I’m back with more bad news for my Gaian Consortium readers. I’m sorry, I really am, but sometimes reality smacks you upside the head, and you need to stop and listen to what it’s trying to tell you.
I’d planned to release a seventh book in the Consortium series in February (the same novel that should have come out in September but didn’t because of my having to move unexpectedly, along with a few other factors). That book was going to be a bridge to a spin-off series, Gaia Rising, which I’d tentatively planned as a trilogy but thought I could expand to more books if it did well. And I decided that I would make Blood Will Tell, the first book in the Gaian Consortium series, free for the month of September, just to give things a little goose during a month when I wouldn’t have a new release.
It sounded great on paper. :-/
Problem is, I didn’t see anywhere close to the normal follow-up sales on other books in the series, the way I usually do when I promote one of my paranormal romance titles. One could argue that there were a lot of other factors involved this time around that didn’t have anything to do with the books themselves — a series of natural disasters, the usual disruptions of back-to-school time, the unsettled political climate in the U.S. — but even all those mitigating elements didn’t completely explain the poor performance. This is an older series, and maybe today’s focus on the new and shiny in the ebook world didn’t help, either. But however you look at the situation, it became pretty darn clear to me that spending the time to publish another book in the series, let alone start a spin-off, just wasn’t a very good idea.
So I’m scuttling the whole thing. No more Consortium books. I hate to do that to the readers who were looking forward to the new novels, but the sober truth is that I need to focus on the stories that will keep my writing career moving forward.
That means 2018 will be a year entirely devoted to paranormal romance, since the final Tales of the Latter Kingdoms book will be coming out next month, on November 15th. In January 2018, the final Witches of Cleopatra Hill novel will be released. I won’t be publishing anything in February, in order to get ready for the Cleopatra Hill spin-off series, The Witches of Canyon Road. The first book in that series will come out in early March. After that I plan to alternate between the Canyon Road books and the Djinn Wars spin-off series, Djinn Dominion. I do like to alternate series if I can, just because it helps keep things fresh during the writing process. However, there won’t be long gaps in between these books, since they’ll be coming out every month, alternating between the Witches of Canyon Road and Djinn Dominion, through August 2018. In September, I’ll be launching a new, darker paranormal romance series, with follow-up books in October and November. Right now I plan to take December off from releasing anything, although if inspiration strikes for a holiday novella along the way, then I’ll be publishing that book early in the month.
Again, I’m sorry that things turned out this way — I know I have some loyal Gaian Consortium readers out there, and I hate to do this to you. Maybe someday I’ll have the time to finish that seventh book, but at this point, it’s not looking very hopeful. But there will still be lots of fun new books to look forward to in 2018, so I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
While I enjoyed the Gaian Consortium series, it’s probably time to move on. Your Djinn world is remarkable, and I hope those sales are bringing you much success. Really looking forward to Djinn Dominion stories!
Yes, I agree. I’m just stubborn, I guess, and hoped that things might turn out differently. However, I’m also looking forward to the Djinn Dominion books, and the Cleopatra Hill spin-off — and the spooky series that’ll be starting next fall. 🙂
I love your Gaian Consortium series. The Gaian Gambet is my fav. Dont know how many times I have reread that book. It was the first of your books I bought.
I can’t express how unhappy your announcement has made me. This was the only series of yours that I read. I’ve re-read these books many times, and bought “Breath of Life” twice, since I couldn’t find the small epilogue story you had written to it, as a single purchase. The 2nd book contained the epilogue. I no longer have a reason to visit your blog and website every 3 or 4 months looking for an update on the series. Even though I won’t be reading anymore of your work, I wish you good luck on your writing career and future endeavors.
I’m sorry, Lisa — sometimes we writers need to make these decisions, even though we know they’re going to upset some of our readers. There will be a Gaian Consortium prequel novelette appearing in a charity anthology next month, so you might want to keep an eye out for that. (There are also Gaian short stories in a couple of anthologies, Orphans in the Black and Star Rebels.)