It's hard to believe I'm writing my final installment of "Shameless Self-Promotion." And what a shameless year it's been! Back in February, the title of my first column was "Our Journey Begins," so it only makes sense that in December I will focus on the journey's...
I didn't used to be a size queen. For me the meat didn't matter—smaller was actually preferable since it usually came along with a charm and sensitivity the big brutes didn't bother to cultivate. Indeed I used to have a beautiful relationship with smaller guys, but...
One of the pleasures of promoting my novel, Amorous Woman, has been the opportunity to meet other novelists with similar experiences. Enjoyable as it is to share our stories, however, it's not long before one of us confesses: "Book promoting is really hard, isn't it?...
If you've been reading my last few columns of Shameless Promotion, you know that I've joined the chorus of contemporary writers who call cyberspace the most cost effective venue to promote a book in the twenty-first century, especially erotica. In fact, I think it...
We live in a culture that keeps telling us we can have it all, especially if we buy whatever product that particular sweet siren of capitalism is selling to help us in our mission. Yes, you can—or at least should—have a fulfilling and demanding career while you also...
The publishing business isn't what it used to be. Major newspapers are ditching their book review sections, independent bookstores are closing up shop at every turn, and many of the bookstores that do remain are drastically cutting back on poorly-attended author...
I blame Freud for this one. That's because he made such a big to-do about penis envy, which I never quite related to, but was somehow translated by my psyche into a primal longing for something else that began with the letter "P." When I published my first novel, I...
In my first "Shameless Self-Promotion" column ("Dreams and Realities: Our Journey Begins"), I trotted out some of the fantasies our society feeds us about the life of a real novelist: the "Oprah" appearances, the mountains of royalties, the automatic elevation to the...
All fiction writers (and most memoirists and journalists) sell fantasies, perhaps none more than erotica writers. Yet, as I stumbled along on my own book promotion journey, I realized how many fantasies I've been sold about what it means to be a published author as...
Congratulations! You've done it! Your dream has come true! You've had your first novel accepted for publication—or your first story collection. You've been imagining the glory of this day since you were...oh, eight years old, and first decided you wanted to be A Real...