BBBs (Big Beautiful Books) and a Public Call for Pirates 🏴‍☠️

(Be sure to read to the bottom to see a special message from the Queen Helper Bee herself, Britt! As my executive assistant, she's got the inside scoop on the behind the scenes madness, plus plenty of piping hot tea 🍵 about yours truly😅 We'll be including those tidbits at the bottom of my newsletter moving forward!)

Arrrr, Mateys, and Happy Tuesday! 🏴‍☠️

In our continuing efforts to stalk--er, track the cargo vessel OOCL Poland (which is carrying around 1500 Gilded Blood omnibuses), we can see that they are presently on track to arrive at port by the 25th. After that, the books will be put through customs and loaded onto an 18-wheeler that'll be headed for Andrew's warehouse in Katy, TX.

Realistically, I think the books will be shipped in early June by this point, but Terrance, Britt, and I are fully invested in becoming pirates so that we can intercept the books early and get them to you sooner. All we need is a pirate ship and a crew. Any volunteers?

Speaking of Big Beautiful Books (BBBs), look what just arrived - the proof copy for the stunning special edition Bone Whisperer Duology!

(If you can't see the embedded video, you can click any of these links: IG / TT/ FB )

These are already in production and will be shipped at the end of the month, expected to arrive directly at my Colorado warehouse by early July. I absolutely love the Bone Whisperer Chronicles and would love to see Lilah Quinn's VERY unique story in the hands of more readers. The duology features:

⌛ Sweet romance

⌛ Time-bending seizures

⌛ Creepy mystery with an amateur female sleuth

⌛ Found family (best/funniest father figure EVER).

⌛ Multiple converging timelines (think Holes by Louis Sachar)

⌛ ...and has been hailed as "one of the most ingenious books I have ever read" by The Magic Book Corner and many others!

_______________________________________________________________

By the way, if you love pretty purple books, be sure to stop by my booth at San Diego Comic Con this July, where Megan Haskell and I will be signing this SDCC-exclusive collection of short stories!

(Don't forget, you can find my calendar of events and appearances here!)

Have a wonderful week ahead!❤️

Come follow me! Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon

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A Word from our Queen Helper Bee 👑🐝

Hi Fam!

WOW have I enjoyed my first few weeks in Rachel’s world SO much! Not only is she an absolute DREAM to work with, but so is this entire community of readers she has standing behind her! You have been so kind welcoming me into my new role and it has not gone unnoticed. Thank you for all the warm welcomes! Looking forward to getting to know you more as the days go on too.

So, as some of you already know, Rachel is brand new to my world too. I recently dove into her Gilded Blood Series for the first time and just wrapped up reading Inked last week. To say I’m absolutely OBSESSED would be an understatement! I guess it would be weird to work here if I didn’t like her writing though huh?! ;) Thank goodness I can honestly say that will NOT be the case for me. I’m already onto Jinxed and can’t wait to read what happens next! No spoilers please! ;) Lmk if you’re also reading this series for the first time, I’d love to connect with ya.

Alrighty - onto some exciting news! As we all know, Rachel has had quite the laundry list of tasks over the years. Now that I’m here I’m slowly starting to take over those tasks for her so she can get back to WRITING. I know how much she loves being in the DMs and comments with you all and she will still be there, however I will be helping out with answering some of the more generic inquiries. I’m so excited to help in this capacity and Rachel will still be here too reading all your lovely messages.

The # 1 question coming in right now (and rightfully so) is: WHERE IS MY OMNIBUS?

I get it, the FOMO is real, but rest assured we are straight up STALKING the cargo ship bringing them across seas and it is going to be here in just a matter of days! After that we are getting them to our distribution team and shipped out immediately to ya! As soon as they’re in our hands you will automatically receive tracking info for your orders. PLEASE send me an email at support@rachelrener.com asap if you have any changes in your shipping address.

That’s it for now fam. Hope you all have the best week!

XoXoX

Britt

Please Enjoy Some Seggsy Book 🌽

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have some fun plans and/or a great book to read for the upcoming weekend!

Britt and I have been receiving a lot of repeat questions this month that I wanted to take a moment to answer, and also give you an exclusive sneak peek at something gorgeous at the bottom of this email!

Q1: When are the Gilded Blood omnibuses shipping / Why hasn't mine arrived yet? / Where's the tracking info?

