Today I have the fabulous and dynamic Lucy Felthouse on my blog talking about how building a back list is a unique experience to each author as well as how to expand a catalogue in the M/M genre. She's also giving away a $10 dollar Amazon giftcard to one lucky reader!
Building
Up a M/M Back Catalogue by Lucy Felthouse
There is lots of varying advice out there
about how a writing career should be managed, how books should be promoted,
what works, what doesn’t, and so on. It’s a minefield, which is why I tend to
figure out these things for myself and see what is successful, what works
specifically for me.
One thing I’m finding to be true is that
one of the best ways to sell your books is to have more out there. I know that
probably sounds silly and rather obvious, but it’s true. Each publication you
have out there increases your chances of someone reading your writing, then
hopefully going out to find more of your work. No matter how hard you try, how
hard you promote, you can’t reach every single person that’s a potential reader.
Well, unless you’re with a huge publisher with a stupendous marketing budget.
Which is why it’s good to keep writing, keep publishing. Your new book may just
find its way onto someone’s eReader or bedside table, and hopefully they’ll
enjoy it so much they’ll check out your others.
So although I tend to just work on what I
feel like working on, or answer specific calls for submissions, rather than
planning meticulously what I’m going to write throughout the year, I am trying
to build up a M/M catalogue. This is because I have lots of M/F and F/F stuff
out there, and nowhere near as much M/M. Some people only read certain
pairings, so although I have a variety of genres and pairings, I’m hoping to
give those folks that only read gay stuff more of what they want.
Currently, I only have two M/M publications
out there – Ditched and Illicit Relations. Ditched is a military
short story that was published a while back, and Illicit Relations is an erotic romance novella that’s bordering on
taboo that was just released by Ellora’s Cave.
Publication number three, Letters to a War Zone is a military
erotic romance novella that will be available from March. I’m also working on a
novel currently which has M/M elements, though it has M/F in it, too.
It’s a slow process as I do have other
stuff I’d like to work on, other stuff I’ve promised people, but I’m doing my
best to keep writing M/M stuff to build up my back catalogue. One of the
co-author projects I’m working on is M/M, but other than that I don’t know
what’s next for my gay stuff. But I’m sure I’ll figure something out ;) And
hopefully it will sell!
Happy Reading,
Lucy x
*****
Excerpt:
Terry deliberately averted his gaze as
Justin tugged off his T-shirt and dove into the pool. The last thing he needed
was to see him topless. His libido was already in overdrive and he was having
trouble not jumping Justin’s bones. In fact, the only thing that held him back
was the fact that Justin was his second cousin. They hadn’t been brought up
particularly closely, so it wasn’t as if he were lusting after someone he
considered to be a brother, but still. They were related and it was weird. Or
it would be weird if anything happened between them, which it wouldn’t, of
course. It would be wrong and they both knew it.
Terry assumed that was the reason Justin
was avoiding him, anyway. They got on well and there was an obvious spark
between them, but nothing inappropriate had ever taken place. For the most
part, they acted as cousins should. Every now and again, though, he’d catch Justin
looking at him. Equally, Terry would drink his fill of his cousin when no one
else was looking. Apparently it was getting increasingly difficult for Justin,
too.
Right now, at the annual summer get
together at Terry’s grandparents’ massive house in rural Warwickshire, the
tension between them had never been higher.
What made the whole thing ten times worse
was that neither of them had come out. So ending up together would be a double
whammy for their families. He could see it now. Hey, everyone! I’m gay—and so
is he. We’re together. Now as you were.
He didn’t know whether the reaction would
be favorable or not.
He also knew that part of his frustration
about the situation was because he hadn’t yet seen any point in coming out. His
feelings for Justin ran deeper than he cared to admit, and for that reason he
hadn’t been in a relationship with anyone—ever. Not a homosexual relationship,
anyway. He’d had girlfriends back in the days when he hadn’t realized what his
urges meant, but since then he’d been by himself and remained a virgin. He was
surprised, actually, that no one in his family had asked whether he was gay. He
could only assume that because he was so private generally, they thought he
would only introduce them to someone when he felt it was absolutely right. That
was his plan, in fact. To come out and introduce his partner at the same time.
But until he got over this damn infatuation with Justin, he was never going to
be any farther forward.
