Ryan Field's Blog, page 518

My Ravenousromance Titles on Sale @allromanceebooks

They are having a huge sale on all my ravenous romance books over at allromanceebooks.com.

Why do I love allromanceebooks.com? Not just because my books are on sale there. I love them as a reader because they give what I think is some of the best product info for e-books on the web. If you haven't shopped there before, please take the time to check them out whether you buy one of my books or not.

The titles on sale that are mine are clearly marked. And from what I've seen it's a 50% off sale. You can get there from here by clicking this link. Then you can click my name and a list of my titles will come up.

Bump It With a Trumpet

Working On An Interesting Contest for My Next Release...

With the release of my upcoming book, FOUR GAY WEDDINGS, I've decided to do a contest here on the blog.

This won't be like other contests you've seen. I'm not going to make you hop from one blog to the next and I'm not going to make it ridiculously complicated. In fact, there won't be anything cute and fuzzy and warm about it.

It's going to be a contest where ten readers will be eligible to win one free e-book each. There will be no deadlines and I will keep this discreet. In other words, all you anons are more than welcome to participate. Reading and writing erotica is all about good taste and discretion and I want you to know that I respect (value) your privacy more than you'll ever know!!

I'm still working on the details. I promise, this has nothing to do with "Black Friday" hype and there will only be one small catch. The catch, if you can call it that, will be that you have to read my new release, FOUR GAY WEDDINGS in order to be in the contest. But that's it. I'm not going to make you hop all over the interwebs on a wild goose chase.

Stay tuned for more information, because I'm still working on the details. As soon as Four Weddings is released, I will put this into action. And if it works, I'll do it with every new release.

Some Thanksgiving Advice about Web Presence and Web Sites for Authors...

I wasn't going to post again this soon. But then I read a blog post that was handing out advice to other authors about web sites and web presence and I figured that since I've never actually written a post like this, I'd do it right now.

If you are a new author and you are trying to establish a web presence you are going to hear all kinds of advice from people who think they know it all.

But do what is best for you, and think like a business person would think, which means having a strong grasp on reality, not vanity. Especially you guys out there with student loans that have to be paid off. I don't envy you.

The good thing is you don't really have to spend a dime to gain web presence these days, especially with social media. This is wonderful. How much better can it get for an author? Google blogs/web sites are free. You can gain web presence just as easily by using google blogger as you can by paying for an expensive, professional web site.

Now, if you truly want to spend the money on an elaborate web site and you're not looking for a return on your investment anytime soon, have a blast. Hire the best designer and go for it all. That's your decision and your choice. I'm just letting you new struggling authors know you don't have to spend a dime to gain a web presence, and you should probably stay away from people who tell you that you should.

My good friend, a NY literary agent for over 40 years, once gave me a wise piece of advice I never forgot: "Part of the secret of having money is learning how to hold on to it." And I couldn't agree with him more.

Black Friday Weekend Promotion at Allromanceebooks.com...

First, I'd like to wish everyone in the US a Happy Thanksgiving. Second, I'd like to let everyone everywhere know about a "Black Friday Weekend Promotion" going on over at Allromanceebooks.com this coming weekend. Among the books on sale will be my best selling amazon m/m romance, The Virgin Billionaire.

For those who don't know what "Black Friday" is, this is the time of year millions of people in the US scramble to malls, shopping centers, and anywhere goods and chattels are sold to begin the Christmas shopping season. And I think it's nice of Allromanceebooks to offer this promotion, especially for people like me who wouldn't be caught dead out shopping on Black Friday or anytime that weekend. I'd much rather stay in and read a good book I found on sale.

I'm honestly not sure how this sale at ARe is working. But I do have a list of ravenousromance.com books that will be listed on sale this weekend, as follows:


SEX TOY STORIES Anthology, edited by Lori Perkins
THE NAUGHTY ANGEL AND HER THREE VERY WISE MEN by Trinity Blacio
THE VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE by Ryan Field
HARD WOOD, SOFT HEART by Chloe Stowe
WHAT THIS WOLF WANTS by Jennifer Dellerman
THE SEDUCTION OF A PROPER LADY by Kristabel Reed
SECRET FLAMES by Adam Carpenter
THE VAMPIRE, THE WITCH, AND THE WEREWOLF by Louisa Bacio
MAGIC UNIVERSITY: THE POET AND THE PROPHECY by Cecilia Tan
PASSIONATELY EVER AFTER by Rachel Kenley
THREE'S A CHARM Anthology, edited by Lori Perkins
THE PRINCESS'S BRIDE by KT Grant

Have a very safe weekend, too.

