Ryan Field's Blog, page 554
June 3, 2011
Book Review for ALL ABOUT YVES...Reviews with Personalities, Bookcovers.com
I'd like to thank the folks over at bookcovers.com for giving ALL ABOUT YVES such a nice review, especially Daisiemae, the reviewer. I would have done this sooner, only I hadn't heard about it yet.
Here's the link. And check out their other reviews, too. It's a very neat, clean web site, and simple to navigate. This is one of my main objectives when I'm surfing the net for fast book reviews and ratings.
Product Info: The Virgin Billionaire and the Evil Twin
Here's product info for The Virgin Billionaire and the Evil Twin. I wanted to borrow the info from fictionwise because I like their product descriptions the most when I'm shopping for books. But this one from ARe (allromanceebooks.com) is just as good.
I'm not going to do this with all the back-listed books, but I will do this from now on with all new releases.
Here's a link to ARe, and if there are any questions about this book or any other, e-mail me or send me a pm on FB.
The Virgin Billionaire and the Evil Twin
Series: The Virgin Billionaire , Book 5
By: Ryan Field Other books by Ryan Field
Published By: Ravenous Romance
Published: May 31, 2011
ISBN # 9781607774112
Word Count: 56,540
Heat Index Price: $6.99
Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Mobipocket (.prc), Epub
Categories: Erotica Gay Contemporary
Description
When Luis Fortune's identical twin brother pays him a surprise visit after being estranged for more than ten years, Luis isn't prepared for the shock. Luis slips right back into the dangerous, competitive pattern that's always defined their relationship and laughs at his twin brother's bleached hair, his shabby clothes, and his new name, Gage Weston. Luis rolls his eyes when he finds out Gage has been living in Brooklyn for the last five years and working as a male stripper in The Village. In fact, Luis is so bitter he never even bothered to tell his husband, Jase, he had an identical twin brother.
And Gage is still angry about something that Luis did to him more than a decade ago that involved a man named Snake, and he isn't shy about letting Luis know he hasn't forgiven him. And Gage has never forgiven Luis for leaving him alone in Tennessee to take care of their aging, overly religious parents. This, Gage believes, set the course for his life, causing him to wind up a male stripper living in a low-rent studio apartment over a grocery store in Brooklyn, struggling to survive and dating a closeted New York City cop with whom Gage knows he will never be able to have a real relationship.
After a heated exchange, Gage walks out on Luis, vowing never to see him again. And then Gage experiences a series of life altering events that leave him devastated. So he comes up with a plan to get even with his spoiled twin brother and pay him back for all the heartache he's caused in the past. A plan that involves kidnapping Luis and locking him up in a room that was once a soundproof sex chamber, so Gage can assume Luis's identity and find out what it's like to be married to The Virgin Billionaire and have anything he wants.
But it's not as easy as Gage thinks it will be to take over his twin brother's life. Along the way, Gage meets someone very special he never intended to meet and winds up falling in love for the first time. And when Gage sees how his twin brother's life has really turned out with The Virgin Billionaire, it's not at all as he'd expected it would be.
Does Gage really hate his identical twin brother, Luis, enough to ruin Luis's happiness and assume his identity forever? Will Luis be able to survive being locked up all alone in a sex chamber with nothing but fattening foods, discount store clothing, and bad music? And will Gage ever be able to put the past aside and come to terms with Luis as an adult so Gage can pull his life together and focus on the man he truly loves?
I'm not going to do this with all the back-listed books, but I will do this from now on with all new releases.
Here's a link to ARe, and if there are any questions about this book or any other, e-mail me or send me a pm on FB.
