RELEASE DAY

4Play is live!

I truly gave this book my best effort, and that still small voice in my head hopes it finds a reader or three that enjoy it. The erotic romance market is extremely saturated with great books, and it's very difficult to be noticed in the crowd. This time, though, I did everything within my power to give 4Play a chance. I've previously posted about the following steps, but here's an abbreviated recap:

• Writing - I revised, rewrote, added content and pored over these stories with a critical eye. I did not rush to the "Publish" button.
• Cover design - I accepted that I have no business making covers. I hired Julie Nicholls, and boy, did she deliver! 
• Editing - Ekatarina Sayanova, Red Quill Editing, rocks SO hard! Anyone who does not love working with their editor should check her out. Kim Morgan provided outstanding proofreading skills as well.
• Formatting - BB eBooks gave me beautiful mobi and epub files I could upload with confidence. 
• Promo - I wasn't going to spend anything on advertising for this size book, but therience wouldn't be complete without it. Shannon Hunt of Once Upon an Alpha coordinated my release day blitz. She functions like a well-organized demon.
• Outlets - Not only did i publish on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, 4Play is offered through Kobo and Smashwords as well. 

4Play - Amazon 

4Play - Barnes & Noble 

4Play - Smashwords 

4Play - Kobo

Good luck, little book! One, okay, two margaritas and I'm headed back to Xander, Violet, Daisy, Rose and the rest of the gang at the best little whorehouse in space. I'll leave you with an excerpt from "Viewer Discretion Advised", one of the stories in 4Play.

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"Miss Parker, you have to be excited about this scene. Any woman in the country would trade places with you. Sheesh, who doesn't want to be in bed with Brad Watson?" Angie giggled as she worked on Sara's eyeliner.

"I don't," Sara grumbled under her breath.

It wasn't like she had a choice. Andy Batuzzi, this episode's director, had made that abundantly clear. As usual, the cast had gathered for the table read on Monday, Andy's cigar smoke hazing the air. Sara had given him a dirty look for it and received a condescending smirk in response. Flipping through some newly added script pages, she had been disconcerted to see the episode now ended with a sex scene. A sex scene starring Brad and her.

"Andy, what the hell is this?" she had demanded, pointing to the final page of the script.

"It's for sweeps week, darlin'," he’d replied through a puff of smoke.

"But our characters are partners, not lovers!" She looked across the table at Brad, seeking affirmation. Wow, he doesn’t seem the least bit surprised.

"Sugar, we'll slaughter every other show in our time slot. The whole horny country wants to see you two in the sack and believe me, we'll play it up with promos the whole week before air." Andy had leaned forward, leering at her. "And who knows, you might have a good time."

"There's no dialogue here," she’d pointed out. Big scene, no lines for Sara.

"That's because we're going to play the whole thing over music, you know, a love theme!" The little, bald man cackled. "Hey, maybe we'll release a soundtrack!"

After the reading, Andy summoned Sara to his office. Still seething, she plopped down into a chair, scowling at him.

"Now listen up, kiddo. The exec producer has been talking to me about you. He says the other cast members and even the crew are pissed about your lousy attitude. He's sick of your bitching and wants me to deliver this message. If you give me any grief, balk at direction, or cause any shit whatsoever, he wants you to know you can be written out at the end of the season. Cops do get killed in the line of duty, ya know."

"What attitude? I'm a professional, Andy. I studied at the Actors Studio, I've done commercials for dog food and douche, and I’ve guested on a dozen series. I've worked hard to get this far. This pretty boy quarterback comes along and steals my thunder, and I'm just supposed to grin and bear it?"

"Yup," Andy had laughed at her. "Grin and b-a-r-e it is right. You’re going to be topless for this scene. Now I know we'll have to edit, but we plan on showing as much skin as we can sneak by the censors. Remember when that hot blonde showed her tits on NYPD Blue? Even in reruns, that episode killed, and God knows how many hits it has on YouTube.”

"I don't do topless. I don't do nude scenes. Never have, never will."

The director had glared at her, his expression grim. "You will if you want to keep this job, Sara. You'll do it, and you'll do it cheerfully. Now get your ass outta my office."

And I thought I was ready last week...silly woman

ONE WEEK UNTIL RELEASE DAY!

Three more parts of the puzzle have been put in place.
Formatting- after contacting a BUNCH of formatters, I finally found one who had the availability I needed and came highly recommended. Note to self: contact formatters as much in advance as possible. BB eBooks did a great job, and 4Play looks wonderful. They provided a mobi and 3 versions of epub. I am good to go!

