KB Alan

My first contest!

A bunch of erotica authors and I just happened to be at the Hustler store in Hollywood, and I thought of you, my dear readers. I picked up a few items I thought you might enjoy, and then actually remembered that Valentine’s Day is coming up. So I thought, why not have a contest now, so that the winner can receive the prize in time for Valentine’s Day?

Here’s a pic of the prize. There is the Sex & Chocolate book, Adult Mad Libs, Pocket Kama Sutra, Pocket Erotic – the Ecstatic Secrets of Sensual Massage, and 52 Orgasm Tips flashcards.

I’ll also give away a copy of either of my books, Perfect Formation or Alpha Turned, unless the winner already has them. In which case, they can choose any ebook I’ve pimped on my site (there are a bunch, just click on the pimpin’ tag at the bottom of this post to see them all).

So, the contest. Comment below and you’ll be entered once. Email the response to one or both of the following for additional entries, for a maximum of three per person, to kb at kbalan.com. DO NOT put the answers in the comments below, or you will get zero entries in the contest. Please add something like “Contest” in the subject line. You’re also welcome to use the contact form here.

1. Tell me the name of any character from any of my works in progress (in other words, not from my published books). These can be found fairly easily in my blog posts.

2. Tell me the name of one of the review sites that has reviewed either of my published books. These can be found on my website.

All comments/emails must be received by Friday February 5th. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday the 6th and as long as the winner gets me their address by Sunday, I’ll put the package in the mail on Monday to make sure you have it by Valentine’s Day, in case you want to make use of any of it. 😉

I don’t mind sending internationally, but don’t guarantee delivery by the 14th. Actually, I don’t guarantee that domestically either, just that I’ll get it in the mail by the 8th. I’ll email the selected ebook late on the 13th or early on the 14th.

You don’t have to say anything special in the comments, but if you want, you can tell me what you plan to do for Valentine’s Day. While life is subject to change, as of now my plans are to stay in my pajama’s all day, possibly do some writing, read an erotic romance (any suggestions?) and attend the CAPA awards at the Romance Studio (Did I mention I was nominated for best BDSM book of 2009?!?! I did, but I’ll mention it again, because it’s pretty freaking exciting).

How’s that for a first contest? Did I forget anything?

It’s release day! Again! Somehow it feels really different than when Perfect Formation was released, and yet just as exciting and amazing. I mean, my book is being released! I don’t think that’s ever (knock on wood) going to get old.

Alpha Turned is actually the first book that I wrote. I was about two-thirds of the way through it when I started Perfect Formation, which ended up getting published first. And the two books could hardly be more different. Alpha Turned is a paranormal featuring werewolves, while Perfect Formation was a contemporary threesome that included a fair amount of kink (yummy Caleb knows his way around a pair of cuffs, I’m just sayin’). Zach is a hot alpha werewolf but I’m afraid it would never occur to him to tie Hillary up, and I’m pretty sure she would cut off something vital if he tried. I’ll be really interested to hear how readers who loved (They sent me the emails, I’m not making this stuff up!) Perfect Formation respond to Alpha Turned. I’m guessing they’ll love Zach as much as I do – he’s a hottie who will do anything to make his woman happy, even if it means standing back and letting her do her thing. And Hillary really is ready to do her thing. It’s been four years since she was turned into a werewolf in a violent attack that left her wondering if turning furry would make her as evil as the crazies who attacked her. She’s been concentrating on making a life for herself and *gasp* making friends, but when a werewolf comes into her town she knows its time to deal with this aspect of herself that she’s pretty much been ignoring. Luckily that leads her to Zach and I’m sure you can guess that all sorts of yummy things ensue. Poor Zach has to fight his instincts which are screaming at him to take Hillary as his mate. But helping her to become comfortable with who and what she is takes a much higher priority. No, really, it does. Luckily the instincts are just as strong in Hillary and she let’s Zach’s calm strength lead her to a better understanding of her new life. Plus, there’s all sorts of yumminess – did I mention that?