The Virgin Billionaire and the Evil Twin
Series: The Virgin Billionaire , Book 5
By: Ryan Field Other books by Ryan Field
Published By: Ravenous Romance
Published: May 31, 2011
ISBN # 9781607774112
Word Count: 56,540
Heat Index Price: $6.99
Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Mobipocket (.prc), Epub
Categories: Erotica Gay Contemporary
Description
When Luis Fortune's identical twin brother pays him a surprise visit after being estranged for more than ten years, Luis isn't prepared for the shock. Luis slips right back into the dangerous, competitive pattern that's always defined their relationship and laughs at his twin brother's bleached hair, his shabby clothes, and his new name, Gage Weston. Luis rolls his eyes when he finds out Gage has been living in Brooklyn for the last five years and working as a male stripper in The Village. In fact, Luis is so bitter he never even bothered to tell his husband, Jase, he had an identical twin brother.
And Gage is still angry about something that Luis did to him more than a decade ago that involved a man named Snake, and he isn't shy about letting Luis know he hasn't forgiven him. And Gage has never forgiven Luis for leaving him alone in Tennessee to take care of their aging, overly religious parents. This, Gage believes, set the course for his life, causing him to wind up a male stripper living in a low-rent studio apartment over a grocery store in Brooklyn, struggling to survive and dating a closeted New York City cop with whom Gage knows he will never be able to have a real relationship.
After a heated exchange, Gage walks out on Luis, vowing never to see him again. And then Gage experiences a series of life altering events that leave him devastated. So he comes up with a plan to get even with his spoiled twin brother and pay him back for all the heartache he's caused in the past. A plan that involves kidnapping Luis and locking him up in a room that was once a soundproof sex chamber, so Gage can assume Luis's identity and find out what it's like to be married to The Virgin Billionaire and have anything he wants.
But it's not as easy as Gage thinks it will be to take over his twin brother's life. Along the way, Gage meets someone very special he never intended to meet and winds up falling in love for the first time. And when Gage sees how his twin brother's life has really turned out with The Virgin Billionaire, it's not at all as he'd expected it would be.
Does Gage really hate his identical twin brother, Luis, enough to ruin Luis's happiness and assume his identity forever? Will Luis be able to survive being locked up all alone in a sex chamber with nothing but fattening foods, discount store clothing, and bad music? And will Gage ever be able to put the past aside and come to terms with Luis as an adult so Gage can pull his life together and focus on the man he truly loves?
June 2, 2011
Product Information: BABYCAKES
I promised I was going to start posting product information in more detail earlier this week and I'm sticking to it.
For those of you who don't normally read author blogs and web sites, and don't search the internet looking for product information, God help you. Because when I'm shopping for books on my Kobo e-reader the best product information I get is a half-assed description and the price. I don't find things any easier at Amazon either. Over at Amazon they seem to assume I know what file size is, and what a "KB" is. Not only do I not know what these things are, I don't want to know. I only want to get into my car and start the engine. I don't care about what makes it work.
The release date for my new short story e-book, Babycakes, is set for June 10, and the information below was taken directly from the publisher web site. I don't see how it could be more detailed than this. It not only has the word count, but also the number of pages. But if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to either comment or send me an e-mail.
You can also read a long excerpt if you check out the link above.
Babycakes - Ryan Field
One cute American tourist who loves men, three aggressive male tour guides, and the Australian vacation of a lifetime.
Blurb:
Although adorable Nate has missed out on a lot of fun because he's been dealing with his ailing mother and his demanding job most of his life, he finally gets a chance to enjoy himself. After his mother passes away, he books a trip to one of the oldest rainforests on the planet in Australia and he meets a very interesting young man in sexy short pants his first day there. The young man talks Nate into booking a private tour of the Daintree Forest, and then he promises Nate it will be a tour he'll never forget. The next day when Nate meets the young man outside his hotel and Nate sees there are two more attractive young male tour guides going along with them, Nate isn't sure what to expect. But he finds out soon enough when they take him to a dark, secluded section of the forest, ask him if he likes bananas, and then show him what three big strong Australian men are all about.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ebook ID: 5043_1044
lyd Category: His and His Kisses
Length: 36 pdf Pages / 5341 words
Rating: 4
Formats Available: pdf, prc, lit, zipped html,
lrf, epub, RB,
Ebook Cover Price: $2.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weiner Photo In These Days of the Internet
Well.
