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Hi Folks,

How has your new year started off? Have you made writer resolutions for more sales, more releases, more books to be read?  Or are you swamped like I am even though it’s only the first week of the year?  LOL!

My biggest news right now is that The Playground is released through Decadent Publishing!  The 1Night Stand series is apparently very popular and when I met Kate Richards and Valerie Mann at Erotic Authors Association Con in Vegas last year, they convinced me to write something for them.

One of the biggest factors writers need to realize when they start writing a new book is the time commitment to it . Usually I cover craft on WriteSEX but I think we should talk a little on the business side of things too for this article.  In a previous Authors Promoting Authors blog post I had talked about research and looking at things from the standpoint of ROI on TIME invested in a book.  Being efficient is key when writing because as we’ve covered before, true wealth can be had by a writer but it takes a LOT of work and so few writers actually amount massive wealth. I pointed out eh importance of education on topics such as BDSM or psychology in the APA blog so that once you sit down to write a story, you don’t have to stop and research, thus breaking your train of thought.

After all, train of thought in writing gets the words on the paper.  But if you have to stop and look up the term SAM, maybe you don’t know what it is and have no sense of which websites are reliable, so more time spent on research, which affects plotting and character development in the long run.  Everything as a writer that you do should be measured in terms of return on investment.

You are a writer, an artist yes.  but the truth of the matter is, many of you have this goal and desire to be a decently paid if not well paid author and the only way to truly meet that goal is with proper planning, self discipline and keeping your ass in the chair and pounding out the words.  Oceania, our Audio Goddess, did a post last year on deadlines and writer’s block that I think will help from time to time. Continue with your education to learn what works and what doesn’t.

So, set your goals, write them down!  Put them someplace where you’ll find them a year from now.

Sascha Illyvich

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* * * Permission To Forward Granted and Appreciated! * * *

January 2012 – WriteSEX: Defining Erotica

Presented by Sascha Illyvich and WriteSEX
Dates:  January 5 – 29, 2012
Deadline:  January 3, 2012
FMI:
http://lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/#JAN4

Course Description:

 

Sascha Illyvich, with the help of M Christian, Oceania, Jean Marie Stine, Ralph Greco, Deborah Riley Magnus and Thomas Roche, are going to explore the daunting aspects of erotica in all its forms.  Once a week we’ll discuss every aspect of writing sexy fiction from what makes a story erotic even if there is little to no sex involved.  Writers of all genres will come away with writing tips that will benefit their careers.  We’ll cover author marketing, what defines a story as erotic, things new writers need to consider and the business angle of writing erotica.

Every week we focus on a different aspect of writing erotica.  Our other authors will do own introductions.  Some of them have a rather unique way of letting you know who they are!  I’ll be covering writing style in general for starters.  For this class, we’re going to take our lessons deeper in plot, audio and marketing so that the author comes away with a more comprehensive understanding of the erotic business, be it romance or more adult oriented.

Instructor Bio:

Sascha started writing twelve years ago, releasing poetry and an occasional short erotica story before focusing on kinky erotic romance in various subgenres.  His books have been listed under the Road to Romance’s Recommended read list, as well nominated for the CAPA.

He is also the host of the Unnamed Romance Show on Radio Dentata and continue to write for Renaissance E-books, and Total E-bound.  Readers can find his work, plus free reads at http://www.saschaillyvich.com

 

He is also part of the WriteSex Panel, a blog group that’s defining erotica for writers in any genre! Find us at https://writesex.net

 

You can register for the following on-line class through January 3.  Each class is $16.  FMI: www.lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/

 

Or email Online Workshop Coordinator, Veronica Alderson, [email protected] using the Subject line: LRWA ONLINE WORKSHOP.  To subscribe to LRWA Online Workshop monthly mailing list, [email protected]

Thank you.

Veronica Alderson,
LRWA Online Workshop Coordinator
LRWA Treasurer

 

 

Cheers, Veronica

www.veronicaalderson.com

Love defies all odds…even death

Slay Me Tonight – 2009 East Texas RWA Southern Heat 2nd Place Winner

2009 MARA Fiction From the Heartland Finalist

 

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discipline keeps the course when all else seems impossible.

Have you seen the movie Limitless with that sexy Bradley Cooper? in the opening scene you see him walking across the street he is unkempt, (unkempt such a lovely word), and then we hear him say “You see that guy? That was me not so long ago. What kind of guy without a drug or alcohol problem looks this way? Only a writer.”

In the opening Eddie, played by Bradley Cooper, joins friends for a drink he attempts to tell them about his book but as he puts it not even his friends can believe he has a book deal.  So he decides that today is the day he is going to conquer his demons and own that book but he has writers block….

