A tidbit of wisdom...

Actually, two. Literally. Here we go...

I have not learned anything new, I have observed nothing new, there is nothing I feel prompted to share industry-wise. I am about to learn all kinds of new things but haven't yet. I will report any goodness when I have it. So that is tidbit one: Always go forth and learn new things when self-publishing. And even if you are a perfectionist who enjoys beating the crap out of yourself whenever you make an error. Do not. Realize it will take you time and mistakes to master this new thing, accept it, be patient with yourself as if you were someone else and remember to listen to your body/mind/soul. Which leads me to tidbit two...

Slow down if you need to. Work smarter, not harder. Breathe. I am slowing down this week. Giving more focus and better time to less things. Careful selection of time and energy.

That's all I have for you this month, boys and girls. But I must be doing something right because the last December Ink release (Gritty: Rough Erotic Fiction) was #1 on the paid anthos list on ARe this morning. Sometimes paying attention to your pace instead of focusing on the race makes the long haul a little easier.

I ran this morning, can you tell?

Hope your summer's off with a bang. Read an ebook or three this summer. Support indie pubs. :)

XOXO
Sommer

Bringing the Naughty Back to Kindle

That's right, I'm bringing the naughty back!

All the naughty incest I've written that Amazon banned is back, albeit in a slightly altered form. What's that, you say? Did Amazon start putting these naughty books back on their shelves? No, not exactly.

When they first pulled my books, I put two of them back on Amazon's virtual shelves without any incest in them at all. Naughty Bits reappeared as Foreign Exchange and Under Mr. Nolan's Bed reappeared as Plaid Skirt Confessions for readers' guilt-free reading pleasure. But over the next few months I started noticing a pattern - Amazon was still taking incest off the shelves when it appeared...unless it involved people who weren't biologically related. So step-siblings having sex? That was okay. Stepfathers and stepdaughters? Yep, that was allowed. Step-uncle and step-niece? Step-aunt and step-nephew? Yep and yep.

Of course, Amazon didn't announce this policy. They still haven't officially stated any policy in regards to their banning of books from their site. But Excessica had a book pulled (My Father's Keeper by Parker Ford) that didn't involve any biological incest - just sex between step-relations. When we pointed this out to them, they reinstated the book. So I figured that was the clearest indication we were going to get of Amazon's line in the sand.

So I have now re-released Naughty Bits (revised), and Under Mr. Nolan's Bed (revised), along with my anthology, Back to the Garden (revised) for Amazon. And the best news is that those of you who were looking for print versions of the books? They're baaaaaaack!

Click the links below to check out the naughty!



NAUGHTY BITS (Revised)
David has been brightening up his gray Surrey, England days with the porn collection hidden in his parents' shed, but when he finds that his older stepsister, Dawn, has discovered his magazines, things really begin to heat up.

Their parents insist that their just-graduated son look for a job, but their daughter has the week off and is determined to work on her tan. Distracted David finds himself increasingly tempted by his seductive older stepsister, who makes it very clear what she wants.

Her teasing ways slowly break down the taboo barrier between stepbrother and stepsister until they both give in to their lust, but what are they going to do about the feelings that have developed between them in the meantime?
------
Note: Siblings are step-relations

Warnings: 18+ ONLY This title contains erotic situations, step-sibling incest, graphic language, anal sex, and makes mention of pornography, hammers, interesting uses for rubber bands, dungarees, bikinis, and lots of Britishisms you may or may not have to look up.
------

"Come on, David, you can tell me."

I flushed, staring directly at the sun and then closing my eyes, seeing a bright spot where it had been. "No."

"I didn't think so." She nudged my arm with the bottle.

"Is it that obvious?" I took a swallow, handing it back with my eyes still closed.

Her voice was soft as she said, "No wonder you toss-off so much in the shed."

My eyes flew open, my jaw dropped. My face burned and I couldn't say anything.
Dawn was holding the bottle up. "Crikey! This is almost gone!"

