…Kinda. For decades now, traditional publishing has released its holiday books in October. Why? So that readers can enjoy the holiday season for as long as possible. Besides, no one wants to read a holiday book after the holidays.
So WMG Publishing, dedicated to the non-traditional, has done something traditional. It’s publishing its holiday books in October. Both happen to be mine under my Kristine Grayson name.
As those of you who follow my writing know, I write a lot of holiday stories. For a long time, I’ve wanted to do what I call a Santa series as Kristine Grayson. Santa is a jolly old elf, you know, which implies magic which, for me (or Grayson), implies something slightly askew. Last year, I published the first in the Santa series, Up On The Rooftop. The second in the loosely connected series, Visions of Sugar Plums, just went on sale.
Here’s the back cover copy:
Nissa Kealoha helps control Santa’s image—his brand. An Image Specialist with Claus & Company, she helps promote his positive image and deflect anything negative. This year, Nissa finds herself counting the days until she can return to the Greater World to goose holiday donations and remind people about the good Santa represents. Until a man on a mission threatens her holiday plans.
Professor Ryan Palmer possesses the perfect voice in the perfect body. And he uses that perfection to launch an anti-obesity campaign against, of all people, Santa. Or as he sees it, Santa’s image. Ryan thinks the mythology of Santa eating cookies and drinking eggnog contribute to the obesity epidemic—one he hopes to help reverse. Nissa must stop Ryan from tarnishing Santa’s image, but when they meet, sparks fly—the magical, person-of-your-dreams kind of sparks. Can Nissa keep her objectivity? Can Ryan let himself believe in the impossible? Can they find their own kind of Christmas magic together?
“Grayson’s clever, humor-tinged writing is absolutely delightful.” —Booklist
You can get the book in ebook format on Amazon, All Romance, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and all other ebookstores. Or get the trade paper from your favorite retailer. (Or order it here.)
The second Christmas book from WMG Publishing is the fourth Fiction River volume, Christmas Ghosts. The book has eight holiday stories featuring ghosts. Here’s the back cover copy:
For the fourth anthology in the Fiction River line, paranormal romance writer Kristine Grayson invited a stellar lineup of cross-genre authors to tell heartwarming stories of love set in the holiday season. From Regency England to modern day Portland, Oregon, ghosts facilitate—or try to stop—true love in the dark at the end of the year. Featuring stories by bestselling authors Mary Jo Putney and Carole Nelson Douglas to fan favorites M.L. Buchman and Anthea Lawson, Christmas Ghosts provides the perfect beginning to the mid-winter festivities.
“A sugary Christmas treat for those who love romance.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“The beloved Victorian Christmas ghost storytelling tradition continues to thrive in modern day, and this multi-genre anthology of short stories is proof. Cuddle up next to a crackling fire with some holiday music playing softly in the background, and lose yourself in eight amazing Christmas stories by a gang of super-talented, cross-genre authors. Not only are they heartwarming, but they incorporate mystery, science fiction, romance and ghosts! A few tend to be more animated than others, but each one is special, and guaranteed to jingle someone’s bells.” —RT Book Reviews
“This title offers eight original love stories that will give romance readers several satisfying happy endings.” —Library Journal
You can get the book in ebook format on Amazon, All Romance, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and all other ebookstores. Or get the trade paper from your favorite retailer. (Or order it here.) You can subscribe to the entire Fiction River anthology series here. An audio version will be available shortly. If you’d like to get a jump on that, then head on over to WMG Publishing’s website and listen to Lisa Silverthorne’s marvelous story “Christmas, Interrupted” read by Jane Kennedy. It’s available as a free podcast until Thursday morning, when the next free podcast goes live.
Lots of reading to get you in the holiday spirit–even if it is only October. Enjoy!
I noticed the first story in “Christmas Ghosts” was written by someone named Marley. Seems like the perfect name for someone writing a Christmas story. With ghosts! And a good place to start.
And she’s a marvelous writer to boot! 🙂 Thanks, Brian.
Ditto what Amber said about Visions of Sugar Plums. :>)
I see a Rusch book in my BookBub email today. From you and Dean I’ve absorbed the “don’t sweat promotion, just keep writing and publishing” ethos, so can you tell us about your thinking behind the BookBub investment?
Thanks so much for all you do!
The book bub is an experiment, done with the first book of a series. If it works, then the halo effect will show up in the remaining 8 books of the series. If it doesn’t, we won’t ever use Book Bub again. Nothing wrong with experimenting.
The cover to Visions of Sugar Plums is adorable and the blurb is so good I’m considering buying it even though I’m not really a romance reader. Blurbs are so hard to write and I’m in awe of how well you do it. I’m not sure my own blurbs could ever be this compelling.
On another note, I never paid attention to when holiday themed books were released, but it makes sense. I’ll have to think about this going forward as I have a couple of holiday stories floating around my head I’d like to publish. Would you say releasing Halloween themed stories two months ahead of time is a good idea or should those be released closer to the holiday?
Thanks, Amber. I’d do the Halloween book sometime in early September–after Labor Day. It’s trickier with holidays like that and Valentines. Use your own sense of it.
Thanks, Kris! I was thinking September was the way to go, but wasn’t entirely sure I was giving myself enough time.