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 - 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.
***********************
"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."
No comments:
Post a Comment