Elizabeth Woodham Guest Blogs for Red Phoenix

I am thrilled to have Elizabeth guest blog for me! She is a woman of exceptional words, delightful humor and total sexiness. I highly recommend checking out her erotica on Amazon, her delightful personality on Facebook, and her latest adventures on Elizabeth's blog. I love this Brit!

Hello, I’m thrilled that ER Pierce  invited me to join the Next Big Thing blog hop. At the end of my post, you’ll discover links to my ‘Next Big Thing’ blog hop partners, ER Pierce, Jason Jaxx, Jezabel Mynx and Red Phoenix.

Q & A With Elizabeth Woodham
What is the working title of your book?
Erato is the working title of the book, but it’s likely to evolve before publication.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Erato is the sequel to Her Sugar Daddy.

What genre does your book fall under?
Erotica, dominant older man, mild bondage, spanking, and domination

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I will throw that question open to readers, Eleanor is feisty, yet vulnerable, while Matthew is far older than she, debonair, self-assured, wealthy and handsome, possessing all the qualities common to many popular leading men, including the desire to dominate. Vote HERE

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Retired RAF pilot teaches young military nurse the ropes in bespoke medieval manor house

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self-published

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Erato is still a work in progress, but a novella usually takes around six months from inception to completion

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Erato contains scenes of submission and domination, which, since the publication of FSOG is common to many in the genre, nevertheless, I wrote Her Sugar Daddy in early 2011, before the explosion of popular interest in erotic content.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I left Her Sugar Daddy with the intention of writing a sequel. Recently fans of the book asked for more so I decided to begin writing the follow-up a little sooner than I originally intended

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The story is set in a medieval manor house, set up by Matthew and Eleanor as an exclusive hotel, offering special services described in detail and designed to appeal to a wide erotica readership.

My Next Big Thing authors
Jason Jaxx  Hardcore yet beautifully expressive erotica from Jason. Connect with Jason at Facebook  I just adore ‘Dirty Secrets and Filthy Fantasies’  and it’s FREE at Amazon, but you won’t stop at one Jaxx story, Dirty Secrets will make you greedy for more, Jason’s work is so hot it will melt your ereader.
Jezabel Mynx Connect with Jezabel at Facebook  - Jezabel’s debut book ‘The Key Party’ is available on Amazon. Hot and exciting, ‘The Key Party’ is a fabulous first outing.
Red Phoenix, prolific, exquisite author of Sensual Erotica, visit her blog  (UK link, for US simply add dot com in place of the dot co.uk). Red’s website  or connect with Red and her many fans on Facebook.
E R Pierce  a unique, and eclectic author writing emotionally charged contemporary, paranormal, romance, erotic fiction and urban fantasy. Word perfect erotica, beautifully researched and expressed. Connect with ER Pierce at Facebook

 

Thank you, Elizabeth! I am deeply touched you included me in your list of authors.  ~Red 

A Warning to Indie Authors

Many Companies Want to Take Advantage of Indies

If you are lucky, talented, and/or hardworking you can make a living as an indie author. Right now, because of the eBook explosion, writers who struggled to find a publisher in the past can offer their work to readers. The "big business" of writing has been circumvented. Now readers decide what they like and don't like.

However, there is a money element to it. Companies see the money going to individuals and want a piece of the action. With my last book, Brie Bows to Her Master, I gave out the book for 99 cents for three days as a thank you to my fans before increasing the price. I went online and changed the list price on Amazon to 2.99 knowing that I would get 70% royalties instead of 35% (Amazon's incentive to price higher). That is a huge difference and the reason you see so many eBooks priced 2.99 or more.

What I didn't realize is that Amazon has a box you must check to receive 70%. Trust me, if you price under 2.99 the royalties default to 35%. However, if you increase the price the percentage of royalties suddenly becomes a "choice". Why would any author CHOOSE the lower percentage of royalties? It makes no sense. When I alerted Amazon, I was told they could not reimburse me for the income lost. I am positive I am not the only one who has made this mistake and did not get the incentive they were promised.

Okay, lesson learned.

For all indie authors out there - CHECK THE BOX!

How Should You Take Bad Reviews as an Indie Author?

You suck!

Bad Reviews, Everyone Gets Them

Bad reviews are inevitable. It is the natural way of things, because people are different and tastes are different. Early on in my writing, I got slammed by readers on B&N. The reviews were harsh and made me question myself as a writer. It forced me to decide why I was writing. Was I writing for others or was I writing for my own enjoyment?

Turns out, I am writing for me. I love bringing my characters to life and seeing how their stories unfold. It is a high like no other. At the time, I chose to ignore the reviews even though they hurt. I chose not to let someone else decide what I would do with my life.

Had I listened to those depressing reviews Luke and Tesse, Dan, Jenny and Ryan, and sassy little Brie would never have been born into the world. Their voices would have remained silent.