I can't post the photo here because I keep the blog pg-rated and I think this particular photo...whether it is Weiner or not...is more along the lines of r-rated. And even if I could post it, I wouldn't. No one knows if it's really Weiner or not. If you want to see it, you can google it; there are screen shots all over the net.
But there's a lot about this story I don't understand. I'm not going to get into all the things I don't understand because I don't like seeing anyone's personal life put on display this way. I didn't like it when it happened to President Clinton and I don't like it now. I do believe in the phrase "too much information."
In these days of the Internet, where nothing is private anymore, we all have to be careful what we say and do. This past week I read two different things on publishing blogs that blew me away. I couldn't believe anyone would say these things in public. They were strong comments...some would call one comment in particular an accusation with legal ramifications...and I wouldn't have done it.
Anything you say, do, or post on the Internet is there forever. It never goes away. And I wish people would start taking this seriously because it can one day come down to a quality of life issue.
I can't post the photo here because I keep the blog pg-rated and I think this particular photo...whether it is Weiner or not...is more along the lines of r-rated. And even if I could post it, I wouldn't. No one knows if it's really Weiner or not. If you want to see it, you can google it; there are screen shots all over the net.
But there's a lot about this story I don't understand. I'm not going to get into all the things I don't understand because I don't like seeing anyone's personal life put on display this way. I didn't like it when it happened to President Clinton and I don't like it now. I do believe in the phrase "too much information."
In these days of the Internet, where nothing is private anymore, we all have to be careful what we say and do. This past week I read two different things on publishing blogs that blew me away. I couldn't believe anyone would say these things in public. They were strong comments...some would call one comment in particular an accusation with legal ramifications...and I wouldn't have done it.
Anything you say, do, or post on the Internet is there forever. It never goes away. And I wish people would start taking this seriously because it can one day come down to a quality of life issue.
June 1, 2011
Summer Fridays in Publishing Nowadays?
For those who don't know, the publishing industry has always been considered the slowest industry in the world. Up until recently, a "traditional" print publisher would take anywhere from six months to over a year to publish a book. And I'm not just talking about big books.
In some cases it still works this way. When I submit a short story for an anthology to a "traditional" print publisher, the anthology usually isn't published for at least a year. Why it always took so long...and still does...passes me by. I don't get it and I never did. For almost twenty years, I always went with the flow, never asked too many questions, and did what I was told to do.
And summertime has always been notoriously slow in publishing. After Memorial Day, it feels as if everyone's closed up shop and hit the road for Maine. My literary agent friend takes two weeks off in July and the entire month of August. He's in his sixties and he's worked for many years, so he deserves the time off now. However, he's been doing this for the past thirty years. It's not something new. And when you think about it, it makes sense. Why work when there's no one else around?
This past week I've been seeing a lot of blog posts about summer Fridays. And I'm seeing these posts from those who still work in "traditional" publishing. For those who don't know about summer Fridays, it means that many people in "traditional" publishing take Friday off all summer. My friend the lit agent takes Friday off all summer, too. And has been taking Friday off for the last thirty years. And the work week doesn't begin until Monday afternoon.
Before I started submitting my fiction to e-publishers, I used to get extremely frustrated in the summer. Summer Friday's drove me up the wall. I simply can't understand why anyone would need so much time off. I will admit that I do take the work ethic to the opposite extreme sometimes. I'm lucky in the sense that I only need about four hours of sleep at night. But I also love what I do and taking too much time off is more stressful to me than not taking time off. It would be like letting readers down. And from what I hear, people who read e-books read them fast.
Once I discovered e-publishing, I forgot all about summer Fridays. And that's because in e-publishing summer Fridays aren't usually an option. Things move at a faster pace. If I submit a book to one of my publishers, the book goes through strenuous rounds of edits and it released in digital format within the same month. I work five days a week all the time. And many times I work six and seven days a week. It's not uncommon for people in e-publishing to be up late at night e-mailing back and forth about edits and book covers. And it's not uncommon for U.S. authors to rearrange their work schedules to accommodate an editor in London.