A: The printer informed us last month that the books should be arriving at port sometime in mid-May, so any day now! Once they get there, they'll go through customs, be shipped on an 18-wheeler, and will arrive at Andrew's warehouse in Texas. At that point, we'll immediately start shipping them and will get you your tracking information in real time. If your address has changed since the Kickstarter/Pledgebox survey or you have any concerns about shipment, please contact Andrew at andrew@merrick-books.com.

Please rest assured that the MOMENT they arrive at port and are on the way, you'll be the very first to know.

Q2: I'm short on funds at the moment and want to know how long the omnibus will be available.

A: I just spent a significant amount of money on a second print run, which will be arriving in July, and we still have plenty of those copies left!

Q3: What's going on with Amethysts & Alchemy? When will that be published?

A&A is currently on wide submission with several large publishing companies across the U.S. and U.K. I'm waiting to see if we get an offer that will really benefit this new series and allow it to reach a wider audience. However, if we don't get good enough offers or I have misgivings about any part of the process, I plan to release it in the fall. I've also already started writing the sequel, Emeralds & Elixirs!

Q4: Any updates on the upcoming Bone Whisperer Chronicles SE Duology?

Yes! I just approved the physical proof and the books will enter the printing stage next week! We expect them to arrive by early July. I'm THRILLED with the look and quality of the book. Check it out!

Q5: You've been doing so much. When are you going to take a nap?!?!

Literally right now😉😴

Cheers and have a great weekend!❤️

Come follow me! Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon

An Expanding Team (With Nary a Seggsy Fireman in Sight🔥👨‍🚒😫)

Happy Monday!

As many of you know, I’ve been going hard for the 2 years. In addition to writing a complete series in the span of 11 months, I also spearheaded a collaborative anthology, finished the Bone Whisperers duology, produced two special edition books, wrote a brand-new manuscript, secured an agent, and went on wide submission with major publishers.

What you might not know is that in addition to all of that, I also handle all accounting, marketing, graphics design, interior book formatting, outsourcing contract work, website design and upkeep, packing, shipping, inventory tracking, warehouse maintenance, customer queries, publishing, updating book back matter, convention appearances, book signings, reader messages, creating social media content and managing five accounts, monitoring sales and royalties, convention applications, newsletter writing, merchandise ordering, spreadsheet tracking, troubleshooting, tax preparation, office supply orders, financial auditing, and parrot-wrangling.

To simply say I am exhausted would be an understatement. But finding an assistant who ticks all the right boxes is a tremendously daunting task, so I’ve been putting it off (much to the continued detriment of my own mental health and well-being)...at least until now.

*cue angels playing horns* Dun dun dun dunnnn!👼📯

Last weekend, something wonderful happened: I was given less than 3 hours to sign books for hundreds of people, which turned into a hellish nightmare that resulted in the hotel deeming me a literal fire hazard 🔥👨‍🚒 (and yet not a sәxy fireman in sight $@#&! 😫). This, obviously, was not the wonderful part. What WAS wonderful was a convention volunteer named Britt who just happened to be standing right next to my table. Without ever being asked, Britt turned that unruly mob (said with love) into an organized, ticketed-and-numbered line. She then spent the next few hours passing out my business cards, telling potential readers about my series, and leading them to my website for orders once we sold out of books. In other words, the only fire in the hotel was the one beneath her feet! (And yet, still no sәxy firemen.)

After the convention was over, Britt and I continued talking. In addition to being supremely organized, bright as a bulb, and quick as a whip, she also lives relatively close to me, has a ton of relevant work experience, and loves all things books.

Anyway, long story short, I’d like you all to meet to my official “Queen Helper Bee,” Britt. She’ll be CC’d on website-related emails and will eventually be your general point of contact for all invoices and orders. You might also get to meet her face-to-face as she’ll be traveling to several conventions with me this summer!

Britt will be reply to all incoming mail at support@rachelrener.com.

Lastly, she’ll also be helping out on social media, but rest assured I’ll still be present just as much as before, and she’ll always sign off as “Britt” in the comments so you won’t have to wonder which of us you’re talking to 😊 My readers are my absolute favorite part of my job, and I will never stop being here for you no matter how busy things get!

All that said, please help me give Britt the warmest welcome possible! Not only will you quickly find that she’s a delight to talk to, but her presence will allow me to get back to the one thing we all want me to do more of: WRITE!

With that, I’m off to work on the sequel to Amethysts & Alchemy – Emeralds and Elixirs!

(Not the official graphic, this picture just makes me happy!)

Huzzah!❤️