He's the Man is available!

HE'S THE MAN

*Thank you for putting the book at #69 on the iBooks Top 100!!

EARLY RELEASE DATE - The Things I Do for You

The Things I Do for You is available NOW!

** I found out today that Amazon won't allow me to set up a pre-order so there's no reason to wait anymore. The Things I Do for You should be hitting retailers over the next few hours. **

Sequel to the National Bestselling novel One More Day 

A bargain. A baby. A billion things can go wrong. 

NICHOLAS ALEXANDER doesn’t mind being called a playboy. His charm serves him well in business and a beautiful woman is always on his arm. Except the one he’s in love with.

Raina Winters doesn’t believe in love, so when she’s dumped right before her wedding, she’s more upset about losing what she really wants from marriage. A baby.

When Nick learns about Raina’s dilemma, his first reaction is to leave her hanging like she left him after their steamy one-night stand. But he finally has something Raina needs, so he offers her a deal. He’ll give her a baby if she gives him something he desires just as much.

Just two little words.

I. Do.

**WARNING** This book contains encounters with a drunken Elvis, pushy mamas, tabloid shenanigans, several occurrences of bad cooking and hot sex between two people who aren't even sure they like each other. Just saying...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From NYT & USA TODAY Bestselling author M. Malone comes a tale about marriage, motherhood and the true meaning of family. Get caught up in the magic in the next installment of The Alexanders series.

Because in the Alexander family, if we love you then you're one of us. 


THE ALEXANDERS SERIES
Teasing Trent
One More Day
The Things I Do for You
He's the Man
Christmas with The Alexanders
All I Need is You
Say You Will




ORDER LINKS  - (updated as links are available)

Amazon
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
Google Play

*** RELEASE PARTY**

It's finally time to par-tay!

Welcome to the release day party for The Things I Do for You, the 2nd installment in the bestselling ALEXANDERS series.

I love to share the method behind my madness so click HERE to see the soundtrack that inspired One More Day, the prior book in the Alexanders series. WARNING : the link will open in iTunes


I also love to do "mock" casting for all the characters in the Alexanders series. Wait until you see who plays Jackson Alexander :)>


MOCK CASTING



Finally, it's time to share the entire first chapter of The Things I Do for You HERE




CONTEST

Everyone who comments here has the chance to win one of the following prizes: (1) a Kindle Touch  (2) a $25 e-giftcard or (2) an autographed print copy of the book

Additional entries can be obtained by tweeting the link to this post, +1 the post on Google + or sharing it on Facebook. 

*All winners will be randomly drawn on the morning of 3/14/13

One More Day is a National Bestseller!

Thank you to all the fans who just put 
me at #4 on the B&N Top 100!!!

#1 in iBooks Romance
Top 10 of the Nook Top 100

Top 10 of the iBooks Top 100

The book is on sale for only 99c at all retailers! 
Get caught up in the magic with my Alexander boys before the sale ends!

Holiday Contest! Win a Kindle Touch!

Not everyone has an e-reader. There - I said it. Everyone likes to make the assumption that everyone is up on new technology but I know from experience that some people need a little push.

So, while doing my Black Friday shopping from the comfort of my couch, I noticed that the Kindle Touch was on sale for only $69. I couldn't resist buying one. 

Don't you want a Kindle? You can use it for yourself or give it as a gift. You know you want it :)

There are several ways you can win.  Mainly, follow me on Twitter and Facebook because all my followers are automatically entered to win. Also, you can share this post through Google +1, link/share this post on Twitter and Facebook, or join the Naughty Girls mailing list.

All of these methods are super easy and take nothing more than the click of a button. 

The contest ends 12/15 so I have time to mail the prize to the winner. Happy Holidays!

Minx

One More Day - The Alexanders, Book 1

I'm happy to announce that the sequel to Teasing Trent is finally here!!  For everyone who wrote me such lovely emails about the characters - this one is for you.

Find out how Matt's adjusting to civilian life (hint - he ends up punching a wall), whether or not Trent and Mara are still together and become a part of the Alexander family's special magic.

