A Busy Year for Books

For most of my 26-year writing career, I’ve written one novel a year, and sometimes a novella in addition to that. But 2020 has been anything but ordinary in every way, so I’m not surprised that it’s been a strange year for book releases too. When January rolls around, I will have five new titles out in the span of a year!

I certainly didn’t write five books this year, so how did that happen?

The first book that released this year is one I wrote for Guideposts three years ago as a work-for-hire project. This means that the publisher paid me one flat sum to write the book. I won’t receive any additional royalties the way I do with my other books. Sometimes a publisher like Guideposts works well ahead of schedule in contracting books, so the book I wrote in 2017 didn’t get published until this year! I’m really pleased with the way The Society of Second Chances turned out!

One of the “new” books isn’t really new at all, but it has a new title, a new book cover, and a new release date. You might wonder why an author or publisher would change a book’s title or put a new cover on it. Contrary to what some think, it truly isn’t to “trick” readers into buying a book they’ve already read! I always note on the back cover, front interior, and on the online sales page that a book is a reissue. But there are several reasons that a title or cover might be changed.

Often new covers are just a way of updating and refreshing a book that’s been around a while. Most often, it’s because the book’s rights have reverted to the author, but they don’t have permission to use the original cover. As for changing titles, a few years ago, I was reissuing an out-of-print book, but in the ensuing years, several newer books had come out with the very same title. I didn’t want readers to accidentally buy the wrong book, so I chose to give my book a new, more unique title (Because of the Rain).

This time around, my reason for changing a title and cover (from Silver Bells to All the Promises) is because my novel was originally published at Christmas time, but the story isn’t only about Christmas, and I wanted readers to be interested in reading it all year long!

My next new book comes out next month, on September 1. My novella, “Making Room at the Inn” is part of a Christmas collection called Love’s Pure Light. I was delighted to be invited to be part of this collection, which follows a unique nativity set through several generations of one family. I had so much fun writing my light-hearted contemporary story that follows three historical novellas by Susanne Dietze, Shannon McNear, and Janine Rosche.

My “big” book this year is the third and final novel in the Chandler Sisters Novels series. Finding Wings tells the story of youngest sister Britt Chandler. It releases on September 22 and I think it just might be my favorite book of the whole series! It’s always a little sad to write “the end” on a series. I’ve spent more than three years writing about these sisters and their charming Airbnb property. I’ll miss them!

Finally, early in January, Raney Day Press will release our first true indie (independent) novel titled Bridges. My husband, Ken, is my publisher and book cover designer for this one. I’ll be telling you more about that process in a later blog post.

Meanwhile, I do hope you’ll consider one of these books the next time you’re looking for something uplifting to read! (You may order or pre-order these books by clicking on the individual covers.)

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Deborah Raney

DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a three-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

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