Thursday, January 24, 2013

Circle, Coven & Grove: A Bittersweet Goodbye

I will never forget the day, back in 2005, when I got an email from a woman named Elysia Gallo, an editor at Llewellyn Worldwide, telling me that they were going to buy my first book, Circle, Coven & Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice . The book came out in early 2007, and the moment I  held that first copy in my hands was probably one of the best experiences of my life.


There have been five other Llewellyn books since, then (working on #7 right now), and a bunch of novels still trying to find their way in the world. But there is nothing like your first.

I got an email today, telling me that Circle, Coven & Grove is going out of print. People are still buying it, but just not in enough numbers to justify another print run. So the few that are still out there are all that there will ever be. I'm a little sad, to be honest. I know this happens to authors all the time, and my other books will still be available. But not my first, treasured child.

Circle, Coven & Grove is in some ways the most personal of all the books I've written for Llewellyn, since it was based on the first year of practice of my coven, Blue Moon Circle. (Mind you, all the books are based on that, in one way or another.) I hadn't even planned to have a writing career at that point, and if I had, I would have assumed it would only be fiction. But this book yelled at me to write it, and so began a journey I am still happily following today.

So...a big thanks to Elysia (who is the best editor on the planet) for believing in me, and CC&G. Thanks to all those who have bought it over the years, and to everyone who told me how much they loved it. As far as I know, the book will still be available as an ebook, at least for a while. But for now, if you've been thinking about getting a copy and haven't gotten around to it, you can check your local Pagan stores, ask your local bookstore to order it, or get one of the few copies left at Amazon (they had 11 left when last I checked). B&N didn't have any online, but it is just possible that your local store might have one. (The link above takes you to Llewellyn themselves. They have 19 copies; any of them left by Monday I will be buying myself.)

And so we bid a fond farewell to my first book... Thanks, baby. You were swell.

That sound you hear? That's my heart breaking--just a little bit.

16 comments:

  1. Awww... Gone but not forgotten, Miss Deborah. I am thankful to have my copy but will be sharing this info with a newbie. May even just order it for her. :-)

    Many Blessings!
    Rain

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  2. I love this book bought it quite a while ago. You have such talent and we are so Blessed you choose to share it with us!

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  3. Oh! And that's the one I was going to put up a very positive review for (once I read a little more)... I haven't written/published any books [yet], so I can only try to imagine how you must feel... But just think how many more books you have yet to write! ;) <3

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    1. Feel free to put up a review anyway--every little bit counts, and people look at all of an author's books when they're trying to make up their minds. Thanks! All reviews happily accepted!

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  4. Awwww. You gave me this book the first time we met. It's a lovely book. There's always rebirth and e-publishing, you know. :)

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  5. Is it on e-book? That would be a great way to keep it alive for years to come. :)

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  6. How do I enter to be in the giveaway? Would love to have you on the witchy blog to talk about your work. http://onthebroomstick.blogspot.com/

    BB,

    Dana

    dana19018(at)gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Dana! I'd love to come chat. I'll try to send you an email in the next couple of days. Or you could contact me at magicmysticminerva at yahoo

      The contest is up on today's post, so just go to the most recent one. It is currently available from Llewellyn as an ebook, but I assume that will cease when the rights revert to me. I will probably put it up myself eventually.

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  7. I feel for you - I'm dreading this happening to my first one. It sells steadily but not in huge quantity. Remains to be seen if it will get re-printed in today's market.
    On the other hand, once CC&G is out of print, do the rights not revert to you? Surely you could keep it alive as an ebook with yourself as publisher? This is the tactic many writers are using now with their out-of-print back catalogue.
    Think I shall have to get a copy anyway, for my novel research :)

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    1. I'm in the process of getting the rights back as we speak. Not quite sure what I'll do with them when I have them, though :-)

      Good luck with your book!

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  8. Thanks!

    Just go right ahead and self-publish with amazon etc. once the rights have reverted to you - that way it will be forever available and any sales income comes straight to you - win win :)

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  9. The first book of yours I purchased (and how I found you) was The Goddess Is In The Details, but CC&G was my second buy and just about a tie for my favourite with Goddess.

    Congrats on its run with Llewellyn, but do consider doing a self-published run too, if only to take with you to fairs or offer on your site. It's a lovely book & it would be a shame for folks just finding you to never have a chance to get their own copy.

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  10. Oh Deborah, so sorry to hear this, but it is indeed the way of things - death and rebirth. I think self-publishing it is a fantastic idea, although I bet you would have to re-do all the artwork. Look into Smashwords for the eBook version, and into Blurp or something like that for print, and for distribution, you can use Kindle, B&N/Nook, iBooks, etcetera. Then, have the paper versions available through you if people wish for that. Other people have had good luck with Amazon's CreateSpace for print/ebook but it is in only the Kindle eBook format that way. You will figure it out though, I have no doubt! Perhaps it will be even better on your self-publishing re-release! :-) Will stay tuned to see what happens Deborah!

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