It’s one of those… it’s decision time…points in my career.
Writing is full of them. Many of these decisions suck. The ones I’m making right now aren’t fun, but they have to be made.
Namely… about Grimm & the FBI books.
I’m probably going to be putting the Grimm series to bed. When I have time in my schedule, I’ll write Will & Mandy’s story, but that’s probably going to be it.
The FBI series may be either over, or pushed to the side for the foreseeable future.
The Grimm series, as much as I love it, and I do love it… I have more fun with that series than any other one out there, save for the Kit books, but the books barely scrape by. For some reason, it’s just never caught on well.
The FBI books are just slowly going…pffft. I may not be shelving that one yet. I’ll see how things go with the releases of The Unwanted and The Protected, but The Reunited and The Departed, two of the better books I’ve written just didn’t do all that well. When you put your heart and soul into a book and the sales just aren’t there…sometimes it’s a good idea to move onto while you can.
I know ‘numbers’ aren’t a reader concern, but they have to be a concern for the writer. As I’ve said when talking about the Hunters books…
In the end, I had to make a hard decision. Writing can be full of them. A writer’s daily life is all about the words…but in our business lives, if we don’t focus on something else…numbers and sales, we can end up being one of the writers who don’t keep writing for a living.
Since I kind of like what I do, and since my family kind of needs me to keep working…well, in the end, I knew what the right decision was, even though it wasn’t an easy one.
Does this mean I’m absolutely shelving these two series?
As far as the FBI books go? Nah, not absolutely. The Unwanted is a novella coming out from Samhain, an experiment of sorts. It’s going to have a lower price and maybe that will appeal more. If it goes over well, maybe it will just work better in that format. It will require those who like print to wait longer to get the books, and I’m sorry for that, but sometimes you have to make those hard choices. I’m a prolific writer, but that doesn’t translate to high-selling. It just means I write a lot. People have heard of me, but hearing of me doesn’t mean they’ve tried me and some of the series that just aren’t catching on, well, it’s coming down to decision time. Either they catch on, or I let them go.
I’ve got a few options with the FBI books, so I want to try those out. But I don’t see that many options with the Grimm. I’m going to be honest, I’ll probably wind that series up soon. If something wild and crazy hits me for Rob or Finn, I may write those later down the road, but I’m not counting on it.
Those who enjoy the series, if you want to help keep them going, the best thing you can do, as I discussed yesterday… word of mouth & reviews. Those reviews key into that discoverability thing and without that discoverability factor, it makes it harder for people unfamiliar with my work to find my books on retailer sites, namely Amazon and BN.
I won’t be making a hard and fast decision on the FBI books until I see how The Unwanted goes. Maybe it will turn around.
Tomorrow…I have slightly better news.
I’ll be sad if the FBI series does come to an end – it was one of the first books I read of yours.
PS – I LOVED wrecked its my favorite single title book by You!
Oh I hope you don’t give up the FBI series. I read a lot of what you write, but have truly enjoyed that series!! Sorry, The Grimm series I haven’t read. Not my thing!
I don’t particularly want to give it up, Bobbie, but I can’t keep chasing rainbows with it, either. :o/
I echo what the others have said. The FBI series, specifically The Departed, was the first title I read by you. I was so moved and loved it. I hope you find a way to keep it going, but I understand the reasons if you cannot.
Just don’t ever kill Kit. LOL!
I love the FBI series and have them all; hope it doesn’t end…selfish of me but I want more! Maybe you can give the link to Samhain, I haven’t bought from there, I don’t want to miss out, otherwise I wait for the print to come out. I can wait, I’m patient when it comes to favorites!!!
I loved the Grimm Series, but if you wrap it up with Will’s Story it’s still a great series even if it doesn’t continue. As for the FBI series, I’ll get on putting some reviews up 🙂 I’d hate to see them go away.
Diane… the links to the books are in the sidebar. And I’ve got my newsletter.
I would be sad to see the FBI series go, The Missing is the first book I read from Ms. Walker. It is still one of my favorite books. I understand though. One thing I would recommend is for people to post reviews on their library’s site if they allow it. Many of these users don’t think to go to Amazon or BN to look a reviews before checking out a book. Not sure how much it will help, but it can’t hurt, right??
You have to do what is best for your career and I can understand your decision. I do like both those series. I think your Samhain experiment will produce positive results. The price point on your ebooks has been a deterrent. I’ve already pre-ordered The Unwanted. I will make an effort to post reviews of your books as I know that helps.
I have all your books,you are one of my favs. I have had to buy almost all your books from Amazon they don’t seem to have them in the stores. I will try and write some reviews now that I know how important they are.
I love your FBI series! But also understand what you’re saying… 🙁 Looking forward to your good news tomorrow!
I understand where you’re coming from and feel bad buy you must look out for yourself above all else. Know that “we” fans are with you.
awww darn it those are two of my favorites along with Kit….tho I am an avid buyer I understand they aren’t going as well as necessary to keep spending time drats and drats.
So need Will and Mandy’s story and Finn…I haaaaaave to know who Finn is 🙁
The FBI series is a cool twist I wonder what it would take to really spark them because they are very interesting.
I was one of those readers you touched on in this post, I knew who you were, I’d heard of you but hadn’t read much by you (except coincidentally the Grim series). One day I went to your website to look at some of your other titles and caught a snippet of an upcoming (couple months away) UF series and was chomping at the bit to read it. Since reading your Kit books I have enthusiastically talked about you, not just the Kit books which I push like crazy, but your writing style in general which I love. Basically I just wanted to say that word of the mouth helps writers like crazy, but so does what you do here with your blogs, which is how I came and I’m sure others has as well. I am very sorry about your different series that you may have to stop or put on the back burner because I am just discovering your different worlds and have already order a couple of your older titles. Best of luck to you and everything you do in the future, you are a truly talented and inspiring person.
Thanks in general for the support, guys.
Like I said, I hope I don’t have to put the FBI books to bed. I’ll see what happens with the novella at Samhain. Maybe that will work out. If you feel inclined to post reviews at the retailers, like I mentioned yesterday, they help in ways you can’t imagine, so they would be appreciated.
Breathing life back into the Grimm series would take a miracle at this point, but if I can keep one of them going, I’d be happy.
The Missing – hands down one of my top ten books to read and reread and reread some more.