Samantha Cole | Updates

RARE - Florence

Samantha Cole — Sat, 7 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Florence, Italy

Facebook Group

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Indies Invade Philly

Samantha Cole — Sat, 7 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pennsylvania Convention Center - 1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA

Join the Facebook Group for ticket information.

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Southern Belle Book Event: Mermaid City

Samantha Cole — Sat, 7 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hilton: Norfolk, VA

Tickets

Facebook Group

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Big Changes Are Coming to the Trident Security Series!

Samantha Cole — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Over the next several weeks, you'll start seeing some familiar Trident Security books with brand-new titles and updated covers. Don't worry—the stories themselves aren't changing. This is a complete series rebrand designed to make it easier for new readers to discover the books while giving the series a more consistent look and feel.

This wasn't a decision I made lightly.

Like many of you, I'm attached to the original titles. They were chosen with a lot of thought, but looking back, I realize I never truly branded the series. Some titles immediately signaled romance, like His Angel. Others, like Watching From the Shadows, gave little indication that they were romance novels at all. While existing readers knew what to expect, new readers often didn't.

Reader expectations have changed, too. Many readers—especially those discovering new authors—want to know what kind of book they're getting before they even read the blurb. Covers, titles, and subtitles now play a much bigger role in communicating a book's subgenre and tropes.

For the past few months, authors have been facing an ever-changing publishing landscape. After talking with several authors who have successfully rebranded large series and seen positive results, I decided it was time to do the same. I started with Trident Security.

Some of you may have heard that book sales have been dropping for many authors since January. There are a number of reasons for this. The economy has been unpredictable, and hundreds of AI-generated "slop" books are being uploaded every day. Amazon also changed its search algorithm to AI, which means the way authors have traditionally approached keywords, blurbs, and discoverability no longer works as well. Kobo and Barnes & Noble have also made changes that have affected visibility and sales.

As you'll see below, the books are getting a complete makeover, including new titles.

Working with another author who has successfully rebranded one of their own series, I developed a new, consistent branding strategy for Trident Security that will hopefully help more readers discover the books.

The ebooks, print books, and eventually the audiobooks will all receive the new titles and covers. (The audiobooks will take a little longer because I need each narrator to update the opening and closing files before they can be reuploaded.) As you can see from the images below, I kept the artwork from the latest covers and converted them to black and white so the new titles stand out.

Because there are so many books and editions involved, these changes won't happen overnight.

Over the next several weeks, you'll likely notice some books with new titles and covers while others still have the originals. Different retailers update their listings at different speeds, so there may be temporary discrepancies depending on where you're shopping. Please bear with me while everything catches up.

The amount of work involved is...a little overwhelming.

First, I have to update the title pages inside every book. Then I have to upload new ebook files, covers, metadata, blurbs, keywords, and other information to seven different retailers for each of the 13 books—91 separate ebook updates before I even begin the audiobooks. Audiobooks are also uploaded to seven distributors, while print books are updated across three platforms, each with multiple formats, including original covers, discreet, and large print.

On top of that, every one of my 50+ books needs updated back matter to reflect the new titles, and my recommended reading order has to be revised everywhere it appears. To avoid confusing readers already making their way through the series, the updated reading order will list the new titles with the original titles in parentheses.

In total, this project involves well over 1,400 individual uploads and metadata updates. It's definitely a marathon, but one that I believe is worth running.

Thankfully, updating the ebooks is mostly time-consuming rather than difficult. If you've already bought them from one of the retail sites, they should tell you that you already own the ebook, so you don't accidentally purchase another cover/title version.

Print books are a different story. Because the titles are changing, I have to create entirely new print listings and assign new ISBNs to every edition.

I also know many of you have collected the original covers over the years, and I don't want those to disappear.

The original covers and titles will continue to be available exclusively through my Shopify store in ebook, audiobook, and print formats. It will take me a few weeks to get everything updated there as well, but they'll be back. In addition, every print book purchased through my shop will include my digitally embedded signature on the title page before it's printed and shipped. (Print editions purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers will not include the digital signature.)