It seems that I am always talking about road blocks to the story.  Unlike M Christian, Thomas Roche, Sascha Illyvich, Jean Marie Stine, Deborah Riley Magnus and the other very great names that contribute here that offer great advice on how to succeed – I am here to tell you that YES it takes talent, YES it takes a bit of luck! YES it takes all these great writers have to tell you and more to succeed. But many do succeed and you can too if you just stay in the room and write.

So today I sit in front of my computer  like I do every day  creating websites, creating stories.. getting carried away by the moment that leads to the next burst of creativity. But somehow this Thursday is different, after a long hiatus, I am back… but I don’t feel like I belong. What do I have to offer other than the recurring theme of perseverance? What can I say that is will impart knowledge. How do I fit in with this site’s company of such articulate, informative, talented writers….

I know many of you must face that feeling of not being good enough, not having anything to say worth writing. Your stories feel insignificant and the plots stale and yet there is still an ember that burns inside that keeps you from working at the mall or some fast food restaurant.

Eddie in Limitless knew that he needed a the bones of  good work ethic to put this ideas on paper but he couldn’t keep his ass in the chair.

Because it was a movie he took drugs that helped him do all the things he wanted to do with a clear head and no self doubt. But that is real. In the real world drugs and alcohol dim our lights and handicap us.

In my world, when I feel this way I look at the quote by Robert Huges that I keep close by…  “The Greater the artist, the greater the doubt. perfect confidence is given to the less talented as a consolation prize.”

it reminds me that I will have doubts but that I can work through them…

As writers, artists we will always have doubts. It has been a constant struggle through the centuries. Even Monet who was known to visit the Louve in his painters smock  would fix his painting with brushes he had hidden in that smock.

So today if the words are not coming, don’t give up. Just keep your ass in the chair and type.

With love
Oceania

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This is oceania for Writesex.net
this week i am talking about personal lives in our stories

as writers
we have been told to write what we know about
we may weave stories in distant lands
with fairies and were-wolfs and zombies running amuck
with drama so thick it can be cut with a chainsaw
but when we work we work in details of our own lives
dont we
our own dramas
the love
hurt
the pain
the betrayals and conquests
the only way to be a better than good writer is to live a full life
a full life gives voice to your stories
makes them a place where in the words others can connect
if you as a writer are not willing to share
to expose yourself then you have no business being a writer
certainly not one for romance or eroticism

i have all but stopped writing
i came to a place in my life was too painful to relive
even in disguise
i did not want to retell my story
i didnt want to put my finger in the hole of deep bloody pain
i couldnt
until today
today the pain grew too great to ignore
and i realized that writing was my psychoanalysis
my therapy
it kept me sane
through
the sickness
the divorce
the hospitals
the betrayals
the wrong choices
and the mountain of work

so i found the courage and a title for my new story
it is called Without Shame

it will be about wrong choices i made
through it i hope to embrace my lost self

so that’s my story
what will you do today
to move your words forward

tell me about it
email me at [email protected]

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by oceania

I was reading a radio newsletter and they asked if stations had a digital strategy… seems the old saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it was being mainlined and hard by the radio industry! Unfortunately they aren’t the only ones! Except for a few most authors feel that if they write it readers will come (oh my – and orgasm too perhaps)

If you subscribe to the idea of 1000 true fans, (anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living),  a creative needs to  reach out on all levels to potential readers and make them fans. Most authors know in their heart of hearts that they need to be focused more on digital media because that’s where a significant portion of their true fans will come from. So what is your strategy?

Do you have a website?
Is it mobile compliant?
Do you have video book teasers?
Do you have both a facebook and twitter account?
Do you make time to voice an opinion, write a weekly blog?
Have you gotten yourself interviewed?

Think outside the wordpressor!

There is no excuse for not having a website. Free sites can be had on wordpress and blogspot and even on some publishing houses servers. A writer cant even use the I dont know html excuse now that wordpress has made life simple with themes that just require one to type and post.

The same goes for twitter and facebook… many writers have them but most are gathering dust. Social media requires a daily commitment! Hence the name SOCIAL MEDIA – not recluse or anti-social

Radio Interviews should be an essential part of any publicity campaign a writer embarks on… Podcasters and online radiostations, like Radio Dentata offer great packages for authors from interviews to books read out loud, places like that offer more than the standard banner or video teaser display.  Plus radio offers more bang for your buck in the way of connecting with a fan base… Market rearch has shown that “… online radio listeners are more than one-and-one-half times more likely to have a profile on a social networking site as compared to average Americans and that they tend to be power-users, with one-third of online radio listeners logging on to their social networking site nearly every day or even multiple times per day.” <<<<tapping into that market can make it easier to make those sales!