"How long have you known?" I swallowed hard.

"Long enough." She smiled

"Are you gonna tell mum and dad?"

She was grinning now. "Oh, I don't know, that depends."

"On what?" I sat up and turned toward her.

"You know mum will throw a wobbly if she finds out you've got porn."

"Why do you think it's hidden in the shed?" I sighed miserably. "Are you going to tell?"

"I was just teasing." She sat up in her chair and faced me. "What are we, ten? I'm not a grass. So you look at porn. What bloke doesn't, right?"

I sighed, relieved. I looked at her, remembering the words written in the margins. "Say, Dawn... did you... were you looking at it?"

She grinned. "She looks an awful lot like me, doesn't she?"

I nodded, meeting her eyes. "She's my favourite."

She stood, grabbing onto the back of the chair for a moment. She started toward the house. When she got to the door, she looked back at me. "Come on."

I followed her after a moment, finding her standing in the kitchen, leaning against the table. Her bikini top was on the table, too, and I was staring at her breasts. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I couldn't even breathe.

"You like what you see?" She cupped them and pulled on her nipples. My face was burning, but my cock was stiffening in response. "They look a lot like hers, don't they?"

I nodded in agreement. Blimey, almost exactly like the girl in Naughty Bits! The same little areolas, the dark pinkish nipples. My cock jumped as I watched her rub her hands over them.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" I heard the hoarseness in my own voice.

"Well, I'm a bit pissed," she admitted. "And I'm really randy, especially after watching you wanking in the shed."

"Oh, God," I groaned, putting my hand to my forehead. She was moving toward me, and my eyes fell from her breasts down to her bikini bottoms. Now that I'd seen the top, I wanted to see the rest.

"You wanna suck these?" she purred, pulling on her nipples. "Do you wanna shove your cock in my cunt, baby brother?"

I had backed up to the wall and she was leaning in toward me, not touching me, but close. She slid her hand down into her bikini, and I could see the top edge of her pubic hair.

"You wanna fuck me?" Her hand moved between her legs.

I groaned, closing my eyes against it. "Dawnie," I pleaded. "Please. Stop."



UNDER MR. NOLAN'S BED (Revised)

Leah and Erica have been best friends and have gone to the same Catholic school since just about forever. Leah spends so much time with the Nolans—just Erica and her handsome stepfather now, since Erica’s mother died—that she’s practically part of the family. When the girls find something naughty under Mr. Nolan’s bed, their strict, repressive upbringing makes it all the more exciting as they begin their sexual experimentation. Leah’s exploration presses deeper, and eventually she finds herself in love for the first time, torn between her best friend and her best friend’s stepfather.

---------

This title contains erotic situations, lesbian sex, sex toys, some very naughty stepfather/stepdaughter incest and also makes mention of pornography, salmon, amusement parks, chocolate covered strawberries, brownies (as well as girl scouts), plaid skirts, naughty uses for confessionals and some sacrilegious humor.

---------

EXCERPT:

“I saw you, Mr. Nolan.”

His jaw dropped and he looked at me, incredulous. “Saw me?”

“The night you came into the bathroom. Do you remember that?”

Glancing at him, I saw him nod, his face pale again.

“I watched you,” I admitted, my voice almost a whisper. “Touching yourself.”

“Oh Christ,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” I confessed. “Seeing you stroking yourself while you watched that man on the screen fuck those two girls…”

His eyes met mine, and I saw the shock in them at my language, but there was something else too, that wasn’t just shock. I’d seen it before, in the kitchen when he’d looked up my skirt, and a moment ago too, when he’d walked in and caught me masturbating.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” I whispered, moving my hand up his thigh, high enough to feel that he was hard. I was encouraged by that, and the alcohol made me feel more free, like I’d drunk some liquid courage.

“Leah, I know this kind of thing can be confusing.” He took my hand and put it in my lap with a shaky sigh.