So...that's the plan!

I truly appreciate your patience and support while I work through this enormous project. My hope is that these changes will help introduce Trident Security to a whole new group of readers while allowing me to continue bringing you new stories for years to come.

Once Trident Security is complete, I'll move on to the Omega Team series and then evaluate the rest of my catalog. Not every series will receive a makeover, but some probably will.

As for the original Trident Security series, I still have two more books planned for the future. They'll receive the titles I've already chosen for them, and those original versions will be available exclusively through my Shopify store, while the newly branded editions will be available through all retailers.

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SaSS: Richmond

Samantha Cole — Sat, 7 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

10th Anniversary of SaSS - Sexy and Sassy Author Signing

July 24-26th

Richmond, VA

Facebook Group

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Knockout Book Bash Signing

Samantha Cole — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

June 13, 2026 - Lexington, KY

WEBSITE and TICKETS

FACEBOOK GROUP

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SaSS in St. Louis (St. Charles), MO

Samantha Cole — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

St. Charles Convention Center
May 30 from 11am to 4pm CDT

SaSSy In St. Louis (A Sexy and SaSSy Signing Event)

Join us for a Sexy and SaSSy Signing in the Midwest! SaSSy in St. Louis will be our 10th signing for SaSS but the FIRST EVER in the Midwest!

TICKETS

FACEBOOK GROUP

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Charm City Romanticon

Samantha Cole — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ellicott City, MD - Turf Valley Resort

April 10-12, 2026

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK GROUP

Spend a weekend with indie romance authors, narrators, and readers. Charm City Romanticon is a small, intimate, exclusive event that puts readers in the same room as their Romancelandia favorites. Experience informative panel sessions, a book signing, and a celebratory banquet PJ party, with the additional opportunity to attend engaging industry-based workshops on Sunday.

Held at the beautiful Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland (25 minutes outside Baltimore), attendance is limited to create an atmosphere that encourages interaction and limits overwhelm. This is the perfect event for first-time book-event attendees as well as individuals looking for a way to connect with others in the indie romance book community that just doesn't happen at large signings.

Event tickets include lunch and dinner on Saturday in addition to admission to all panel sessions on Friday and Saturday, the Saturday afternoon signing, and the Saturday evening PJ party.

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Romance-Landia Author Signing

Samantha Cole — Sat, 7 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Romance-Landia Bookstore, 204 Banjo Ln, Centreville, Maryland

Join Willow Winters, Vanessa Zian, DD Lorenzo, and me for a few hours at this intimate signing from 1 pm to 4 pm.

Details on Facebook

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The Olympics are Here!

Samantha Cole — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Winter Olympics kicked off last Friday, and I'll spend the next several weeks watching some of the world's greatest athletes compete for medals, including Paralympians. Of course, I'm cheering on Team USA, but I also love seeing smaller countries earn their very first podium finishes—it gets me every time.

My must-watch events are figure skating, speed skating, luge, bobsleigh, and curling. And even though I'm not a huge hockey fan, I'll still be rooting for the U.S. team. Oh—and did you see they added ski mountaineering this year? That one sounds intense, so I'll definitely be checking it out too.

Okay, book world stuff—that's why you're here, right? I have great news! Her Savior: Malone Brothers Book 3 is almost ready to go to my editor! I swear, Brian fought me tooth and nail for years, committed to being a professional bachelor… but he finally fell. And when he fell, he went down hard.

I plan to move the book's release date up, so watch for next week's newsletter for all the details and the cover reveal!

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Massive snowstorm and an opinionated dog!

Samantha Cole — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Wow! That was a heck of a snowstorm we had this past weekend. In lower NY, we got 18 inches (that's what she said)! Poor Milo (my 13-year-old Lhasa Apso/poodle mix) was not a happy camper. The snow was taller than him, so he had to use the indoor puppy pads. He's not a fan, but will use them if he must. Since the alternative was digging a tunnel, he dealt with it lol. It looks like we're getting more snow this weekend, so he may not see the grass again until Spring!

