Hello Vigilante Angels Readers!

I'm posting today primarily because I just sent up a new version of Book I: The Priest and some of you may have seen that update on your Kindle readers. The only changes I made were to fix a few typos (discovered while reading through for the audiobook and pointed out by a few astute readers - thanks Helen!), and to update the preview of Book II: The Cop. I wanted to let folks know why they had a new version pushed to their device, in case there's any confusion.

In other VA news, I had been going back and forth in my mind about the cover for Book II: The Cop. I had originally liked it, but it kept nagging at the back of my mind that it was perhaps too busy and muddled. I wanted to stay with the angel statue theme, but introduce the 'cop' theme of that book as well, and ended up trying to do too much, and as a result it was too busy and didn't present well in the all-important thumbnail view. So, I once again begged for forgiveness from my awesome cover design company, Archangel Ink and asked for a change. I think that's okay, since it is only on pre-order and hasn't officially published yet. I've attached the new cover to this blog post.

I struggled whether to send that cover update to my newsletter subscribers first, since I had promised them the early scoop on things in reward for their loyalty. But, since I had just sent out a newsletter to them, and promised not to spam, I was kind of caught in between. Since the new cover for book two is being pushed out to Amazon today, I decided to just put it here, in the blog. It hurts a bit to see unsubscribes from the mailing list and I've been very lucky that way so far, so I didn't want to risk it! The newsletter subscribers (you can sign up at the bottom of the page at https://billydecarlo.com) will get to see the Book III: The Candidate cover first, and I really love it! It perfectly symbolizes Tommy's journey, at least where it goes in that book.

To update folks on my status, I've been juggling quite a bit lately. In addition to working on the audiobook for book one (it's fully recorded and in mastering/edit phase, should be out within a week or two, I hope!), I've been getting editing and beta-reader feedback on book two (hope to also have it out in a little more than a week - earlier than the July 28 pre-order date!), and *trying* to spend time on book three. I'm very excited about where the story is going (or rather, where it has taken me!) in books two and three. I'm hoping that my writing gets better in each book, and thank you for all tolerating my learning process and rookie mistakes, being a bit too preachy in places, etc. It's a journey!

To summarize, by mid-July my plan is to have the book one audiobook out, book two out in paperback, Kindle, and (hopefully) audiobook, and book three on pre-order. After the one-month intro deal on Book I: The Priest ends on July 7, I will change the ebook price from the intro/promo price of 99 cents to the regular price of $2.99. It will stay there until around August 9, when another 99 cent promo will run. I'm hoping things will take off, since I took quite a beating at 99 cents, due to the expense of the promos, covers, editing, etc. That's why your reviews and social media promotion are so important, that part is free for authors :-) When I have book two out, and book three on pre-order, I may set book one to a permanent teaser price of $1.99 to introduce the series to readers (who will hopefully then buy the sequels). As soon as any of those are firm and have dates attached, the newsletter readers will hear about it first, and then I'll post here on the blog.

In the meantime, please keep the reviews coming on Amazon and Goodreads, they really do make a difference in terms of qualifying for the sought-after promotion sites (and sales of course), sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already, and sign up for the forum at billydecarlo.com and start a thread/discussion, or ask me questions on my Amazon or Goodreads author pages! Let your friends know about the free Goodreads giveaway (signed, personalized paperback copies).

Thanks, TGIF, have a great weekend and a wonderful and fun 4th of July weekend for those of you in the USA!

Billy DeCarlo

The first newsletter went out earlier this week to everyone that was on the mailing list (you can sign up at billydecarlo on the bottom of the page). If you signed up and didn't receive it, check your spam folder. If you are just signing up now and want to view it, you can see it at http://mailchi.mp/0a9451a11d28/vigilante-angels-update-1. It's chock full of Vigilante Angels news! I'll summarize some of them below, but check the newsletter for full details.

Vigilante Angels Book I: The Priest is doing well in the Amazon charts and has hit bestseller status in the Noir and Crime categories! It is available at http://amzn.to/2rPsGiv. Treat yourself or a friend to some dark, gritty beach reading. The Kindle edition is 99 cents, or free if you buy the paperback. The reviews have been great so far, but I can always use more if you can spare a minute and a sentence. I'll be working on the audiobook version this weekend. I could use some reviews and social media coverage if you read it and can spare a minute and a sentence or two. Constructive feedback also welcome via email. 

Book II: The Cop is also up for preorder at http://amzn.to/2rOX4w3, with a delivery date of July 28, but I'm shooting to get it done and published much earlier than that if I can swing it. It is now in the hands of the editors! It has some great twists and surprises in Tommy's journey. Like Leonard Cohen said, you want it darker.

Book III: The Candidate has a cover, which will be revealed in the next newsletter. It's pretty awesome, if I don't say so myself. I'll be working on the plotting and outlining this weekend. 

Sign up for the discussion forum at https://billydecarlo.com/index.php/forum/index to contribute your ideas or ask questions. I have a busy weekend ahead! 

Thanks for your support, Billy