eBook Reading and Writing

We’ve got the hot authors from Phaze Books to chat with you Monday at Realms of Love. Skylar Sinclair, Stella and Audra Price and Sapphire Phelan will share their writing, thoughts and cranberry relish recipes with you at 9 PM EST/ 6 PM PST Monday, November 19. I hear there’s a give-away planned, details in the chat.

The chatters and authors at Realms of Love are a fun, friendly group. Ever wonder what chats are about? Stop on by and say “hi.”

Author: Skylar Sinclair
Bio: Skylar Sinclair is your typical California girl. She is a multi-published author that loves to spin otherworldly and fantasy tales,with sexual heat. Skylar has many personas, and writing is just one of them. She loves to hear from her fans and can be reached at
skylar.sinclair@yahoo.com.
Book: “Purr For Me”
Blurb: Halloween provides the purrfect backdrop for shifter Panteara to assume her sleek, feline form. Mingling at a wild party, she’s looking for casual passion, but gets more than she bargained for when she meets another of her kind. Alpha lion Rourke is looking for a mate, and sets his sights on the lovely she-panther. Enjoy this sweet holiday treat fromSkylar Sinclair.

Authors: Stella and Audra Price
Bio: Stella and Audra Price are sisters who have always shared their love of writing, even as children. Now in their twenties, they have created a complete world from the voices in their heads which they have deemed the Eververse. They both have similar interests in makeup, horror movies, dogs and a love of a good bottle of wine; they rarely disagree, unless it’s over the last glass of that wine.

They live in a small converted farm house which is home to their menagerie of animals including 10 huskies, three cats; a fish called Claude, Linusthe English bulldog, Zorro the king of beasts and Stella’s very Evil “the Moo.”

They can often be found at their local wine club, tasting various vintages and bringing the finest home with them. Both are avid adventurers and loveto accept any new challenge that’s offered to them.

Audra: Although relatively young, Audra has enjoyed her fair share oflife. Now engaged to her “high school sweetheart” she hopes to be married in 07. She’s a fully qualified make-up artist and enjoys meeting newpeople. Audra has been showing and racing her huskies, competitively sincethe tender age of eight.

Stella: Stella, the more experienced of the two sisters, has done manyexciting things in her life. She’s been a model, an ice cream slinger, acustom designer, and a tour manager. Throughout this all, art has alwaysbeen an integral part of her life and she excels in sculpting, even though her drawing skills are somewhat lacking. Her knowledge of Star wars andLord of the Rings Trivia remains unparalleled. She is a voracious readerwho loves movie quotes and video games.

You can check out their website at www.stellaandaudra.com.
Book: “Wishbound” (print)
Blurb: Together for the first time in paperback are the first stories in the Price sisters’ sizzling Duvall, Inc. series: Wishes and Glamour !

Author: Sapphire Phelan
Bio: Sapphire Phelan is an author of published erotic and sweet paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction romance. She lives in Chesterfield, Virginia with her husband and their two cats, Ripley and
Bast. You can find out more about her at her website:
http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com and MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan. Or join her newsletter at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house and husband sometimes suffers for it!

Book: “Beast Magic”
Blurb: They came from two different worlds.Ramses was a werelion. ShanaTory was human. The Dreaming foretold them as soul mates. So Ramses tracked her down in America, and when he found her, made her his and brought her back home with him to the South African Bushveld. But others from his pride, led by one evil lioness, do not want them together.Besides their lives, will their love survive the coming war?

Aspen Mountain Press Authors November 26

We’ll have a bevy of writers from AMP with us November 26. Join Jeanne Barrack, Maura Anderson, Michelle Hasker, and J.M. Snyder for a Black Monday Chat (that’s what she called it). Jeanne will chat about the upcoming anthology Babes in Toyland II and Maura will share with us tidbits about Del Fantasma: Texas Tea, Michelle will chat about her Plain Brown Wrapper release, Kate’s Muse and J.M. will chat about the storm of new releases she’s had and will have at AMP!

ManLove Authors Chat December 3

The engaging and witty Claire Thompson will chat with you December 3 at Realms of Love. More guests to be announced!  

We warned you about about entrusting your romance writing dreams to Triskelion Publishing long before those other janey come latelys jumped on the bandwagon. Oh I forgot, we warned you back in March too.  

Well the latest rumor to hit the bits is Gail Northman is stepping down. I stress it is a rumor. Wouldn’t it be funny if it was a trick to smoke out which one of Gail Northman’s 200 best friends leaked the email about her family troubles?

