A New Launch!



Part Five of The Courtesan is now up and on, over at Smashwords, and once
approved for their premiere catalogue, everyplace else. Of course it will take a day
or two longer to show up at Barnes&Noble, that’s nothing unusual, but it will be
there. Which reminds me, I should have my Kobo Adult link up by now, and I’m
addressing the fact Part Two of The Courtesan isn’t there, but parts One, Three,
and Four, are.

I’m working on Part Six now, and working on getting myself straightened out. I
got three pen names, twenty-one (21) published works, and never enough time in
any given day to get everything I want done. Go figure.

Writers are still trying to puzzle Amazon’s misuse of KindleUnlimited, while
others decided being exclusive is not in their best interest. They are going wide,
and like me, starting from scratch with a whole new fan base to build. Then there’s
the issue with possible sales, not showing up on their dashboards. I’m still backing
away . . . slowly.

I’m trying to finish going wide, but I want to do so in a way that maximizes my
potential to reach fans with what’s done, and what will be done. I’ll save that post
and the new links involved for another day. Having things done before I blog
about them is better, and it lights the proverbial fire under my ass to get them
done.

Today I’ll G+ and Tweet Rip’s Picks, and Rip’s Books here, and see what
happens.

My ads are still up and running, and will continue for several weeks, and then I’ll
post the results. The idea, to be seen. People decide on their own if they want to
buy. One thing, as writers, we can’t twist their arms. Wish we could, but we can’t.

Support indie authors. Don’t hesitate to read a sample, and actually buy.
It’s the only way to find out how the story ends! :-D

I'm Back! at Barnes&Noble

Apparently it was a glitch, so the link to the right works.

I got worried there for a little while. Sometimes it feels as if I'm dancing a waltz,
without actually moving across the dance floor. One step forward, one step back,
over and over again.

Part Five of The Courtesan is ready, and I'll try to have that posted in a day or so.
Right now I'm updating the back matter to actually include back matter, and I want
a newsletter signup link here, and in the back matter. The one thing I can do, is
not bother anyone with spam, so I'll only use the newsletter to announce a new
release.

I don't really Tweet my books, expecting you to buy. I tweet my blog posts. To me,
that's called good form. I may include the other me's as time goes on, but I'm not
sure yet.

Follow me here, follow me on Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter, when it's ready.
The choice is yours.

Support indie authors. Don’t hesitate to read a sample, and actually buy.
It’s the only way to find out how the story ends! :-D

Barnes&Noble Dungeon Issues

Yesterday, things were fine. Today, things are not.

The Barnes&Noble link to my books doesn’t work. Now, I distribute through
Smashwords, so I asked them what was what.

“Thanks for the email. We just found out about this. Apparently, all erotica titles
are now blocked from public view from B&N.  However, as long as a reader has a
B&N account, they will still be able to search for erotica titles.

This probably won't affect sales too much since readers looking for erotica on
B&N will likely already have an account with them.”

Sure.

I never had a Barnes&Noble account, but I’ll have to get one just to see if this is
correct, and how many steps it will take for the average buyer to find even one of
my books.

And that’s exactly what I did. I got an account. So far, Alice in Sexland by Ripley
King is gone, and so are parts 1 - 4 of The Courtesan.

There is a thread on this topic on the KBoards, and this bit of tattle.

“Thank you for contacting NOOK Press Publisher Support.

As you may know, B&N has been working on improving the search effectiveness
on our website over the past few months. Early this morning, a small change was
put into effect, which inadvertently had a large negative impact on our search
results. This change will be backed out tomorrow. We appreciate your patience,
and apologize for the inconvenience that this issue may have caused.”

Your guess is as good as mine, so I’ll see how this plays out.

Don’t hesitate to read a sample, and actually buy. It’s the only way to find out
how the story ends.

A Story With Love

It’s been a long time since I enjoyed myself . . . writing. At some point, story after
story becomes a job, and it isn’t an easy job. But, a simple shift in the way I think
has helped tremendously.

I’m going to do what I want, how I want to do it.

It is and isn’t that easy. Rip’s Picks, and I’ll put a link to the right, is just another
way for me to gain ground. Something of value offered, and I’m cutting some
great deals by offering free shipping within the continental U. S. I got some cool
stuff.

Nikki, the me being naughty, is like a safety valve to let off all my frustrations,
and frankly, sex sells. I’ve got a lot to keep me busy here, with my naughty-bad-
fun. I see no problem in pumping out the words. I still like it when stories make
sense, actually mean something, and have an interesting ending. My goals there
have never changed.

The blahs do happen, kind of like stepping in shit, it happens, so I have my Ripley
King persona, and my Bastard Black persona. The Bastard Black persona is
dedicated to the dark side of me. If I want to feel the blood and gore splattered
about, Bastard Black is the one person I trust to get it done.

I’m up to about 2000 words a day. I can get that many words in and more, because
I’m having fun.

I write like I shoot, straight from the hip. I don’t outline. I never did, I never will.
My characters lead me around, and they put the words in their mouths. I got more
projects lined up than I can do.

