Some of you have heard that Penguin Random House (meaning Berkley, NAL and Obsidian) is cutting back on cozies and have asked me what’s going on. Here is the situation as I understand it.
Some series have been cancelled, and we’re all very sad about that. However, I am aware that some series have been renewed, so that’s promising.
If you want to know the status of your favorite Berkley series, sign up for the author’s newsletter and follow the author’s Facebook page. Please, please check with the author before posting that a series is ending. Several of us have had to scramble to correct inaccurate information. I have four books coming out in 2016 – 2017, and a lot of other Berkley/NAL/Obsidian authors have books coming out as well.
Please do NOT boycott Penguin Random House. You will only hurt the authors. In the publishing industry we are judged by our sales numbers. A lot of series are still being published by Berkley right now. Even some new ones! And authors whose series are ending will be pitching ideas for new series, so they need good sales numbers to impress other publishers. Sales are more important for us now than ever.
I have read a claim that if a book in a series isn’t published in 2016, it means the series has been cancelled. I can refute that because one of my books was moved from a December 2016 release date to February 2017. That date was changed long before any of this ever happened.
A lot of people are asking how they can help. Support your favorite authors by buying their books. Authors love to read and we have budgets, too, so we understand if you can’t buy all the books you want to read. It’s a big help if you ask your library to carry our books. You can also write reviews and post them. More reviews mean we get more advertising from Amazon and that leads to more readers!
We appreciate your support more than we can ever express. We love our readers. Cozy readers are fun, inquisitive, smart, and delightful. Thank you for caring so much about our series.
Cheers!
Krista
Thank you for the information, Krista. I’m looking forward to many new Cozies from you. I’m glad to see the speculation about your Cozies was just an unfounded rumor.
MJ says
WOW! What a wonderful/informative letter from Krista Davis. Many thanks to her for taking the time to keep cozy readers informed. I’m a fan of both of her series, so am pleased they will continue. She is a good story teller and a gifted, creative author. 🙂
BTW, what she says about asking your library to purchase a book(s) you’re interested in is a great idea. I’m fortunate to live in an area with a great library system. Although funding dollars have been cut, they are very good about purchasing several books I have requested. In fact, they have a ‘request to purchase’ site within the account info on their webpage.
Angie says
I am sad that a few of my favorite series are ending. I rely on my library for books. They told me they are most often sent books automatically and it is usually new series rather than continuing series. They have to make a special request for anything that isn’t a first in a series. They get a few from the bigger authors but that isn’t always everyone’s favorite authors. This saddens me greatly. I would leave reviews but if I am waiting for longer periods to get the book, it is often late.
Julie says
I was wondering if you ever categorize the cozies – I am always looking particularly for UK cozies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julie, I have many, many Cozy Mystery themes. Here is the link that will take you to that page on my Cozy Mystery site:
Cozy Mysteries by Themes
Melissa says
I enjoy reading cozies by Krista Davis! Thanks for sharing this information from her!
Elaine says
I so feel for the poor authors! All the time & effort that goes into writing the book and than must deal with the publishers.
I remember an author that I loved the series was told by the publisher to put that series on hold and start another involving cats.
The first series was very interesting and unique so it was not a saturated theme. To me the cat theme thou popular is overdone?
Another author told me that at times publishers change the name of the books & decide on the covers of the book.
I like Krista’s idea to put reviews on Amazon. I think I will do my part & put positive reviews on Amazon.
Linda MH says
Danna,
Thanks so much for posting this response. I’m so glad to hear her series are continuing, but I’m really sad others are ending. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope that Melissa Bourbon will eventually self publish a 7th book in her series, and it is good knowing Christy Fifield owns the rights to her series. I truly appreciate the fact you looked into this. Thanks for all the information you shared with us. I know it was time-consuming for you to do so, and I am grateful for your thoughtfulness.
Margaret StashEmpress says
I’m so glad Krista Davis’ books are still *safe*!!!! Though sorry to hear about all the beloved series being cancelled.