I know I'm not the only one who works this way. I know other authors who work just as hard, if not harder, than me. I recently read where Barry Eisler said one of the things in "traditional" publishing that made him unhappy was it takes so long to publish a book. And I agree with him. I know my e-publishers...all of them...work a normal work week all summer long. I've never heard anyone taking Friday off in the summer, at least not in e-publishing. Most of the time we're lucky to get Saturday and Sunday off.
And I've never heard anyone in e-publishing complain about it either. We're thrilled to be working and producing for our readers. We can't wait for the next project and we're always brainstorming about the future. I'm sure most younger authors out there who started out in e-publishing...and those who are self-publishing their own books...never even heard of summer Fridays. And, I'm also sure a lot of people in e-publishing are balancing two careers at the same time. If they aren't working two jobs, they are home raising families, which is more than a full time job in itself.
So when I see something written about summer Fridays these days, I can't help but wonder how long this is going to last in "traditional" publishing. Don't get me wrong. It's a nice concept if you can afford it. In fact, I applaud anyone who has reached a point in life where they can afford to only work three or four days a week and take months off at a time. My friend the literary agent has had many big books...not to mention some great timing and fantastic luck...over the years and he deserves his time off. But I doubt everyone in "traditional" publishing is in his position. Most of the people I know in all areas of publishing these days are working harder than ever before. And they are loving every single minute of it.
In some cases it still works this way. When I submit a short story for an anthology to a "traditional" print publisher, the anthology usually isn't published for at least a year. Why it always took so long...and still does...passes me by. I don't get it and I never did. For almost twenty years, I always went with the flow, never asked too many questions, and did what I was told to do.
And summertime has always been notoriously slow in publishing. After Memorial Day, it feels as if everyone's closed up shop and hit the road for Maine. My literary agent friend takes two weeks off in July and the entire month of August. He's in his sixties and he's worked for many years, so he deserves the time off now. However, he's been doing this for the past thirty years. It's not something new. And when you think about it, it makes sense. Why work when there's no one else around?
This past week I've been seeing a lot of blog posts about summer Fridays. And I'm seeing these posts from those who still work in "traditional" publishing. For those who don't know about summer Fridays, it means that many people in "traditional" publishing take Friday off all summer. My friend the lit agent takes Friday off all summer, too. And has been taking Friday off for the last thirty years. And the work week doesn't begin until Monday afternoon.
Before I started submitting my fiction to e-publishers, I used to get extremely frustrated in the summer. Summer Friday's drove me up the wall. I simply can't understand why anyone would need so much time off. I will admit that I do take the work ethic to the opposite extreme sometimes. I'm lucky in the sense that I only need about four hours of sleep at night. But I also love what I do and taking too much time off is more stressful to me than not taking time off. It would be like letting readers down. And from what I hear, people who read e-books read them fast.
Once I discovered e-publishing, I forgot all about summer Fridays. And that's because in e-publishing summer Fridays aren't usually an option. Things move at a faster pace. If I submit a book to one of my publishers, the book goes through strenuous rounds of edits and it released in digital format within the same month. I work five days a week all the time. And many times I work six and seven days a week. It's not uncommon for people in e-publishing to be up late at night e-mailing back and forth about edits and book covers. And it's not uncommon for U.S. authors to rearrange their work schedules to accommodate an editor in London.
I know I'm not the only one who works this way. I know other authors who work just as hard, if not harder, than me. I recently read where Barry Eisler said one of the things in "traditional" publishing that made him unhappy was it takes so long to publish a book. And I agree with him. I know my e-publishers...all of them...work a normal work week all summer long. I've never heard anyone taking Friday off in the summer, at least not in e-publishing. Most of the time we're lucky to get Saturday and Sunday off.
And I've never heard anyone in e-publishing complain about it either. We're thrilled to be working and producing for our readers. We can't wait for the next project and we're always brainstorming about the future. I'm sure most younger authors out there who started out in e-publishing...and those who are self-publishing their own books...never even heard of summer Fridays. And, I'm also sure a lot of people in e-publishing are balancing two careers at the same time. If they aren't working two jobs, they are home raising families, which is more than a full time job in itself.