We’ll have to wait and see. But remember you read it here first.

This article was reprinted from Realms of Love. You can find out more about the whirlwind we call Lena Austin at Lena’s website. 

How do I do what? Stay organized? It’s because of those 13 releases that I manage. I’ve had time to develop a system that works for me. It’s not perfect, but it works.

There are rules anyone can follow for their own system:

1. Handle it once- If you have a piece of paper, read it, do what needs to be done, then file it. “Pile-o-mania” develops due to procrastination. This is especially true for tax-related items. I have a pocket shoe organizer on the back of my office door. Receipts and other tax related items are filed in the pocket matching that deduction category the very day I bring them home. At tax time, I total each category, stuff the reciepts in a clasp envelope matching that category, and write the total on the outside. (My accountant loves me, because I can email her a report with all figures neatly totaled without an appointment.)

2. Learn and use the concept of prime real estate- Your desk surface is prime real estate. That’s where all the action takes place. If you don’t use something daily, it doesn’t belong on the desk. The further away from your desk, the less the item is used. For instance, I use my bell timer and my thesarus daily. They stay on the desk. I use my index card file at least once a week. It is on the shelf above my desk. I rarely (monthly or longer) use certain binders. They are in a bookcase in the closet in my office, out of sight but accessible. A giant wipe off calendar is above my desk for easy visual access.

3. Code/Label everything. I use color codes to mark everything, from my files in the file cabinet to my dayrunner. Pink for Personal, Blue for family, Yellow for Promo, Green for Business, Orange for Miscellaneous, and so on. I own a Brother P-Touch label maker for clear, easy to read labels even with my very poor eyesight. (I’m nearly blind, you see.)

4. Take the time to prioritize daily. I use a spiral notebook. Each sheet has been divided off into color codes (see above) using highlighter boxes, four lines per color. Each sheet has a day/date at the top. If I have a chat on the 5th, I put that task in the yellow box of that date. A crit partner meeting? The orange box. Need to turn in a cover art request? Green box. Every morning while I mumble over my first cup of java, I move the uncompleted tasks from the day before, then assign priority numbers for each task in each color code.

5. “Take 15″/Power Hour- Even the most hated task can be tolerated for 15 minutes. I set my bell timer for 15 minutes, and usually when it goes off, I’m done or so close I can finish up with a feeling of accomplishment. This works for almost any task, but some get a “Power Hour.” Writing gets a “Power Hour” where I shut off the browser and IM programs, turn on the CD player, and lose myself.

Do I follow these rules to perfection? No. Not by a longshot. Every month or so, the piles develop, junk accumulates, and I have to spend one of those Take 15’s cleaning my desk back to a pristine state, and filing things I should have done immediately. Hey, nobody is perfect. LOL!

Lena Austin

We have a huge amount of respect for JM Snyder. JM works hard at the craft of erotic romance writing as well as the business of writing. She is unpretentious and willing to help.  

In this article JM Snyder Shares Writing Business Lessons . She’s talking from experience here:

How did JM learn promotion?

I began devouring any and all information I could find on self-promotion. iUniverse had a wealth of articles available to new authors, covering everything from book signings to sell sheets to press releases. I read them all, took them to heart, and began a direct mail marketing campaign that targeted gay/lesbian bookstores around the country. With my subsequent releases, that campaign seemed to work — I received small royalty checks on a quarterly basis…

What did JM do that allowed her sales to “skyrocket”?

Then the editor at Aspen Mountain Press, an up and coming e-publisher, contacted me about re-publishing my novels as e-books. I was skeptical — the books were currently available in electronic format, but I had seen nothing in my sales figures to suggest co-venturing with a publisher. For one, I currently made 80% off all sales, and the standard e-book publisher’s royalty rate of 35-40% paled in comparison. But the marketing person in me decided to take a chance, and sent the publisher a book I planned to self-publish. I negotiated to keep the print rights, and the book was released in both paperback and e-book formats simultaneously.

Suddenly, my sales skyrocketed…

What does JM Snyder do to drive traffic to her web site?

I track my website visitors carefully, and exploit ad campaigns targeting certain audiences who may be interested in my books. I’ve joined the ManLove Romance co-operative, a group of like-minded writers who pool their resources to afford advertising in print magazines with a large readership. Because I started in fan fiction, I run a banner ad on a popular adult fan fiction site, drawing over 100 hits a week. Not bad for $15 a month.

Everyone can learn something from this article and we thank JM Snyder for taking the time to write it.

