When you’re writing you fall under the spell of ‘Gee I hope some publisher will pick up my book.’ It’s very easy to fall into the trap of giving the publishers all the power and wasting a lot of time. There are a lot of publishers out there and you need to do your research. I do not – DO NOT – advise anyone to go with any publisher lightly or blindly. Ideally, you want to find a publisher you can build a relationship with. Don’t go with the biggest just because they are the biggest and don’t go to the smallest just because you don’t think you can get into the biggest. You wouldn’t buy a pair of jeans without making sure they were the right size and you shouldn’t pick a publisher that way either. To that end, I’m going to explain why I went with the publishers I have.
One Ring To Rule. I’ll admit that I didn’t research Lyrical before subbing to them. I made a comment to the publisher on a forum and felt obligated. However, everyone is entitled to a lucky break. One Ring is short so I never expected to get it published anyway. Lyrical has been amazing. The royalty statements are on time. The payments show up right when they say they will. Concerns are addressed immediately. They do a lot of promo work setting up events and sending out review copies. Communication is always open. It is a very small house so the sales maybe aren’t what they would be elsewhere, but they are already thinking like a big house, so over time I expect them to grow.
Three Alarm Tenant. I thought long and hard about this one. It’s my baby and it had some credentials. It also came with baggage as it turned into a series with a book and a half finished beyond the first one. I could have gone with a traditional publisher which would have taken probably close to 2 years before the book was out and they may not have taken the other books. I could have gone to another epub which would have taken over a year and may not have taken the other books. Or I could go with Lyrical who would gladly take the other books. In the end, I went to Lyrical because I knew I would have their promo engine behind me and because I already had a relationship with them.
Spark Of Desire. The second Arden FD book automatically went to Lyrical. Plus, I was ordered by Emma to sub something else because she liked Three Alarm Tenant so much. When the Editor in Chief demands, the writer fulfills. Had this been an unconnected title I probably still would have taken it to Lyrical because it is the same type of sweet romance as the other two giving me a catalog in one place. I know the cover will be beautiful and the review copies will be sent out promptly without my having to do the legwork.
The Rock Star’s Retreat presented a slightly different problem. I wrote it to practice writing sex scenes so it didn’t fit in perfectly with the other books. I created a short list of larger epubs based on what they put out and how big they were. From there I went with my gut. Freya’s Bower appealed most of that list based on their size, track record, other authors I knew who had worked with them and their other titles. They snapped up Rock Star in record time. I had a bit of seller’s remorse, but I think that’s normal and I’m still happy with the decision.
Trio I subbed based on a call for submissions from Liquid Silver. A call for submissions means the publisher has targeted an audience and needs titles to sell to it. I had a title on my harddrive that fit which I wrote simply because I wanted to know if I could get three people into a relationship with a happy ending. Liquid Silver is also very author centered. (They sent me an email on my birthday wishing me a happy one.) I know several authors who are happy with them.
As odd as it may sound to someone who wants to be published and isn’t yet, you pick them as much as they pick you. Do not start subbing with the attitude of “please somebody publish me!” You must think about where your book is going to do best. It goes way beyond what the submission guidelines say they will accept. If a house claims to take sweet romance, but mostly publishes horror, they aren’t going to have the audience for the same reason vegans don’t eat at Outback Steak House. Choose wisely.
~Charlotte
Me, Aubrey Leatherwood, of course!
Hi All,
As a part of Phaze’s 5 Year Anniversary, I have a free read offered up for your enjoyment, it’s short and sweet, and a very compact sample of what I do for you:
Here’s a bit about the story and the link if you’d like to take a peak! 
About “Direct Connect ” by Aubrey Leatherwood
Shawn has the hots for his boss… who just happens to be a tech genius. She’s only interested in her computers and keeping her distance. But Shawn has decided it’s time to make a Direct Connect.
Link: http://www.phaze.com/anniversaryreads/DirectConnect.pdf
Dime
©2009
Genre: Contemporary Erotica
ISBN: 978-1-60659-520-6
Blurb:
Never in a million years would Nicole Donaldson have imagined she’d become a rapper. But when the reserved middle-manager gets caught up in a lark with her Prince-obsessed brother, she’s offered a music deal by hot music producer, Baron Odom. Nicole doesn’t know what to make of her entrance into a world and lifestyle she’s disdained from afar. She also can’t quite wrap her mind around the quickly deepening attraction she has to Baron. Can she resist the call of the stage? The call of her heart?
Excerpt:
I needed to lie down.
