Category: Podcast

Kindle Unlimited and Foreign Translations

Episode 19: Kindle Unlimited

Welcome back to Episode NINETEEN of the Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast. I am H. K. Kiting and I am Dean Chills and we’re your hosts for the show. This is the podcast where we talk about writing and publishing in general, and include the occasional tidbit about erotica specifically.

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes.  Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

What’s your most recent release?

H. K. Kiting: Meat Land / Tales from the Compound

Dean Chills: SexyFic Shorts ALSO Breathless Prisoner in Audio

 

Episode 19: Kindle Unlimited

Topic One: KU

  • What is it?
  • When did you get in?
  • What do you get paid?
  • What were your results?
  • Are you still in?
  • What are your Predictions and future plans for KU?

 

Topic Two: Reader Mail

Hey guys,

I found your podcast last week and have finally caught up on all the episodes. It’s been really inspirational (and a good way to pass the time while walking to school).

I was wondering, do you know anything about erotica publishing in other languages? Do the major online publishing platforms have non-English markets? If so, do you think authors who write in languages other than English would ever be interested in translating their novels to reach a wider audience?

I’m not sure if these are the kinds of questions your interested in answering. If not, I apologize!

Thanks for the podcast. I’m looking forward to the next one 🙂

 

  • Walking to school? I hope you’re not eight years old J
  • Amazon at least has the ability publish in other languages, but I have no idea how it’s done.
  • Is it a good idea? Yes, probably.
  • Is it worth the expanse? That’s more debatable.

 We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

 

Book Cover Art and Opposite Genders

51IreiDgFeLThis week we tackle a couple of interesting topics:
1. A reader wrote in asking us to critique his cover of “Janko’s Gym” and discuss whether or not we like drawings or photos for our covers. We decided that he was very talented, but the drawing was probably inappropriate for an erotica. We liked his book though.

 

2. Another reader phoned in a question asking how we write from the opposite sex or gender’s point of view.

 

3. We introduce our plan for an erotica REVIEW podcast. Details will be coming soon, contact us if you’d like your book to be reviewed on the show. SexyFic@gmail.com

 

Links:
Janko’s Gym: http://amzn.to/1A75GfP
Henry’s Tumblr: http://lovingair.tumblr.com
Dean’s Tumblr: http://sexyfic.tumblr.com

Being Descriptive and the Value of Bundling

Episode 17: Being Descriptive

Welcome back to Episode Seventeen of the Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast. I am H. K. Kiting and I am Dean Chills and we’re your hosts for the show. This is the podcast where we talk Greek Games 200x300about writing and publishing in general, and include the occasional tidbit about erotica specifically.

If you haven’t visited our blog, go to SexyFic.com and take a look. All our books are listed there, as well as past episodes of the show. There’s also a notification list sign-up form that lets us drop you an email whenever we have a new book or podcast episode.

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes.  Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

 

What’s your most recent release?

H. K. Kiting: The Bunker / Greek Games

Dean Chills: Jack’s Anniversary

 

Jacks Anniversary 200x300Stay tuned at the end of the show and I’ll fill you in on a way to get my audiobooks for FREE!

Topic One: Description

How important is the role of description in erotica?

Is it good to be very descriptive or more vague about characters and locations?

Are the answers above different with other (non-erotic) genres?

Does it tie in with cover art?

Erotica-specific: How do you talk about sex for forty books and stay original?

  

Topic Two: Bundling

Do bundles sell better than individual books?

Do you leave the original books available while selling the bundles or do you take them down?

Pricing vs. Free.

 

And as I mentioned at the beginning of the show, I have an offer for you to get a couple of my audiobooks for free. I have promo codes to get “Scuba Lessons #1: Pool Time” for free through Audible.com. I only have a handful of them, so I can’t give them out to just everyone, so here’s the deal. E-mail me and ask for one, I’ll send you the free code, but you have to promise to leave a review on Audible and/or Amazon for the book. Send me another email, pointing me to your review, and I’ll send you ANOTHER code for the second book in the series, “The Quarry.” If you review THAT one and contact me, I’ll send you a review code for the third book when it gets released. Three free books just for doing a couple of quick reviews. Not, these are gay-themed stories, so if that doesn’t interest you, please don’t ask for a code!

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

 

Getting Things Done, Procrastination, and 2015 Goals

Episode 16: Getting Things Done, Procrastination, and 2015 Goals

The Bunker 1563x2500Welcome back to Episode SIXTEEN of the Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast. I am H. K. Kiting and I am Dean Chills and we’re your hosts for the show. This is the podcast where we talk about writing and publishing in general, and include the occasional tidbit about erotica specifically.

If you haven’t visited our blog, go to SexyFic.com and take a look. All our books are listed there, as well as past episodes of the show. There’s also a notification list sign-up form that lets us drop you an email whenever we have a new book or podcast episode.

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes.  Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

JacksBirthdaySurprise200x300What’s your most recent release?

