To E or not to E! That is the Question

I need your opinions, whether you read e-books or not. I have seven books that have long been out of print and I’ve now made four of them (Secret Lives, Reflection, Brass Ring and The Escape Artist) available as e-books. Very soon, I’ll have a fifth book up (Fire and Rain).  Now I’m trying to decide whether or not to make my first two novels, Private Relations and Lovers and Strangers,  also available, and that’s where I can use your honest thoughts.

The reason for my hesitation is that they are quite different from my other books. Although they’re not what you’d think of as traditional romances, they have much stronger romantic elements than my other books–particularly Private Relations, which won the RITA award (from Romance Writers of America) for the Best Single Title Contemporary Novel of. . . gulp. . . 1989. I was so young and such a green writer! I am extremely proud of that book as well as of Lovers and Strangers because I know I put my heart and soul into them, but as I said, they are different. Starting with my third novel, Secret Lives, I think my books grew into deeper stories with richer characters and stronger elements of mystery and suspense.

What do you think I should do? Make these two early books available for e-readers or let them stay as the impossible-to-find little paperbacks they’ve been for many years? I’d love to hear your opinions. I know you have them, so bring ’em on!

40 Comments

  1. Tarin on February 6, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    Publish it with a newer cover. I love all of the things you have written and also love to turn the pages of a book. Those new electronic books are not for me. Nothing beats curling up to a perfectly soothing and perfect book. Even the smell of the pages and the font of certain books has had me addicted since I could read.

  2. Denise on February 6, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    I think it could depend upon the cost involved with converting them into e-books. Then again, romance is a huge genre. And once your fans read all of the books that are currently in print or available in e-books, they (like me) are usually wanting to read absolutely everything you have ever written!

  3. Beth Bunetic on February 7, 2011 at 4:49 am

    Publish them as e-books, I adore your books and would like as many as possible as e-books!!!!

    • andrea on May 24, 2017 at 1:24 pm

      publish as e books please!

  4. Karen on February 7, 2011 at 5:56 am

    Publish as ebooks but please don’t change the titles. I’m in Australia and brought Cypress Point as an ebook last Monday. On Saturday I was in my local Kmart and was very excited to find a new book of yours called The Forgotten Son. 22 dollars later I find out it is Cypress Point under another name!

  5. Margo on February 7, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Definitely publish them as e-books Diane!!…anyone and everyone who loves your writing will want these, even if they are your very first novels…when I first discovered you with KEEPER OF THE LIGHT I wanted EVERYTHING you wrote and found them…personally, I absolutely LOVED your novel PRIVATE RELATIONS…The Chapel House and it’s location were so descriptive that I felt like I lived there along with Kit and the others…just hearing you talk about possibly publishing these as e-books wants me to bring them off my shelf and re-read them (-O:

  6. Barb on February 7, 2011 at 9:16 am

    Yes I read e-books and would buy both.

  7. Chantal on February 7, 2011 at 10:46 am

    Of course you have to make them available as e-books. I still read normal books but I discover you about a year ago and can’t find your ioder books, so i bought them in e-books and I’m very happy because I think I would neveu find them, so I can’t wait to read those one. Please let us know about your decision. I love your work.

  8. Diane Chamberlain on February 7, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    Thanks for the encouragement! Karen, I’m so sorry you had that experience with Cypress Point (which is ALSO called The Shadow Wife–fair warning!) If you look back on my blog posts on this subject, you’ll see that I am, if anything, more frustrated about the title changes than my readers but powerless to do a thing about it. When I make my own ebooks available, though, I will never change the titles (even though the title Lovers and Strangers, which my publisher at the time came up with, makes me feel barfy!)

  9. Stephanie S. on February 7, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    Yes publish them!

  10. Diane Chamberlain on February 7, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    Well, between the comments here and the 31 responses on Facebook, I think the answer is YES! So my first step is to dig up two of my few copies of these books and send them in to have them scanned. Thanks so much for the feedback, you all!

