow.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Yay! I’ve been waiting for this day to come, and it has! Demon Angel has just been released as an ebook. I’ve only checked Amazon and Barnes and Noble so far, but they both have it, so I imagine that it should be available wherever Penguin sells ebooks.

I’d planned to throw a huge blog party when it finally came out in ebook, but I’m not sure what form that will take yet (I kind of, ahem, didn’t expect this and totally blew my promo budget for this month on the New Year’s giveaway postage.) So I’ll come up with something over the next few days.

Now, about Demon Angel – a lot of people ask whether to start the Guardians series here, and it’s true that the series officially begins with this book … but it and Demon Moon are also the two books that readers have had the most trouble getting into (and other readers love them, so I can’t even begin to guess whether you would, too). My advice usually is: Read the reviews. If the problems mentioned sound like something that would really bother you, skipping to Demon Night might be a good idea (and you can always go back later and read the first two books when you’re more familiar with the mythology of the series.)

I’ve written a bit more about this here. You can see in the comments, the same reactions: some loved the series right away, some couldn’t get into until Demon Night.

Of course I hope you all love it, though! Lilith and Hugh are still one of my favorite couples … and Sir Pup, too

Also, Penguin ebooks don’t typically come with covers. So here’s one (mildly offensive) that I made up for the print readers long, long ago*.

*Ack. Thank goodness my Photoshop skillz have improved a little since then.

I’m not really sure who Doc Turtle is, except that according to the following link he’s a mathematician and romance newbie — and that I got a couple of notices from readers today letting me know that Smart Bitches Trashy Books is hosting a readalong as he makes his way through The Iron Duke (I must have missed the earlier readalong — judging by the comments from readers who are familiar with those posts, it was very funny).

So, if you are up for a fun/snarky bookclub read, this is your chance I won’t be participating or reading the posts and discussions, simply because I find that it’s too easy to go insane that way, but I’ll be happy to answer any questions that come up as you go along — just contact me through the blog or my contact page.

Some links that might be helpful to readers new to the series:

All of the books in the Iron Seas series (you don’t have to read the earlier stories before The Iron Duke.)

An Overview of the Iron Seas Alternate History

A Rough Guide to the Iron Seas (with an ugly map)

If you are new to steampunk:

What is steampunk?

A series of posts and steampunk Q&A — Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five (Part Six will be coming to this blog later this week.)

And of course if you have any questions here, please feel free to comment!

h/t Melinda Smith and Alice Jackson. Thanks for the heads-up, ladies!

And if it hasn’t already, the ebook price should drop to match it. Whee! Goodbye, $12.99! No one will miss you.

Now, for the rough part:

The print version of the mass-market release contains an epilogue novella to The Iron Duke called “Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City.”

This novella is not included in the ebook version of The Iron Duke — that content is the same as the trade version.

The novella will be released as an ebook later this year. When I have a date, I’ll let everyone know.

I know this sucks. And there has been a lot of talk around the blogosphere lately about where to go to lodge complaints — in this case, that place is right here, because this one is all on me. When my editor asked if I had any bonus content to include in the mass market reprint, we talked of adding a short epilogue that can let us see how Mina & Rhys are doing after the HEA. A simple plot, some smexy times, and done. I pictured it much like the bonus content that was included in Nalini Singh’s mass-market of Kiss of Snow — just a short story to put up on my site when the reprint came out.

That’s not quite what happened. The story actually became a longish novella, because I loved revisiting them, I had more to add to their story, and I couldn’t keep it short. I also ran too late to give my editor another story as the bonus content, because we were approaching the date when I either get it in NOW or nothing goes into the reprint at all. But I also thought it was important to release it as an ebook so that it wasn’t just available to mass-market readers, so the question was: do it myself, or let Berkley do it?

I wanted Berkley to do it. Although I like self-pubbing shorts, I honestly don’t have the time to do a good job of it now or anytime in the near future. That meant contracts, however, and scheduling the novella in for ebook publication. I signed those about two months ago, which was actually cutting it all pretty close.

