E-books, Censorship and Facebookitis

Well, I'll be honest, BLACK LUST did not take two years to make, probably less than two months, but the point is made.
For less than the cost of one of those calorie laden, sugar whipped coffee things, you can buy an e-book and support the author and publisher.
I will also admit, I didn't give piracy much thought until it happened to ME.
I already wrote my blog post on piracy. (HERE) Just think twice before hitting that 'download torrent' button.

Censorship is showing its nasty fangs in the ebook world the past week. Paypal has put the thumbscrews to ebook distributors about carrying 'objectionable' material. Yeesh. For example, Bookstrand sent out emails to all self-pubbed authors and informed them they were closing their accounts. First off, not all self-pubbed romance authors write porn. Let's call it for what it is, PORN dressed up as erotica. Did I like that I competed with some of this sludge in romance categories at ebook distributors? No, but I also am a firm believe in free speech. If some one wants to read 'F**k me, Sugar Daddy Bigfoot' (I hope that's not a title! :D) then more power to them.

To lump all self-pubbed romance writers in the same pot is wrong. I read on one writer's blog that her self-pubbed titles were older romance e-books whose rights were returned to her so she published them herself. Some titles had hardly any sex at all!
Where will it end, will menage be next? LGBT? No french kissing? Couldn't a compromise have been made? Not when corporate America speaks, apparently. The credit cards companies are squeezing PayPal, who are squeezing Ebook distributors who are squeezing authors. It's a slippery slope. Will PayPal be squeezing e-publishers next?
For anyone who writes outside the supposed romantic mainstream, I'd be worried.

I am suffering from Facebookitis. I can't take it much more. I left some groups, turned off notification of others and taking a bit of a break. Will only be on there when I have to be. Socializing or 'networking' with others writers/bloggers/reviewers and readers is a really good idea. But when borderline narcissistic personalities and extreme POV's make you grind your back molars, step away. Guess I am not keen on talking about anything personal on-line~TMI.

So, that's my ramblings for this week~



A little message from Chad and the Lads (Nickelback) When We Stand Together. Something to consider with this censorship rearing its hypocrisy filled head.

SILVER SHORTS! WK 8~Free Read Anthology~

Available FEB 22, now up at Silver Publishing's website as a pre-order click HERE

free, Free, FREE!

Welcome to the Silver Shorts! 

Every week, we will be giving the Silver Publishing authors a prompt or four to play with and one week to submit flash fiction and short stories to be offered as free reads to our customers.

 
This is the first time I participated. I never did flash fiction before, could I do it? I love a challenge, so 3300 words later, ta-da! My story is 'Rock and a Hard Place'.

Here is a list of the stories in the anthology:

All or Nothing  by S.A. Garcia
Branded  by Freddy MacKay
Certain Extras  by L.M. Brown
Hearts in Limbo  by Julie Lynn Hayes
More Than Neighbors  by Nicole Dennis
Only So Much  by Diane Adams
Rock and a Hard Place  by Karyn Gerrard
Special Packages  by Lily Sawyer
The Initiate  by TLK Arkenberg


Will I be doing this every week, probably not. But what a great way to be introduced to new readers. This is only available at Silver's Website. No where else.  Also, Reese Dante, Silver's cover artist, did a great job~

Also a reminder, my release with Silver Publishing is HEART OF ROCK, coming June 30th~

Cheers~

WINNER! Valentines for Vampires Blog Hop~

I want to thank EVERYONE who commented, followed and liked during this blog hop, the turnout was fantastic!

So, without further ado, using random.org and adding all the extra entries, the winner is:

                                 MICHELLE BLEDSOE!

Michelle wins a PDF copy of my paranormal BLACK LUST and as soon as it is published in April, the sequel, BLACK DESIRE!

Congrats Michelle! Email on its way!

Also, I will be participating in another blog hop next month, ' Feelin' Lucky' so keep an eye peeled for that.

Have a great weekend~

VAMPIRES FOR VALENTINES GIVEAWAY HOP!

 

February is the month of love and what do we love more than hot, sexy, dangerous and seductive vampires? Vampires For Valentines Giveaway Hop is all about spreading our love for these supernatural creatures.