One of the things I got wrapped up in, was my marketing woes. That should have
been the last thing I worried about.

Let me put it this way. There are, right now, people who spend more than I make
for a month on marketing, each and every month. I can’t do that, so I have to do
something else.

I have an ad right now running for The Courtesan, and I spent $10 USD. It’s not
about selling books, its about being seen.

That gives me two ads running right now. Ripley King’s ad, I spent $15 USD, and
it has been running for almost two months. Two of me are being seen. Soon, three
different me’s will be seen. Four with the Rip’s Picks ad.

Once the ad is in place, all I have to worry about is product production. IT IS that
simple.

I need to be where the people are, so I’m working on that. What slowed me down
was I tried to be all in with KindleUnlimited, and while it works for some, it never
worked for me. I wasted my time.

If you did read the KBoards thread I linked to below, you understand how KU is
also hurting writers who promote themselves with trusted platforms. By backing
away from Amazon, I have none of these problems.

I get paid for the sales I make. Period. I can use any promo tool I want, and I don’t
have to worry. And, btw, that thread is growing.

Right now I’m doing all I can, and that boils down to writing and publishing
stories. If I have a few bucks to spare, I’ll promote. If that’s all I can do, then
that’s all I can do.

Once I realized that, how much I love what I do, I became happy.

Don’t hesitate to read a sample, and actually buy. It’s the only way to find out
how the story ends.

Bare Bones It

I admit I love the simplicity of Blogger when it comes to a free functional
web site. I can add images and pages when needed, but what I don’t want is a
cluttered mess that takes too long to load. I gather people don’t like sites that take
too long to load.

I’ve seen Blogger blogs dedicated to every shape and style of slit a woman could
have, and I remember one blog site that .giff(ed) those vaginas to flutter like
butterflies. No shit. I found it reading Piers Anthony’s blog. All old farts that like
pussy, like pussy. My point being is: that I can be naughty here.

BTW, his section called Publish on Web, is a treasure trove of who’s who, but I
stress caution. This business of publishing can change week to week, and updates
on this site are not that quick. I suggest you do your own research on any link that
interests you. Look before you leap.

If you do see a site link to the right, then what you see has real and useful
information there, you can use. The Kindle Boards, Writers’ Café, what can’t you
learn!

Ghost or post, everyone with good intentions and nice manners is welcome to ask
and learn about this business from the ground up.

This thread is of particular interest for those wondering why I haven’t a buy link at
Amazon. Read all 125 pages of it. What gave me the willies, was somewhere toward
the very back, I had history slap my face. The words used by Amazon were, and I’ll
quote, but I’m not perfect . . . “Tell us what you sold, and we’ll pay you for it.”

Something like that.

That line was once used by GreatUnpublished, as they screwed writers almost
twenty years ago, and then used by their later rebirth as Booksurge, as they
screwed more writers almost fifteen years ago, and once Amazon bought them out
to create Createspace, and their digital empire formed . . .

What a shock it was to discover the emperor has no clothes. I thought I would
never, ever, see words like that again, yet, there they were. “Tell us what you sold,
and we’ll pay you for it.”

No, motherfuckers, you tell me what I sold, don’t lie, and see me paid. That’s how
it’s supposed to work.

That’s why I broke ties with Amazon publishing anything I have, with three
different pen names. I don’t need them to sell books.

I’ll limit myself to these two listing, for now, and the one thread every indie author
should read.


Don’t hesitate to read a sample, and actually buy. It’s the only way to find out
how the story ends.

My First Post!

I had to separate myself from the other me, because this is the me that’s having the
most fun! I launched the serial story, The Courtesan - Part One, and then I made it
free.

Then I launched Part Two of this serial story, and kept the price low.

Then I launched Part Three.

And, Part Four.

I’m currently working on Part Five, by somewhat returning to the roots of the
story. Tisane’s debut as a full-fledged courtesan.

You might ask what is a courtesan? History defines them as teachers of royals.
Entertainers. They created their own costumes, made their own jewelry, devised
their own scents. The crafted food, drink, stories, music, and more. Their
judgement was sought and respected by all. A courtesan is a court whore,
pleasuring Noble Lords, or Noble Ladies.

What isn’t a courtesan? For my objectives, a courtesan is also a keeper of the
deepest history of humanity. An assassin. A warrior. A force for good. A force for
change.

If you want to play in my world, read and have fun. Leave a comment. Write a
review. You can find these stories at Smashwords, and at Barnes&Noble, and at
the iTunes store. There are other stores overseas, too. Look for them.

I am looking for followers! Here! Why not! I just started this adventure, and I'll share
the triumphs and the pitfalls. Like, I'm not on Amazon for a reason. That may or may
not change, but I'll never be exclusive. I'm making money, I can buy cheaper and better
ads, and I don't have to worry when I get sales from these ads. Stuff like that.

Support indie authors! Don’t hesitate to read a sample, or actually buy. It’s 
the only way to find out how the story ends.