Shoshanna Evers's Blog, page 13

Squee! Good reviews!

Hello Fellow Writers!

I got some great reviews recently of my books, and I wanted to share :)

This one is for Chastity Belt from Ellora's Cave. (Read the whole review here) Thomas from Sizzling Hot Books said:
"Overall, Chastity Belt is a great read. I loved how the author built up the tension between the characters. I would recommend Chastity Belt to anyone that likes BDSM and surprises with the characters."

Yay!  The same reviewer reviewed my upcoming release Taste of Candy from The Wild Rose Press, and said:
"A Taste of Candy is a great book. I loved the way that the author builds the relationship between the two characters. I would recommend A Taste of Candy to all erotica readers."
(read the whole review here)

I've never gotten a pre-release review before :) Usually my reviews roll in several weeks after my books debut. I hope when Taste of Candy comes out on Friday that you guys like it as much as he did! *Fingers crossed*

I'm Interviewed on Lynne Robert's blog!

Hello Fellow Writers!

The lovely author Lynne Roberts has interviewed me on her blog, if you care to find out what I eat at three in the morning and what teenage dare I chickened out on, click here and say hi!

I've also got the blurb up for my upcoming erotic romance novella, Taste of Candy ;) FYI, the heroine's name is Candy. Yup, it's that kind of book.

Sitting in the Front of the Class

My husband jokes that when it comes to school, I'm like Hermoine from the Harry Potter books, always sitting in the front with my hand raised.

Guilty as charged. I even wrote a blog post about it over at Gee/k/ink. Stop by, say hi, and find out how that affects me as an author (and how it might affect you, too!)

Sold! To Cleis Press - Best Bondage Erotica 2012

Hello Fellow Writers!

I'm thrilled that my short erotic story Melting Ice will be a part of the Cleis Press anthology Best Bondage Erotica 2012. It's already up on Amazon for pre-order.

Melting Ice is unusual in that this erotic story has no hero - it's just the heroine alone, working her way through her first self-bondage experience. Now picture a key encased in ice, slowly melting... and you get why the story is entitled Melting Ice ;)

Best Bondage Erotica 2012 will come out December 2011, right around the same time when the Berkley anthology Agony/Ecstasy will be available, with my story The Wooden Pony. Two books in one month! That'll make for an exciting holiday around the Evers household :)

Here is a link to the Best Bondage Erotica 2012 table of contents on editor Rachel Kramer Bussel's blog.

Sold! To Ellora's Cave - Bedhead

Hello Fellow Writers,

I have exciting news - Ellora's Cave Publishing just contracted my fifth book with them, an erotic romance novella starring a heroine with alopecia - that is, she's bald.

The book is titled Bedhead and it will be a part of the multi-author upcoming plastic-surgery series Skin Deep.

SQUEE!

And just a reminder, Taste of Candy is coming out July 15th from The Wild Rose Press. :)

Call for Submissions

Call for Submissions

Calling all multi-published erotic romance authors!

Shoshanna Evers will be independently publishing a non-fiction ebook on the craft of writing hot sex scenes. The essays should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words.

Authors may quote from their own books as examples throughout their essays (keeping in mind copyright fair use laws) and provide buy links to each book they quote. Each essay will conclude with the authors' links for their websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, author pages on publisher's websites, as well as Amazon author pages.

Approximately ten essays will be accepted for publication.

This call is for erotic romance authors (or romance authors who write steamy sex scenes) who have numerous romance books previously published, preferably by more than one publisher. If you're unsure if you're a candidate please feel free to query first at shoshanna.evers @ yahoo. com (no spaces).

Here's the blurb for the upcoming book "How to Write Hot Sex: Tips from Multi-Published Erotic Romance Authors"
This collection of essays by multi-published erotic romance authors details the art of writing sizzling hot sex scenes.
Whether you're writing sensual, steamy, or full-on explicit sex scenes, writers can learn from the authors who write and sell sexy books for a living. Do you want to write erotica? Or an erotic romance? Perhaps you just want to add some hot sexual tension to your romance novel.
This is the book for you.
Here you'll find essays on the art of writing smokin' hot vanilla sex, gay sex, BDSM, kink, and ménage, as well as essays on how to find paying markets and publishers for your books and short stories.
"How to Write Hot Sex: Tips from Multi-Published Erotic Romance Authors" gives you all the information you need to write sex well and get published!