H. K. Kiting: The Bunker

Dean Chills: Working on sequel to “Jack’s Birthday Surprise”

 

Episode 16: 2015 Goals, Getting Things Done, and Procrastination

Topic ONE: Goals

Happy New Year!

Do you do anything specific with your writing at this time of year?

Chills: I am going through every one of my books, updating my “Also-bys” and looking for typos. I plan to review and republish everything by the end of January. I’ll probably go through it all again in July, at the very least to update the “Also-bys.” The best advertising for your books are your books.

 

What are your goals for the new year, writing and business-wise?

Kiting: A Book a week. Details?

Chills: Expanding my Non-Fiction books, but still getting out an erotica at least one a month.

 

Topic TWO: Getting Organized

Do you tend to procrastinate?

 

Is writing fun or work? Is it a “Job” for you?

 

What does your weekly work schedule look like?

 

How many hours a week do you work on writing?

What are your productivity tips? Any tools that you use for staying organized? (Calendars, to-do lists, etc.)

 

Scuba Lessons Audio Cover Chills: And as I mentioned at the beginning of the show, I have an offer for you to get a couple of my audiobooks for free. I have promo codes to get “Scuba Lessons #1: Pool Time” for free through Audible.com. I only have a handful of them, so I can’t give them out to just everyone, so here’s the deal. E-mail me and ask for one, I’ll send you the free code, but you have to promise to leave a review on Audible and/or Amazon for the book. Send me another email, pointing me to your review, and I’ll send you ANOTHER code for the second book in the series, “The Quarry.” If you review THAT one and contact me, I’ll send you a review code for the third book when it gets released. Three free books just for doing a couple of quick reviews. Now, these are gay-themed storieThe Quarry Scuba Lessons 2 Audios, so if that doesn’t interest you, please don’t ask for a code!

Scuba Lessons 3 Audio CoverKiting: We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

 

Book Covers

[14-01-04: Corrected and uploaded the correct audio file… Sorry!]

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes.  Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

Forbidden Winter 200x300

What’s your most recent release?

H. K. Kiting: The Funhouse

Dean Chills: Forbidden WInter

 

Episode 15: Book Covers

We’ve talked a bunch about the act of writing itself, but we’ve never touched on one of the most important aspects of your book: The Cover. In many ways, the cover is more important than the contents of your book: it’s the first thing a prospective reader sees, and if they hate the cover, your book has zero chance of being bought.

 

The Funhouse 200x300What should be on an erotic book cover?

  • Shirtless men and Fabio clones?
  • Half-dressed women
  • Faces or just bodies?

Amazon’s UNOFFICIAL rules:

  • –Naked female torso including front view or sometimes side view.  Side boob inappropriate.
  • –Arms or hands across breasts.
  • –Naked butt.   On one occasion, upper thigh close to lower butt cheek was unacceptable.
  • –No naked people in a clinch even if they aren’t “fondling”.
  • –Any sexual position that implies penetration (Missionary, doggie-style, etc).
  • –No naked characters straddling each other.
  • –No handcuffs on wrists.  Handcuffs being held is fine.
  • –No “O” faces.
  • –No nudity.
  • –No women on their knees in front of men (as in implied fellatio).
  • –No men between women’s thighs (as in implied cunnilingus).
  • –No men’s faces on breasts.

Still there is NO official list of rules other than a vague statement that their content guidelines are “About what you’d expect.”

Hanging Out in the GarageWays of getting a book cover made:

  • Buy a premade book cover
  • Hire someone to make a book cover
  • Do it yourself

Doing it yourself:

  • Tools (Photoshop, Pixelmator, etc.)
  •  Abtract?
  • Photos- Taken yourself or purchased from Stock Photographers [Jason’s Mummification]

Legal considerations:

  • Model release (and especially decency clauses)
  • Photo licenses and royalties. Not as simple as just buying from a stock site.

 

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

Audio Books

Episode 14: Audio Books

 

What’s your most recent release?

Dean Chills: Forbidden Winter

H. K. Kiting: Riding the Tide

 

Audiobook Samples:

Scuba Lessons #1: Pool Time

Scuba Lessons #2: The Quarry

 


 

Episode 14: Audiobooks

Dean: I mentioned a few episodes back that I had a few audio books out, and I got several emails asking how that works.

 

Question 1: Where can you sell audio books?

ACX – CreateSpace – Your own website – CD Baby

 

Question 2: Should I narrate my own books or not?

Doing it yourself:

Are you the same sex as the narrator?

Are you comfortable doing it?

Do you sound natural doing it?

Can you do the voices or accents?

Paying someone else to narrate your story

Paying outright

Where can you find narrators?

Revenue split through ACX

 

Question 3: What do I need to do it myself?

Equipment

Quiet space

Question 4: How much can I make?

40% on ACX sales. The Author and Narrator each get 20%. Pricing varies depending on length.

Createspace charges $4.95 + 15% of the sale

Your site: The Sky’s the limit

Sites Mentioned:             

ACX

Createspace

Audible

Gum Road

CD Baby