I had a rather odd experience lately with our library in regard to (for me) cozy mysteries (and for them — paperbacks in general) — for one thing, for the last few years this library has had ALL the paperbacks shelved together — regardless of genre – so you’d have to search for your mysteries mixed in with all the romances & sci fi & what have you (at least they retained the red “mystery” sticker, yellow “sci fi” sticker & pink “romance” sticker on the spine!) — these were all in one large shelving unit along one wall — which was ok — at least I could scan the shelves looking for mysteries.
About a month ago they rearranged — that shelving unit now has foreign language books — and the whole paperbacks were moved to a low shelving unit — right up against the table which is generally populated by… young men… on their laptops/tablets… (free wifi) — so first of all — to see the books you have to bend down — but then there are these… young men… who are sitting there — there’s no room for you to stand behind them and still be able to look down & see the book titles — plus they get very hostile when you stand too close… lets just say they are a certain class of .. young men…. that you don’t really want to anger… sigh….
When I mentioned to the library clerks about how I can no longer access the books because of this situation — they claimed that *something* has to go there — and nobody reads paperbacks anyway! (But I DO!!!)
So I (like an idiot!) filled out a “feedback form” to send to the (head of whatever) who makes these decisions.
And I got a letter in the mail — from the (supervisor of whatever) of that branch — stating that every quarter they analyze the data of which categories of media are checked out most/least/etc. — and he claimed that paperbacks are the category checked out LEAST — hence the move to the worst spot in the library! (Least? seriously? after the foreign language books… favored by the angry young men… sigh….)
So — there you have one more instance of libraries having little to no interest in cozy mysteries (most of the cozies I get there are paperbacks — very rarely do I find anything in hardcover).
(and my only recourse is that instead of searching the shelves for what looks good, I just surf the library website, reserve on hold what I want to read, let the library clerks have the joy of pulling them from shelves, entering info into computers, generating a label, rubber-banding it around the book, transitting the book to my local library where that same clerk who tells me nobody reads paperbacks will shelve it on the hold shelf for me to pick up — at least the hold shelves are still at the front of the library where I can still get at them!)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret StashEmpress, the things you have to do to read a Cozy! 😉 I somehow have a difficult time thinking that you are just about the absolute only person at your library who reads Cozies! It sounds like you found a wonderful solution. (Not so wonderful for the library clerk who probably agrees with you!)
HookedOnCozies says
Great update, thank you for posting!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
HookedOnCozies, you’re welcome!
Christopher Hunter says
Great update. For any cozy mystery author with a strong follow go the indie route. You’re in control of your art in that aspect.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Christopher, it is certainly an idea worth thinking about! My husband and daughter both read The Martian way before it became such a mega-busting success, and I believe it was a self-published book…
Susan* says
What a lovely letter! – “Cozy readers are fun, inquisitive, smart, and delightful.” – and as somebody said, a thoughtful and informative one, too.
I’m glad such a lovely lady is still going to be published.
Thank you, too, Danna, for going ‘Above and Beyond’ with all your research for this – and many other aspects of this blog, too. It is more appreciated than you can know!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan*, thank you for the extremely kind words!
Kimmie says
This is good information to know……Thank You Krista AND Thank You Danna!! I leave reviews on both Amazon & Goodreads. I’m surely not the only one that likes to peruse through the reviews. ?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kimmie, then no doubt I’ve read some of your reviews on Amazon!
stellans says
What I don’t understand about the whole Random House/Penguin et al situation is why. With cozy mysteries taking off in popularity, why cancel series which are selling? And if they cancel these authors (some with hanging story lines), why should we as readers invest in new series where the same thing might happen again? I believe they are (for some reason) cutting off their nose to spite their face. (And as I typed that last sentence it struck me how odd it sounded to use a plural adjective for a singluar noun, lol).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Stellans, I don’t know why they are doing this, but you make a great point. (I don’t even want to get started on what I believe the five big publishing houses are doing!)