Category Archives: Business of Writing

A rant about ebook piracy wherein I channel my inner Lewis Black

Book with pirates flag(ATTENTION: There will be a great deal of profanity in this post. You have been warned.)

Well, fuck me. I did my usual check for reviews this morning and stumbled across a pirate site called readpremiumbooks dot com that has Empress of Storms.

612 downloads. Allow me to repeat that — SIX HUNDRED AND TWELVE DOWNLOADS. And that’s just from this one site. That’s $1,709.32 that I lost, assuming that people would have bought it through Amazon. That would’ve been enough to pay our bills this month and have cash left over for Christmas presents (and things are really goddamned tight around Castle Cameron right now).

And you wonder why I despise pirates. Not all of us are bestselling authors who can blow off piracy as a left-handed form of promotion. For some of us that income means paying the bills, or the mortgage, or picking up necessary medicine. But apparently people think I don’t need that money — hey, I’m a writer, I must be rolling in it, I won’t notice one pirated copy.

Surprise, motherfucker. I notice. So do my creditors. And I can’t even send these RPE fuckers a DMCA takedown because they advertise themselves as an “external affiliate” who cannot guarantee the presence of a particular file because they draw from third-party sites.

But losing income actually isn’t the most irritating thing about this. Want to know what’s really chapping my ‘nads? EoS has 41 fucking reviews on this site, all of which appear to be five stars. I can’t get people to leave me reviews on Amazon, but pirate sites? No problem. Goddamn it, I offered the book FOR FREE if people would just leave an honest review in return. Not one nibble did I get. But they’ll go to a pirate site that could be loading their ereaders with Cthulhu knows what sort of malware to get reading material AND LEAVE REVIEWS THERE.

And people wonder why I drink.

I’m big in the UK

So I’ve been checking my Kindle Direct Publishing dashboard, as you do when you’re a nervous self-pubbing author. While I was there I noticed an upwards swing in sales for Empress of Storms today, which is awesome because money around the holidays is always a good thing.

And then I dug into the stats a bit deeper. It seems that the bulk of the recent sales have come from amazon.co.uk. This pleases me as Ramón is in fact an Englishman and it’s nice to know that some of his countrymen (or women, as the case may be) are digging my work. So if any of you lovely British bookbuyers are reading this, thank you and please spread the word to your friends. I wouldn’t mind becoming a smash hit in the UK at all, especially if I could whomp up the funding for a book tour.

Keep all sharp objects away from my reality bubble. I’m allowed to dream.

Meanwhile, NovelRank is reporting that I have sold absolutely nothing in December and my only sales have been within the US. So bugger to you and your bizarre sales determining algorithm, NovelRank.

Empress of Storms 25% off at ARe! @allromance #cybermonday #sale

Empress-of-stormsBanner03I’m still running that 25% off sale on Empress of Storms at All Romance eBooks, so if you haven’t picked up a copy yet you should go and do it now! For everyone who has already purchased a copy, thank you SO much. Your interest in my first foray into high fantasy erotic romance is truly appreciated.

Now that the holidays are winding down, however, could I ask you a huge favor? I really, really, REALLY need reviews for the book, ideally on Amazon but I won’t say no to Goodreads, B&N, or any other online retailers. I’ve reached the point where my social media self-promo is getting a little redundant and I don’t want to annoy people with repeated ads. I’ve purchased advertising on various sites, but right now reviews are desperately needed to promote the book, bump it up in Amazon rankings and pull in new sales.

Also, as I’ve mentioned before if you’re stony broke and just can’t afford an ebook right now, contact me with your preferred ebook format and I’ll send you a copy. All I ask is that you leave an honest review for me — and yeah, if you read it and absolutely hate it, then go ahead and say that. I know Empress isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and I’d rather have someone saying, “Yeah, sorry, this bites” than someone blowing smoke up my ass.

Okay, back to work!

Evernight Readers’ Choice Awards Nominations @evernightpub

EvernightRCA

Hey folks, it’s that time of year again. The 2015 Evernight Readers’ Choice Awards Nominations are now open! Here are the dates you need to know when participating:

Reader Nominations:  Monday, Nov. 9th – 18th
Voting:  Nov. 21st – 30th
Winners announced first week of December

Only Evernight books published between Nov 1, 2014 – Oct. 31 2015 are eligible.