ONE MORE DAY

When the P.I. she hired to find her father is murdered, Ridley Wells runs to the only person she trusts, her twin sister, supermodel Raina Winters. But Raina’s out of the country and she needs a place to hide. So when a handsome man mistakes her for her sister, she gets an idea. 

Where better to hide than in plain sight?

Millionaire hit-maker Jackson Alexander is happy to take in his neighbor. Warm, funny and a little shy, she’s different from his initial impression. The fact that Raina’s beautiful has nothing to do with it. His heart was buried with his late wife and no woman has ever tempted him to break his no-strings rule and none have roused the instinct to comfort and protect. 

Until now.

And if anyone figures out who the supermodel-next-door really is, she'll need someone to protect her...

WARNING: This book contains cloak and dagger intrigue, family drama, brothers fighting, supermodels with attitude and hot sex between people who can't keep their hands off each other. Just saying...

I would like to extend a huge thank you to the AMAZING readers who signed up for my street team and read the book before launch. You guys are the reason I do what I do.

And, as always, just because I can - I'M GIVING AWAY FREE STUFF!!

10 readers on my mailing list will receive a free copy of the book. ALSO - sign up for my mailing list now and you'll be eligible to win a $25 Amazon e-giftcard when I select a winner on 11/15/12.

So - hurry up and join the mailing list HERE



Amazon
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
Google

The Vampire Diaries, #TVD Season 5 Premiere Recap

I've been a pretty vocal fan of The Vampire Diaries. It's got action, romance, hot vampire brothers who like to take baths and then walk around half-naked. What's not to like? Most of my twitter followers get a front row seat to the show (whether they like it or not) but for everyone who isn't on Twitter, I've decided to post little recaps so you can join in the fun.

Naked & Unleashed now available - Ellora's Cave

Do you remember that hot, mysterious "handler" from the fetish club Bondage in TIED & TWISTED?

Yeah. This is his book.

Sink into dark and a little dangerous with my latest release from Ellora's Cave.

Aesthetician Callista has major lust for one of her house-call clients and her attraction only has a little to do with his highly impressive package. Respectable businessman by day, dangerous Dom by night, Mikal possesses an underlying darkness that sets fire to her most taboo fantasies. If only he’d force her to have sex with him, he’d be her perfect lover.

Something about Callista calls to Mikal’s darkest instincts, but he works hard to suppress his predatory urges and aggressive desires. He doesn’t want the kind of trouble that comes from indulging them. Callista endangers herself in a bid to satisfy her own forbidden needs, his resolve fractures. Her surrender belongs to him, her body is his to command, trouble be damned.


Reader Advisory: Callista’s highly-charged sexual journey takes her to some dark places. Thank goodness she has Mikal to fulfill her every need!




Now available at Ellora's Cave. Coming soon to other retailers.


Watch for Sam Fletcher's story this fall!

Paint for Blood - Gothic Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance - Now Available!

There’s only one substance on earth that can create a new vampire--the blood of a Chalice, a rare individual with magic in her veins. Atlanta’s human-vampire Civility Laws demand that if a Chalice is found, she must be destroyed. Vampire Teijon Reyes allowed the mortal girl Dessa Collier to live despite the threat she posed to society. If he ever finds her again, he will kill her, personal desires be damned.

Heiress to a family tradition of ward-working, house painter Dessa Collier has spent the past twelve years pretending vampires don't exist. When a friend-enemy walks back into Dessa’s life after a decade-long absence, everything Dessa has been hiding from comes crashing down on top of her.

Thrown together on a mission to protect a city under seige, Dessa and Teijon can no longer hide from the powerful attraction that binds them...or the monsters out to destroy them.



Now available for your e-reader at Amazon, Smashwords and AllRomanceEbooks.

**Barnes & Noble availability coming soon - Experiencing BN.com technical difficulties. My apologies to Nook owners like me!**

 Want new release news, excerpts, and opportunities to win stuff delivered to your inbox? Click here and send a blank e-mail to receive my newsletter.

MATING CALL available FREE at various e-tailers

MATING CALL, the first installment of my paranormal romance collection DRAGON'S WOMAN, is available free for your digital device. Find it free at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and All Romance E-books...

but if you'd like to see it free at Amazon, you'll have to help me out with a price match campaign by clicking the Amazon link and reporting a lower price of $0.00 at those other sites.

