It's been a while. A long while. But I'm still here, and I'm not done yet.

I published my first book back in March of 2014. Between then and June 2016, I managed to write and publish six novels in total (and a few short stories here and there). I felt like I was on a roll, like I had this writing thing down pat. I was making a living with my words (which is extremely hard to do, but that's a topic for another day) and living a life where I paved my own way by doing something I truly loved. Overwhelmingly, I felt like I was on the verge of really hitting it big. Not Stephen King or Diana Gabaldon big, but a little closer to a hell of a lot more people remembering my name and a hell of a lot more readers consuming my work. Maybe a little delusional, but hey it helped to keep me going. Each letter from a reader telling me how much they loved my books, each review shouting praise for the worlds and characters I had created, each interaction on my social media pages, and all the love shown at book signings also played a huge part in pushing me forward. The sky was the limit as far as I was concerned.

So what happened? Why no new releases in over a year-and-a-half? Why did I mostly disappear?

Well, to be blunt, life happened, I had a huge bout of self-doubt, and the words left me. The characters were there showing me bits of their stories, but when it came to putting their trials and tribulations and quests for love to paper, I couldn't do it. I'd open a file and nothing would happen. The characters would go silent and I would stumble along for a paragraph or two (if I was lucky) before giving up. The more I couldn't write, the more I didn't want to try. I'd go weeks at a time without so much as a thought toward writing. Depression, which is something I've dealt with off and on for as long as I can remember, set in, making me doubt myself that much more, and I honestly thought maybe I was done. Like I'd written all that I was meant to write. But every once in a while, I'd get a flash of inspiration, a fleeting moment of desire to create.

It took a long time to realize what I was dealing with. The dreaded writer's block, magnified by depression and anxiety. And let me tell you, writer's block is a real bitch. My motto was always to just keep writing, no matter what. I didn't truly understand what it was to sit down, eager to write, and nothing happening. Now I do. I so get it, and I wish I didn't.

But those moments of clarity where I could see a scene so clearly that it was like watching a movie made me realize that I wasn't done. I hadn't written all that I was meant to write. I hadn't brought all the characters living in my head to life. I hadn't told all of their stories. Something finally broke loose for me in the last month or so, and for the first time in a really long time, I feel like I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing. The words have started flowing again and the characters have started talking non-stop. I can't tell you what a relief it is to feel that energy released.

I know I have probably disappointed some of you along the way with my lack of new books, but I hope that you're still here with me and that you'll enjoy what I have to offer in the future just as much as you have my previous works.

With that being said, I'm going to be changing up the way I publish going forward. I'm no longer going to mix my paranormal romance and my contemporary romance under one name. From here on out, my paranormal romances will be published under the name Stephanie Summers and my contemporary romance, which will now focus primarily on rockstar romance, will be published under the pen name Scarlett Alexander. As much as I enjoyed writing Blowback/Forsaken Love, it just didn't seem to hit the mark with what my readers expected from me. Perhaps if I decide to venture into that territory again, I'll start a new pen name, but in the meantime, I'll be sticking to what I love writing and what I hope you all still love reading.

If you'd like to give my Scarlett Alexander Facebook page a like, twitter a follow, or just check out my website, you can do so here, here, and here. Because this is not a secret pen name, I will always announce on my main Stephanie Summers pages that I have a new release under that name, so no worries if you don't click the follow button.

Anyway, if you managed to read all that and are still with me, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for still believing in me. And to everyone who reached out with kind words about my books over the last several years, you'll never know how much that truly meant to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. If it weren't for all of you, I might have laid my pen down for good. If you ever feel like contacting your favorite authors but think maybe you're bothering them, please don't feel that way. You never know how much of an impact your words can have on someone, and your message might be just the thing they need to keep going. Trust me, I know firsthand.

I'll be sharing more about what I'm working on in the coming days and weeks, and I'll be creating a new reader group on Facebook where we can chat about life and all things books, so be on the lookout and let me know what you think. Until then...

Much love,
Stephanie

What's going on in the writing world of Stephanie Summers? A lot of frustration, questioning, and finally what seems like a light at the end of the tunnel--in a nutshell.

I've been in a bit of a writing funk since I finished up Blowback, probably because I poured so much time and hard work into it that I tapped my mental resources for a bit. This isn't uncommon for me after finishing a book, but it can be a terrifying time when it happens because I tend to sit around and analyze why I can't write instead of writing. What's wrong with me? Have I used up all my good ideas? Am I completely tapped out? Will I ever be able to write another book? Luckily, I seem to be pulling myself out of all that and back into writing. My how I have missed it!

