I often forget, when a book is written and sitting on my shelf, all of the heartache and frustration that went into writing it. Take Sex Love Repeat. I was a writer possessed, churning out a stack of pages each day until BAM. I had backed myself into a corner, hopelessly in love with two different heroes with no idea what to do. I struggled for three weeks, writing, then deleting scenes.
The Bedroom Blog is coming to an end...
This morning I'm writing the last three episodes of the Bedroom Blog. It's been a long and fun journey, I have really enjoyed this process and connecting with new readers through Cosmopolitan. It's been odd, writing a story over the course of a year, three chapters at a time. I've never written a story in that fashion, especially one where I couldn't change scenes once they had been written (and published). It's been a really interesting and creative experience.
How an author feels on release day...
The New York Times Bestseller List... and are print books dead?
I read recently that self-published books can't get onto the New York Times Bestseller List. That they weren't allowed.. or that the New York Times doesn't recognize self-published sales. I knew, when I read it, that it was false. Black Lies, my erotic romance, hit it three times last year. But it was still a welcome sight to see Hollywood Dirt, my newest baby, hit the list. Twice. Technically, three times, because it hit the eBook list AND the Combined Print/Ebook list.
What does that mean?
HUGE MOVIE NEWS!
#HowIWrite Video - My research on sex toys
10 Writing Tips
10 Writing Tips from NYT Bestseller Alessandra Torre Don't drown your readers in descriptions. Sure, give them a few sentences to set scenes, or to make them feel like they're there. But no one cares what every person in the book is wearing every day. Or what every room of the heroine's home looks like.
Signings and Radio - Spreading the Author Brand
This weekend I flew to New York for two reasons. The first: BookCon. For those who aren't familiar with BookCon, it is a reader event that caps off the end of the BEA Convention: Book Expo of America. BookCon covers Saturday and Sunday and is comprised of a ton of author signings and panels. I signed at 1pm on Saturday. The beauty about arriving at 1pm is that I missed the line for entry...
New YouTube Series: #HowIWrite!
I am excited to announce the launch of my new YouTube series: #HowIWrite!
I will be uploading 3-4 videos a months that show a peek behind the pages: a look into the writing, editing, research and development that goes into each of my books!
The first episode is on Rewriting - a vital stage in the development of a book - the stage I am on RIGHT NOW with If You Dare!
How to Get Your Self-Published Book Copyrighted
So… you wrote a novel. First off, CONGRATS!! Now you need to protect it. ASAP. Remember Napster? There are a hundred sites just like that for books, and they won't remove your title unless you have a copyright certificate in hand. People will always break laws, but you need to do what you can to stop your book from being stolen.
What you need is to copyright your book, and the US Copyright Office has made a simple process ridiculously painful. So sit down, pour a beverage, and feel free to use the below guide to help you through the process.