Cora Phillips, a daughter of the Lune tradition of witches, spent her adult life avoiding anything remotely paranormal until a persistent nightmare of dying in a fire drives her back to the bosom of her family in New York City. When she unwittingly draws the attention of two dragon spirits and the men who command them, her days of avoidance come to an abrupt end.

Caught up in the sexual energy projected by both dragon spirits and the possessive claims of their dragon lords, Cora struggles to understand and cope with the realities of life for a Lune who has issued a MATING CALL.

Dragon's Woman Book #1
Previously published as part of the Dragon Queen trilogy

Sexy in surround sound!

I've discovered something unexpectedly sexy lately. Something that I've been doing in my bed late at night when I have insomnia. It keeps me entertained while my hubby snores unaware right next to me.

Audiobooks!

Wait, what did you think I was going to say?

I've never listened to an audiobook before this summer but I started listening as research. I've been contemplating producing one of my own books into audio and figured I'd better at least know what an audiobook was supposed to sound like before I started. Well, an interesting thing happened.

I got hooked.

There's something really soothing about the sound of the human voice and being told a story is one of the oldest human traditions there is. After devouring multiple audiobooks I was convinced. Audio deserves way more attention than it receives and I'm super excited to present my first contribution to the audio world.

Audible

iTunes

Amazon



The narrator I chose has a pretty.. Ahem.. Sexy voice so take a listen and let me know what you think!


**CONTEST** Leave me a comment about whether you've ever tried an audiobook and you can win a copy of the audio edition of Teasing Trent!! Contest ends on 7/7.

Hopefully this will make your nights as interesting as mine have been.

Happy Listening!

Minx

Please, Sir

I love a good beg. Don't you?

This weekend I'm reading EL James' hit novel FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and Christian Grey has me totally revved up. In honor of the occasion, and because my FSoG copy is a free read courtesy of my local library, I've decided to share the BDSM love by discounting my novella DOMINATING AMY by 100% for a limited time.

Yes. That does equal free. Totally, no strings attached zero dollars. If you like your friends, you'll let them in on the deal so they can spice things up too.

Ready? Ok - here's the Amazon link. Quick, get it while it's free. Don't wait!

Girls!

Thanks so much Minx for inviting me here today. And for dealing with my *duh* moment when I thought I couldn't load my post. :-)

Gretchen, Flora and Tonya are my leading ladies in The Roughnecks. When Minx offered me a chance to guest on The Naughty Girls, I knew my topic had to be about them.

I think every girl needs at least one best friend in her backpocket and Gretchen lucked out with two of them. When she was ready to go after her man, it was these two who pushed her out of the nest. When her man turned into a bit of a jerk, it was these two saying to hell with him.

Best friends. They drink. They chat. They talk about men. They eat a heck of a lot of pie together. Gretchen is the sweet one. Flora definitely my little sexy kitten of the group! Tonya is a bit more levelheaded and sensible. While I didn’t aim to write them that way, they just took on their personality.

When Gretchen wanted to go after her man, it was Flora telling her to buy the biggest box of condoms she could and have fun. Tonya was the one seeing that she got the condoms.

Drop me a comment to win a book! Do you have a tight group of friends? Where do you fit in? The sweet one? Funny? Sexy? Informed? I think I’m the sweet one of the group, but anytime I tell my husband that he says I have all my friends snowballed. Or just tell me hi and that you'd like to have the legs off that girl on this blog's header (*dreams for a moment*)

I’ll randomly pick a winner from all those who comment for Long-Distance Lovers by The Karens – Karen Booth and Karen Stivali! Ebook, open internationally. Thanks ladies for donating your book to my tour! See more about the The Karens at their website or check out their book on Amazon , B&N  or Ellora’s Cave!

***

Keri Ford writes Sexy Country Contemporary Romances. See her website for more information about her books and The Roughnecks Blog Tour with all the giveaway, sneak peeks and blog stops:   


Blurb
You do for family, no matter what. Lane Iverson knows that better than anyone. Harboring a secret about his mother’s death, Lane is counting the days until he finishes helping his brothers with some work and can head back to his hiding hole hours away. As long as he doesn’t have to face his three brothers every day, the guilt is easier to carry.