I hope everyone caught up in that mess is safe and sound. If you were, comment on this post and let me know how much snow (or ice) you got.

Now that I've dug my car out (and an area for Milo to… well, you know), I've got a few big announcements to share!

First up—the ebook of Absolving His Sins is on sale for a limited time. If this one's been sitting on your TBR, now's the moment to grab it before the price goes back up.

Next (and I'm ridiculously excited about this)… my Shopify store is officially open! 🎉 You can now purchase bookish and branded merchandise, ebooks, and audiobooks directly from me, with print books coming soon.

To celebrate the launch, I'm offering 40% off all ebooks and audiobooks in my shop. Just scroll down for the discount code—it's valid only in my store and only through February 13, 2026.

Also, Milo insisted on having his own section in my newsletter and blog, so you'll be seeing more of him.

Finally, thank you for being here and for supporting my books—it truly means the world to me.

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My Near-Heart-Attack Moment!

Samantha Cole — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, you read that right! I nearly had a heart attack the other day, and it was all my own fault!

A little background on the incident: I use Zoho Writer to write my manuscripts. I love it because my co-authors can see everything and work in the same document simultaneously. It’s basically as if Google Docs and Microsoft Word had a baby and raised it right. My favorite feature? I can turn on a typewriter sound while I write, which thrills me far more than it should.

Okay. Now for the near-heart-attack portion of our program.

If you read my first newsletter of the year, you know I recently switched my website domain to www.samanthacolebooks.com. I set up a redirect from my old site to the new one, so anyone clicking an old link would be magically whisked to the new site. Seamless. Professional.

Narrator voice: She was very proud of herself.

Two days later, I tried to log in to Zoho using my old domain email address… and couldn’t get in.

Narrator voice: Initiate sheer panic! 😵‍💫

I currently have over 23 works-in-progress living in Zoho, with word counts ranging from “just started” to “over 60,000 words.” Including Brian Malone’s book, which I only have a few chapters left to write. And Zoho? Zoho calmly informed me they had no record whatsoever of that email address. The same one I’d used for years.

Narrator voice: Cue wanting to throw the laptop out the window or take a baseball bat to it.

I tried backup emails. I tried my phone number. That got me into an ancient Zoho account I created eight years ago, never used, and promptly forgot existed. I had recovery codes for the old domain email, but I couldn’t get past the fact that Zoho wouldn't recognize the address as a valid login.

Narrator voice: Insert tears, palpitations, hyperventilating, lightheadedness, and a lot of cursing here. 😭😭😭

I canceled the redirect and waited 24 hours for it to stop forwarding, fully expecting this to magically fix everything.

Narrator voice: It did not. Samantha is screwed. 😳

Day 3 of this cannot possibly be real: Filled with dread, I called Zoho support again. They asked me to forward any emails I’d ever received from them using the old domain address so they could investigate.

While searching for those emails—before I even forwarded any—one caught my eye.

It said I’d set up multi-factor authentication a few days before I lost access to Zoho.

Narrator voice: Hmm. Interesting.

I opened the email… and there it was. A QR code login link. Holding my breath, I scanned it.

PRESTO.

My account opened. All my manuscripts were there. Every single one. Safe and sound.

Narrator voice: She nearly cries from relief. 🥲

I immediately went into my profile settings and discovered the problem. At some point, I'd changed my login email to a new Gmail account, rather than my new domain email. In my defense, they're similar. I also apparently set up MFA at the same time and don't remember doing either. At all.

Feeling like an absolute idiot, I updated my login info, added a fingerprint passkey, and set up every possible recovery option known to mankind so this never happens again.

Narrator voice: God willing. 😇

So there you have it—my major near-heart-attack drama of the week. This was on top of building a brand-new website, updating links, blurbs, and covers, setting up my Shopify store, and untangling a brand-new newsletter system.

2026 has come out swinging. And apparently, so have I. It's a good thing I don't own a baseball bat. 🤣🤣🤣

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