Deadline: August 8th 2011

Guidelines for Submissions

• Unpublished essays only
• Author must be a multi-published erotic (or steamy) romance author, e-published is fine
• Word count: 2000 to 4000 words
• Electronic submissions only to: shoshanna.evers@ yahoo. com (no spaces)
• e-mail subject line: Submission: AuthorName _TitleOfEssay
• .rtf, .doc, or .docx attachment (essay)
• e-mail body (and put on your cover page as well): essay title, author legal name, pseudonym if any (make clear which is which), address, phone, e-mail, word count, author bio and your links

Essay Format:

• Times New Roman; 12 pt; .rtf, .doc, or .docx
• double-spaced; number pages upper right; standard paragraphing; no HTML
• file name: AuthorName_TitleOfEssay

General Info:

• You will receive an email confirming submission receipt within 7 days
• Submission decisions will be provided by e-mail by October 2011
• Payment: $50 and copy of the ebook
• Please send questions to: shoshanna.evers@ yahoo. com (no spaces)

Contact Information:

For inquiries and submissions: shoshanna.evers@ yahoo. com (no spaces)



About Shoshanna Evers:

Shoshanna Evers is a multi-published erotic romance author. When she's not writing hot sex, she's a newspaper advice columnist, a registered nurse, and a stay-at-home mom. She is published with Ellora's Cave, The Wild Rose Press and Berkley/Jove. Shoshanna is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Email: shoshanna.evers@ yahoo. com (no spaces)
Website: www.ShoshannaEvers.com
Blog: www.TheWritersChallenge.com
follow Shoshanna Evers on Twitter
friend Shoshanna Evers on Facebook 

Q&A with the "So You Want to Write a Novel" Guy!

Hello Fellow Writers!
Today we have the creator of the hilarious "So You Want to Write a Novel" video answering questions for us. Here's the video, in case you've been living in a wi-fi-less cabin in the woods and haven't seen it:



Shoshanna: What made you create the viral Youtube video, So You Want to Write a Novel?

David Kazzie: About a year ago, I decided to take a break from writing fiction and I started writing a weekly humor blog. Because the world needed another writer's blog, right? I'd always wanted to do a humor piece about practicing law (my day job), but I couldn't come up with an angle that wasn't already tired and cliched -- making fun of lawyers is not, surprisingly, a unique subset of comedy.


Then I saw a hilarious video called iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo, created with Xtranormal's super-easy-to-use animation website, and I thought the format would work well for a conversation between a jaded lawyer and idealistic law student. I wrote So You Want to Go to Law School one weekend and posted it to YouTube. Much to my amazement, it blew up within a few days, and it has since gotten about 1.4 million hits.


A bunch of other So You Want To... videos started popping up all over the place, but I realized around Thanksgiving that no one had done one about writing and publishing. I thought the Law School format would work well for a writing video too, so I sat down on the day before Thanksgiving, banged out the script for So You Want to Write a Novel, and sent it out on its merry way. I was really trying to roll every horror story, every misconception a new writer might have about the business into one clueless character. It caught fire over Thanksgiving weekend and started making the rounds with literary agents, editors and writers.

Shoshanna: How did you get your literary agent?

David Kazzie:  At its peak in early December, the Novel video was getting shared on Facebook several hundred times per hour. I stumbled across a bunch of literary agencies and authors that had posted the videos on their public Facebook pages, including the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. This thrilled me because Ann represents Dennis Lehane, one of my favorite writers. I left a comment thanking them for posting the video, and I didn't think much else of it at the time. A few days later Ann contacted me directly. We got to talking, and I explained who I was, what I had done, and where I planned to go with my career. We chatted off an on for the next month or so, she began reading my blog archives, and at the end of January, she offered to represent me and my career going forward. It was really unbelievable.

Shoshanna: You have an agent but you just self-published your debut book. Why? 

David Kazzie: I'd been monitoring the self-publishing revolution for a while, even before I wrote the videos and signed with Ann. I had a manuscript that I really believed in, even though I had reached the end of the line with querying it last year. As the months went by, the evidence that a sea change in publishing was underway was piling up, and I couldn't ignore it any longer. A couple months ago, I discussed it with Ann, and I decided that this was a perfect opportunity for me. My videos still get 1,500 to 2,000 hits per day, but I realize, the Internet being what it is, that might not last. So why not strike now, while the iron is hot with this new way of reaching readers? Starting in March, I spent every free moment I had getting The Jackpot ready. I probably worked as hard on getting it ready for publication as I did writing it in the first place


Shoshanna: Will you continue to self-publish books if you end up selling to New York?

[image error] David Kazzie: I don't know the answer to that yet. My new approach to my career is to look at everything as a business-related decision. I'm trying to build a small business here. My product is my writing, whether it's a Tweet, a blog post, an animated video, or a novel. I'll do whatever I think is best to build the business. Plus, I really trust Ann's judgment on these kinds of things, so I'm sure I'll be carefully considering the advice she gives me


Shoshanna:  How has your experience with self-publishing been so far? Sales good?