  11. Chantal on February 8, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    Thank you Diane I can’t wait to read them and know that I’m very curious to read those because you said thar they’re different. I will let you know what I think of them. Thank you agaib

  12. Kimberly Maynard on February 9, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    Your books are awesome! I bought my first book at our local Costco store; Breaking The Silence and I was hooked. I have a list of your books and I am checking them off as I read them. I received a Kindle 3G reader and giftcard for Christmas. I used the entire giftcard to buy all of your ebooks that were available. I check every few weeks to see if more of your books can be downloaded.

    Thank you for many enjoyable hours of reading; I cannot put the books down.

  13. Helen on February 10, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    Yes! I don’t read e-books, but other people do and everyone should have the chance to read all of your great books. I’ve read them all except for Lovers & Strangers which I hope to get for my birthday. I get them from Amazon. Every one of your books is AMAZING! No one else creates characters like you do. I think about them when I’m not reading, and then I laugh because I act like they’re real people.

  14. Diane Chamberlain on February 10, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    You guys are making me blush! It’s such a thrill to know my books are being enjoyed. Thank you!

    • Ann on January 16, 2019 at 7:00 pm

      When will Lovers and Strangers come out as an e-book? It’s the only book of yours I haven’t read yet!

      • Diane Chamberlain on January 16, 2019 at 8:29 pm

        I’m so sorry but I have no plans to reissue Lovers and Strangers. It’s so very old and I don’t think my current readers would care for it.

  15. Phoebe Conn on February 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Yes! Do publish your early books. RITA winners are fabulous books and deserve to be available as ebooks forever. For the ebook format to be successful, readers need great books to read.
    Phoebe Conn
    DEFY THE WORLD TOMATOES

  16. Allison on February 11, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Can’t wait to see Private Relations as an ebook. I read it back in high school and have been looking for another copy in the last couple years.

  17. Mary on February 15, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Yes, please do these two books into ebooks. These are the only ones that I have not read. I have one of them in paperback form and am planning to take it to Topsail with me in May. After this winter in New York State I am so looking forward for two weeks at your condo. I need warm Vitamin D.

  18. Jana on February 16, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    I am addicted to ” BOOKS ” old books, new books, used books, borrowed books. I love the way they smell, the texture of the paper between your fingers as you’re just about to turn the page, the crack of the spine for the first time. The library books I borrow with the plastic covers. I spend hours reading & reading… I don’t plan on ever owning a Kindle!

  19. Autumn on February 18, 2011 at 1:05 am

    Oh, yes, please make them available as e-books. I would absolutely love to read them. I have been scouring used books stores for years for them, to no avail. But even when I already own traditional copies of your books, I buy them for my Kindle too.

  20. Diane Chamberlain on February 18, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    Mary, I’m so happy to hear you’ll be staying in my condo!! Have a great time.

  21. Diane Chamberlain on February 18, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    Jana, you hang in there, girl! Though I read both paper and e-books myself, I know you’re not alone in your addiction to paper.

  22. Nicola on February 21, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    I am so pleased to see that you have decided to make these books avaliable as ebooks, I have recently discovered your books and have already gone through eight using my amazon kindle. I love being able to buy a book from the comfort of my own home and begin to read it immediately. Please make all of your books avaliable as ebooks!

  23. Beverly Atkins on February 28, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    I say publish those e-books. I personally don’t have a Nook or Kindle or anything close to it. I love the feel of a book in my hands. I don’t see me buying one either. But so many people love them I think it’s a great idea.

  24. jen on August 17, 2011 at 8:52 am

    These are the last two books of yours that i have not read. i cannot seem to find them anywhere! please make them into an ebook? for me? please???

  25. Cindy Curtis on May 4, 2012 at 11:38 am

    Would love to see them as E books!!!!!!! Do it!!!

  26. carol heathcote on February 27, 2013 at 8:06 pm

    please either put lovers and strangers on kindle or republish in an affordable paperback. I live in the UK and have been unable to get this book one was for sale on Amazon at £114 for a used copy! Sorry but that is way too expensive for a used copy!!! Especially for a pensioner like myself who enjoys reading all your books and lately the kindle version of secret Lives.
    Thanks.