Some of you might have noticed not too long ago that I posted over on my Facebook page about how I was working on a vampire story, and while the idea is still brewing and the story has been set up, I'm sorry to say, that it's been shelved for the time being. I can't focus on it, though I feel like it will evolve into its own series soon enough. I know it sounds cliche when authors talk about how their characters speak to them and how they dictate the story, but it really is true. I can't force them if they just aren't there.

Listen, I struggled for weeks trying to write a story about Big. If you've read Blowback, you know who I mean, if you haven't read it, what are you waiting for? ;) Anyway, I had most of it plotted out in my mind, but when I sat down to write, he didn't speak to me and I'd stare at the screen. I have a possible sequel in mind for Jet, too, but I've got no focus when it comes to those stories. Same thing happened after the initial set up of the vamp story. I'm happy to report that finally, FINALLY, I have some characters talking to me, and I've plotted out four books in a new rock star series. I've decided to buckle down and get them written, with the hopes of releasing them about two months apart, starting sometime around September or October. I'll have a more concrete date once I get close to the editing phase.

I don't have a working title yet, but I can tell you a little about the band. If you've read Take Me Home, you might remember an encounter a certain Mister Ash London had with a guy pushing his music into his ears, literally, while he was on a date with Lila, the same one who opened the show later in the book that was signed to Ferrum's new record label. And if you haven't read Take Me Home, what are you waiting for? ;) Anyway, Evan Kelley, front man for Untamed Destruction (formerly known as Tiger's Den lol you'll get that reference if you read TMH) is who the first book is about. He's reeling from the loss of the band's original drummer and his best friend. I can't say much more than that at the moment, but there's a little taste for you. Three more books will follow, and as of right now, they'll be about Jameson Rhodes (guitarist), Kane King (bassist), and Jayson Stonewall (drummer)--not necessarily in that order and names at this point are subject to change. And I am happy to say that Ash London WILL be playing a somewhat sizable role at some point in the series, and he might make another cameo here or there. Hint: Anyone remember Lila's best friend, Paige? Can't say one way or the other, but she *might* just be the romantic interest for one of these guys. ;)

This shouldn't surprise anyone who has followed my books thus far because they all happen in the same universe, even The Willow Creek Vampires Series,  though I doubt Ash or Jet Flanagan are aware there are vampires lurking about. Remy is certainly aware of Ferrum through Sabine's fascination with them. The band Ferrum has been mentioned in most of my non-Ferrum books. It only made sense to me to continue the tradition. You might be wondering why I didn't write a book for the other members in Ferrum, but it's quite simple. Matty already has Tori, and Dax has never spoken to me in a romantic way. If he ever decides to settle down, I'm sure he'll let me know his story.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know what's been going on, and how excited I am to be focusing on a new series that I hope you'll enjoy. I'll try and keep you updated along the way with some sneak peeks and teasers. Until next time, take care!

The time has come for me to revamp my newsletter list. When I started it over two years ago, I only had Craving under my belt, so one all-inclusive list seemed like the way to go. I've since branched out from paranormal romance into contemporary and romantic suspense, and I realize those genres don't always have the same readers. In an effort to better serve my subscribers, I'm splitting my list into three targeted lists. You'll have the option to sign up for the paranormal romance list, the contemporary romance/romantic suspense list, or the all-inclusive list if you happen to want to hear about my new releases, regardless of the genre.

Aside from making it better for subscribers, I have another reason for this. Earlier this year I participated in a couple of big Kindle giveaways that were run by two different places that specialize in massive email lists and promoting authors/books to those subscribers. It seemed like a great idea at the time, give away a Kindle, grow my newsletter, reach more readers. Well, hindsight is always 20/20, right?

I've come to the realization that a lot of people who subscribe in those situations don't give a flying fuck about the author whose newsletter they're subscribing to. They just want to win that prize. I get it. Really, I do, and I'm not saying every subscriber is that way. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the one giveaway that was focused on paranormal romance readers probably did garner me subscribers who really were interested in my books. The other one that wasn't genre specific and certainly wasn't limited to romance? Probably not so much. I know I've gained readers from these promos, so they weren't a complete bust, and please don't think I don't want you if you signed up this way. That is not the case at all. I want every subscriber who genuinely wants to be here. I love you. Promise!

Anyway, the problem? Of those who didn't really want to be on the list and only signed up for a chance to win, many will simply forget they've signed up and click that the newsletter I send at a later time is spam instead of just unsubscribing. I've never once added a person to my email list who didn't physically sign up at an author signing I've attended, and the only other way to get on the list is to fill out the form yourself, so yeah, it stings a little when you see those spam reports, like I'm some Nigerian prince searching for his long lost relative to help in securing this billion dollars I have lying about. The places we authors use to store our lists and send out our newsletters like Mad Mimi, MailChimp, etc., don't like it when someone reports those emails as spam because it can get them into hot water legally on their end. The more times I'm flagged, the bigger the chance that I'll lose my whole list and lose the privilege to send out newsletters at all. Plus, it costs money to maintain these lists. Believe me, if you don't want to hear from me, I'd much rather you click unsubscribe because I'm essentially paying for a massive list of people who might not really want to hear from me in the first place.