Lorenzo seemed to find this amusing and said something about overindulgence once a year being fine by him as he followed me upstairs to let in a guest who’d buzzed. At the door,
But I kept it in check. Baron was a little bigger than life. Literally. He was a tall, broad fellow packed with muscle. He was handsome as hell, but not at all my type. He looked like a thug, and I’m not interested in thugs. Typically. True enough, I wouldn’t mind a physical match or two with him, but I knew this type of guy and there was nothing to suggest we might be anything close to compatible.
The men I dated tended to be more cerebral. I met a fellow who struck up a conversation with me in the Western Civilization section of the bookstore. Another while ordering coffee at the shop around the corner from the office. They were in professional jobs like mine. Middle managers, technology specialists. They wore khakis and button-downs and carried PDAs that were actually for business and not downloading forwarded porn. Or at least the downloading forwarded porn.
But I digress. I had certainly had a special moment or two alone thinking about Baron, but I knew better than even trying to get close to that.
I nodded a greeting. He nodded back even though his eyes seemed to follow me.
Buy Link: http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Dime/exact_match=exact
Aubrey Leatherwood
www.aubreyleatherwood.com
FaceBook * MySpace
Dime
Available today from Phaze Books
Imperfection
A tale of perfect commitment, perfect love… and perfect sex.
The People You Know, The Sex They Have
ROMANTIC TIMES NOMINEE FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY EROTICA 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9818905-0-0
Filed under: fiction | Tags: aubrey leatherwood, dime, erotica, hip hop, music, mysogyny, rap
I love asking this question! When I asked a little while ago I got the most creative and amusing answers. Here are some examples:
1) What you use in a payphone (uhhh, not anymore folks
2) What you drop when you rat someone out to police
3) A bag (don’t say it)
However, in my upcoming Phaze release, a Dime is a woman. A gorgeous, preening thing in the commercial hip hop world whose sole goal is to look her best so she has every man looking, wanting, lusting… and willing to pay. It comes from the value of the coin, 10. A Dime is a 10.
Nicole, however considers herself as far away from a dime as one woman can get. She is fed up with what much of commercial hip hop chooses to glorify about women.Too many times she hears the cycle in song: girl looks good, girl has great sex, girl demands money. Nicole is not tuning in anymore. She’s going to her nine to five and behaving herself determined to represent a woman who is attractive… but smart, who likes a nice shoe… but won’t shell out the mortgage on a pair.
Still, getting away from a dirty beat proves difficult for a girl born with music in her blood, and after a lark in her brother’s studio, Nicole finds heself embedded deep in the rap game. Before she knows it, she’s being billed as a body, a face, and she’s got one sexy producer ready to make dreams she didn’t know she had come true.
Now, what’s a Dime to do about that?
Check it out. This Dime drops on Novemeber 2, 2009 at www.phaze.com .
Aubrey Leatherwood
Filed under: new release | Tags: book, erotic fiction, Lesli Richardson, new release, Tymber Dalton
Woot! It’s release day! “Love Slave for Two: Beginnings,” (writing as Tymber Dalton) the prequel to my bestselling series, is now officially available at Siren-BookStrand!
Lesli Richardson (who also writes naughty things as Tymber Dalton) can be found at http://leslirichardson.com , http://tymberdalton.com , http://twitter.com/madmumbler .
Filed under: Touchstone, new release, romance, writing | Tags: The Rock Star's Retreat
How, you may be asking yourself, can a character take the author by surprise? Don’t we know everything about our characters before we start writing? Aren’t they – ahem – imaginary people? How can they do anything unexpected when they only live in your head?
I don’t pretend to understand it, but mine do it all the dang time. Not too long ago I had a hero propose in the 5th chapter. I was sitting here (right here) writing the scene yelling at the computer screen, “No, are you crazy? You can’t propose already? We’re not even a quarter of the way through the story!” For a brief period I took solace in the idea that my heroine was far too level headed to say yes – until she did.
In The Rock Star’s Retreat, Jason did the same thing to me, but it was a lot more painful. Jason and Cassandra were walking through the woods talking. Since Cassandra has been a fan of Jason’s for a very long time, she thinks she knows everything there is to know about him. I was under that impression too. I thought he was being such a jerk because he was a spoiled rock star who’d been hurt by a bimbo and wasn’t getting over it. Well, were we wrong. In the middle of the forest, in the dark, Jason revealed the secret he’d been carrying around since childhood. The secret he hadn’t even told his best friend since elementary school. I was floored. So was Cassie. Jason was pretty shocked too.