There is only one thing that can risk his plan. All of five foot tall with these deep eyes and a voice that shudders through him. The completely addicting, Gretchen Jones. She’s been watching him the entire time he’s been in town. With courage from her friends behind her, she confronts what she wants. To her surprise, that’s the easy part. Keeping her heart protected when she knows he’ll be leaving? Not so easy, but her only choice.

Read Chapter One

Amazon | Barnes &Nobel | AllRomance Ebooks | TMP |

PreOrder Print from Barnes & Nobel 

Add to your Goodreads Shelf

Find Keri at
Website 
Twitter 
Facebook

*to leave a comment, right-click the comment link below and select "open in a new window" or "open in a new tab"*

The War on Indies

The Huffington Post has a great article today about the changing industry and the current "war" between indie authors and traditional authors. Not that I subscribe to the belief that there is a war brewing between indies and traditional authors.  I mean, what is this, X-Men?  This isn't a case of mutants vs. normals or whatever. However, ridiculous assumptions aside, I think the article brings up an interesting question.

Mainly, do readers care where the books come from?

In my experience, the answer to this question is no.  Readers want a great story wrapped up in a professional package.  As long as I provide:

(1) high quality, eye-catching cover art
(2) a fast-paced, well-edited story AND
(3) a properly formatted file with a working table of contents

then I've never had readers complain about my indie-published book.  As a matter of fact, most readers don't know which of my books are indie-published and which ones aren't.

Which, in my opinion, is exactly as it should be.

I'm curious what other people think about this issue.  Do you care if your favorite authors publish on their own or with a publishing company?

Stay Naughty!

Minx

The Winner Is...

I loved hearing about everyone's Valentine plans. Sometimes the simple things we do are the most romantic. I also got some great pimpage from you guys on Twitter and FB.

As promised, I pulled a random name from all the tweets, posts and comments.

The winner of the "Oh sh!t - It's V-day?" CONTEST is @PinkyPollock !! DM me the email address to send your $25 Amazon giftcard!!

Stay Naughty,

Minx

Valentine's To-Do List

You know, it seems like the days are moving in a time warp lately so I shouldn't be surprised that 2 seconds after New Years = Valentine's Day.

Nonetheless, my friends, I am ready.  I already have my to-do list in place.

Valentine's To-Do List

1) Cook one of the goodies on my Pinterest "Totally Lickable" board.  My Pinterest page is here.

2) Stop being obsessed with Pinterest so I can pay attention to my hubby.

3) New outfit, perhaps something a little sexay... like THIS

4) Reprogram my hubby's iphone so Siri will address him as "Big Poppa".  Why?  Um, why not?

So, what are your plans for the day of love?  I'm feeling lovey so I've decided to make things a little more interesting.  Leave me a comment by 2/14 about what you plan to do for V-day (even if it's stay in bed with the pillow over your head) and you can win a $25 Amazon giftcard!  If you tweet about it or post on FB about it, you get another contest entry.  Easy!


Even if you're not big on over-commercialized, secular holidays, you should still give your honey SOMETHING for Valentine's Day.


Even if it's just a kiss.



Stay Naughty!

Minx

New Year's Eve Interview with Author Ian Dalton!

This has been an exceptional year for all of us here at Naughty Girls. I was going to do a recap but that's a little boring so instead, I thought I'd end it with an interview with a new author. Enjoy!

INTERVIEW WITH IAN DALTON: AUTHOR OF THE VICTORIA WILDE SERIES

Naughty Girls - Tell us a little about Ian Dalton.

Ian - I've been writing for about six years and began by writing humorous fiction. I'm married, have a full time job, three kids and a new puppy who's currently driving us all crazy with his teething, rambunctiousness and incessant humping of pretty much anything and anyone. I'd love to write full time, but for now, it's just a hobby.

Naughty Girls - What the hell is a guy doing writing erotic contemporary romance?