“I’m not confused,” I insisted, sliding down to the floor and kneeling between his legs. He shook his head, but I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek against his crotch and nuzzling there.

“Oh hell,” he whispered, and I felt his hand moving in my hair, the lightest of touches.

“Please,” I murmured, turning my face, so my mouth moved over the hard length of him in his trousers. “I want to.”

I had him unzipped quickly, reaching in to find him, looking up into his eyes. He was dazed, startled, even a little horrified, but there was something underneath that, and whatever it was kept him from stopping me. He didn’t say no as I freed his cock and took it into my hand.



BACK TO THE GARDEN

Discover the delicious lure of a taboo siren call with four stories bundled into a wickedly hot anthology that's determined to keep it all in the family!

When Patrick's father went off to war in 1944, he told his eighteen-year-old son, You're the "Man of the House" now. Patrick's stepmother has struggled to keep them afloat, and he does what he can to help. He knows she's tired, sad and very lonely, but when circumstance brings a young woman into their lives for a brief time, it alters everything between he and his stepmother forever. Will Patrick become the real "man of the house" before his father returns from the war?

In "The Garden of Eden," Libby has lived her whole life with her stepfather, Ed, in a nudist colony. It's a very open, natural life, and they've never had an issue--until Libby's mother, Kim, re-enters their lives. Kim is appalled by their living and sleeping arrangements and wants to take Libby away from the nudist life. Libby, still devastated by her mother's abandonment, wants to have nothing to do with the shopping trips and material things her mother is offering, but the longer Kim stays, the more everything --everything--becomes a greater temptation.

In "Lassoing the Moon," Leila knows she's always been closer to her stepson, Rich, than most mothers, since Rich's father left when he was just a baby. He's been the man in her life forever--but now he's really a man, and his coming-of-age is a test for both of them.

In "Lost Souls," eighteen-year-old Lily, raised by her fundamentalist preacher stepfather, Adam, isn't allowed to date or do anything against church "law." Asked to the Halloween dance by a boy she really likes, Lily defies Adam. But when they are caught in a compromising position by her stepfather, what will her punishment and repentance be?

-----
NOTE: This is a REVISED edition.

Warnings: This title contains erotic situations, graphic language, and sex, as well as some very naughty mother-son and father-daughter incest.
-----

EXCERPT:

From "Lassoing the Moon"

She was going to hell. There was no getting around it-do not pass go, do not collect $200, she was going straight to hell without any little orange "Get out of hell free" card.

"Your turn."

Leila rolled the dice, moved her little shoe, and bought Baltic Avenue for a song. She could start putting houses on it now, since she owned Mediterranean as well. But she wasn't thinking about Monopoly. She couldn't think about anything, watching her twenty-year-old stepson home from college, sitting out in the living room in his boxers watching The Ultimate Fighting Championships on ESPN.

She was so going to hell.

"Ha! You owe me!"

Leila glanced up at her niece, startled, and forked over the money. Small price to pay for a little bit of freedom. If she just kept rolling the dice, moving around the board, no one would notice that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye, looking at the tight, ridged muscles in his stomach, the dark line of hair that disappeared below his boxers, dreaming about the hard cock she had accidentally caught him stroking in the bathroom that morning...

"Don't you want to put hotels on!?" Chloe nudged her aunt under the table, making a face. "You're not paying attention!"

Damn. Caught. Leila bought four houses, arranging the green plastic pieces on the board, glancing at the clock. Her sister-in-law should be back soon to pick up Chloe, anyway. There was no way they were going to finish this game.

Rich was making fake punches in his seat, watching the fight. "Oh, man, he opened himself up for the leg sweep!"

"Boardwalk!" Chloe squealed, bouncing in her seat and waving an orange five-hundred dollar bill.

Two Cents on Art Crits

Art criticism is an established style of criticizing works of art.  There are three components to it before one judges the work.