David Kazzie: Like I said earlier, it was a TON of work to get the book ready for publication. I hired an editor, a cover artist, and an e-book formatter. I read my novel about eight times in 6 weeks. It was very rewarding to see the finished product, but it was exhausting. As for sales, I've tried to find statistics for other self-pubbed authors' first month or two of sales, even the ones that went one to be huge successes, and I'm happy to say that my early numbers exceed many of those. But time will tell if I can match those authors' big explosions down the road. I hope so.

Shoshanna: Do you worry about the stigma self-publishing has had in the past, or do you think the stigma has disappeared now that many traditionally published authors are dipping their feet into the self-publishing waters?

David Kazzie: I thought I would worry about the stigma, but I really haven't. Like you said, so many traditionally published authors are giving it a shot. Plus, my goal is to become a full-time fiction writer, and if self-publishing opens that door for me, I for one welcome our new e-reader overlords. An author who flatly refuses to consider self-publishing as an option is really just hurting himself and ignoring the reality of what's happening in publishing.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/davidkazzie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SoYouWantTo

Blog: http://wahoocorner.blogspot.com

Shoshanna: Where can we sample and buy your book?
Amazon: http://amzn.to/lE9pfQ
BN.com: http://bit.ly/jSutm9
[image error] Smashwords: http://bit.ly/k1jT2x

Blurb for The Jackpot

It hasn't been a very good day for attorney Samantha Khouri. She's been passed over for partner at her law firm, she's coming down with the flu, and she's discovered that her parents' business is teetering on the brink of failure, thanks to a brother widely known as the world's dumbest terrorist. But when she discovers her financially desperate boss is planning to steal their new client's gigantic winning lottery ticket, she realizes her day is just getting started.

After witnessing a violent confrontation that leaves the ticket in her hand, Samantha will risk everything to return the $415 million fortune to its rightful owner. But Samantha's nothing-to-lose boss isn't the only one hunting for the ticket. A homicidal mercenary has been hired to track it down at all costs, and he will stop at nothing to find it.

And as her pursuers close in, Samantha must resist the growing temptation to show up at SuperLotto headquarters, smile for the camera, and walk away with the biggest jackpot in American history.


Link to Chapter On of The Jackpot

Signed with a Literary Agent!!

Hello Fellow Writers,

Let me start by saying OMG. OMG.

Okay, so here's what happened.... last month I went to a NJ RWA meeting where they were having a panel of agents and editors talking. The whole thing was fascinating, and I ended up being late to the group buffet lunch that they had going on after.

What's that you say? Irrelevant? No. Here's why. By the time I got downstairs, every table was full, except for one seat next the lovely Courtney Miller-Callihan of Sanford J Greenburger Associates. That's the agency that represents Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code fame. Ya know, no big deal.

So we spent lunch chatting about our toddlers etcetera, and at the end of the day I asked if I could query her. No pitch, just if she wouldn't mind if I emailed her a pitch.

The next day I think she requested the full and followed me on Twitter. (she's @millercallihan if you want to follow her too!)

A few weeks went by, and she @ replied me on Twitter saying she was loving my manuscript and would get back to me ASAP.

I called all my friends and asked what they thought ASAP meant in literary-agent speak. Ten seconds? Ten days? Ten weeks?

Shoshanna Evers and literary agent Courtney Miller-Callihan
of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.A couple weeks later she emailed to set up a time to call, but there was no offer or anything, so I still wasn't sure what that meant. Did it mean she wanted to call and tell me she loved the manuscript but NY would never buy it because it was too gritty/weird, as so many other agents (four) had said?

I told her I'd be signing cover flats at the Ellora's Cave booth at the Book Expo the following day if she wanted to stop by and say hi. Sorry, this story is getting really long, but I'm always interested in how other people got their agent, so that's why I'm telling it like this.

She did, but neither of us had time to chat since she was busy being an agent and I was busy being an author. So when I was done signing, we went and got lunch and talked about the toddlers again and then SHE OFFERED TO REPRESENT MY BOOK!

And that's how it went. I'm thrilled, naturally. The book in question is a post-apocalyptic romance, sort of dystopia meets erotica, and I wrote it during NaNoWriMo.

Squee!

Writing in Different Genres: Erotica & Children's Books - Jennifer Probst

Hello Fellow Writers!
We have a guest blog today from Jennifer Probst, a multi-pubbed romance author and children's book author, who is both traditionally published and self-published, and is rocking both markets!

