Opal Carew: Boxed sets, Single Titles, Series - Oh My!

First, I’d like to say congratulations to Judith and Sarah for the 5th Blog-O-Versary of Romancing The Genres, and to thank them for inviting me back to share with you what I’ve been up to.
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http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/mb_masteredbytheceo.php

Before I get started, I would like to invite you to join my Reader Group. I give away a free story to everyone who signs up, and I will keep you informed as to new releases, special offers, and any interesting news I have. Plus there are cute pictures of cats! J Also, I will be offering exclusive material to those in my Reader Group periodically. I am working on a special collection that will be available soon, so don’t miss out! Just click here to sign up: OpalCarew.com/ReaderGroup

Now, on with my news. The last time I wrote a post, I had recently hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. I accomplished this dream of mine by collaborating with other savvy authors in boxed sets. I have been in eight sets that have hit USA Today and four that hit New York Times.

I spent a lot of time working on these and other collaborative projects for about two years, but last year I decided I needed to bring my focus back to my own stories. During the boxed set fever, I had, by necessity, become extremely efficient with my time. The demands were high. Writing the stories was the easy part. The communications with a dozen or so other authors while coordinating our efforts was intense. My inbox already has high traffic, but that increased the volume tenfold. Life became absolutely frantic.

 http://www.opalcarew.com/newsletter-landing-page.php

Once I shifted away, I found that I now needed to work at a new and faster pace. Given the publishing market and the rapid decline in ebook sales across the market, it’s good that I had developed that ability. I’m the sole income earner for my family, so with income from ebooks dropping to less than half, I certainly had to hustle to make more money.

Before that, I had written self-published works when I could squeeze them in between my St. Martin’s releases. (I publish 3 books a year with them.) In January 2014, I realized that I needed to put a priority on getting out more self-published stories. I decided that I would start two series: one with a BDSM and the other with a ménage theme. Doing some quick calculations, I realized that my best plan would be to aim for 4 novellas in 2014 (in addition to my three St. Martin’s books.) Since I also decided that I wanted to chain the novellas—whenever one came out, the next one available for preorder—I knew I needed to stick with one series, so I decided to go with the BDSM series, which I called MASTERED BY. Each story is a stand-alone novella and they can be read in any order.

I more or less met my goal. I didn’t get four MASTERED BY novella written last year, but I did get three done and instead of the fourth, I wrote the next novelette (the 4^th) of The Office Slave series.

http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/mb_playedbythemaster.php

That is another advantage to my decision to pay attention to my self-published projects. I am now able to finish a number of series I’ve been writing slowly over the years. I felt so bad for my readers because when I wrote the third story, I left them in a crazy place with a cliffhanger I hadn’t intended. That’s just where the story went. You see, I hadn’t intended this to be a series at first. I just found that at the end of each story, another episode drew me forward.

Buoyed by my productivity last year, and because St. Martin’s had to delay some of my releases so I only have one book out this year with them, I jumped into the new year with vigour and have pushed myself to write a lot more. I have finished all seven of The Office Slave novelettes (the final one just released on May 3^rd.) Many readers have told me they cried (in a good way) through the last story. (I did, too!)

I have paired the Office Slave novelettes in duets at a lower price

http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/theofficeslave.php

http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/tos_series.php

This year, I am also finishing my Red Hot Fantasies series, I hope to write another Ready To Ride biker book, and I will have at least four more MASTERED BY novellas.

http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/mb_masteredbytheceo.php

In all, I will be doing at least 18 releases this year, including a couple of ebook-only novellas with St. Martin’s.

Oh, I almost forgot. Many of you may know that I am a nail polish fanatic. (Madelle interviewed me for a post called Holiday Nail Art & Polish Giveaway.) I love nail polish because of the delightful colours, textures, finishes, et cetera, that I can appreciate at all times. It’s also a fun way to bring out my creativity in a visual way.

http://www.opalcarew.com/bookshelf/upcoming.php

The reason I’m telling you this is because I was able to convince my editor at St. Martin’s Press that I should write a book where the heroine is starting her own  indie nail polish company. Of course, there’s intrigue, domination, a sexy man from her past, more domination, and a reluctant marriage of convenience. As part of the writing and the promoting, I am hoping to connect with nail polish bloggers and vloggers to talk about the book and... I’m so excited about this... Literary Lacquers is going to produce the nail polish collection from the book!  Squeee!!!! I’m absolutely thrilled! The book and the polish collection will be released on August 23^rd and I can hardly wait!!!

So as you can see, I’ve been pretty busy! And I must say, I am loving it!

As a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of erotic contemporary romance, Opal Carew writes about passion, love, and taking risks.  Her heroines follow their hearts and push past the fear that stops them from realizing their dreams… to the excitement and love of happily-ever-after.

Opal loves crystals, dragons, feathers, cats, pink hair, the occult, Manga artwork, Zentangle, and all that glitters. She earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and spent 15 years as a software analyst before turning to her passion as a writer. She grew up in Toronto, and now lives in Ottawa with her husband, and three cats.  One of her sons just finished a Masters degree at Sussex University in the UK and is now pursuing a second Masters at Carleton University in Ottawa.  The other son just finished his undergraduate degree at Carleton University.  Yes, mom is proud!

Social Media Links:

Reader Group:         http://OpalCarew.com/ReaderGroup

Website:                   http://OpalCarew.com

Facebook:                 https://facebook.com/OpalCarewRomanceAuthor

Twitter:                    https://twitter.com/OpalCarew

Pinterest:                  http://pinterest.com/opalcarew

Blog:                         http://bit.ly/OpalsBlog

Tumbler:                  http://opalcarew.tumblr.com

Goodreads:               http://bit.ly/OC_Goodreads

Amazon:                   http://bit.ly/OpalCarewAmz

Smashwords:            http://bit.ly/OpalCarewSW

Contact Opal:           http://bit.ly/contactopal