For those readers who just aren’t into paranormal, I promise (you know, in case you were desperate to know) I’m working on a contemporary. Of course, I’ve also got a bit of Fae going on. And then, in a remarkably stupid move, I said to myself one night, “Well, at least I don’t do Sci-Fi”. All you writers out there are sure to understand that the Sci-Fi plot bunny was kind enough to make a visit the very next week. So far I’ve managed to hold the mangy thing at bay, but we’ll see. I like to think of it as offering a little something for everyone, as opposed to being mildly schizophrenic. You can decide for yourself and feel free to let me know what you think. 😀

I hope you all enjoy Hillary and Zach as much as you enjoyed Taryn, Caleb and Richard. And if you haven’t read Perfect Formation, but want a little spicy contemporary for your weekend read, it’s gotten some pretty good reviews 🙂

I’m getting excited for Friday’s new release. When Perfect Formation came out I was such a newbie, I had no idea what to expect. Okay, well, the truth is I’m still a total newbie, and just as nervous and excited as before. So, to take my mind off things, I think it’s time for some reading. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve pimped out a book, and here’s one that looks like a lot of fun (I’m a sucker for books set in Scotland!). Enjoy!

 Cat Logan, a young American with a recent degree in medieval literature, travels to Scotland to discover her Celtic roots. She finds more than she bargained for when a mysterious silver casket (rumored to hold the desiccated heart of a long dead Scottish laird) transports her back in time to the 1400s and the man whose heart she holds in her hands.

So, as you may have noticed, I have a new book coming out. (Just give me a second here to SQUEEEE. Ok, better now.) I got the release date for Alpha Turned, made the book page, and had to include an excerpt. Well, I suppose I don’t have to include one, but I believe very strongly that every book should have an excerpt on the authors website. Which should be easy, right? Well, no.

For some reason, I have a really hard time picking them out. I keep wanting to explain what the reader should already know, if they had started at page one. I cut and paste one section, then delete and try another. Seriously, it’s like a sickness. Of course, when I read other people’s excerpts, I completely understand that it’s just a taste and that I don’t need to understand everything that’s happened. But I have a hard time letting go, I think.

For Perfect Formation I just used the excerpt my fabulous editor picked out. Actually, she made a couple of suggestions and I just agreed with one of them. It was my first release and I had no idea what I was doing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s the same scene the publisher used on their website, and as a reader I like to have a couple of different ones to read. So I was determined to use a different choice on my site this time. I finally decided that since the one the publisher is using is in the heroine’s point of view, I would give my man Zach his chance, here. Maybe next time I’ll give out advanced copies with the expectation that the readers pick out a scene they think should be the excerpt? *Sigh* I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be the easy part. 😛

ESPAN, the RWA chapter dedicated to epublished and small press authors, has a fantastic blog post from writer and agent Deidre Knight in response to RWA President Diane Pershing’s letter in the monthly newsletter.

In the letter, Ms. Pershing admits that RWA is failing to educate its members properly. I happen to agree. Here is how I think they should be educating their paying members (me).

What I want RWA to do for me:

• Help me understand the pros and cons of publishing with a large press.
• Help me understand the pros and cons of publishing with a small press.
• Help me understand the pros and cons of publishing with an epublisher.
• Help me learn how to distinguish between an ethical and respected publisher, be they large, small or electronic, so that I can make an informed decision about submitting to them.
• Help me know what clauses I should look out for in a contract and what the negatives and positives are to those clauses so that I can make an informed decision about signing them.
• Help me learn about the craft of writing and the business of publishing, by offering online classes, local chapter level meetings/workshops, and national level workshops at the yearly conference.
• Help me network by offering local chapter meetings, online chapters with specific focuses, and the national conference where I can expect to hear from, meet with and pitch to publishers and agents that I have decided to pursue, based on the research above.
• Help me make the decisions. By educating me.

Do not attempt to make the decisions for me. If I decide to work with an agent despite your warning of a specific type of clause in their contract, that is my decision to make. If I decide to publish with a large press publisher to get the advance they are offering despite learning that they are unlikely to help promote my book so that I will earn out that advance, that is my decision to make. If I decide to contract with a brand new epublisher because they have a good marketing team despite learning that many new epublishers do not last, and they turn out to produce crap I would be embarrassed to introduce to my ebook reader, that is my decision to make.

Some may disagree, but I truly believe that there are different pros and cons to each of the first three options listed above. People choose those options, I chose one of those options, because of weighing the differences, not because I fell into the one when I couldn’t do the other. I would like to be able to say that I made my decisions based on information learned through the organization I pay to support my writing career. Instead, that organization thinks I’m just playing with my hobby and gave me little to no help – I found the information, both good and bad, that I needed to make my decision through sources that were entirely free.

