Thursday, March 13, 2025

Second Chances: Celebrating Julie Rowe's Lethal Game Re-release and My 301st Book Project

Lethal Game by Julie Rowe

In the publishing industry, we often talk about the "long game" – the dedication, perseverance, and sheer grit it takes to build a sustainable career in this industry. We focus on the next book, the next chapter, the next sentence. But every so often, it's important to pause, look back, and appreciate how far we've come. And that's precisely what I'm doing today, as I celebrate not only the release of Julie Rowe's fantastic Lethal Game, but also my 301st book project.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

So Many Books, So Little Time. Everything You Need to Know About Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited

"Is Kindle Unlimited really worth it?" I see this question pop up in every book group I'm in, at least once a week. And honestly, it's a totally valid question! Even though Kindle Unlimited (KU) has been around since, get this, July 2014, there's still so much confusion surrounding it. I remember when I first signed up – I downloaded the Kindle app, clicked "subscribe," and thought, "Unlimited books! Awesome!" I didn't even glance at the terms and conditions (don't judge, we've all been there, right?).

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

What Deanna Read #104: February 2025

You guys!!! I am SO TIRED. My day job is kicking my butt, so it's a good thing that I love it. I honestly don't know if I read much in February because I was away for a few days and didn't get much reading done, then there was a lot of work reading and when I'm doing a lot of work reading the brain doesn't cope well with fun reading. I'm currently about to start the 4th? 5th? read through of the book I'm editing. Oof!

Here's what I read in the last month.

One Dark Spark by Heather Hildenbrand
One Dark Spark
Elusive Enforcer by Cameron Hart
The Coldest Case A Black Book Audi Drama by James Patterson
The Coldest Case
🎧Audiobook
False Hope by Steve Shipley

Monday, February 24, 2025

Marking Milestones: Steve Shipley's "False Hope" Release and My 299th Book Project

False Hope by Steve Shipley

Happy Book Birthday to "False Hope"! Today marks the release of Steve Shipley's latest Blake Willis Thriller, and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate this launch. Not only is this Steve's third book in the series, but it also represents my 299th book project, this one as an editor, bringing me one step closer to a significant milestone in my publishing journey.

Saturday, February 22, 2025

What Deanna Read #103: January 2025

I'm in catch up mode here, so you guys are getting two "What Deanna Read" posts in one sitting. Yay!! Right?? The funny this is - I made a mistake when I was prepping December 2024's reads and actually did January 2025 first. Then I went, oh crap, I made a mistake. And then I ran out of steam and that was the end of that.

So here I am, the end of February, exhausted, sleep deprived, and trying very hard to catch it. It's also almost one in the morning (as in VERY LATE AT NIGHT) so I could be slightly delirious as well. Onwards...

Here's what I read in the last month.

Thawed Gladiator Varro by Alana Khan
Thawed Gladiator: Varro
A Curse In Darkness by Sherilee Gray
The Serpent and The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
The Serpent and the Wings of Night 🎧
Sexting The Silverfox by KC Crowne

What Deanna Read #102: December 2024

You guys!!! It's February. Okay, it's only February 1st, but I'm late on last month's What Deanna Read which was for December 2024. Oof! Time is flying by. I don't have an excuse. Work has been crazy busy. I had this plan to have a holiday from about December 18th through to mid-January, but that lasted about 4 days before things got crazy and has stayed crazy.

Update: It's OBVIOUSLY not February 1st anymore. It's actually closer to the end of the month. You know what happened? I started putting this together and then I realised that I was accidentally putting my January 2025 reads instead of my December 2024 reads, and it was about 3am and I ran out of steam. I kinda just konked out and then work got bonkers. And if you're wondering why and haven't seen, this was the reason. It's actually been an exciting time.

Here's what I read in December 2024. Better late than never, right? Really, really late. Soz!

A Guardian For Christmas by Abby Knox
A Guardian For Christmas
Snowed In With The Bosses by Lisa Cullen
Catnapped by MINK
Catnapped: A Pawsitively Purrfect Christmas
A Cold Dark Promise by Toni Anderson

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Supporting 300 Author Dreams: From Project Manager to Publishing Partner

Heart bookshelf

A friend recently asked me about my career trajectory, wondering how I went from implementing multi-million dollar IT systems to working in publishing as an author services provider. When I went to point her to my LinkedIn profile, I realized it was terribly out of date. As I sat there updating it, something struck me – I've been part of bringing nearly 300 books to life. That number stopped me in my tracks. How did I get here? Let me tell you.