Comments on: Gold and Dross, A.K.A. more and more (and more) of the same https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same Erotic writing, toys, and a little bit of kink. Come and find out what we’re doing behind the drapes ... Thu, 21 Aug 2014 01:55:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.2 By: Jane https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52719 Wed, 09 Apr 2014 23:38:05 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52719 @Cari – as far as I’m concerned, Klaus is the most perfect sadistic ‘not-Dom’; he doesn’t fit into any box that I can think of. Would I want him to top me? HELL NO! Do I want to read about him? HELL YES!

]]> By: Jane https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52717 Wed, 09 Apr 2014 23:35:11 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52717 Rachelle, sorry for the slow reply to your comment. Those three ideas you mention? I, for one, would love to read stories based around characters like that. We have far too many stories about people who bear no resemblance to ‘real’ people, whatsoever. Give me characters who actually reflect the world most of us live in over a billionaire MMA fighter any day.

As for the low-star reviews, I do find those incredibly useful. My current system is to look at the five stars, the three stars and the one stars before downloading a sample. Although if I see a raft of “OMG this is the bst bk EVA!” five star write-ups, the book pretty much becomes an immediate ‘pass’.

]]> By: Dionne https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52392 Sun, 06 Apr 2014 03:25:48 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52392 Awesome! It’s called Close Call: A Doris & Jemma Vadgeventure written under a pen name, Eloise March :).

]]> By: Jane https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52391 Sun, 06 Apr 2014 03:16:44 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52391 Dionne, I am thoroughly intrigued; Doris sounds bloody awesome. I am off to find out more about her!

]]> By: Cari Silverwood https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52354 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 21:36:41 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52354 Exactly Rachelle. My story where I deliberately took a man, who wasn’t a Dom, and put him into a pressure cooker setting so I could let him evolve into a sadistic Dom, several reviews went, OMG, that’s so unrealistic. He should’ve been a Dom from the start! (Like a gazillion other stories)
Apparently an accountant is also not good Dom material, I had people laugh at that. And I went, DAMN, I meant to make him a bajillionaire vampire cowboy with his own private jet.

]]> By: Rachelle Ayala (@AyalaRachelle) https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52345 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 16:23:06 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52345 The joys of self-publishing is originality and stuff no one will touch with the ten-foot-pole, but as with any endeavor, there go the lemmings. I’m an author, and I can’t help but be original. My friends tell me that won’t sell. Who wants to read about a former nanny who’s a build engineer for a software startup, or a failed medical student waitressing at a Filipino restaurant, or a steamy story about a Biblical character? I can’t write plain vanilla if you put a gun to my head. Your best bet is to see if there is something standing out in the product description and surprisingly, read the low-star reviews. If something is original or different, somebody will be upset about it.

]]> By: Dionne https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52329 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:49:16 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52329 I hear you and was thinking the same thing. There is so much same old same old. But there are some great self-published books out there that do explore romantic themes, but are well-written, edited, and really take you on a journey. I couldn’t help but comment on your wish for originality and have to mention that I’ve recently published a novella where one of the main characters is a talking vagina (Doris is her name). Needless to say, it’s humorous, and, I’m pretty sure, original. I can guarantee no traditional publisher would ever touch it with a ten foot pole but readers are loving it.

]]> By: Jane https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52306 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 01:10:00 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52306 I’m actually okay with romance tropes in and of themselves, e.g. opposites attracting, reformed bad boy, etc. You can’t redefine the core of love itself, I don’t think (or maybe you can and I am just being narrow minded!). But what you can do is alter the story ‘wrapping’ and presentation. I like t-shirts. They’re practical and comfortable. But I don’t want to wear a yellow one every day for the next six months :-).

I should clarify that I have read some excellent self-published work over the past two to three years (and you’re right on about the big houses getting a little sloppy with regard to e-content) – it’s just that that good stuff is increasingly difficult and time-consuming to locate.

(Lovely to have you here behind the curtain!)

]]> By: Jane https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52304 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:53:05 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52304 Yep, new ground is always going to be risky – but sometimes our biggest gambles result in our biggest rewards. You’re totally on the money, by the way: you have to love what you write first and foremost. We live in a material world and for the majority of us a successful book is going to be measured in dollar signs and downloads. Wouldn’t it be nice if those things were the icing on, rather than the main ingredients for, the modern book cake?

]]> By: lily malone https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/2014/04/02/gold-and-dross-a-k-a-more-and-more-and-more-of-the-same/#comment-52300 Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:10:33 +0000 https://behindthechintzcurtain.com/?p=6736#comment-52300 I don’t know the answer. Except that I guess there are romance ‘tropes’ for a reason.
I would just say, it’s not only self-published books that you find with editing problems. I get so cross that big editing houses let sub-standard versions of books go out in e-format, too. I’m sure they take more effort with the print versions and it shouldn’t be that way.
Good luck. Often you’ll find you have bad runs with books, and then you hit a purple patch. I hope that happens for you. I’ve read a self-pubbed book this year that I loved, called White Balance by Ainslie Paton. There are some small typos etc in there (bah!) but they didn’t detract from what I found to be a beautiful story. But maybe not the type of book for behind your curtain, as such ;)

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