Detailed description - The critic must document all the details in the artwork.  What is there to see?  In a landscape, it wouldn't be just I see trees, it would be I see three trees in the background, in the top left of the painting.  They have an assortment of colored leaves including orange, yellow, and green.  The middle one looks to be a maple tree by the shape of the leaves.

Actually, more detail than that, but you get the picture.

Analysis - This is a detailed look at how the formal properties of art are utilized in the work of art.  How did the artist use the elements to create balance and rhythm, etc? 

Interpretation - What was the artist trying to tell you in the work of art?  Is it a painting about social injustice or love?  What are the clues that establish any kind of emotion and how do you feel when viewing it?

These three criteria for judgement reveal the three components in a work of art  - imitationalism, formalism and emotionalism.  Some people just like how realistic something looks.  Others appreciate a more formal use of color theory and line quality in their art.  Then there are the people who think art should have a message.  When a piece of art works on all three levels, the result is a good judgement, maybe even a masterpiece.

The truth is, most people don't understand art.  Some artists don't even know about these isms, especially if they are self-taught.  But once one sees that there are all these things behind the scenes at work, one tends to appreciate the gift of art.

So, now that I'm a writer, (okay, a self-taught writer) I try to utilize this same structure in my own work.  Writing is weird in that your finished work isn't actually finished until an editor or series of editors gets their hands on it and makes you second guess your original choices.

I admit that while formalism is my strong suit in painting, it is my weakest area in writing.  I am not super-duper well-versed in sentence structure, so it is helpful to have a second or third set of eyes on the work.

It just really bugs me that book critics don't use a standard format to judge the work.  They will have an emotional aversion to something and forego the amazing detail and organization of plot.  They won't see the brilliant use of literary form (if it's there).

Writing is also weird when trying to peddle to publishers.  We like sex, but not anal or whatever.  We like this but not that.  No this, this and this.  And that too.

I'm not used to such seemingly rigid guidelines to my art.  I create alone - then spring my finished series of paintings on the guests of my artist reception at a gallery.  They are always intrigued by the originality of the work.  Other artists always tell me that I'm very brave because I tend to use imagery and ideas that appeal to me personally, which tends to make me more vulnerable to criticism.

If an artist doesn't leave a piece of themselves in the work, then all it is to me is imitationalism.  I can't stand that.  It just isn't enough.  Writing can be an artistic outlet (should be) and I wish places like Amazon would stop treating a writer's art like it should be criticized without a legitimate form of assessment.

Amazon Censorship Alienates Power-Buyers

I hate to say I told you so, Amazon, but...

Okay, I don't hate to say it. 

But I DID tell you so!

According to the numbers being thrown around, Amazon is alienating its ebook "power-buyer" audience by banning erotic fiction.

What!? People are buying PORN on their Kindles? *gasp* 

Yes, yes they are. They're buying a LOT of it. And I don't know why this is such a surprise. Porn has driven every major new technology we've released. And this ain't your mama's porn.

Look, I don't know how much the holier-than-thou reading our porn in the closet commentary while spouting morally indignant objections from customers influenced Amazon's decision to ban certain books from their virtual shelves - however, I do know that while those folks are a vocal MINORITY, the Kindle "power-buyers" are a non-vocal MAJORITY - and they're voting with their dollars.

They are taking their business elsewhere, Amazon.

Do you have any idea how much my sales increased at Barnes and Noble because Amazon "banned" my erotic books from their site? ONE HUNDRED TIMES. That's right, I went from making about $1000 a month on Barnes and Noble to... *drumroll people* almost $100,000 in a month. Now, granted, that number has decreased since the whole banning thing also happened to coincide with the Nook's crazy Christmas-buying extravaganza, but I'm still earning three times the amount on Barnes and Noble than I am on Amazon almost six months later.