Follow you heart, authors. Ebooks allow us to write without anyone losing money if we fail. We have the freedom to let our imaginations soar. Yes, look at the bad reviews to see if there is something you can improve on. You should always be willing to grow. However, don't let it kill your dream if you know you are meant to write.

Something else to keep in mind: The people who write bad reviews are generally not your audience. It is okay if they don't like your work, because they aren't the people you are trying to reach. 

* If you want to check out my nasty reviews (you know you want to), here's a link. FYI, Amy does NOT do her cousin.

Does a Smutty Cover Sell Erotica?

"Does it matter if the images are overtly sexy if the content is predominantly aimed at readers using electronic devices?" Elizabeth Woodham recently posed that question in her blog titled, Cover Art.

In the blog, Elizabeth mentioned the recent debate brought on by the success of Fifty Shades of Grey indicating that a non-erotic, artful cover made it easier to read in public. True, but for many indie authors the books we publish are only sold as eBooks. So, does it matter?

Here is my take on the subject: I like a sexy pic and enjoy some of the covers I see on erotic novels. However, most of them look the same and may or may not have much to do with the storyline. I actually had a really sexy cover of a female's butt for my "quickie" Sensual Erotica: Bottoms Up. Even though it is just an eBook, I must say I blushed every time I looked at the cover. I eventually changed it to three wine glasses.

Why three wine glasses? Because the story is about a menage a trois and I enjoy the play on the phrase "bottoms up" since one of the young ladies in the story likes anal sex.

I know people do not flock to my books because of the tantalizing covers. However, I try to be creative and artful with the design. I think mainstream women may have an easier time purchasing them even though the content is every bit as raunchy as the more scandalous covers.

That said, I may very well be losing regular readers of erotica who think my stories are as non-sexual as my covers.

What do you think?

Indie Authors - Don't Let the Amazon Returns Scare You

Keep in mind that there are an overwhelming amount of readers who wholeheartedly support authors. They far outweigh the few misguided souls.

When I first started publishing on Amazon, I totally freaked out when someone returned one of my books. It was shocking, it was embarrassing, and it... hurt. I felt sad that someone hated my work so much the person felt the need to return it - even when it was free. 

Now that I have been doing this for five months, I've come to realize a few things and don't allow returns to mess with my head or my writing. The fact is people have different reasons for returning an eBook.

There are legitimate reasons:

• They didn't mean to buy it.
• The formatting of the book was bad and made it unreadable.
• There were so many errors in the writing that it detracted from the story.

I also know (having read some of Amazon discussion boards) there are a few misguided Kindle users out there. Some readers do not understand if they read the book, they are expected to pay for it.

Unreasonable returns:

• A few readers think it's a library. (I've had people buy an entire series and then returned each and every one.) They enjoyed my work, but they had no qualms about returning it.
• Some think they can return a book if they don't like the ending or one of the characters.
• Others don't take the time to read the description or check out the sample and end up buying a book they don't really care for.

Reasonable or not, I believe authors should watch the returns to see if a book has real problems. Normally, I experience between 1-5% returns on all of my books. However, there have been months where some of my books saw 10-20% returns and it upset me wondering what was wrong (especially when no one left a negative review). Funny thing is the following month those same books had only a few returns. So, there may not be any rhyme or reason to the returns but it is worth going back over your story to make sure there aren't any serious issues.

What time has taught me:

Amazon allows for eBook returns, so there will be people who abuse it. As a writer, there is nothing you can do. Amazon currently has the greatest number of readers so even taking into account the loss of sales, you will still see more success there than on any other site.

The Importance of a Book Review

Spawned by a review.

The Significance of the All Mighty Book Review

As a reader, you hold great power. You can express to the world your thoughts and impressions concerning the book you just read. Most people are busy and even if they like the book, they don't have the time to leave a response. It is a crazy world - it's understandable.

However, when you leave a review you not only help those who are interested in the work, but you can also have an influence on the author as well. In my case, I had a reviewer who left detailed information letting me know exactly what she enjoyed about the story and went on to say that she hoped to see more in that genre.

I was just experimenting with the Dom/sub world and her review of Sensual Erotica: The Flame inspired me to delve into the world with my novelette, Brie's First Day of Submissive Training. The positive response I received concerning the novelette spawned an entire series - all based on that one reader's review.

Until I started writing, I didn't understand the significance of the all mighty book review.

The reader holds great power.

April Numbers for Red Phoenix on Amazon

#6 Top Free Erotica

This has been a fun month as an indie author. I've seen one of my freebies, Deeper Baby!, make it to number 6 on the free erotica list (several others are in the Top 100). I also received a number of good reviews on Amazon this month, which is helping all of my books. 

For the Month of April 2012:

878 books purchased         

29,879 freebies downloaded

Best Sellers In the Month of April: (still asking you not to laugh at my numbers)

Paid -Boy Toys 104 with a tie for Amy's Choice 97 and Blissfully in Love 97
Freebies - Deeper Baby! 11,551, Thrilling Her 7301, Blissfully Snowbound 3131

During the month of April I added 3 new novelettes and 4 more of my books went FREE on Amazon (of the 22 titles I have on Amazon, 10 are free).