And so this is why the ebook will be coming later than the print version, and why the ebook version of The Iron Duke won’t include the novella. The Iron Duke mass-market version was already scheduled, and already in Berkley’s production pipeline; my novella ebook was not, and to force it through earlier would mean shoving someone else’s book to the side while production worked on mine (and it was not in the ebook conversion pipeline at all, because we hadn’t planned to update The Iron Duke’s file with the short bonus content. Now, the novella is scheduled for ebook production, but again — that takes time, and must fit into the already-existing schedule.)

The ebook will come. Just not at the same time as print, and I’m sorry for that.

“With The Iron Duke, Meljean Brook has brilliantly defined the new genre of Steampunk Romance.
I loved it!” —Jayne Ann Krentz

One of Publishers Weekly‘s Best Romances of 2010, winner of All About Romance‘s Annual Reader Poll for Best Paranormal Romance, and a RT BookReviews Reviewers’ Choice Award Winner!

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power — and fear — of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

Mina can’t afford his interest, however. Horde blood runs through her veins, and despite the nanotech enhancing her body, she barely scratches out a living in London society. Becoming Rhys’s lover would destroy both her career and her family, yet the investigation prevents her from avoiding him…and the Iron Duke’s ruthless pursuit makes him difficult to resist.

But when Mina uncovers the victim’s identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans — and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke. Read an excerpt–>

“…a stunning blend of steampunk setting and poignant romance – smart, sexy, breathtaking, and downright addicting.” —Ilona Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Magic Bleeds

“…a high seas/airborne adventure that’s filled with zombies, pirates and deadly betrayal. Along with the pulse-pounding adventure, there’s plenty of seriously sensuous sizzle for readers to enjoy.” ½! —RT BookReviews

“With adept writing and a flair for creating believable worlds, Brook’s first in the Iron Seas series showcases her masterful storytelling.” —Booklist

$7.99 | January 3, 2012 | ISBN 978-0425244265

<– Go to previous book in the series

Go to next book in the series –>

And thanks to random.org, we have our winners! Thank you to everyone who entered! – the turnout was awesome, and because I’ve had such a great holiday (and because a giant box of books arrived last week) I’ve picked fifteen additional winners, who will receive The Iron Duke mass market edition, which releases on Tuesday.

Please look for your name in the list of winners below. If you’re there, please go to my giveaways page and enter your mailing information before January 31st.

Important: I will sign all of the copies, and unless you tell me otherwise, I will sign it to the first name entered into the mailing address form. If you plan to give it away to someone else, though, or if you just want me to sign it without adding your name, please let me know (there’s a “special notes” section in the address entry form).

This means I have forty-five books to mail out! I will do my best to send them in batches over the next two weeks, so if it takes a little time, don’t panic! But if you don’t receive them by the end of the month, please feel free to let me know, and I’ll check the tracking numbers.

~Demon Marked~
#31 – Liz
#77 – Kaya H
#105 – Sharon Knight
#70 – Sandra Rosa
#112 – Monica
#54 – Nikki P.
#64 – Kristy
#132 – Kayleigh H
#61 – Vanessa N
#2 – Pauline

~Angels of Darkness~
#7 – Rochelle
#102 – JenniferK
#98 – Sullivan McPig
#56 – Stacy S
#62 – Gladys
#125 – LillianJolly
#113 – Julie
#12 – Anastasia
#23 – Cassie
#72 – Becky S.

~Heart of Steel~
#48 – XxxXLozXxxX
#90 – EmmaD
#130 – sooz
#41 – Jeanette Juan
#37 – Rachel Goettl
#85 – Meriam
#35 – Li
#43 – Pamk
#99 – CS
#115 – Samantha R.

~The Iron Duke (Mass Market Edition)~
#3 – Brenda
#11 – Sarah
#14 – Brandy Swain
#24 – Amy Kathryn
#25 – Nix
#49 – Melissa Bee
#58 – Tracy
#81 – Na S.
#91 – DeeAnn
#93 – Laurie F.
#106 – StarlitRogue
#107 – Lea-Ellen B
#118 – Spav
#137 – Melissa B
#138 – Habiba