In order to save myself a little money (because the bigger the list, the more money I have to pay to maintain it) and the headache of being flagged as spam, I'm changing things up. I am essentially nuking my subscriber list, so if you want to stay, you must subscribe again. Go up to the newsletter tab at the top of this page, and sign up for the list of your choosing. And thank you so much for understanding and cooperating with me on this. I've been contemplating this change for a few weeks now, and I finally decided to just go for it. I know I'll lose a lot of subscribers, but honestly, I'd rather have a smaller list of readers who want to hear from me than a massive list full of those who don't.

Beneath Her Skin 
by Beth Mikell 

Blurb:

Brooke Stone runs a slumping hot air balloon business and pride keeps her from asking for help. Her last flight of the day introduces her to Damon Sinclair. He is mysterious, sexy, and he wants her to work for him. But there is deception at play. Someone is gunning for her, strategically placing Brooke at the center of danger, while Damon uses all his government resources to help her. She is two steps away from a break down, yet her new savior proves she needs a miracle, and she cannot help but hold onto his dust-devil storm, awestruck and seduced. 

No matter their sensual cravings, trouble is coming… and so is the truth. 

Available to read in KU! Just $2.99 to purchase!
http://amzn.to/1TVVwWL

Interested in helping me get the word out about Blowback? Or maybe you'd be interested in being considered to receive an ARC? Fill out this form to be added to the list!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14vn9NonB_ujWM8JC2qtQSjjBOOJ9_bANlbnhI8accGI/viewform
Cover reveal coming May 18th, and Blowback releases on June 16th!

I debated on whether or not to broach this publicly, but after a little bit of pondering on the subject and the sheer amount of assholes gaming the system and rendering Amazon's search function useless, I decided I had to try and bring light to the rampant amount of scamming and unethical behavior that is going on in Kindle Unlimited. As both an author and a reader, I'm pissed, and I want others to know the damage that is being done.

It's no secret that when we go exclusive with KDP Select (meaning we can't sell our ebooks anywhere but Zon when we choose this option), we are paid from a fund Amazon sets aside every month. Amazon is supposed to monitor page reads and pay us accordingly. The more page reads we get, the more money we make. I have worked very hard to release what I feel are quality books for readers to enjoy. I love producing worlds where readers can escape their own realities for a little bit of time, and I love that I get to do what I love to try and make a living. I've taken care when crafting my stories, I've put money into covers, editing, advertising, PR, and giveaways, I've done everything I can to build up visibility, and since July I've had nearly two million pages read in Kindle Unlimited. That's a good chunk of change for someone like me who has only been at this for two years, though I'm still very much a small-time author, as there are some who reach my page reads in days instead of months.

And therein lies the problem. There are legitimate authors with some phenomenal books who are getting millions of page reads every month, and they deserve that. I'm not talking about them at all. I just want to make that clear before I get into the meat of the reason for this blog post. I'm talking about the unethical asshats who don't give a shit about the craft or readers.

Go take a gander at let's say paranormal romance on Amazon... Go ahead, type it in the search bar. I'll wait....

You back? See those books with tons of keywords stuffed into the titles? They're asshats, too, even if they aren't doing this particular scam (though they are violating the KDP TOS) I'm going to tell you about, but I'll get to that in a minute. Click on the "Look Inside" function on one... Let me guess, there's an important message you must click on before you read? Or maybe there's a "Click here to win a free Kindle" link? Yeah, don't click on that, like ever. Here's the deal, on top of the fact that there probably is no important message or free Kindle actually being given away, when you click those links, these authors (who usually aren't even real authors, but so-called "internet entrepreneurs) are tricking the system into thinking you've read the whole book. They stuff every possible thing you can think of into the file and they get paid for 3000 pages read (the new cap Zon has put on what they'll pay per reader per book in KU, but before February 1st, they could've gotten paid for hundreds of thousands of pages per book), netting them roughly $13 per click.

When Amazon first rolled out this pay-per-page-read thing, they told us they kept track of exactly how many pages were read and that clicking to the last page wouldn't register as a full read. They responded to concerned authors who pointed out that it would be too easy to take advantage of the new system by assuring them that only the pages read would be registered, but that clearly isn't the case. These "authors" are making bank on this scam because even if real readers aren't clicking the link, they can afford to pay people to go through and click them and still make tons of money. They're releasing 20, 30, 40, 50, etc. books a day, many of them just slapping a new cover with stolen stock images and art on the same file. That adds up fast and many of the people exploiting Amazon's failed tracking system are getting the much-coveted All-Star bonuses that Amazon gives to top earners in the KU program. Guess what else this tactic is doing? It's driving down the rate Amazon pays per page read, which affects the authors of the books you actually want to read. This will cause many to pull their books from KU, leaving the crap behind.