Ian - Okay, so maybe I'm a little too in touch with my feminine side or maybe I just need some good professional help. At this point I'm not really sure…I can tell you that I have a loyal, but somewhat small group of female fans who really love this series. So I think I have some talent in this genre. All I ask is for readers to download a sample and give me a chance. I believe they'll be pleasantly surprised.

Naughty Girls - In your novels the sex scenes are smoking hot- where do you find the inspiration?

Ian - I enjoy occasional mind-blowing amazing sex with my incredible wife and channel those memories when I'm crafting scenes and then let my imagination take over from there. I say occasional because what guy really thinks he gets it enough… Plus the kids, puppy and just general life stuff can really cut into the amount of romance novel quality type sex a couple can actually have.

Naughty Girls - So why the switch from writing comedy novels to erotic contemporary romance?

Ian - When I wrote my first novel, this comedy about of all things, the subject of male enhancement, I found my sex scenes drifting into the 'a little too much information/erotic/explicit' zone. A friend who read an early draft alerted me to this. So I scaled back those scenes and released it as more of a straight comedy novel. I found that I really enjoyed writing the hot scenes, so I went back and included them in a new version of that story and plan on releasing it under the title ENHANCED very soon. I actually write under two pen names- one for my humorous less explicit work and another for my contemporary erotic romance. I plan to have a version of each book available under each pen name. Well, all except Desperate Thoughts. If I scaled back on the explicitness of that story, it would be just a few pages long…J

Naughty Girls - Where did you get the inspiration for Inappropriate Thoughts?

Ian - Where else…a past relationship. A girl that I won’t mention by name, actually broke my heart in college in pretty much the exact way outlined in the book. She was a ballet dancer and she could really do that thing with her leg (keeping one on the floor while pointing the other straight up to the ceiling) and when I saw her do it at a party, I was hooked. Okay, so I was a shallow pathetic inexperienced eighteen year-old loser… Anyway most of the beginning of the story is based on true events, with the names changed to protect the guilty…I thought my memories from my relationship with 'Miss Flexibility' would make a great start for a novel. From there I set out to write a story to capture the intense desire between a couple who are completely crazy about one another, but are desperately trying to squash those feelings. It's the story of a divorced woman who falls for a younger man who just happens to be the best friend of her son. I wanted to explore all the passionate thoughts floating around in their heads as they pined away, but for obvious reasons are prevented from acting on their desires.

Naughty Girls - So in the story, your romance plays out on a tennis court of all places, what the heck is that about?

Ian - I was looking for a common interest that my characters could share. One that would bring them together in a way that could almost seem sexual without being sexual, you know…In my novel, tennis becomes the sex replacement for this couple as they long for one another. I've always been drawn to tennis. I feel it's the only sport a man and woman can play competitively together and have it be intense and almost sexy. All the grunting and the rhythm that players can get into on the court as they blast the ball back to each other over the net can be incredibly sensual. Not to mention the shorts skirts and all that bending over…Anyway, what was the question again?

Naughty Girls - We love Victoria and are dying to know where you came up with her character?

Ian - She really started as a minor character in the story. I was looking to create a wild and crazy friend to contrast against Jillian Grayson's straight laced, much more proper and shy personality. From there Victoria was born and as I kept writing she became a bigger and bigger part of the story- especially in books two and three.

Naughty Girls - What can you tell us about the series prequel Desperate Thoughts?

Ian - I was so intrigued with the amazing and sexy Victoria, that as I was writing Inappropriate Thoughts, before I even finished the first draft, I decided I needed to write Victoria's back-story. So I put I.T. away for a while and wrote Desperate Thoughts. I was obsessed with figuring out how Victoria developed her mojo, her superfun, wild, strong, sexy personality and I as I crafted it I had a blast. Her story is a little tragic and certainly doesn't have the elements of humor found in the rest of the series, but it's steaming hot if I do say so myself. Let's just say I would love to be Ethan in that story as he got to know Victoria. I recommend that the prequel be read after the other books, but it really can be read at any time within the series.

Naughty Girls - Tell us what's planned for the VICTORIA WILDE series.

Ian - I would…except I don’t want to spoil it. I have an author's note at the end of Revealing Thoughts, which is book three, and there I reveal some things upcoming in book four.

