Lots of authors nowadays enjoy writing and sharing bonus scenes with their readers. These are scenes that didn’t appear in the book, but that the author makes available via their newsletter, website or a service like Bookfunnel. They’re a little extra treat, if you will, for people who enjoyed the book and don’t want to say goodbye to it just yet!
Personally, I love reading bonus scenes! If I liked a book, I’m always excited to see more of the characters, and I’ve signed up for about a bajillion author newsletters to get my hands on those special scenes! 😂
I especially love bonus epilogues where we get to see the main couple in a romance novel get engaged or married—or even have a baby! As the lovely Valerie Comer notes, “Bonus epilogues give my readers and me a sense of completion, a happy sigh.” 🥰
I enjoy prequels, too, although those often feel a little unfinished to me. Since the author’s goal with a prequel is usually to both give something fun to existing readers BUT ALSO to introduce new readers to the characters and world of a specific series, they’re usually designed to leave us wanting more. This is great for the author from a sales perspective, but as a reader, I’m less likely to read a prequel unless I REALLY love the author and am chomping at the bit for more reading material from that particular person!
Deleted scenes can be fun, although sometimes they can feel incongruous with the rest of the book. Which totally makes sense! Authors are advised all the time to “kill their darlings” (a.k.a. delete, delete, delete anything that doesn’t move the story forward). So, if a particular scene was cut from the main novel, there’s probably a good reason why.
Jaycee Weaver is currently working on a bonus scene for her upcoming book, Can’t Fight the Mistletoe, that isn’t an epilogue, prologue or deleted scene. It’s more of a comedic outtake featuring the hero doing something to anatagonize the heroine during the course of the story. Jaycee loved the idea, but couldn’t find a good place to include it in the book, which is why it’ll end up being a bonus scene!
I’ve also enjoyed scenes that are retold from an alternate point of view. Usually, in romance novels, these are scenes that we got from the hero or heroine’s perspective in the book, but then from the other main character’s POV in the bonus scene. So, if we saw the heroine’s take on a particular incident in the book, the bonus scene will show us the same incident through the hero’s eyes. Jaycee explains that she loves this approach “because there are so many extra feels with the POV shift.”
In addition to shifting the perspective between the hero and heroine, I’ve also read some alternate POV scenes that are told through the villain’s eyes, a child’s eyes or even a pet’s eyes! Super creative and fun! 😍
Valerie’s most successful bonus scene actually combines two types of bonus content—a bonus epilogue plus an alternate POV! She explains: “My most popular series epilogue comes after the Cavanagh Cowboys Romance series, six books featuring brothers in a blended family. Their parents have some pretty serious issues through the series, and while there’s a conclusion to their story arc in book six, the epilogue comes from the two parents’ POVs. It not only catches the reader up to the family 18 months later, but gives the parents’ arc its own happy ending.”
So far, for my books, I’ve offered two different types of bonus content:
- A bonus epilogue for The Billionaire’s Secret
- A bonus prologue for The Baby’s Christmas Blessing
Based on the download stats for those two bonus scenes, I can tell you that my readers are WAY more interested in bonus epilogues. Approximately four and a half times as many people have signed up for my newsletter through the bonus epilogue than through the bonus prologue.
I have a bonus epilogue all ready to go for my next book, Their Unlikely Protector, but you’ll have to wait for the book to come out in July for that one. HOWEVER, because I’m going to miss visiting with you all here on the Inspy Romance blog, I also wanted to share a special deleted scene with you today.
*NOTE: I completely rewrote this book THREE TIMES, so this deleted scene doesn’t fit in the version that’s about to be published at all, but it does give you a good sense of the hero’s personality.
On Friday, they went to the pet store to buy Duke a harness that he’d be able to use once his stitches came out, and Valerie ended up insisting that they buy him all kinds of other gear, too: a leash, treats, several different balls and some kind of strange woolen mat where they could hide treats for Duke to sniff out.
“He’s growing on you, isn’t he?” Brett asked.
“He’s so resilient. Imagine losing your leg and being up on your feet again so fast.”
He pointed to his cast. “It’s going to take me way longer than that to recover from my break.”
She smirked and patted his right arm. “Poor Bartholomew.”
“Hey! A little sympathy, please. I wouldn’t have fallen if somebody hadn’t tripped over her own skates.”
“You knew the risks when you asked me to go roller skating. I told you I’d never done it before.”