This is where it pisses me off as a reader. I have a KU subscription, and it is getting more and more difficult to find good reads in the program. Those asshats (and many of them are the same people using the click here links to net full reads) I mentioned before who are stuffing every keyword they can think of in the titles have rendered the search function useless because pages and pages and pages of these books show up first. This isn't good for any authors selling on Amazon because even if you aren't in KU, your books are shoved to the back, too, which drastically reduces a book's chances of being found. So essentially, these "internet entrepreneurs" are taking over the whole damn thing and pushing real authors out.

As a reader, I want to be able to search for rock star romance or paranormal romance or whatever I'm in the mood for and actually get those books, but I'm getting BBW Bear Shifter Billionaire BDSM Taboo Step-Brother Blah Blah Blah Latest Trendy Buzzword instead of what I actually want. Back in October, I noticed a sharp decline in not only page reads, but also sales. This is around the time these keyword stuffed books started showing up, and around the time I stopped being able to find books I wanted to read.

As usual, Amazon seems slow to fix the problem (and I'm not convinced they're all that concerned since they're still paying out the same amount in the monthly fund, regardless of who it goes to), but when does it stop? Probably never. Scammers will scam. That's what they do. No matter what change Amazon rolls out next, the unethical will be ready to jump onto the next thing and the next. It was already tough to make a living writing books, but it seems damn near impossible now that Amazon has made it so easy to scam and be lucrative in KU. The truly sad thing about this is that there are so many of these "internet entrepreneurs" who are boasting in Youtube videos about what they've done as if it is perfectly acceptable, and they're enticing more and more people to follow suit. Hire ghost writers or just throw together some random BS, stuff everything but the kitchen sink into a file, stick a link in the front that jumps to the past page, outsource for pennies for people to click that link, lather, rinse, repeat, and wait for the hefty deposit to hit the old bank account at the end of the month. And shame on Amazon for claiming they could monitor page reads when they really couldn't. Maybe they should have developed a way to do that before deciding to change the way they paid authors. At the very least, they should ban the accounts of people who pull this shit.

Amazon might not care what's going on at the moment, but they might want to think twice if they aren't trying to remedy the situation. Readers will leave the program when they can't find anything but unappealing scammy books by non-authors that remind me of those annoying pop-up ads at the front of each book and scattered throughout. I won't be renewing when my subscription is up, and I'd guess that a lot of other readers feel the same way I do.

With all that being said, I will be transitioning The Take Me Duet out of KU at least until this issue is fixed. I cannot compete with the scammers who are making MILLIONS of dollars off this who are also tarnishing the reputation of books in the KU library. Not only has the rate I'm paid fallen, but my page reads have also taken a huge hit due to reduced visibility. I went from 15,000 to 20,000 and sometimes more page reads a day down to 1,000 to 2,000 a day, and I know that number will decline even more if I stay in this version of KU. Take Me On will be out on March 30th with Take Me Home coming out on April 3rd. Craving has to stay in until September because it is in a KU box set, but I'll have to reevaluate the rest of the series when it's closer to their Select expiration date. I have a new release coming out in May, and it doesn't look like it'll be enrolled in the program either, and I hate that it has to be that way, but, as an author, pulling my books is the only real way I know of showing Amazon that I am not happy. I'm hoping they fix this soon, but I'm not counting on it.

I never did that well going wide with my books, but it has to be better than the shit that's going on in KU. Maybe readers will be able to actually find my books at Apple, Google Play, etc. There's nothing I want to do more than write, but I'm afraid I will not be able to go on indefinitely if the assholes gaming the system continue to reap all the rewards.

It is extremely imperative at this time for readers to be sure to follow the authors they love because it's getting harder for us to reach you. Ways you can do this is to sign up for their newsletters and check their social media pages periodically so you don't miss their new releases. If you want to help real authors who are working hard to produce quality work and a good reader experience, please report the asshats to Amazon when you see them. They are more likely to listen to customers who are having negative experiences  than they are us lowly authors who only provide them with content to sell.

I apologize now if some of my thoughts up there seemed a little scattered. I'm frazzled and pissed off at this whole thing.

TL;DR version:
Scammers suck. Don't click their links. Authors who care about the books they put out are having an even harder time now that these asshats are clogging up the search function and scamming the page-reads system. My books are being transitioned out of KU for the time being.

Hosted by Steph's Book Reports and several authors (including yours truly) who will be in attendance at Authors in the City on March 12 at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, FL. Good luck!