Catch JM  Snyder’s Trin, Scarred and Just What the Doctor Ordered at Aspen Mountain Press. Check out JM Snyder’s web site for more stuff.  

This is an update to the post from a couple weeks ago. It’s not getting any better for aspiring romance writers trying to find a publishing house they can trust.

Check out Piers Anthony’s excellent approach to keeping writers informed at http://hipiers.com/publishing.html#T1 .

Piers seems to have some trouble with his April updates as they are dated 2004 rather than 2007. But in general his information is good. The publisher alluded to in the warning below is listed.

Writer Beware! 

This is just a quick warning to all you romance writers out there: Be careful when signing with a publishing house.

There are liars out there that will promise to put your beloved story in print and then come up with flimsy excuses, secret pre-order requirements and outrageous sales guarantees that will dash your hopes, usually after you have spent your hard earned promo money.

Here’s some advice for writers: 

1. Talk to SEVERAL authors at a house before you sign a contract. Ask the tough questions (Are you paid on time? Do they keep their promises? Do they abide by their contracts?). Listen carefully to the answers. If the authors aren’t EXCITED to talk with you, run away FAST.

2. Read the contract carefully, VERY carefully. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of examining that document like a lawyer. You have worked hard on your work, protect it. Hire a lawyer if you can afford it.

3. Get it in WRITING. Stories of false promises and folks without contracts are legion. If they won’t put it in writing, don’t agree to the deal.

4. If you get stung, use the Romance Writers of America to report the abuse. Many of you are members of the RWA. Document how you were wronged and send it to them. It’s an effective way to let fellow writers know so they will not fall into the same situation.

You may have gathered this warning is aimed at a particular publishing house where the excrement has just encountered the ventilation device. Ask around, there are some VERY angry romance writers out there right now. Don’t sign with that house. The same thing will happen to you.

There are many excellent houses out there. With a little research, you will find one to help you reach your writing dreams.
 

The writers from Phaze will be chatting in the romance writer chat at Realms of Love, Monday march 19 at 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern. There will be give-aways! Be sure to sign up and check your software before the chat!

Check out this exciting group of romance writers:

Alessia Brio - 2007 EPPIE Winner for Best Erotica Book - www.AlessiaBrio.com Blurb for Phaze Fantasies I: Four tales of erotic fiction by four Phaze favorites! Alessia Brio continues the Costa Rican adventure that launched fine flickering hungers, her EPPIE Finalist. Bridget Midway shines with “Service Recall,” a tale of relationship rebound done right. Leigh Ellwood opens the door to a magical menagé in “Midnight Passions.” And Ann Regentin’s “Midnight Conversations” explores the sexual memories of a fixer-upper’s past occupants.

Michael Barnette - www.MichaelBarnette.com
Blurb for “Games Dragons Play”: Bells and Nikki are back in this sizzling follow-up to Apocalypse Dance. It’s Valentines Day and Bells has forgotten to give his Mistress a gift. How will Queen Nikki punish him, and how much will the Immortal enjoy it?

Penny Ash -  www.pucasforest.com Blurb for Caesar’s Love: Laurentius Caesar has everything a man could want: power, prestige, and the admiration of all. He lacks only love, and his hopes for such are amended on meeting one of his house slaves, Auriel. Having known only the life of a servant, Auriel is surprised with her new role as Caesar’s lover. Is Laurentius’ love strong enough to erase their differences?

Victoria Blisse - http://www.victoriablisse.co.uk/ Blurb for “Getting Physical”: Terri never expected to find herself a member of a gym.  Just because she made a small change in her diet and lost a few pounds, Terri’s mother decided to reward her with a gym membership for Christmas. Terri was not at all thrilled with the gift. However, to pacify her mother, she decided to at least give the gym a try. The idea of being compared to all those svelte women at the gym caused Terri’s stomach to churn.  The one redeeming quality of the gym is the gorgeous hunk on the bike that Terri spies while she is using the rowing machine.

John has been teased his whole life for being tall and lanky.  John’s personal life is non-existent but that is okay with him because he has his work and the gym. John is content with his life until the day he observes the lovely new gym member with the sexy and voluptuous curves. Would a goddess like Terri ever desire a bean-pole like him?

Rob Graham - http://www.phaze.com/authors-robgraham.htm Blurb for “Discovery”: John is a torn man. He has a dominant personality, finds the idea of having another in his power exciting and arousing. But his experiences of power have made him wary of this. He recognizes that power can be a dangerous thing, both to himself and others.