“There’s something else I know you’d never done before…” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
“What? Been on a date?”
“No,” he said, placing his right hand on her waist and leaning down to press a quick, chaste kiss to her lips. “That.”
She stared up at him for a moment, then she burst out laughing.
“That bad, huh?” he said dryly.
“How’s the pet store more romantic than the hospital waiting room?”
“Honestly? I didn’t want to give you a chance to get nervous.”
She laughed again. “Mission accomplished.”
“Laugh all you want, Williams. Now that the awkward first kiss is out of the way, we can just relax and enjoy it the next time.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You think there’s going to be a next time, do you?”
“Oh, I know there’s going to be a next time.” He glanced around quickly to make sure they were still alone in their aisle, then leaned down and kissed her again, a little bit longer, a little bit more intense.
This time, when he pulled back, she didn’t laugh. “See?” he said. “Tell me you didn’t enjoy that.”
“Um…” Her eyes were wide as saucers, and she had a dazed look on her face.
He took her hand and pulled her toward the register. “Come on. Let’s pay for this stuff and get out of here.”
I hope you enjoyed this scene from an earlier version of Their Unlikely Protector! There’s no dog, roller skating or pet store in the final version of the book, which will be available on July 23, but you’ll get lots more fun banter between Valerie and Brett!
Tell me what kind of bonus content you enjoy most in the comments!
And to stay in touch, join my newsletter by downloading a free copy of The Billionaire’s Secret.
Thanks for all the good times here on the blog!
❤️ Meghann
Meghann Whistler is a wife, mom, and Christian romance novelist who loves writing sweet, happy stories that WON'T make your grandmother blush! When she's not writing, reading, or jamming out to Christian rock music, you can find her enjoying a relaxing evening with her rocket scientist husband (seriously—he's a real, live rocket scientist!) or playing with her three kids.
You’ve got me! Every time I see ‘ bonus ……’ I mutter to myself, “Why can’t they let me use my imagination” or something to that effect, and yet I always read the ‘ unwanted ‘ bonus and enjoy it! Curiosity, I guess.
So, I love to hate them.
Hi, Meghann! I enjoy bonus material in general but I sometimes have to steel myself to the process of downloading, transferring and general jiggering about in order to actually read it. I like to read in the Kindle for PC app which pretty much requires you to upload any content to your Kindle library in the cloud before you can read it. It can be a pain.
However, that has nothing to do with enjoying the content, which I absolutely do :).
Looking forward to you next book!
I loved that scene♥️Thank you! I love all kinds of bonus content and am grateful to the authors for sharing them!!
I love bonus epilogues the most, I do love prequels too, and deleted scenes, but depending on the book I might read the extras or not. It also depends on which character(s) it features. For example, there’s this series with a talking dog, and the bonus scenes are all from his PoV which I thought was super creative.
Ha ha ha — that’s funny, Jeannette! 😅 Taking the extra step to download/access them can be a pain, so I understand why doing that might make you grumble a little, but I’m glad you enjoy them when you read them!!! 💕
I understand, Lincoln! It can definitely be a pain to actually get your hands on the bonus material.
Since my bonus scenes are typically fairly short (1,500 words or so), I’ve started putting them on a hidden page on my website instead of uploading a file to Bookfunnel for people to download. Easier for people to access, although I know that some people would prefer to read on an ereader than on the web.
What do you think? Should I give people the option to read the bonus scenes on the web OR via a Bookfunnel download?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Joannie! As a writer, it’s fun for me to spend more time with my characters, even after the main part of the story is done, and it’s a pleasure to know that other people feel the same way! 😊
That’s awesome, Milica! I’d love to read a bonus scene from a talking dog’s point of view! 🐶🐶🐶
Ooo, I definitely like the option idea. It also solves the problem of “Did I download that bonus already? Where did I put it? No? How do I get it now? Is that email still around? Oh, the agony!” :P
I enjoy the bonus epilogues and look forward to them. I don’t really enjoy deleted scenes.
I’m a sucker for epilogues, though I do mutter to myself that I don’t want anymore newsletter subscriptions so I’ve been training myself to say no, my imagination of what happens is simply fine!
I do admit that a good prequel saves the world building at the beginning of the first novel. Sometimes I do get a bit bored with that aspect of a novel and wish with all due respect for the author to get on with the story – probably says more about my wellbeing levels than the author’s writing though. Thanks for a great post, just as well I’m on your email list, lol!