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My Eligible Series and Books Are:
Links below go to those pages on this site (a new tab will open)

Olympic Cove (Books 2-3)

Breaker Zone
(Heroes: Dr. Nick Gardiner, Aidan, and Liam) Paranormal, Menage, BDSM, Gay, Fantasy, Erotic

Deep Water
(Heroes and Heroine: Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Griffin Moore) Paranormal, Menage, Gay, Fantasy, Erotic, Shifters/Vampires

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Don’t forget to add your name and email at the end of the form to enter for the chance to win a $25 Evernight GC.

VOTING LINK:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GHVTTGH

Quick question about a newsletter

Namely, would any of you be interested in a VERY low-traffic newsletter from me where I ping you maybe once a month about new releases, progress reports on WIPs, teaser chapters, amusing pictures of my cats, etc. Please respond wherever you read this or in the comments on my blog — if there’s enough interest I’ll put it together.

WOOHOO! Happy 5th Birthday, Evernight Publishing!

5thBDayBlogHopThanks to readers like you, Evernight Publishing has grown by leaps and bounds in five years so they’re pulling out all the stops and throwing an extreme BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BLOG HOP in your honor!

That’s right! It’s Evernight’s birthday but YOU get the presents…

Prizes include:

• Apple Watch Sport
• NEW Kindle Paperwhite
• Fitbit Flex
• Evernight, Amazon, and ARe Gift Certificates

Plus, each author on the hop will offer his/her own special prize!

I personally want to wish Evernight Publishing a wonderful and very happy fifth birthday, and a huge thank you for taking a chance on me and publishing what is turning into the fantasy erotic romance equivalent of Harry Potter (I swear, Storm Season was supposed to be short and sweet. Next thing I know, I have a six-book epic series in progress. I ask you).

Speaking of my books with Evernight, here’s a look at my first Evernight title and my latest release in said epic series:

ABBM_smFirst Evernight Release: A Boon by Moonlight (Romance on the Go)

Ex-Marine Zach Mayhew is willing to do anything for his dying grandmother, even find a fairy ring and beg that she be allowed to spend her last days in Faerie.

But when a gorgeous Sidhe noble demands a night in his bed in return, Zach learns that a boon asked by moonlight can have unexpected consequences for his heart.

“You’re wearing entirely too many clothes,” Jerrek said, rubbing his naked groin against Zach’s still clothed one. “Take them off at once.”

Zach couldn’t help grinning at the order. “Are you always this bossy?”

“I prefer to think of it as authoritative. What part of ‘sidhe lord’ didn’t you grasp?”

Evernight | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | All Romance Ebooks | Bookstrand | Kobo | Smashwords | iTunes

DeepWaterLatest Evernight Release: Deep Water (Olympic Cove Book 3)

Poseidon, God of the Sea, has spent millennia alone due to a single terrible act. His consort Amphitrite has sworn never to forgive him, and he’s forced to live with the knowledge that he drove an innocent girl to her doom.

But when one of the Olympic Cove cottages gets an occupant with an all-too-familiar soul, Poseidon discovers that the Fates have given him a second chance. Now he must try to right the wrongs of the past and win back both his beloved consort and the mate he betrayed.

Assuming, of course, that the Mad Nereid Thetis doesn’t interfere…

“I’ll be quite honest with you—I’m exceedingly rich,” Poseidon said. “I don’t know how to cook because I have people to do that for me. My wealth gives me the great luxury of doing what I choose to do. And I choose to protect what I love as best I can against the degradation of mankind.”

“Oh, great,” Griffin sighed. “You’re Batman.”

Evernight | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand | Kobo | Smashwords | iTunes

In addition to all the nifty prizes from Evernight, I’m also offering a personal blog prize of a $25 Amazon gift certificate. To enter, just leave a comment here and tell me about your dream birthday (all-expenses-paid spa day? Cruising in the Bahamas? Dinner and birthday cake with Michael Fassbender? Eating birthday cake off Michael Fassbender? Go wild).

And if that’s not enough, it’s a great time for an Evernight shopping spree because all Evernight titles are 25% off through October 9th at AllRomance eBooks!

AReSale

Click here and enter to win the Grand Prizes using Rafflecopter! And once you’re done with that, hop on over to the next blog!