WRITING IN DIFFERENT GENRES: MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU

By Jennifer Probst


I'm a romance writer. And damn proud of it. I've always known I'd write romance novels, and when ignorant people would question whether I would write a "real" book one day, I'd launch into my tirade armed with facts about the romance market. It took me years before I made my first sale to a print on demand publisher. It wasn't my first choice, but my best choice at the time. Sales were dim, but I made a name for myself and learned a lot.

My second book was better suited to the erotic romance market. Red Sage was an up and coming publisher and I was thrilled when they bought my novella, "Masquerade" for Secrets Volume 11. Then life took hold and I got married, bought a house, had a baby, then had another one. My writing focus switched to papers for my master's in English literature, and parenting stories regarding the journey in motherhood. When things settled, I got back to my first love of romance and sold another novella to Red Sage, "The Tantric Principle."
But something else happened along the way.

My niece told me this wonderful story about a rabbit named Buffy who fell in love with a carrot. My boys begged to hear it over and over again, and something sparked within me. I felt the story could do well as a book. I believed in it, and wanted to encourage my niece to pursue her dreams and let nothing stop her. We sat together and I drafted the story, changing it for publication. Then we drafted ideas for the illustrations and recruited a family friend to do the pictures. We edited until it was perfect. Buffy and the Carrot was born.
Then I sent it out.

I knew the romance market well, but had never researched the children's market. I found it a bit difficult without a prior track record or an agent. I made a detailed list and forwarded the story to numerous publishers. Then received multiple rejections.

But I believed in this story. Enough that I decided to take a chance on an alternate route. I wasn't interested in publishing an e-book. But a company called Strategic Marketing peaked my interest so I sent them a query.
They offered a joint venture contract. This means, they split the cost of the book with me 50/50. That way, I also got 50% royalties. Their traditional publishing contract offers no payments up front, but only limited royalties on the book. If I sold 1000 copies, I'd automatically be placed in another tier and would never have to pay for them to publish my book again. In other words, I needed to prove myself by sales first.
I spoke with my brother and we decided to split the cost and give it a try.

Benefits? You don't have to figure out how to do anything. You submit your edited text, your illustrations, and they take care of the rest. They get you a cover. They do the back cover. They do the setting and the printing. They give you your own author webpage for sales (see mine here)


They give you a specialized royalty site so you can track your book and get your royalty checks every quarter. They get you on Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com. They give you free marketing tips, and offer press releases. They have a huge marketing program you can take advantage of – but most of it costs extra. You can pick and choose what you'd like to participate in, including book expos in other countries. They give you the tools to succeed. They offer personalized marketing coaching if you have questions. Whenever I did have a question or problem, they immediately got back to me so I had no issues with customer service.

Drawbacks? Like self publishing, you're on your own with the editing. I had a few people go through the manuscript, but I still missed one tiny thing that was too late to fix. You will not be in brick and mortar bookstores. You have to price your book pretty high – mine went for $11.50 – because if you sell through Amazon or discount sellers they take a high cut. The royalty on the Strategic site versus Amazon is pretty hefty, and most customers stick with Amazon. They have limited advertising – a facebook fan page and limited press release. Everything else is extra money.

With the advent of self publishing and indie books, there could have been a better alternative, but this was the right match for me. I wanted to see this book in print. I did not feel like spending days learning how to self publish or format a children's book myself, especially with illustrations. The fee wasn't hefty enough to be impossible – but it was enough to give me the incentive I need to go out and sell books to reap my money back. Then the rest is all gravy.

Marketing is key. With the amount of books available, we concentrated on the uniqueness of a young first time author taking the lead. We scheduled library book signings and interviews on various blogs. We sent books to review sites, used social networking tools, and read to pre-k classes. Because we both live in different cities, our fan base is spread out and more book sales can be completed. We placed an ad in the pennysaver and local papers for little cost.

For my niece, this experience has been priceless and well worth the effort. We have something we wrote together that can sell for many years down the line. The key is being smart with marketing – do a different event each month to keep your name out there. I always have giveaways ready for the kids, and birthdays and holidays I always suggest giving a book as a gift.
What I found most difficult on a personal level is the mingling of a children's book with an erotic romance. They are on opposite sides of the camp, and I am using the same name. This presented a unique challenge but I felt strong about using my own name and building both platforms. I created a tagline A Little Bit Naughty…A Little Bit Nice…

I split my followers into mommy bloggers and romance writers/readers and made sure to comment and be a good friend to both camps. I belong to two separate groups in Linked In and Yahoo and built up my contacts. After all, romance authors have children. They buy children's books. I believed it was possible to tap both markets.