Hi , I really love bonus scenes, I like reading them.
Oh, this new book is going to be good! Can’t wait!!! I’ve been very impatiently waiting!! lol!! I like reading bonus epilogues! I’m not crazy about bonus prequels, though. They just don’t hold the same appeal. Most of the bonus content I’ve read isn’t really an epilogue, either, just something that either leads to the next book, or gives a look at a totally different scene that didn’t get to appear in the book, though it was hinted at. There’s one where in the book the father of the heroine in the book meets the mother of a previous book’s heroine, and since it’s a small town, it starts talk. It’s hinted at in the book, and the bonus content gives us the whole interaction between those two characters. In the next actual book, they’re even more of a couple.
LOL — I will try with my next bonus scene, then!
I prefer bonus epilogues, too, Lori 😊
Ha ha — I’m honored that I made your newsletter cut, Dianne! 😉
Yay! I’m glad to hear that, Alicia! They’re fun to write! 🩷
Aw, you’re so sweet, Trudy! I’m so grateful for your support!
I like the idea of doing a meet-cute between two of the secondary characters in a bonus scene! I’ll have to keep that in mind for the future 😉
I am definitely Team Epilogue, I love to find out more about characters from a story I’ve enjoyed. I don’t think I’ve ever read a bonus scene that is from a different character’s point of view but that sounds great too – I’ve read somebody’s which alternate between the hero and heroines POVs and it’s great to see both sides.
Thank you so much for sharing. Please do not include me in the giveaway. I already have your wonderful book. I enjoy all the ways you mentioned. It really gives me pleasure to know more about what is happening in the character’s lives. For me, a book is great if I connect with the characters to a point that they feel like friends. God bless you.
Woo hoo! Go, Team Epilogue! 😍🎉😄
I love that, too, Debra, and what a nice way to put it! Books with characters who feel like friends are the absolute best! 💕
I like bonus epilogues too.
I like bonus epilogues and when there is a bonus prequel set earlier (like one author wrote a bonus prequel set about 20 years earlier) Although sometimes I often wish I had read that first.
The one time I don’t like them is when an author (I have one in mind but won’t name) will send emails about an upcoming book and offer bonus’s for proof of pre-order. Would be fine if the emails didn’t come so frequent, Started normal spacing to weekly to several times a week to daily and as I unsubbed it was twice daily. Nothing new in the emails just the pre order to get the bonus’s. (She wasn’t an inspy writer.)
Its been great getting to know you and I do love your newsletter. LOVE the polls.
Nice! Those are my favorite kind of bonus scenes! 😍
I’m all in for the bonus epilogue. Valerie Bodden did a wonderful job with the epilogue on her Hope Springs series. It was fun getting a recap of the the characters throughout the series.
I get your newsletter and look to forward to it. I get way to many author newsletters. It takes me all day to go through them all. But I hate to unsubscribe or not open them. You all give so much time connecting to your readers, it seems rude not to acknowledge it.
I will miss InspyRomance, but am grateful for meeting so many good, Christian authors.
Oh, my! That is A LOT of emails! I would have unsubscribed, too, Jenny 😱
I’m so glad you enjoy my newsletter — I’m happy we’ll be able to stay in touch!
That’s so sweet of you, Bonnie! I’m sure all of the authors you follow appreciate it, but if it ever becomes too stressful for you to read so many newsletters, please know that it’s okay to unsubscribe or leave them unread. I love connecting with readers but I want you to be able to live your life, too! 💕
I rarely make it through a welcome sequence but this author was over the top for advertising in the end I just didn’t want to read the book or buy it.
The same happened with a box set at one time I was already on most of the author emails and they were all sending more frequent ones with the same tactic. if you pre order you got bonus novellas and stuff. I unsubbed from a couple of authors I really like (still buy books but don’t subscribe).
I enjoy bonus epilogues too. It’s fun seeing where the characters end up.
I completely agree!!!
I’m an introvert, so promoting my books does not come naturally to me! Definitely sounds like that author went a little overboard with the sales pitch 💕
it may have been her publisher but yep. Im an introvert who needs to chat to people. Today was chatting with strangers after lunch going to the supermarket and found out they were visitors from interstate. I do this sort of thing fine. put me in a room full of people and I am the one in the corner or if there is a child I will be chatting with them and if there is a cat thats me. One on one or a couple I am fine.