Random House Does Christmas Promo...

I'm posting about this because I think it's interesting for a couple of reasons. I'll get into them in a second. But first I do think it's nice that Random House is doing something for people who are still reading print books. I know a few people who refuse to embrace digital reading and any time a publisher offers an incentive of any kind I'm thrilled for readers.

I read about this in GALLEYCAT, a blog I frequent often.

"This may be the year of the eBook tablet, but Random House doesn't want shoppers to forget about physical books in physical stores. To prove its loyalty to booksellers, the publisher is running a special promotion this holiday season to make sure that is books are in bookstores quickly."

I think this is a wonderful idea. But I also find it interesting, considering I just wrote this post about my new tablet earlier this week. Frankly, all I'm seeing are ads for tablets everywhere I look. I even see them being sold in generic drugstores these days. So I'm not quite sure why Random house isn't offering some kind of huge discount on digital books, too. Maybe they are and I missed it? All I know is the e-books I've seen being offered by large publishers range 9.99 and up in price, and I refuse to pay those prices.Like I said, it's interesting. And I consider myself an objective observer on subjects like this. It's hard to think otherwise when you're a writer and your main concern is that people who like to read get the books at the prices they want...digital or print. I love Random House as much as I love the smallest press that publishes only digital books.

""2-Day Transit," lets indie booksellers order books for their stores with two-day shipping throughout the holiday season. It will work for any Random House title, be it frontlist or backlist."

I also find this post interesting because I've read a lot about whether or not the word "Indie" works for those getting into self-publishing. I know many authors who have self-published books and they refer to themselves as "Indie" authors. But in this post, "Indie" is clearly being used as a name/reference for small "independent" book sellers...which is the way the word has always been used in publishing for as long as I can remember. But that's changed. And again, I find this interesting and I'm not commenting on it one way or another. The one thing I will comment on is that I find the division between print publishers like Random House and all the new authors (and readers) embracing digital books and self-publishing extremely evident in a passive aggressive way...on both sides.

"The publisher explained how it will work in a press release: Orders received in our system by 3:00 p.m. EST will leave the warehouse no later than the next business day, and ship door-to-door in two days or less from the company's Westminster and Crawfordsville distribution centers to independent booksellers throughout the country." The effort runs from now through January 12th."

I wish Random House well with this promotion. I hope readers who prefer print books and those "Indie" bookshops that need business have an excellent holiday season. Of course no one felt bad when video stores started going out of business. We all just accepted the end of video stores as a fact of life and there was very little emotion shown. It was considered inevitable; it was technology. But it's different with "Indie" bookshops for some reason.

All I know is I'm thrilled with my two Kobo e-readers and my new Nextbook tablet. In the past two years, since I started reading digital books, I haven't picked up a print book once. My shopping habits have changed, too. I buy more books; I spend more money. And I'll be looking forward to the Black Friday weekend promotion happening over at Allromanceebooks.com, which I'll post about very soon.

Cover Preview for Upcoming Release: Four Gay Weddings

Here's the cover preview for my upcoming release with ravenous romance, FOUR GAY WEDDINGS. I'll post more about it, as usual, and give unpublished excerpts.

Here's the back cover copy. I'm actually thinking of doing a contest with this book and I still have to work out the details. I'll post about this more, too.

When the state of New York legalizes same sex marriage, Neil Sparks and his close circle of friends wind up with more invitations to queer weddings than they'd bargained for. And it's during one of these weddings where Neil meets the perfect man, Andre Lefevre.

Andre is French, with a romantic accent and a killer body. He always says and does the right things and he fills Neil with emotion in ways he's never known. But Neil isn't ready for marriage. And though Neil is honest with Andre, Andre doesn't take him seriously.

As a teacher for the hearing impaired, Neil's life is full and rich. He loves his friends and he's never without a good looking date. But something is missing. And when he runs into Andre at another wedding and realizes how happy he is to see him again, he only winds up devastated to learn that Andre is engaged to be married to an older, wealthier man.

This is when Neil winds up getting accidentally involved with his twenty year old neighbor, Tom Middleton, a guy who is just as interested in politics as he is in shooting hoops with his horny college buddies. Neil settles into a nice, quiet relationship for the first time in his life, sometimes wondering about what might have been with Andre.

