Saucy Roan Barret titles on the way...

We've been hard at work on Roan Barrett's excellent shifter-themed series. With five books so far (and a projected seven to ten more on the way this year) the paranormal erotica saga has been rebranded as the Wolf's Call. This will make it easier for readers to know what they're getting in for - as if the title doesn't give it away!

Keep an eye out for the hot new title, Taken in the Forest.

Why we write...

When they get the time, all of our authors will post a few thoughts on the matter, but here's my two cents.

Writing is starting to pay off. In the old days - as with any art - you either made it big or starved. People still think that's the case and they can't believe I can make a living writing. But just by following the steps to online publishing in books like Write, Publish, Repeat, anyone can make a career out of writing. Sometimes a lucrative one. The rules are simple. Keep writing, produce a lot of titles, collect a following and don't put all your hopes in one magnum opus. 

Adult books or Erotica are a great way to do this. The fans don't really care who you are as long as you write fun stories and keep producing. You don't have to create a name for yourself, just a market or at least a brand. We all use pen names anyway and our readers don't mind if we're a middle-aged housewife in the midwest, a six-foot Adonis in Australia (I know one, don't laugh), an ex-con in Cleveland or retired pig farmer in Cornwall. 

And there is almost no other career where you can be successful no matter who or what you are. I was shocked in the first few months when my sales started creeping up as I produced more titles, just like it said in the book. It's a 'no luck' guide. For once in your life your hard work will be practically the only factor and nobody will refuse you a paycheck.

Why do people become disenchanted and give up the rat race to become struggling authors? It's romantic to think it's just because it's our true calling. Yes, there's some truth to that: you certainly have to want to write. But it's also true that when your 'career' (or what authors call the Evil Day Job) is not going to do much more than pay the bills and keep you working till you die then you have to find other ways to make money. 

Think about it. You work hard, get good at your chosen profession and yet those promotions and pay rises elude you. That's what we were taught to do but it doesn't always pan out.This doesn't only apply to those of us with shitty arts degrees: Engineers, professors and lawyers quit all the time to become writers. Michael Chrichton ditched medical school, and he did okay.

Why does a career no longer guarantee success? The barrier is the gatekeeper: Bosses, organisations and a world and an economy that does not want you to share in the profits. So much of your career depends on whether other people want to hand you a share of the spoils. Even when you make that target, land that contract, save the business, you still have to convince the boss that you're worthy of that raise or promotion or vacation or maternity leave. They may have many reasons not to, despite your having earned it. Other people can and will hold you back. 

They'll tell you of course that it's just 'The Market TM' :The labor market, the financial market, the economy or some other incorporeal bugbear that is cold, unfeeling, mathematical, evolutionary or otherwise above direct challenge. Personally I have always thought this was a copout, an excuse for holding you back because such decisions are not made by 'The Market TM', but by its components - people. That's all the market is: other people. It has a mind and a heart and makes personal, emotive judgement calls on whether or not you deserve success. Every minute of your working life. It is no accident.

Writing takes these gatekeepers out of the equation. And if you knuckle down, keep creating and releasing work consistently, you take your future in your own hands. It's just you and the market now baby, and no scowling doorman to keep you out of the VIP room. Forget the megastars like E.L. James. Look at the reasonably successful winners like Selena Kitt. In a few years you too can have more time for yourself and your family, financial freedom, a passive income - or at least a portable income - and possibly even a little more. That's freedom.

 If it truly is just you and 'the market' then why should they get a say? Especially when it seems to have been considerably less impartial and brutal for them. By embracing the true market - the one they do not have control over, you finally escape the power of others over your own success. If it truly is just you and 'The market TM' then it is high time you took the middle-men out of the equation.

And that's why I do it. If you have a story in you, you should try too. And then rinse and repeat and never, ever quit.

Taylor.