Why not comment and let me know how you’re maximizing your visibility!

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Write sex the tease by oceania
Last week Thomas Roche wrote about the tease and waiting too long for the money shot
this week i want to follow with
more on the tease!

have you ever listen to a writer tell you about the story they are writing?

Did you notice the levels of enthusiasm
that nervousness
that heady thrill that only comes from a powerful idea or really good sex!

But when it came to writing it out
You found it
staler than week old bread

Yes they hit all the plot points they told you about

Yes they described it in minute details
but it just died!

Not a pleasant experience was it

Well now imagine that the words flew off the page….

It was exciting
Sexy
And It Delivered
But when it was spoken
It died
and not just died but died and was left to rot
and it smelt bad!

Words on a page
will lay flatter than a transsexual before hormone injections
but spoken words flat without emotions will kill even the best words

so here’s the skinny
the reader has to go beyond reading
they have to go to the next level
they have to be a teller

Hence the name story teller

And as a story teller
They have an active role in
enunciation
and inflection
they have to keep in mind that when telling a story
reading a story out loud
regardless if it for a group or to record for distribution
is 2 parts writing
1 part performance art

I know many actors feed off an audience
I must admit it can be helpful
I mean if youre reading to an in tune group
Or just to 1 special person
It adds to the emotions you put behind the words

but what if there is no audience
what if it is just you and the microphone

that my darlings is when you read to the microphone
that inanimate object becomes your lover
and it helps that it is shaped like a large bulbous cock
lol
just the right shape to get you in the mood

I know you’re not sure you can read your work out loud
well you better get used to it
because one form of publicity is book readings
they have been going on since the beginning of time
and they are an excellent way to build a following of the 10000 fans you should be shooting for

still not sure
talk to Beth Wydle
this past weekend i went to an authors reading organized by this author of lesbian romance
it was great fun
several authors i have been following were there
they were battle ready
in costume
books and excerpts ready

they understood that reading out loud wasn’t just reading the words on the page
they knew in order to draw you into the characters and have you really grasp the story line
they had to put themselves
wholly in ever utterance

and they did
so here’s the challenge
now it’s your turn
why don’t you send me oceania @radiodentata your excerpts
I promise to be kind but fair in my critics

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Audio book publishers are popping up all over the place.
Jean Marie’s Renaissance E Books has an audio section, as do several other publishing houses.
I too
after 15 years of producing audio erotic stories
have thrown my hat into the ring with a new audio publishing house.
It is topic many authors are considering. After all expanding the outlets, expands the brand.
But unlike podcast stories written specifically for audio, many written for readers stories sound awful when spoken out loud.

Why?

Because sound is a visual medium
and not all words translate the emotional impact when they are taken from page to ear
Think of it this way a book is made into a movie
but
not every scene or ever character is put into the movie
there are adaptations made in order to keep the audience’s attention.

Think about it what will have more impact
someone reading “and Sally screamed”
or actually hearing Sally Scream

So what are the steps to getting this write stuff right?
well the answer to that is easy…
Picture your story being read by a sight impair person.
So how will this blind person see your words?
A dull voice or an awkward sentence is as jarring as a misplaced semicolon to a grammatician.
But where a editor will redline you manuscript
a listener will just turn you off.
POOF
your gone!

and the word of mouth
the buzz that creates your 10000 strong followers disappears
Books are a brand.
it so important to give a brand not only a visual image but also a sound identity?

When thinking about writing for sound
decide is this unabridged or an adaption
My written work is always written with the ears of the reader in mind
I apply the keep it simple approach
but that may not work for everyone
so then you must decided
who is your narrator
(not everyone has a voice that is easy to listen to..
Don’t hate me Sascha but when you read your excerpts on the Unnamed Romance Show you read it too fast and you lose the emotions but when your assistant reads it it is much more full bodied and it allows the listener to get involved with the words…)

Will your story have
1 voice or many
how much dramatization will you allow or expect
will there be sound effects
music????
will it read like a good book
or performance art
Writing for the page and writing for the ear can be two different approaches. If you intended to allow your stories to be available in both mediums then you must take time to answer the above questions, if you;re nto recording your stories but allowing a publishing house to do this, then listen to the stories they have recorded ask questions and set up parameters otherwise you’ll be setting yourself up for failure.

oceania monroe
publisher for the new audio book house Pure Obsessions

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