I haven’t recommended anything here for a while, mostly because I am woefully behind in my reading (and I only rec things I’ve actually read).  But!  Today I have a rec for a new story written by two of my favorite authors, Chris Owen (natch) and Julia Talbot!

Alone, they’re wondeful.  Together, they’re piping hot.  *fanfan*

Good Cop, Bad Cop came out yesterday from Torquere Press.   You can read an excerpt and buy the book HERE, and here is Torquere’s blurb:

Cody is a cop with a mission. He’s the point of contact for another cop, one working deep undercover in an organized crime group. Thing is, Pete is not at all what he expects in a partner. Pete’s a little reckless, a lot hot, and probably not as careful as he ought to be when it comes to rendezvous with his contact.

Pete thinks Cody is pretty darned hot. Cody’s a little reserved, a little afraid to let his macho side out, but Pete is more than happy to help Cody assert himself, even if it costs him his concentration on the job sometimes. When Pete runs into some serious danger, though, he has to hope Cody will come through for him. Will Pete and Cody live to tell the tale of their undercover adventures?

It’s hot, folks.  No kidding.  :D

My fall newsletter is out!

Find it HERE!

News, new releases, and a month long contest from Torquere Press!

Well, as some of you may have noticed, I’ve been scarce all summer.  I did tell you I was taking the summer off, but there are other things going on as well.I am, in fact, taking a short hiatus from writing in order to organize my thoughts for my 2009 projects, and also, along with my partner, to prepare for the birth of our second child.  I’m due this fall, so I suspect that I’ll continue to be quiet until the new year.

This, however, does not mean I won’t be around at all.  I have a couple of releases scheduled for the fall, including a short story release in Best Lesbian Erotica 2009, published by Cleis Press.  Chris Owen and I have a new novel we’re editing.  And I also plan to participate in Torquere Press’ holiday promotions, as usual.  So you’ll see me around.

In the meantime, September is Torquere Press‘ anniversary month!  To celebrate, Torquere authors have gotten together to offer our readers a great prize! Find the Scavenger Hunt button somewhere on my website, collect buttons from the other participating authors, and you could win a Kindle E-book reader loaded with Torquere Press books!

Happy Anniversary Torquere Press!  Good Luck readers!

Look for my fall newsletter, coming soon!

Hey all,

I am participating in a scavenger hunt with Rainbow Reviews!  All the information you need to enter is here.

Lots of other GLBT authors are participating also, including many Torquere Press authors.  The rules are pretty simple, you just got to each author’s site and find the following graphic:

Once you’ve found it you enter the URL for each author in the entry form and submit it.  I am contributing a copy of any of my lesbian ebooks published with Torqure Press.

Good Luck!

Wow, what a wonderful weekend.  I don’t even know where to begin.

Wednesday, we went two a bunch of e-book panels, two of which had Shawn Clements as one of the panelists.  It was good information about the e-book industry, what and how to submit, contract information, and that sort of thing.  The signing on Wednesday was successful; we talked to aspiring authors and booksellers, and of course we spoke with lots of  readers.  Chris and I sold out of our copies of Deviations: Submission and Deviations: Domination in the first hour and had to give people the website address so they could buy copies later.  If anyone missed it, it’s www.torquerebooks.com, and I have some signed bookplates that I can send out if you tell me you bought the book after the book fair.

Thursday and Friday were more panels, a lot of schmoozing and talking with readers and Chris and I attempted to actually get some work done.  Thursday night we had a good time at the Fairy Ball.

Saturday was crazy, man.  The book signing was three hours of chaos and fun, with readers from everywhere coming by to say hello.  Some already knew us and some didn’t, but everyone was friendly and the day was a big success.

I’ll be honest and tell you that I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived there.  I’d heard about issues and prejudice and other problems, and I was concerned.  But honestly, I felt well received, I was treated with respect like any other author there, and I had a wonderful weekend.  The press was very well received both by readers and authors, and we all talked to lots of people who wanted to know more, wanted to know how to submit, or just wanted to know who we were.  I think it was important that we were all there, that we did (and continue to do) our part to raise awareness and promote acceptance in the romance community, and that we were able to meet and say thank you to the readers that support us.  It can only get even better from here.