So when I see something written about summer Fridays these days, I can't help but wonder how long this is going to last in "traditional" publishing. Don't get me wrong. It's a nice concept if you can afford it. In fact, I applaud anyone who has reached a point in life where they can afford to only work three or four days a week and take months off at a time. My friend the literary agent has had many big books...not to mention some great timing and fantastic luck...over the years and he deserves his time off. But I doubt everyone in "traditional" publishing is in his position. Most of the people I know in all areas of publishing these days are working harder than ever before. And they are loving every single minute of it.
May 31, 2011
Self-Publishing: Another Well Known Romance Author Going Rogue
I just read an interesting blog post where another fairly well known romance author is going to start self-publishing her own books. She walked away from a nice book deal, with a well known romance publisher, to do her own thing.
Of course I'm a little cynical when it comes to these blog posts. There are too many little things not mentioned in the post and I start thinking twice. On the surface it seems like an explanation as to why the author is going rogue. But I'm one of those who read between the lines all the time, and I have a funny feeling the post was more about promoting the new self-published book than it was about letting readers know the true reasons why the author decided to self-publish. I could be wrong. Maybe the author I'm talking about is branching out on her own because of the reasons she posted. But I'd be willing to bet there's more to the story.
And even if there isn't, I do have to admit I admire published authors who decide to self-publish. Especially authors with good book deals from large publishers who have already established a fan base...even if they are full of shit most of the time (smile). There have been times I've thought about doing it myself. But I have just as many reasons for not going the self-published route as some authors have for going the self-published route. One reason is quality of life. I love my publishers and depend on the collaboration. If I had to do it alone, I'd never stop working and I'm already working six and seven days a week writing. I need to know Holly at ravenous romance likes the title, or hates the title. I need to know Claudia at Loveyoudivine thinks something will work...or won't work. I don't do crit groups and I need the publisher's input all the time.
There are so many things changing in publishing these days no one can predict the future and no one can say who is right and who is wrong. But it should be interesting to see how it all turns out in the end. I do know one thing for certain...and this is because I've been around long enough to see how things repeat themselves over and over again...not everyone will be Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking. It doesn't work that way, in life or in publishing, and I'd hate to see a lot of good authors leave viable publishers with dreams of becoming Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking.
Of course I'm a little cynical when it comes to these blog posts. There are too many little things not mentioned in the post and I start thinking twice. On the surface it seems like an explanation as to why the author is going rogue. But I'm one of those who read between the lines all the time, and I have a funny feeling the post was more about promoting the new self-published book than it was about letting readers know the true reasons why the author decided to self-publish. I could be wrong. Maybe the author I'm talking about is branching out on her own because of the reasons she posted. But I'd be willing to bet there's more to the story.
And even if there isn't, I do have to admit I admire published authors who decide to self-publish. Especially authors with good book deals from large publishers who have already established a fan base...even if they are full of shit most of the time (smile). There have been times I've thought about doing it myself. But I have just as many reasons for not going the self-published route as some authors have for going the self-published route. One reason is quality of life. I love my publishers and depend on the collaboration. If I had to do it alone, I'd never stop working and I'm already working six and seven days a week writing. I need to know Holly at ravenous romance likes the title, or hates the title. I need to know Claudia at Loveyoudivine thinks something will work...or won't work. I don't do crit groups and I need the publisher's input all the time.
There are so many things changing in publishing these days no one can predict the future and no one can say who is right and who is wrong. But it should be interesting to see how it all turns out in the end. I do know one thing for certain...and this is because I've been around long enough to see how things repeat themselves over and over again...not everyone will be Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking. It doesn't work that way, in life or in publishing, and I'd hate to see a lot of good authors leave viable publishers with dreams of becoming Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking.
When Buying E-books, Triple Check All Product Information...