After two life-altering events, Neil winds up doing something he never would have imagined a year earlier. And it's not until the very end when he realizes the true meaning of the phrase happily-ever-after.

Dialogue Tags With Adverbs: No-No

I see bad dialogue tags all the time in excerpts of published books and I cringe. It really is the perfect example of how readers can tell by the first five pages whether or not they want to buy and read a book. It's been said, not be me, that it's not possible to describe great writing...but it's very simple to spot amateur writing.

I've talked about said bookisms here on the blog before. Though I can't find the link, I've talked about how confusing it can be to readers when there are no dialogue tags at all.

And now I'm referring you to a blog post written by a published author, Nathan Bransford, who makes the point so well about adverbs in dialogue tags I'm not going to bother adding anything but the example below...taken verbatim from his blog so he gets full and absolute credit...and a link the entire post. I've read his book and I know he knows what he's talking about.

Sometimes adverbs can't be avoided...although I've been known to write entire novels without them at all. In my last edit for, FOUR GAY WEDDINGS, which will be released soon, the editor added the word "knowingly" and it's still bothering me. I let her get away with it this time because it wasn't part of a dialogue tag and I was having a great day. But, for some reason, I don't think there is anything that gets me more than "ingly" words. I absoultely despise them. And since it's been bothering me so much I will not let this happen again.

Anyway, below is a satirical example of dialogue tags and adverbs by Mr. Bransford, in bold print. For those doing NaNoWriMo right now, you might want to take advantage of his entire post.

Adverb Central:
"What do you mean I can't use adverbs with dialogue tags?" Lucia asked questioningly.
"Just don't do it," Nathan replied testily.
"But why not?" Lucia asked quizzically.
"It's kind of a rule," Nathan said resignedly.
"I kind of like them," Lucia said poutingly.
"If you keep using adverbs," Nathan said patiently, "Pretty soon your reader will only notice the adverbs and not the dialogue because the adverbs are doing all the work for the reader."
"Oh," Lucia said understandingly.
"Yeah," Nathan nodded knowingly.

Nextbook Premium 8...

I've posted about how much I love my Kobo e-readers more than once. I have the one with e-ink and the Kobo Lookbook. I love both, and I use both for different reasons at different times. The one with e-ink is easy to slip into a bag and take to the doctor's office or anywhere I have to wait for a long time. The Lookbook is a little bigger, but not heavy, and I like to read at home on that one. Both are simple to use when it comes to downloading e-books and I'm a huge fan of Kobo's web site.

But I wanted a tablet. And I didn't want to spend what Apple is charging for the iPad...I have an iPhone, which I like, but I've never been completely sold on the concept that Apple is the be all and end all of all computers. I just didn't drink the Kool Aide...that time. And I've seen my mother's iPad and iPads that belong to friends. I like them. But again, I'm not willing to spend that kind of money for status reasons.

In the same respect, I've been looking for a tablet that will do almost everything the iPad does. And they are out there. It's not something I'm going to use too often, and I tend to be conservative when it comes to spending money on items I want more than I need.

So I checked out the Nextbook Premium 8 tablet in a few places, and fell in love with it. I've had it for a few weeks now and I don't have any major complaints. The one big complaint would be that I find the keyboard a little difficult to navigate. But that's probably more about my skills than a reflection on the actual tablet. The reading experience is also good. But I will warn people who have never owned an e-reader and are thinking about getting one: if you're just looking for a device that will let you read e-books, go for the Kobo or something like it in the beginning. You don't need a tablet to read e-books. In fact, I find that the tablet is distracting when it comes to the overall reading experience.

In other words, speaking as someone who is not a techie and only wants to push a button to read an e-book, I would highly recommend the Nextbook Premium 8 to anyone looking for a tablet who doesn't want to pay Apple's prices. But I still go back to my dedicated e-reader to get the full impact of the personal, relaxing reading experience I have always cherished.

Another Facebook First...

Just when I think I've seen it all, something else pops up.

An author on facebook asked his "fans and supporters" to change their profile pics to the cover of his new book release.

Mabey I have it all wrong, but I think that is a bit presumptuous. I love certain books. I have read every Anne Tyler book there is. BUT her book covers are not going to be my profile pic.

I am all for promotion and always willing to lend a hand to someone else. But some things just cross that invisible line. And asking facebook friends to change their profile pics to one of my book covers would be where the line is drawn.

Like I said, maybe I'm wrong about this. But I do think if one person takes it the wrong way, so will others.