Breaker Zone Blog Tour

My blog tour for Breaker Zone has now commenced! It’s scheduled to run from January 12-23, and you have well over TEN chances to enter and win a $50 Amazon gift certificate! Think of all that money for new books — how can you resist?

Here’s the schedule for the tour — go, enter, comment:

1/12

1/13

1/14

1/15

1/16

1/19

1/20

1/21

1/22

1/23

Okay, back to work

getlitThis week is the first official work week of 2015, and I’m happy to report that I did 3,000 words on Deep Water today with a goal of turning it in this month to Evernight. Granted, I have no idea if anything I wrote today is useful, seeing as  the local flora are having enthusiastic sex despite the low temps and my eyes are actively trying to crawl out of my head and hide until all the pollen settles. But hey, that’s life in the clavicle of Texas. Achoo!

I also picked two winners for my Evernight Holiday Hangover Blog Hop Contest — Kaylyn D won an Amazon gift certificate and my Planet Alpha book Assassin, and Kev won my Dougal the merman doll (which works out very well as he’s quite the merman figurine collector). Thanks to everyone who participated in the hop, and best of luck with the grand prize!

As for me, I’m off to start an antihistamine IV. Whee…

Guess what I did this morning?

saleEveryone who liked my Breaker Zone MWT snippets is about to be very happy because — ta-da — I signed the publishing contract with Evernight this morning! Breaker Zone should be coming out either in late November or early December, and I cannot wait to see the cover art and make the trailer for this one.

Of course, that also means that I need to get cracking on Olympic Cove 3 because waiting eighteen months between books is not fun (I mean, who do I think I am, George R.R. Martin?). Right now the working title is Deep Water, and this one will be a little different in that it’s going to be a MMF story.

MM lovers, come back! There’s going to be plenty of hot man-on-man action for you, I promise. The initial pairing will be Poseidon (I TOLD you he was going to get his own book) and a gruff British oceanographer named Griffin Parkes who wants to spend a peaceful week at Olympic Cove before going into hospice care for his terminal cancer. But the God of the Ocean isn’t giving up that easily, especially when he recognizes Griffin as the long-lost agapetos of himself and his consort Amphitrite. Now, Poseidon must seduce a quite straight Griffin in order to save his life, then figure out how to bring Amphitrite back into their triad.

Can a still-grieving Amphitrite forgive Poseidon for the ancient betrayal that destroyed their marriage? Will the blunt, pragmatic Griffin be able to accept not only a male lover, but the fact that he’s a mythological figure reborn? Will Poseidon be able to bring the two loves of his life back together, or is he destined to lose Griffin and Amphitrite yet again? And what plans does Thetis have for this triad? And gads, how are Bythos and Aphros going to react to the idea of their parents, you know, doing it?

Only time will tell, mwahahahahaha. (And I can see Ceit staring at the screen and screaming, “WHAT? You, I, buh, WHAT?” Don’t worry, sweetie, I already have you down as one of the betas.)

Well, I’m back (and with good news!)

So there I was, sitting in my hotel room in London (Ramón and I were attending the World Science Fiction Convention, long story) when I decided to get online and check my email. Lo and behold, an acceptance email for my Planet Alpha story appeared!

The current release date is sometime in October, and the acquiring editor decided that Assassin was an appropriate title in honor of my delightfully sarcastic Xyran assassin Zhan. If you’ve been following my Mid Week Teases for this story, you’ll soon be able to read the whole thing. Here’s the blurb I just submitted with my cover art sheet — can’t wait to see what Sour Cherry Designs comes up with for this one.

A routine wilderness patrol goes horribly wrong when Sergeant Deacon Shea and his patrol partner are ambushed by scavengers. After a firefight leaves his partner dead and their vehicle destroyed, Deacon is forced to hike out of the mountains alone. Stumbling across a grounded Alphan shuttle, he thinks he’s found a ride home with the Alphan warrior Taric and his Xyran associate Zhan. The handsome aliens, however, have other plans for Deacon — to make him their mate.

Forced to hide their bond from their respective governments, Taric and Zhan never expected to find their third bondmate on Earth, and definitely not in the middle of an unauthorized mission to stop a vicious Xyran slavemaster. Neither of them can resist the urge to claim Deacon, but will their new mate help them catch their old foe, or turn them over to Earth — and Alphan — justice?