I divided my marketing campaigns. I advertised and focused on my romance novels one month, and my children's book the next. Cross sales will hopefully benefit my older titles, and my upcoming titles.
I am a firm believer in loving what you write. Some authors are born to be two different identities and write for different genres. I enjoy the challenge of building up my own name in all of my endeavors.

I currently have a short story regarding a dog I will be self-publishing in e-format soon, so that is another market I am venturing into.

Author Jennifer ProbstA writer must always grow, and feel challenged by the subject. The first motto an editor drilled into my brain was the following statement: "Write a great book." The first motto an author drilled into my brain was the following statement: "Write the book of your heart." By combining both of them with some savvy marketing techniques, I believe a writer can have it all.

Check out my website at: http://www.jenniferprobst.com
Check out my blog at: http://jenniferprobst.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jenniferprobst
Visit me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Jennifer-Probst-Fan-Page/111073648957581
Visit my mommy blog at: http://4badmommies.com

Author Elise Hepner on Learning from Your Editor

Hello Fellow Writers!

Please welcome multi-published erotica author Elise Hepner, who has some great stuff to say about the editing process!

Elise:

Almost every writer comes to a new publisher with some kind of naiveté revolving around either their experience, how things will work, sales, etc. It could be anything in the world. But nothing is as it seems—and most of time, especially in my case, that's a good thing.

When I first signed my contract with Ellora's Cave for Party Games I was under the cocky impression that I had reached the big time so learning, psh, I didn't need any more of that! Oh, how wrong I was, how very, very wrong. One of the lessons I learned at my wonderful editor's hands was that a manuscript can always be picked over one more time, tightened, plucked and "ready-to-go" is simply an expression used when an author has done every bit of picking they can do without going in reverse and writing the whole manuscript all over again. Which, I'm sure, can happen.

But, man, did I learn a lot about myself in my writing—and a heck of a lot about grammar I hadn't thought of since elementary school. Simple tweaks of moving one word from one part of the sentence to the other changed the landscape of my whole story. Could I have done that by myself? Not with my absolutely stubborn resolution for thinking my story was done, done, done. Having my editor there was like recruiting the world's best Olympic coach for some super epic sport who just keep pushing for me to go harder, go bigger, or go home.

I can't say I loved every minute of it. But now I look back on my baby published to Ellora's Cave and I have a huge amount of pride and gratitude to my editor who encouraged me to make subtle changes that didn't seem to make a difference. Now I know the differences and I can see them in action. They've also been put on my editing checklist for good—and there's extra space for more awesome insights from my editor.

Because, now that I'm not clinging to some silly hope that my MS will get accepted, nothing will be changed, and it'll just pop up for sale—well, I almost relish those changes. Why settle for silver when you could go for the gold? Just drop all expectations and go in with an open mind and you'll be better for it. No one's perfect. You hear it a lot, but when you get signed with your dream publisher little pieces of advice don't seem to matter in the face of your accomplishment. Just remember to take a second, reign yourself back, and accept that this isn't your last step.

This is only your first step in a long career of running over hurdles—and you'll learn to love every minute of it.

Here's the Blurb for Elise's hot new release, Party Games:

William's boring lovemaking leaves Catherine unsatisfied. Harboring fantasies she can't put into words, she longs for a sexual voice but finds herself too stifled by her proper social upbringing.

When a blackout hits their resort hotel and William proposes a sexy version of hide-and-seek, playtime takes on a whole new salacious meaning. Charlotte's mind races with sexual scenarios. But even her fantasies fail to compare to the titillating adventure her husband has planned for her—with the help of another man.

Soon everything she knows about lust will be irreversibly changed—and she'll moan for more.

Reader Advisory: Contains scorching-hot M/M/F sexual scenarios, a woman giving orders on an erotic high and slight trickery.

Buy Party Games here!

Author Bio:
Elise Hepner lives with her spastic cat, two hyperactive ferrets and a very supportive, slightly crazy husband. There is never a dull moment in the house, unless the caffeine runs out, which it never does. She's a multi-published erotica author in both e-books and print as well as a few websites. She's driven by her tea addiction and a tiny stuffed turtle her husband picked up from Disney World that sits on her desk and "supervises" her work.

She has let loose her storytelling addiction that has hung around since birth, along with a deep need for organization, which helps her write. When not writing (which is rare), she's watching countless hours of reality television, playing the Sims or shopping online. Plus there's that odd obsession with the color purple. Everything is purple. Visit Elise at her blog, A Willing Writer's Blog: Erotica 1.0, to keep up with her naughty ramblings, random tidbits and future work.


Elise Hepner's Links: TwitterWebsiteBlog