His thoughts ran on for several minutes
until he was interrupted—and startled—by droplets of cold water falling onto
his bare shoulder. He turned. Justin stood there, shaking his blond head and
sending the droplets flying around. Apparently he wasn’t avoiding Terry
anymore.
It was hot and he was wearing casual clothes,
so Terry wasn’t bothered about getting wet, but for some reason, he snapped at
Justin. “For fuck’s sake, do you have to do that here?”
Immediately Justin stopped and stared at
him. They’d never had a cross word between them, not even when they were
children. “Sorry, mate. I was just messing around. I didn’t think it would piss
you off.”
His blue eyes were wide and Terry felt his
irritation dissipating rapidly. He continued to rake his gaze down Justin’s
half-naked form. His broad shoulders and wide chest, which was sprinkled with a
handful of pale hairs. His toned stomach, the six-pack nicely defined but not
too body-builderish. His arms were thickly muscled but suited his athletic
frame. Deep-blue swimming trunks hid the area he most wanted to see but he
relied on the glimpses he’d had over the years and his overripe imagination.
Thick thighs and calves and, unbelievably,
nice feet—he didn’t generally like feet—finished off the package of perfection
and Terry was suddenly extremely glad he had a book in his lap, because his
cock was beginning to swell and press against the inside of his swimming
shorts. He realized that a dip in the pool would be a pretty good antidote—the
chilly water should take the heat from his cock. And if not, at least no one would
be able to see the bulge unless they swam underwater.
It was stupid, really, trying to hide his
erection from Justin. They both knew there was something between them, and he
wanted to bury his hard cock inside Justin’s mouth or arse, not hide it beneath
a fucking book.
He began to wonder whether they should just
get together, and to hell with the consequences. It wasn’t illegal.
Justin sat down on the sun bed next to
Terry and flashed him a smile. “Am I forgiven, then? I haven’t got your book
wet, have I?” He reached out to grab the book, presumably to try to dry it, but
Terry slammed his hand down quickly, catching Justin’s fingers beneath his in
the process, not to mention giving his cock a bit of a smack.
“No,” he ground out, wondering how he’d
managed to get even a single word to fall from his lips. As soon as their
fingers had touched he’d felt a spark that had run straight up his arm and
multiplied throughout his entire body. His ebbing erection had immediately
jumped back to attention, lifting the book slightly. He hoped against all hope
that Justin hadn’t noticed but he had no such luck.
The blond’s gaze dropped to their
still-touching fingers and, presumably, to the book and the thing beneath it
that had caused the movement. He stared for a few seconds that felt like hours,
then looked back up at Terry’s face. He opened his mouth then closed it again.
For the first time ever, it seemed Justin was speechless.
A huge splash and a series of laughs from
the pool broke the spell between them. Justin snatched his hand back and raked
it through his hair. He opened and closed his mouth again, but for the second
time nothing came out. He let out a heavy sigh and stood up looking dazed. He
appeared to have trouble putting one foot in front of the other, as though he
were drunk or had just woken from a very deep sleep. Of course, only the two of
them knew the real reason for Justin’s behavior.
Finally Justin got his limbs to cooperate,
and he made his way across to the table that held food and drinks, sheltered
from the bright sunlight by a large, green gazebo.
Terry watched him go, a tumult of emotions
running through his brain. Disappointment, confusion, anger, lust…they all
assaulted him, though admittedly the last was screaming the loudest, a fact
certainly not helped by Justin’s damp and topless state.
Now a feeling of despair took hold of him.
What the fuck was he going to do?
*****
Terry’s had a crush on his second cousin
Justin for what seems like forever. He’s hidden it as well as possible, knowing
that the other man is out of bounds, forbidden fruit. Second cousins getting
together isn’t actually illegal, but for Justin the relationship is too
close—he just can’t contemplate them being together.
But when some new information comes to
light about Terry’s birth and his place in the family, the whole game changes.
Suddenly the relationship isn’t so impossible, and things soon begin to get hot
and heavy.
Available from: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/illicit-relations/
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18741652-illicit-relations
*****
Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She
writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and
has over eighty publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These
include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women's Erotica 2013 and
Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has
edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small
publishing house. She owns Erotica For
All, and is book editor for Cliterati.
Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk.
Join her on Facebook
and Twitter, and subscribe to her
newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
*****
GIVEAWAY!
I'm so eager to read this!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com