Naughty Girls - So what are you working on now?

Ian - My marriage mainly…I'm taking a little break so my head doesn't explode. I wrote over 250,000 words in this series in 2011 and I need to spend some time with my wife so she doesn't leave me. Victoria has me exhausted, she's been known to do that to a guy…I invite readers to send me an email to help coax me off my ass to finish the fourth book sooner. But for now my brain just hurts and I think I'll have a beer or two and rub my wife's feet occasionally…

Naughty Girls - It seems to be an unusual strategy to offer each of your novels in two forms. Can you tell us more about your plan?

Ian - I'm an unusual guy and I tend to think of my books as something like a copy of a DVD movie that gives you a choice of "rated" and "unrated" versions. I enjoy writing the explicit scenes, but know that not all readers are looking for that much heat. I believe the comedy and characters are strong enough in all the books to let the stories stand on their own without all the explicitness. I wanted to give people a choice. So whether a reader likes their contemporary romance regular or extra spicy, I believe I have something for them. I'm trying to keep the pen names separate for now until I figure all this out. So if someone is interested in the "tamer" versions of my books, they can send me an email for more information.

Naughty Girls - And finally any New Year's resolutions for 2012?

Ian - Definitely floss more, a lot more… Oh, rub my wife's feet at least once a week (Please note this is much less than the twice a day she's looking for…) Figure out what the hell to do with the love triangle that surrounds Victoria in book four of my series and, oh yeah, come clean with my kids that I'm writing erotic contemporary romance novels…on second thought, I think I'll wait until 2014 for that one. That's when they'll finally be heading off to college where it's a lot harder to embarrass them…

~

Ian Dalton has released four books in the Victoria Wilde series, Desperate Thoughts the prequel (An Amazon exclusive) followed by Inappropriate Thoughts, Secret Thoughts and Revealing Thoughts. He plans to release book four, Second Thoughts early in 2012. If you'd like to help get Ian off his butt, want information on his "tamer" series or just want to send him a note, you can reach him at ianwdalton@gmail.com or follow him on twitter @sexywildesays.

Kindle Freebie from Ian Dalton!

Here's a Kindle freebie from author Ian Dalton. Ian will be joining us later this month to talk about the life of the male erotica author.  Enjoy!

The prequel to the Victoria Wilde series, Desperate Thoughts is a 40,000 word novella, which reveals the tragic yet steaming hot story of how Victoria got her mojo.






SUMMARY



On his deathbed, Victoria Wilde's husband David leaves her with a gift; a replica of the most intimate part of him and makes her promise to go on with her life and share her most cherished gifts with another. But even after fourteen months the young widow finds herself unable to enjoy his gift or share her own. When Victoria spots a man who could be her late husband's younger twin, she's reminded of a story David shared of him as an insecure college freshman, who was given the gift of self-confidence by a clandestine sexual encounter with a beautiful older woman, and Victoria relives the erotic experience with her Davidesque stranger. Afterward, she's re-awakened sexually and motivated to do the same for other deserving young men in a way that both honors her lost love's memory and satisfies her desperately unfulfilled desires. With each new encounter the risk grows along with the passion until events spiral out of control and she's forced to choose between continuing down a path of self-destruction or finally letting go of the past.

The Book Lovers Buffet - 99c Ebook Sale!!!

I'm participating in the Book Lovers Buffet, an extravaganza of ebooks on sale for only 99c!

But you have to hurry - the sale is only until Dec 15th

Happy Reading!

Minx

P.S. You can follow the news on Twitter too with hashtag #bookloversbuffet

Barnes & Noble gives DC Comics the finger!

Well the digital world is heating up a bit.  Last week DC Comics made an announcement that they would be offering 100 new comics exclusively to the Kindle Fire.  Apparently that hit a nerve with the nation's largest bookseller, Barnes & Noble, because they've retaliated by yanking all DC Comics from their brick & mortar locations and now it's on like Donkey Kong!

According to a Barnes & Noble executive, "To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms and not have the e-book available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime."  Customers won’t even be allowed to special order the comics unless they have them delivered to their own homes.

Ouch!

