Production Post: Gadarene

[Tina Anderson]

http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/production-post-gadarene-2/

Heading out this weekend, but I wanted to catch up on some old things I was talking about, in regard to Gadarene. I sent out Media Kits and Small Bookstore packs, and not one of them yielded ANY results. Seriously, about $85 out the window. One media outlet did get back to me, they didn't want to be named--but assured me that my gender does indeed have something to do with why they feel they can't market the title. Basically, they're not into the notion of women writing gay romance--and while he liked my book overall, he didn't feel it spoke to his magazines 'gay readers'. :/ I find that weird...so I guess the countless porn anthy's they review and talk up, speak to gay readers more than an historical horror featuring a gay lead? What's even weirder is, he recommended the book at one online place, which did net us a couple of sales at Amazon. *sigh* Also, one bookstore responded to tell me they don't deal with self-pubs, but they rec using authorspace [or something.] I explained that my books are returnable, drop shipped by Amazon, and even listed consignment terms. He said he'd be interested in those consignment terms, but then never emailed me back. Oh, he did tell me he carried my graphic novels though. 0_0. *sigh*

If anyone ever says you don't need a male pen name in gay erotica...then they haven't been trying to 'sell' gay erotica. Personally--I ain't changing my name anytime soon [Anderson is all ready a legal alias]; I'm still me, I'm still a woman, and my work still kicks erotic ass. If you don't want to spanked by it because it's female, it's your loss. (^_^)\\

Others just didn't reply, or talk about the press release. It's not an urgent topic, so I wont write them off as complete losses yet--an article or story can be written about the subject matter of the press release, at any time--but I'm a bit annoyed that some places just ignored it completely. [The marketing book warned me about this, which is why I kept the campaign under a $100]. One gay press release service emailed me and asked me if I was a lesbian...I said no, they didn't run my release. The only loss I regret is contacting Bookazine. I followed their guidelines, sent my media kits [they wanted 10] and a copy of the book--they never got back to me. :/ I suppose they wont get back to me until I have Lost Along The Way, Sacrifice, and Games With Me, selling on Amazon. (>_<)--or they manage to find a buyer somewhere in the world, willing to purchase Gadarene in bulk.

My greatest ally in sales last quarter, was online review sites and erotica blogs. I'm glad I made a book they enjoyed, because it was their honest assessment of the title that sold the books to readers. Honestly, if they ever ask for a review copies or freebies of anything, I'll gladly send. :) The readers trust them, and so do I. I just hope my next novel, due out late this summer, makes them just as happy--but I doubt it. It's not explicit erotica, and it's more of a young adult novel. Still, I hope they give it a chance. My editor is due to work on 'Lost' at the end of May; I recently posted the back illustration over at y!Gallery, just to get some feedback both private and public. I've scheduled the printing for the end of July, with sales beginning at the end of August. This is good for me, because I'll have at least two months before 'Games With Me' starts its official 'pre-press' mode [that's if none of the US pubs that I submitted it to, get back to me by then]. It may release stateside first, we'll see--if Wild Side wants to debut it in Germany first, I will honor their request.

See ya next week.