RWA does give me something for my money. It gives me the support of my local chapter. It gives me the support of my online chapter which supports electronic and small press authors. It gives me the opportunity to attend a national conference where I can attend workshops about the craft of writing (but not the business of publishing in my chosen avenue) and the chance to network with other writers and some agents and publishers (just not the ones that I’m interested in meeting with). Lastly, RWA tries to give me a sense of being less than other writers, writers who have chosen a different path then I have. Writers who are apparently “career focused” while I’m simply lucky to be making money with my hobby.

There are reasons that I chose the path that I did. I weighed the pros and cons. It works for me, at this time and I can see no reason to change it. I can certainly see why others might choose a different path and I wish them well. I hope that they educated themselves about all of the options available to them. But if they relied on their professional writers association for that information, then they are sadly lacking in knowledge. Which doesn’t mean they made the wrong decision. It just means they made that decision based on limited information, which is very, very sad when they are members of an organization meant to educate them.

I am not an idiot. I am fully aware that there are many epublishers that will do little to advance the careers of their authors, and some that will harm them. That is also true of traditional print publishers and agents. Simply pushing an entire publishing model to the side and hoping that it will go away, is not helpful. Worse, insulting the professionals who are actively advancing that publishing model is not doing your members a service.

Since Ms. Pershing has admitted to the organizations failing in the education of its members, I hope that they will seriously rethink their strategy and remember that I am asking them to teach me, not to make my decisions for me by showing me only the options they themselves would choose.

Kim Knox’s first release with Ellora’s Cave is out. I’ve read some of her other books and really enjoyed them so I’m looking forward to this one.

Consort 
Kim Knox

November Eve. The Hunt Ball. And to prove her right to rule, Tate must capture a mate. It should’ve been simple. Snag a vampire barely turned and have him kneel and swear devotion to her. But Fate has other plans…and one of them involves the powerful son of the ruling Queen.

Jager, a vampire she’s hungered after for years, allows himself to become her prey. But with his promise of sinful, wicked pleasure comes a catch. Jager only wants her as his slave. Nothing more.

Tate has no plans to bow down to him…until Jager shares a shocking truth with her. Suddenly Fate is playing hardball.

Good Deals:
Ellora’s Cave has started offering books on sale! An excellent chance to try a new author or a new series and see if you like them. New books will go up on Thursdays, so be sure to check back weekly to see what’s available.

Ellora’s Cave sale page here.

Good Deeds:
For those of you who don’t know, RWA Nationals is a yearly convention for romance writers, sponsored by the Romance Writers of America. This is an important opportunity for writers to network, meet their current or potential editors and agents, as well as attend workshops on writing presented by the experts in the field. 😀

The writers forum that I belong to, Romance Divas, is a fantastic source for all things relating to writing. Every year they offer a scholarship to send one or two deserving members to the conference. They are accepting donations and in return sending some cool gifts. I’ve donated a copy of my ebook. If you would like to help, go here to learn more. Or, go if you just want a chance to win some cool gifts, knowing your donations are going to a good cause.

The gifts include books, ebooks, jewelry, cover design, manuscript critiques and more. Check it out!

Somebody, somewhere, decided that this week was ebook week. Sounds good to me! The folks at ESPAN-RWA, a place you must check out if you are a writer for epubs or small press pubs, clued me in. They provided this link, which I believe shows the origins of the movement. Here, however, is the good stuff! That link will take you to a list of people who are participating, many of whom are offering free ebooks. For me, the best bet was to use my iphone and my Stanza app to download a huge number of free reads. I am not exagerating here, I’m still trying to download them all, there are so many.

This is a great opportunity to try out ebooks if you haven’t already. If your unsure about devices, you can visit my “What are ebooks” page for some links, or you can cheat and visit Dear Author, which is pretty much my advice at the end of the other page. Check the related posts listed at the top right of the Dear Author page, because they’ve done a whole series on the ever growing, ever changing technologies.

If you have any interest in the publishing side of ebooks, this series by Angela James is a must read. I was able to take part in an interactive version of the series and it was extremely beneficial and informative.

Lastly, of course, I can’t help but remind you that my very own ebook releases on Wednesday, right smack dab in the middle of ebook week. So, my humble suggestion, is that you take Monday and Tuesday to figure the whole deal out, choose a device and a format, and be ready for Wednesday! But, as I said, that’s just my advice 😀