He begins to explore the BDSM lifestyle. His good friend, Marie, helps him, teaches him that the life is as much about joy as power. When John makes a final decision Marie matches him with a woman, Ariel, a sweet submissive perfect for him.

Discovery is the story of John’s journey from torn man to confident Master.

Yeva Wiest - http://www.myspace.com/yevawiest
Blurb for “Paybacks are Hell”:

What happens when cool conniving boss, Lisa LaCour, double-crosses the wrong employee?  A funny, quirky plan evolves to seduce the boss’s daughter and to expose Lisa for the evil bitch she really is.  Fun and sexy, this lesbian love story makes one laugh and gasp, as our heroine finds out revenge can be seductive, and our villain learns that paybacks are hell.

Eden Bradley - http://www.EdenBradleyErotica.com
Blurb for “Breaking Skye”: Skye Ballard has always wanted to experience her fantasies of sexual submission. She craves to be commanded, taken over. She is convinced that all it will take to purge this yearning from her system is one night. Skye searches out the perfect Dominant for the job-it must be a man who is powerful, attractive, and naturally dominant. But when she meets Adam Dunne, she finds a man beyond her wildest dreams. Adam convinces her one night will not be enough for what he sees as a process, rather than a single experience. Skye soon discovers that being with him only makes her crave more. And while he begins with the idea of training her to be the perfect submissive-for someone else-soon all he can think of is making her his, making her yield. All he can think of is breaking Skye-and keeping her for himself.

This is just a quick warning to all you romance writers out there: Be careful when signing with a publishing house.

There are liars out there that will promise to put your beloved story in print and then come up with flimsy excuses, secret pre-order requirements and outrageous sales guarantees that will dash your hopes, usually after you have spent your hard earned promo money.

Here’s some advice for writers: 

1. Talk to SEVERAL authors at a house before you sign a contract. Ask the tough questions (Are you paid on time? Do they keep their promises? Do they abide by their contracts?). Listen carefully to the answers. If the authors aren’t EXCITED to talk with you, run away FAST.

2. Read the contract carefully, VERY carefully. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of examining that document like a lawyer. You have worked hard on your work, protect it. Hire a lawyer if you can afford it.

3. Get it in WRITING. Stories of false promises and folks without contracts are legion. If they won’t put it in writing, don’t agree to the deal.

4. If you get stung, use the Romance Writers of America to report the abuse. Many of you are members of the RWA. Document how you were wronged and send it to them. It’s an effective way to let fellow writers know so they will not fall into the same situation.

You may have gathered this warning is aimed at a particular publishing house where the excrement has just encountered the ventilation device. Ask around, there are some VERY angry romance writers out there right now. Don’t sign with that house. The same thing will happen to you.

There are many excellent houses out there. With a little research, you will find one to help you reach your writing dreams.

writing

romance-writing

Join the romance authors of Phaze Books for their monthly chat at Realms of Love. This month Phaze is pulling out all the stops with hot new romance releases. Join Mychael Black, Shayne Carmichael, Jade Falconer, L.E. Bryce and James Buchanan as they talk about their romance books, writing tips, eBook publishing and more.

James Buchanan  has Twice the Cowboy releasing October 15th. It got 5 Kisses from Two Lips Reviews. Frost had a bit of a melt down after reading this one.

Jade Falconer released Morningstar October 9th. In a future where the human race struggles to survive, the only elite are the hunters laying their lives on the line every night to defend their own kind against the undead predators. Just in time for Halloween.

Mychael Black and Shayne Carmichael have a ”Kitten“ on October 15th. These two calls this an unashamedly gay romance.

L.E. Bryce’s  Dead to the World comes out October 22. LE phone home. We need to know more about you!

Join us at Realms of Love Monday, October 16 for a fun, informative chat with these hot romance authors from Phaze Books.  Be sure to sign up for the free registration before the chat!

The Manlove Authors page is a list of erotic romance authors that specialize in what is often referred to as m/m or slash romantic fiction.

Here’s what Laura Baumbach, the owner of the site has to say:

This Manlove Authors Site is a directory of M/M authors. We have created this site as a service to the many M/M fiction authors as a way for potential readers to locate authors.

If you are a true M/M author (not just a tiny side M/M relationships or M/M/F menages to slip in the trendy gay character in your stories), and are interested in joining the directory, email me at manloveauthors@arkwolf.com.

Laura Baumbach

Some noteworthy authors listed on the site include Laura Baumbach herself,  Lena Austin and JM Snyder.

JM Snyder’s gay romance Trin, can be downloaded now at Aspen Mountain Press.

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