Vampires For Valentines Giveaway Hop runs from 12:01am February 10th through to 11:59pm February 16th 2012, and is hosted by Felicity Heaton (Paranormal Romance Author) and Bitten by Paranormal Romance.


Hi and welcome to the Vampires for Valentines Blog Hop! Let me introduce myself if you haven't heard of me. My name is Karyn Gerrard and I write in a lot of different genres, including paranormal.

Don't you just love paranormal heroes?  Let's face it, vampires, werewolves and shape-shifters do not make for tender, cuddly hero-types. But they do, it seems. And therein I believe, lies the appeal.  Dark and tortured goes without saying. They are usually all 6'5 or taller, their bodies and faces would make Greek Gods weep or romance cover models slink off in shame, not worthy being in these guys presence. They are all hugely endowed and in a perpetual state of arousal. Okay, so he has this...thing. No one is perfect. So he changes into a werewolf once a month or can shape shift into a Jaguar or has this bug-a-boo with blood. We can work around that, right?

 Leave a comment and tell me what you love about a paranormal hero or which type you prefer (Vampire, demon, etc) and you could win an e-copy of the first book in my Blackthorne Clan paranormal series with Evernight Publishing BLACK LUST and when available, the sequel BLACK DESIRE~

The sequel BLACK DESIRE is tentatively scheduled for release In April.

Want a few extra entries in the giveaway? Look down the right hand side of this site and click 'google friends connect' and become a follower. On facebook? Also down the right hand side, click 'like' for my author page! (if widgets don't load, just refresh the page)
Tell me in your comment you did, (+1 follow, +1 like) and please do leave an email address so I can contact you when the hop is over!

Blog hop runs until Feb 16, 2012 and be sure and click on the links below to visit the other stops on the hop! Thanks for stopping by and best of luck!

Writing What You Love~And Another contract!!

When I look at how many books some of my colleagues are selling, it can be discouraging. As much as you wish them well and give them the much deserved congrats, you start to look at the product you are putting out there and wonder-what is wrong? The short answer is-nothing.

Standard M/F romance do not seem to be the hot sellers in the ebook romance world. Kink sells. It is not always the case, but it seems to be for the most part, true.

While it's great to be published, the market is flooded. Self-publishing has its merits, but also can be an open sewer for plagiarism, extreme erotica/porn and shoddy writing and editing. I'm no prude, but some of this stuff is sick. Rape or near-rape, incest and I could go on. And it sells.

People tell me, 'write a menage! or try m/m!'  Yes, I know they are popular, just look at some ebook distributors or publishers best seller lists. I have nothing against it. In fact, a couple of my paranormals I am working on have brief scenes of both of these because it fits with my paranormal world and its characters. Writing one for the express purpose of selling more books or making a list of some sort doesn't call to me. Also I don't think I could sustain the genre for a whole book.

I think a romance writer has to take a hard look at what they want to accomplish before they get in too deep with publishing. A lot of people have two or more pen names for various genres or levels of erotica. I decided early on I will be writing in multi-genres and my 'hot' level would be sizzle, not extreme. I also decided if possible, I am sticking with the one pen name.  I also decided that while great sales are fantastic, its not my main goal. If I sound like I am trying convince myself, perhaps I am.

You will drive yourself crazy if you worry too much about sales (or reviews, but that is a another topic) It causes stress, resentment and self-doubt. It's not worth it. The best way to sell books is to write another book. I firmly believe this.

So in that vein, I just signed my third contract for 2012! YAY!!! No, I am not writing up a storm. I have a backlog of manuscripts and only now am getting around to editing and submitting. BLACK DESIRE will be coming out in April, book 2 of my paranormal series. And it has the aforementioned menage scene! (very brief) Thanks to Evernight Publishing for continuing to believe in me.

Edits have arrived for Timeless Love, the less said the better! :D So I had better dash off!

The guy above?  Greek God model, Teo Theodordis! He was the inspiration for my hero in Black Desire, Tristan Black, from the silver eyes to the long brown hair.

Have a great week~