Release Day Blitz - I wasn't going to do this for a "small" book but decided what the hell. I want to experience everything I can related to self-publishing. The fantastic Angel Payne recommended Shannon Hunt of Once Upon an Alpha. Although I booked it late (again, note to self), I think it's going to work out. If you're a book blogger and want to participate, here's your link:
BLOGGER SIGN UP FOR RELEASE DAY BLITZ

On the advice of Shannon and members of the Indie Author Group,, I created a Facebook author page. Please check out the banner made by Julie Nicholls! Do me a huge favor and Like the page while you're there. Pretty please?
Jordan Buchanan Author Page

So, what's left to do? I'll be loading up the manuscript to Amazon and Barnes and Noble midweek to ensure it's available on release day. I have  teasers ready for the Damn That's Hot Erotica 3 event that I can use here and there. Like here:

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
I HAVE to take a break from being self-centered and point you to some great books I've read recently.

Falling Angels by Jen Winters - a beautifully written story of angels and demons. Follow Ambrose, a fallen one, through centuries as he finds love and redemption, much to his surprise.

Bound by Lies by Hanna Peach - erotic, suspenseful, and dark. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'd love to see a film version!

Waiting for Paint to Dry by Lia Mack - a debut novel so good it makes my teeth hurt. Warning: if you are triggered by references to sexual assault, the beginning of this book may be problematic for you. However, our heroine Matty powers through and comes out strong.

The trouble with condoms

I'm probably older than most of my smut-writing peers. I'm okay with that. Not much I can do about it anyway, right? I only notice the age difference now and then. Pop culture references usually trip me up. You could show me pictures of current pop singers and I would be stumped. I don't know how to use Instagram yet either. As quickly as I learn a social networking platform, they come out with a new one, and my brain is pretty much at capacity.

When it comes to my writing, I realize my style may be a little old-school, a bit more sentimental. That's okay, too. I lead with my heart. Where I show my age most often,is with those damn condoms. My editor pointed out in one of my stories that I hadn't addressed the lack of their use in a sex scene. Oy. There was no way to make it happen in that particular instance, and I REALLY tried to come up with one. I finally let it go as is, trusting the reader will understand the male character hadn't had sex for years and the female had been using condoms in her previous relationship. In all honesty, I simply tend to forget about condoms.

When I came of age in the mid 70s, condoms were thought of only as a means of birth control. As soon as we got the nerve, my female friends and I trooped down to the local health department and got an Rx for the  bc pill. Problem solved. It wasn't until the 80s that AIDS reared its ugly head, and I was long married by then. I was sure I'd never see a rubber again. Hah! Never say never. Flash forward to 1998. I'm divorced by then and have a younger man in my life. (Cougar, cradle-robber, I heard all the names. We've been together 17 years, so who cares?) To him, condoms were a given. His generation didn't have sex without condoms; using rubbers was automatic. Still, he admits it was more for birth control than protection from STDs. It seems young people will always believe they are invincible and immortal and bad things only happen to other people.

So, I will continue to try and remember condoms. Safe sex practices should always be promoted.  In my WIP Xander's Garden, future technology has made condoms obsolete. Hallelujah!

My brand
I've been trying to come up with a tag line I can use in promotions. Since I'm such a sentimental slob, I came up with "stories with heart and heat". The fabulous Julie Nicholls took that and a crappy clip art draft and came up with this logo. I love the flaming heart graphic!

Finishing touches

It's coming down to the wire. 4Play will be published on September 25! I'm putting together the dedication, acknowledgements, adding an excerpt from Xander's Garden, etc. I've looked at D2D and talked with formatters. At this point, I plan to have the book professionally formatted for KDP and try D2D for distribution to other retailers. I'm going to query a few folks regarding an appropriate price point. I believe too many authors are under-pricing their books, but I wouldn't want to inflate my price either. It's a tightrope walk. I still need to proofread the book one more time, but I'm holding off as long as I can. After you've read the same material this many times, even if you love your characters and stories, you can get a little tired of it. It's a good thing I don't have to write a sequel, I'd be tempted to have all my characters go down in a fiery plane crash.

I decided to re-release Interview with Mistress A as a single, as well as including it in 4Play. Since it's the only one of the four stories that is BDSM and a f/f pairing, it appeals to readers in a different category. The talented Julie Nicholls designed this cover for me, and I love it!

 

I'll be participating in my first Facebook author event, Damn That's Hot Erotica 3,  in early October. I'm a little nervous but excited. I love meeting and talking to people, so I'm planning to have fun with it. I'll be giving away an ecopy of 4Play and a $5 Amazon gift certificate. There will be a grand prize Rafflecopter giveaway tied to the event as well. Come check it out!