I saw a comment last night on a social network where a reader was disappointed because she'd purchased an e-book and thought it was longer than it actually was. The first six pages were empty, then came more filler pages, and then finally eleven more pages of information about other books in the series. In other words, by the time she got to the actual book she realized the book itself was only seventy-five percent of the entire digital product she bought.
Even though I post all product details here on the blog for each book of mine, some readers have left nasty amazon reviews for my books because they bought an e-book that was actually a short story thinking they were getting a full length novel.
I've even purchased e-books myself and I've been disappointed in the product details...the details either weren't good enough or I was led to believe I was getting something else.
And you can't tell anymore just by looking at the prices. I have full length digital novels out that are priced at .99, and I have short stories priced at 2.00. I have no control over book pricing. The publisher does this and I have no say in the matter. No author who is published with any publisher has a say in how his or her books are priced. That's just a fact of life.
I've learned that in order to avoid any disappointment when I'm buying an e-book is to triple check product details on other web sites where they sell e-books. Some are better than others...the bigger sites seem to be the worst. But I usually wind up with all the product information I need. It's out there; you just have to look for it.
I know publishers don't do this on purpose. One of the problems in e-publishing is that most publishers don't have a clue about merchandising and retail. When I owned my two businesses, I learned the public needs as much information as possible...and never assume anything when dealing with the general public. But from what I've seen most publishers fall short in this department. They know how to put out some great books, but don't know how to deal with the buying public. They also take a lot for granted, with regard to the way people shop online. I not a tech geek and never have been. I couldn't care less about DRM or file sizes or KB. When I see "146 KB" I think WTF? And then I wonder who the geeks are who are putting this information out there.
I don't want to know about technical crap either. I just want to know how many words to book contains, what it's about, and how much it is. Period.
So the only alternative for readers is to check out all the options before making a purchase. I can't actually say there's one site that does every thing perfect. But each individual site seems to cover something another site missed.
I'm also going to be adding my own product details, in the form of a list, from now on when a book is released. The product details I think would be important if I were buying an e-book for pleasure. And if anyone has any questions about anything, I always encourage them to e-mail me. You can also e-mail the publisher, too. I doubt you'll get any responses from large publishers, but small e-publishers will respond to almost everything.
Even though I post all product details here on the blog for each book of mine, some readers have left nasty amazon reviews for my books because they bought an e-book that was actually a short story thinking they were getting a full length novel.
I've even purchased e-books myself and I've been disappointed in the product details...the details either weren't good enough or I was led to believe I was getting something else.
And you can't tell anymore just by looking at the prices. I have full length digital novels out that are priced at .99, and I have short stories priced at 2.00. I have no control over book pricing. The publisher does this and I have no say in the matter. No author who is published with any publisher has a say in how his or her books are priced. That's just a fact of life.
I've learned that in order to avoid any disappointment when I'm buying an e-book is to triple check product details on other web sites where they sell e-books. Some are better than others...the bigger sites seem to be the worst. But I usually wind up with all the product information I need. It's out there; you just have to look for it.
I know publishers don't do this on purpose. One of the problems in e-publishing is that most publishers don't have a clue about merchandising and retail. When I owned my two businesses, I learned the public needs as much information as possible...and never assume anything when dealing with the general public. But from what I've seen most publishers fall short in this department. They know how to put out some great books, but don't know how to deal with the buying public. They also take a lot for granted, with regard to the way people shop online. I not a tech geek and never have been. I couldn't care less about DRM or file sizes or KB. When I see "146 KB" I think WTF? And then I wonder who the geeks are who are putting this information out there.
I don't want to know about technical crap either. I just want to know how many words to book contains, what it's about, and how much it is. Period.
So the only alternative for readers is to check out all the options before making a purchase. I can't actually say there's one site that does every thing perfect. But each individual site seems to cover something another site missed.
I'm also going to be adding my own product details, in the form of a list, from now on when a book is released. The product details I think would be important if I were buying an e-book for pleasure. And if anyone has any questions about anything, I always encourage them to e-mail me. You can also e-mail the publisher, too. I doubt you'll get any responses from large publishers, but small e-publishers will respond to almost everything.