The polls don't lie. Readers are abandoning their Kindles for Nooks, especially the "power-buyers" that the publishing industry is drooling over. I could have told you months ago - in fact, I did - that the power-buyers were also erotica readers. And that while they might not email Amazon and protest about the book ban (although some did) in the numbers of the morally-objecting vocal minority - that Amazon was going to feel the sting of actual monetary loss when those erotica readers abandoned Kindle and went elsewhere to find their reading material.

Told ya so.

So is it a good payoff for Amazon, do you think? Was my $100,000 month just a drop in the bucket to the mega superstar? (Their cut would have been about $40K... but Barnes and Noble pocketed that money instead...)

Is Amazon too big to fail?

In this ebook game, I wouldn't make assumptions like that, even if you are Amazon. 

Selena Kitt
erotic fiction you won't forget

Give It Away Now

I started out (or rather, restarted out) by posting stories up on amateur writing websites. Those stories (brushed up) feature in my short story collections. The originals can still be found on the internet. I thought about pulling them down, but I didn’t in the end.

For the past two months I’ve been running a little serial on my blog.

So, why am I doing this? Why am I essentially giving my work away for free?

It’s a fair argument. I could just as easily package up the serial I’m working on now as a novella and charge people 99¢ to read it.

And it could just as easily sit there on Amazon, unread, forever, even at 99¢.

I think sometimes people are too attached to the notion they must receive something from their writing for it to have value. The problem is value is determined by the market. If you’re nobody and nobody wants to read you because you’re nobody (and remember 99% of everything is crap), then your writing has no monetary value anyway.

I like try-before-u-buy. I like to give my readers try-before-u-buy. I think this is even more important for self-published work. There are still some deep-rooted prejudices against self-published work. If 99% of everything is crap, then everything with no quality control must be 99.9999% crap. The best way to counter this is to make sure there are plenty of samples of your work up and easily accessible for people to read. That way they can see how good it is for themselves.

It’s a little easier with short stories. People read the stories I have out on the internet, decide they want more and then go on to buy the books (which contain stories that can’t be found anywhere else).

I started the Locked in with a Succubus serial to drive traffic to my blog and find new readers. I don’t know if it’s actually resulted in more book sales, but it has doubled the number of visitors. Hopefully, some of them will like what they read enough to spend money on my books.

If you're unknown, you need to get known. You need to get people to read your work and get interested in what you're writing. I don't mind giving some of my stories away for free to achieve this.

M.E. Hydra

Branding, blogging and a new release...

Hi folks, it’s been a while since I stopped in here, but I’ve been busy editing my next book and getting more distribution channels for my short stories.  That’s an interesting adventure.  Uploading to the different sites is a lot of work, much more than I expected it to be and no two sites seem to have a consistent process.  Such is the life of the self-published. 

Beyond being busy with editing and uploads, I’ve been thinking about branding.  I’m hoping the path I’m going down will elevate  J.E. Taylor into a recognizable brand.  At first, my short stories were put under Taylor Publications – not very original and not something that leaves a lasting impression.  I wanted something with more punch.  More pizzazz.  Why?  Because Taylor Publications is just too boring a label for me. 

Going back to the image I’ve been building for many years – I decided to leverage JET - my nickname in writing circles which has even been expanded to "JET-powered Jane" by one of my online writing teachers (shout out to Margie Lawson – you rock!).    Thus, my own personal imprint ‘tis born:   JET-Fueled Fiction.

So now, I’m changing all my e-books and paperbacks to have  JET-Fueled Fiction listed on the title page in addition to my name.  It’s a fun and tiring exercise – updating documents, reformatting, replacing copies on all the distribution sites that I utilize, updating the paperbacks on CreateSpace, and all in preparation for my official launch of Hunting Season this month. 

And this is my first official blog in my blog tour and giveaway that I’m doing in May.  If you’re interested in getting in on the giveaway, swing by my blog at http://JETaylor75.blogspot.com and check out the rules. 

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Ciao,

JET

Sell-Sell-Sell!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.