Honestly, B&N's position sounds reasonable but this still feels like watching a particularly vicious game of dodge ball at recess.  Who’ll chicken out first?  Who knows but the consumers are the ones inconvenienced in the meantime.

Stay Naughty,

Minx

An Ode to Being Indie

It's been roughly seven months since I decided to publish a test novella as an indie. Most of what I've learned has been helpful with my traditionally e-published books, as well.  Things such as the importance of writing a good blurb, promoting responsibly (no spamming) and being reactive to the market.

 It hasn't all been roses though, so I figured I'd share in case anyone else is on the fence.

PROS

In indie publishing, you have a measure of control that is almost addictive. If my sales are lackluster I can change my cover (imagine asking for that at a traditional publisher!), tweak my blurb or even change the title. I recategorized Teasing Trent and it immediately hit some of the sub-category bestseller lists, something none of my other books have ever done. Win!

I've noticed a lot of epubs put their books in one big "Romance" or "Erotica" category which means the book will never trend on a sub-list (such as "Romance - Contemporary" or "Romance - Fantasy/Futuristic"). So, recently I sent emails asking some of my publishers to recategorize the books I have with them.

I was actually told by one that they can't place the book in anything other than a general category (but indie's can put them there? Huh?) and just flat out told by another that they don't want to change it.

o_O

Teasing Trent has been on several sub-lists and it's always an amazing boost for sales. The more lists your book is on, the more people see it = the more people buy it. Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of that? It's the easiest way to get more visibility there is.  Just put the books in the right place!
 
Then there's the stats. The sweetly seductive publisher panel in Kindle's KDP portal and BN's PubIt!  Since I'm tracking sales in real time, I immediately know whether my above mentioned changes had an effect. Change the title, score!  Upload a new cover, score! Surely you see how this is addictive.  There should be medication for this, really.

Speaking of stats, that's the other thing that's interesting.  Sales have only gone up (From 53 sales in month one to 313 sales in month six).  Now, I'm not setting the world on fire but at my epubs, I got the majority of sales in month one and then very little after that. I have no idea how long it will last but I've already beaten what a longer (higher-priced) story made at a top epub.

I'm good with that.

The biggest PRO of all is that I can put out cool stuff for the fans.  Casey's Night In  was something I wrote just because so many people wrote me emails about The Mirage Agency series.  I wanted to put it on the major platforms so people don't have to hunt for it.  BN has already got it for free and hopefully Amazon will price match it soon. I wasn't able to do that with my epubs.

CONS

In the midst of all my glee I sometimes forget to track just how much WORK it all is.  Gone are the days when I just write something and turn it over to someone else. Now I have to troll stock art sites for cover photos, find a freelance editor, arrange advertising and most time consuming of all - FORMAT THE THING. Because I am a perfectionist, I actually strip the manuscript down to plain text and then add in the html formatting from there. I actually care if the cover displays nicely next to the book stats on my Kindle when I click on it. I keep seeing books with random pictures or photos that look like candids of the author in place of where the cover should be.  Egads!!!  Also the book needs a working Table of Contents and proper chapter headings (otherwise I can't skip ahead and back by chapter on my Kindle).

HTML and CSS are not for the faint of heart.

Also, there's no one to blame if you fail.  I can't point to the crappy cover (Um, yeah I chose it) or the blurb that was changed after you turned it in or the title that was your third choice because the one you wanted was taken.  There's an expression that I love - "The cavalry isn't coming".   It's incredibly pertinent to indie publishing because here, YOU are the cavalry. No one's saving you but yourself.

Which is, frankly, kind of scary. 

THE POINT

Based on the above, I feel there are valid reasons to publish both ways. There are going to be times when I just plain don't feel like doing all of the above.  It's a heck of a lot of work and it's not 9 to 5 type work, either.  It's all-day, all-night, chained-to-your-computer, hubby-is-jealous-of-my-laptop work.

I don't want to discourage anyone because clearly, I ADORE it. I just want people to be aware of what they're in for. It's exhausting but it's also incredibly gratifying and the fact that I keep 70% of the money goes a long way to making up for those long nights.

I can buy a lot of coffee with that 70%.


Here's to the cavalry,

Minx