Republished!

By way of explanation for my long absence from this blog, I offer up my newly updated, freshly re-covered, and digitally converted books as evidence. Presenting the all new works of Mary Stella:

Because this was my first venture into epublishing, I think it took me longer than I expected. I was determined to read through both books and fix some glitches. (Those of you who are supreme copy editing experts, I'm sure there are still things that I missed, so please don't hold it against me!) I enjoyed working with a talented artist to capture the beauty and sexy mood of the books. (Thanks, Carl Graves of ExtendedImagery.com.)

Realizing that I know nothing about electronic formats like .mobi or .epub, I was delighted to hear about a new company that, for a very reasonable fee, would convert my files into those formats. EBookPrep.com was easy and professional to work with and they turned out a great finished effort.

I'd heard from other friends that the actual uploading was pretty easy, so before I paid someone else to do that service, I resolved to try it myself. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised. Both Amazon and BN.com have designed their online systems to be simple, step-by-step, and very user-friendly. Without any trouble at all, I set up my accounts, linked to a bank account, and uploaded the files. There's a little bit of a wait while the companies review and queue up your books, but within 24 hours, the books were up in the Kindle Store and NookBooks! (I'm tackling Smashwords for other ereaders this weekend.)

This adventure means so much more to me than book sales. When I first saw the books with their beautiful new cover images, I nearly cried. Regaining the rights and control of my books meant the world to me. I feel like I rescued them from complete oblivion and have given them a new shot at life. Talk about empowerment. I'm rolling in it right now.

Do I also help that they sell well? Of course. I'm a working writer, so that's important. I'm not expecting to hit the bestseller lists, but every copy is one more than my books would have sold if I did not believe in them enough to take them back and invest in their future.

If you haven't read them and are interested, they're very reasonably priced at $2.99 each. Here are the links:

All Keyed Up: On Amazon On BN.com

Key of Sea: On Amazon On BN.com

If you've read them and are so inclined, would you please consider writing and posting reviews up online? Your reviews help draw attention to the books. I'd greatly appreciate any help.

Now that I've completed this project, I'm on to new writing. I promise to post more often on the blog and fill you in on more Postcards from Paradise!