Quickly Moving Up

Quick Recap of Past Months:

March:
693 books purchased
27,571 freebies downloaded 

February:

298 books purchased         

12,386 freebies downloaded

What I am Learning:

• Keep the books coming. I have seen the numbers of my older books steadily go down. However, I believe the new ones are getting more notice because people recognize the name. (Brie Learns to Obey was recently published on Amazon and is quickly jumping up the ranks of paid novels.)
• You never know what will appeal to people. Books I thought would be a big hit fell flat, while others surprised me by their popularity.
• Listen to the readers and hone your work based on how they purchase and what they say in their reviews. HOWEVER, be true to yourself. The beauty as an indie eBook author is that you can write and publish what you want, even if it doesn't make big bucks. Someone out there will appreciate the uniqueness of your story and sometimes that is all the success you need.

* Note: Amazon allows for returns of eBooks. They are the only online bookstore I know of that does this. I noticed a big difference this month. Boy Toys which has done well previous months had 13 returns versus 4 in March. (Same book and I even had more sells last month). I will never know why they were returned - no one left reviews, but it was a significant jump. In total, 58 paid books were returned in April as opposed to 12 in March.  

I will update you next month to see how May pans out. I will say this, if your heart is to have your work published this is the perfect time for Indie Authors. It's a ton of fun!

Indie Author Addicted to Checking Unit Sales/Downloads

Okay, I admit it. I check my unit sales/downloads on Amazon and Smashwords far too much. At first, I found the information interesting and exciting. "Wow, people are reading my work!"

It slowly has morphed into an obsession...

As soon as I get on the computer, I check to see how my books are doing. I cheer when things are up and whimper when things are down. (My worthiness as an author seems to be tied to the data.)

That is one hazard of being an indie author. You don't have an agent or publisher telling you how great you are, nor do you have them there to explain what is to be expected and completely normal. You are in charge of it all. I, Red Phoenix, am not knowledgeable about marketing. I do not know what an average number of sales are for a new author, or how many reviews to expect per x amount of books purchased, etc. I am learning on the fly and evaluating based on my own experience.

I freely acknowledge that I check the data more than I should because of my desire to validate myself as an author. I do not think I am alone in this. While it is true that an author needs to be sensitive to sales, it is foolish to base one's worth as a writer simply on whether you made substantial sales over one particular hour/day/week. The roller coaster I put myself on is of my own design.

Struggling with the same addiction or have some advice? Please share!

Why This Erotica Author Loves Smashwords

I remember talking to a friend and fellow writer last year who said she was using Smashwords. I scoffed, because I wanted to be published by traditional means and I'd heard bad things about their formatting. She really liked it, so the company name stuck in my head.

Publishing with Smashwords

Well, after being told by publishers and agents that my stories were hybrids and not market worthy, I checked out Smashwords for myself. I thought I would get my feet wet by publishing a few short stories. The instructions Smashwords gave in their little eBook, Smashwords Style Guide, was invaluable and easy to understand. The book walked me through the process and even made me feel that I wasn't an idiot if some of it seemed confusing. I got my stories to meet Smashwords' standards so that they were eligible for premium distribution (meaning my books would go out to six online bookstores, including Barnes & Noble and Apple).

I've sold a few books on Smashwords and put up a few for free (wanted people to get a taste of my writing style). It's been exciting seeing how many people download my "sensual quickies" and getting reviews from actual customers is a thrill.

I like Mike Coker's approach to running his company. I feel supported, appreciated, and informed. A recent issue arose in the erotica arena. He sent out (and continues to send) email updates while he negotiates with PayPal.

Using Smashwords Helped Me Publish on Amazon

A fellow author from Smashwords gave me tons of information and support, suggesting that I also publish on Amazon. Because of the experienced gained by using Smashwords, I was able to work Amazon's publishing process. I would have struggled without that prior experience. Plus, I know that if my file has no errors with Smashwords' formatting, it will work for Mobi as well.

Making Money

I was surprised a month later when I looked at my statement on Smashwords (payments are made quarterly - but you can check out your ongoing totals) and found that I was making money from B&N. The next month’s statement showed that Apple was also providing sells.

I finally understood the power Smashwords affords me as a new writer. I am out in the market, able to decide what price I want to sell my books for and I don't have to worry whether my books are "hybrids"or not. My success is in my hands!

Benefits to Publishing on Smashwords

By using Smashwords, I can create a clean eBook and have it distributed to the major bookstores (excluding Amazon at this time). I also am able to determine my price. On top of that, I can choose to make some books free so people are able to sample my writing and determine if this indie author is worth their reading time. Using them is a win/win for me. I LOVE Smashwords and recommend it to any indie author who wants to control his/her own success.

FYI - I am an indie author of erotica who started publishing with Smashwords in December 2011.