Dear Reader,

Tuesday marked a big milestone for me: I signed, packed, and mailed the advance paperbacks of Dangerous Drusilla to the Kickstarter Paperback Recruits! This is my very first ever Kickstarter fulfillment effort.

That's the thing about doing a Kickstarter: the work continues after the campaign is over. But it's decidedly joyful work, and I'm privileged to be doing it—thanks to the 46 generous readers who backed me.

I'm also in the process of getting the special Kickstarter-edition hardcovers produced. I received a proof, but the dust jacket needs a few tweaks, which my lovely illustrator Kristen is working on now.

I'm looking forward to receiving the enamel pins in early December so I can send out those packages as well.

Dangerous Drusilla hits the shelves in less than 8 weeks. 😬

It seems like I've been living with this book for a long time. That's because of all the Kickstarter preparation and running the campaign, which kept the book top of mind for a lot longer than usual.

But the really big event is still the book launch.

I'm planning a local launch tentatively for Sunday afternoon, January 17, exact time TBD. And I'm going to have it at my daughter's ballet studio on Main Street in Biddeford! Where better to launch a series called The Pinkstocking Club?

I still haven't decided about an online launch event. That's where I need your input. I'm always happy to do it if even only a few people are interested. I love talking about books and writing and research and answering questions about my book and my process.

The trouble is that it's difficult to figure out the best time to schedule such a thing. So if you'd take a moment to let me know your preference, I might be able to take that into consideration!

Note that all the times above are eastern.

Speaking of Drusilla...

Here's a secret about preorders: they matter more than you might think.

You may be wondering why it matters at all whether you order your copy of Dangerous Drusilla before it's published, on publication day, or later.

If you know you'll want the book, it's extremely helpful if you preorder.

The reasons why it's worthwhile for indie authors to put their eBooks up for preorder have primarily to do with how Amazon ranks books and helps readers discover them. The more advance interest (i.e. preorders), the higher the book will rank in customer searches.

On a personal level, preorders help an author not only feel happy that readers are looking forward to her next book, but they provide a sense of possible demand. That helps in planning marketing efforts.

Although the e-book is now available to order for delivery to your device on the day it's published, unfortunately, I can't put a paperback on preorder through KDP (the Amazon publishing platform).

However, you can preorder the paperback through these other online retailers:

• ​Bookshop.org​
• ​Barnes & Noble​
• ​Foyle's (UK)​
• ​Walmart​
• ​Books-a-million​
• ​Thriftbooks​
• ​Readings (Australia) and several other Australian bookstores
• ​Orell Füssli (Switzerland—how random is that?)

Preordering paperbacks also gives the book a boost on these other retailers.

Join me for a morning of writing together on Sunday, December 6.

Once again I'm hosting the monthly community writing session for Writers in Progress. These low-stress, congenial gatherings of writers from all over are a wonderful way to spend a quiet Sunday morning. It's only $10 to attend. Register here!​

There's still time to discover Regency e-Books on Kindle+!

​C​lick here to browse a delicious selection of Regency e-books—including my holiday novella, Miss Pauline's Perfect Present. Some are sweet, some are spicy, so there's something for every reading preference.

That's all for this week.

And as always, keep reading and writing!

Susanne

P.S. Progress with Canny Cordelia! I'm getting into the nail-biting final scenes. Always the most difficult to write because moving characters around in a believable way without slowing down the action is HARD, LOL!