    • Diane Chamberlain on March 2, 2013 at 5:00 pm

      Hi Carol,
      I have the rights back to my first two books, Private Relations and Lovers and Strangers, but because they are so dated and different from my other books, I’ve decided not to make them available as e books or print books. They are just too old! Hope you can make do with my other books. My UK publisher will be reissuing many of them in the next couple of years.

  27. Jane Botha on July 8, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    I have been looking for Lovers and Strangers forever!! Then I will have all your books. Please consider doing E books…..I am in trouble for taking too much space with my books…..E books I have no problem!Best author Ever!!!

  28. Peter Hancock on January 27, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    My mother, who is 83 this year, has all of your books (or will have in a couple of weeks when ‘The Escape Artist’ is published again in the UK – it is on pre-order for her) except one. It is not possible to buy a copy of ‘Lovers and Strangers’ anywhere, which is a great shame. That the books are different phases of your development are naturally important to you, how could they not be? The question that is more relevant to my mother though is “May I read them please?”. She is not 21st century, has no TV, no IT, and an analogue telephone. Please publish your books (as I have seen with ‘The Escape Artist’) as traditional old fashioned paper copies if it is financially viable, as there are a lot of traditional old fashioned readers out there who have no idea what an e-book is. Thank you for offering me the chance to raise this.

  29. Diane Chamberlain on January 27, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    Hi Peter, I think your mother lives in the UK, where my publisher has done a wonderful job of getting all my books out in print (with the exception of Lovers and Strangers. Sorry, I don’t think I’ll ever reissue it). Is your mother missing any others? If I had more than my one personal copy of Lovers and Strangers I’d be happy to send it to her. Please give her my best.

  30. Amy on November 10, 2018 at 2:51 am

    Oh oh oh! I think with an updated cover it would sell, die hard Chamberlain fans would def read and I we all tell our friends…I certainly do!! Hope there’s hope for Lovers and Strangers some day…I Loved Private Relations ❤️

  31. Debbie Murphy on March 24, 2022 at 8:10 am

    Would love Lovers and strangers, $260.00 on amazon

  32. Donna on January 1, 2023 at 9:05 am

    I have read all of your books except lovers & strangers and would love to read this to complete the lot. I have been looking for it for years.

    • Diane Chamberlain on May 31, 2023 at 9:47 am

      So sorry. That’s the only one of my books that is not available. But you’re not missing much!

  33. Teresa Luceri on January 28, 2024 at 10:52 am

    I’ve recently discovered your books this past year and while I’ve decided to start from the beginning and read all your books in order, I did read a few more recent ones ( Necessary Lies, Big Lies Small Town and Silent sister), I’m enjoying the reveal as you and your writing develop. I’ve just finished Breaking the Silence Today, next up is Summer’s Child. However I’ve had to skip over Lovers and Strangers. I’ve done this because I cannot find it in print anywhere for a reasonable price,. The best I’ve found is E-Bay for $58.00. Now I am a ravenous reader, and while I love real books, I’ve learned for the sake of space in my home and money in the bank , e-books offer me a great balance. With that said I’m hoping you would consider releasing Lovers and Strangers as an e-book or maybe another printing. Please I feel like there is a pothole in my literary journey with you.l, and it nags at me every time I close a book.

    • Diane Chamberlain on January 28, 2024 at 7:44 pm

      lol. I’m laughing about the pothole in your literary journey. I’m sorry but I made a decision not to reissue Lovers and Strangers. I’m just not happy with it and don’t believe my current audience would enjoy it. Whatever you do, don’t pay $48 for it! I hope my other books continue to keep you entertained.

      all best, Diane

    • Diane Chamberlain on February 14, 2024 at 10:29 am

      Hi Teresa, it looks like I may not have replied to your message to me about Lovers and Strangers. First, I’m glad you’re enjoying my books. Unfortunately, I just don’t feel that Lovers and Strangers holds up to the rest of them and I don’t think my readers would enjoy it. Therefore, I won’t be releasing it. Don’t worry; you’re not missing much! I hope I can continue to keep you entertained. Thanks for getting in touch.

      Diane

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