Thank you to everyone we met and to everyone that bought our books, and thank you to Torquere Press for having me along!

I am off to the Romantic Times Conference. I’ll try to post once in a while while I’m there, but if I can’t, I’ll check in when I get home! If you’re going to be there, come find me.

Have a wondeful weekend, and Happy Passover!

Hey all,

I took a couple of weeks off to relax and get my head together, but the spring deadlines are coming and it’s time to get back to work!  I haven’t disappeard, promise!

Chris Owen and I will be at the Romantic Times conference together next week with the kind folks at Torquere Press, so if you’re going, make sure to look us up!  Bring your books, or buy them there and we’ll sign them!  I look forward to meeting you.

Don’t forget about my latest m/m release, Dress to Impress.  It’s a steamy romance that centers around role play and two men who are very good at it.  So good that it’s sometimes hard to just be themselves.  You can buy it at www.torquerebooks.com.

Chris is still buried in snow, but here it’s spring and I’m feeling frisky!  Time to get back to writing.  :D

Authors are, to some degree, obligated to do promotion.  Sometimes it’s by contract, sometimes it’s just because we want our work and our name to get around.  But promotion is time consuming and there are so many opportunities out there that it’s hard to decide what to do and when and how.  

I have a website, a MySpace account, a discussion group and a blog.  There are author chats and conventions and interviews.  Quite frankly, I don’t have time for it all.

As a reader, what kind of promotion interests you the most?  Do you go to chats?  Do you read blogs?  Do you care about reviews or interviews?  Do you go to conventions?

I try to keep things relatively up to date.  For now, that might be the best I can do.  But I’d love to know what you’re looking for as a reader.

Thanks!

I have written a number of lesbian erotic short stories.  I know of a number of authors who want to write in the genre.  Trouble is, is appears that no one is buying it.

I recently learned that one lesbian erotic anthology in which I have a story has sold fewer than ten copies in almost three months.  IMHO, the anth is solid and well-written, so why isn’t it selling? 

If you’re a reader of the f/f genre, what are your impressions?  Are you buying?  What are you buying?  Where are you buying it?  Are you liking what you buy?  If so, what is it?  If not, tell me what it is you’re not liking.  As a reader, what are you looking for in a story? 

What besides content would make you want to buy lesbian erotica?  Is it the editor?  The authors?  A great cover?  The publisher?  The theme?

We, as authors, need to know this stuff, folks.  We can’t serve the readers if we don’t know what you’re looking for.  And unlike my m/m readers, you f/f folks have been very quiet about your preferences.  So what are they?  Don’t just comment on my work, let me know what authors you’re reading and which anthologies or novels you’ve liked or hated.  Be honest.  No hard feelings here, I’m looking for useful, honest information.

Leave me a comment here, or, if you prefer, feel free to send me an email at jodi at jodipayne dot net.

I very much look forward to hearing from you and welcome all comments on the subject.

Once upon a time, I wrote a 15K f/f romance for an anthology for Publisher A and got paid $50.  Ouch, you say?  Not enough money?Wait.

The same fall I wrote a 3K f/f romance for an anthology for Publisher B (supposedly a “bigger publisher”), and got paid $100. Better, yes?

No.

For starters, Publisher B took my story, edited it how they pleased without my feedback and published the anth.  Publisher A and I went back and forth with edits for a couple of weeks, tweaking and talking and making it a great story, and they respected my work as an author.

Secondly, I’ve never heard a single word about my 3K story for Publisher B.  Not one.  No extra hits to my website, no email, no nothing.  No one that I know of has ever read it.  I don’t even know if the book sold to anyone.  But the story I wrote for Publisher A was reviewed several places, I’ve seen it in bookstores, and I got email from readers saying that they’d read my story and liked it - and because of that they then went out and bought something else I’d written after visiting my website.  Nine times out of ten, that was something that paid royalties.

Wow.

It’s not all about direct dollars, kids.  It’s about exposure.

Life lessons, man.  They’re so easy to come by.