So yeah, characters, imaginary people, can still take you by surprise. And no, I’m not going to tell you what his big secret is. I’m mean that way. But if you’d like, the book is available now at Freya’s Bower.
Filed under: fiction, romance | Tags: authors, books, Lesli Richardson, Lyrical Press, romance
Here in Florida, we do actually have seasons. Not drastically different ones, which is why so many people move down here from the north every winter. The past two days, we’ve had a “cool front,” which this time of year means the humidity has dropped from the 90% range down to 60-70%. The temps are a little lower, but that’s relative.
It. Feels. GREAT!
I am an A/C kind of girl — as in, my A/C runs 24/7/365. But the past two days I’ve been able to turn it off and open my windows.
Ahhhh.
This only happens a few days a year for me, seriously. Because there has to be a perfect combination of low humidity, great temperature, and no wind blowing through my windows for me to do this.
I hope the guys painting the house under construction across the street enjoy Red Hot Chili Peppers, because I was blasting the Californication album at high decibles today. *LOL*
Halloween is this month, or Samhain depending on your preference. So I thought I’d toss out one of my books to commemorate the occasion – “Out of the Darkness,” a romantic paranormal thriller set in Florida. An evil haunted, house, a dark spirit, and a Labrador Retriever. What more could you want? *LOL*
You can get it from Lyrical Press at:
http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=65
The video book trailer is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1wKd_s-qHk
Blurb:
Ancient evil forces a woman to fight for her life – and true love.
Man may forget horrors, but the land remembers. Built on a cursed patch of ground, George Simpson’s house of evil has ruined many lives over its hundred-year existence.
Author Steve Corey rents the place as an early anniversary surprise for his wife, hoping it might repair the deep rift his alcoholism has created in their marriage.
Before they moved to the Simpson house, Samantha Corey thought getting Steve sober was the hard part. But the house’s dark nature has turned her thoughts to Matt Barry, Steve’s best friend and agent…and her old love. Can they overcome the ancient evil threatening them all from OUT OF THE DARKNESS?
Warning: Love, sex, violence, and a Labrador retriever who’s no Lassie.
Filed under: new release | Tags: Lesli Richardson, new release, Tymber Dalton
I’m so excited! The prequel to my bestseller, “Love Slave for Two: Beginnings” is coming from Siren-BookStrand Oct. 12! Woot!
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-loveslavefortwobeginnings-14938-200.html
Blurb:
[Menage Amour: Erotic Alternative Menage a Trois Romance, Contemporary, May-December, BDSM, Public Exhibition, M/M, M/M/M, with M/M/M/F]
Tyler Paulson came to America with a scholarship and a dream of becoming a writer. With an unsupportive mother and a father who abandoned him, he makes close friends and tries to build a new life for himself in his adopted country. Unfortunately, a series of heartbreaking betrayals makes him doubt not only truths he once held about himself, but shatters his trust in others.
Thomas Kinsey wants to carry on his father’s legacy and become an architect. His family and upbringing couldn’t be more different than Tyler’s, but he hides a secret he’s afraid to admit for fear of testing his strong family bonds.
Thomas knows Tyler is the man he wants to spend the rest of his life with…if he can convince Tyler to forget the ghosts in his past and have faith in their future together. Read the scorching prequel to “Love Slave for Two!”
Filed under: fiction, new release, romance, writing | Tags: Freya's Bower, The Rock Star's Retreat
I’ve been having sort of a blah week. Last weekend I was sick and pretty much confined to the couch so this week was all catch up, but everything is midway. Midway through the semester. Midway through editing, Midway through September. No peaks. I needed a peak.
I looked for a peak. Neither Freya’s Bower nor Liquid Silver had my titles up yet so nothing there. Can’t do much about it being the middle of September.
I considered engineering my own peak. Clean something up and send it out to see if I could get a quick acceptance. But I’m kinda in the middle of too much to start screwing around like that. And frankly, the week it would take to clean something up and the couple of days at best to get the response wasn’t going to satisfy the need for instant gratification. So I headed to class to keep middling along.
Then I can home last night and got my instant gratification. My Freya’s Bower editor emailed to give me the correct publication date (October 6th) and to let me know that my buy link was up. WooHoo! The buy link!
For some reason, and I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but it’s not real until the book shows up on the publisher’s website. Like until that point, contracts or no, they could say, “Y’know, we’ve been talking and we’ve changed out minds.” But now, now they’ve told people. So now they have to go through with it.
I have a buy link! Come see here!
~Charlotte “Belle” McClain
