So I just signed up to the new book cover sharing site, Rifflebooks.com. I think the name lends itself to the notion of riffling through books. Kind of interesting, though somehow still a strange name. Reminds me of a gun rifle.

I’m not one to complain, but I dislike when companies launch products that aren’t ready for use. The site is slow and wonky, and because of that, irritating to use. However, this issue may be due to a large number of people flooding the site during launch.

Riffle is a bit like pinterest, as far as I can tell, only you can’t yet add your own images. You have to use their database, unfortunately. And I’m having trouble finding my own books, which for other authors such as myself, I’m sure, feels like being left out of the party. Actually, many books seem to have been left out of the launch database. Either that or the search option doesn’t work so well at the moment. This doesn’t bode well for Rifflebooks, because that’s almost the only thing you can do on the site, aside from making lists. To get an idea, see my first list here.

Social Bandwagon
Every site, these days, seems to find it necessary to focus on building a community. I realize that make for good business sense, but it’s starting to feel a little forced and can be off-putting. Already on Rifflebooks, there’s an emphasis to acquire “influence”—meaning getting followers, or doing other things on the site. The goal obviously being to make users feel the need to aspire for as much influence as possible, and getting a number assigned to you for your efforts. I dislike these sorts of cheap tactics to force user interaction. If the site is good on its own, users will naturally interact.

Additionally, I don’t see any options where you can upload pics of your personal book stash, or anything like that. It is a book sharing site, after all. I’m sure there are slews of book lovers who would love to show off their favorite books with the antique looking covers and worn-out spines—not to mention different versions of book covers. Perhaps that option is soon to come, who knows.

All in all, I’m not sure how much time I’ll be spending on Rifflebooks. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how they mold the site to make it a little more interesting.

Mammoth Book Of Futuristic Romance is available now in paperback form. Looks like the ebook version is not out yet, however.

The stories in this book include saucy aliens, post apocalyptic futures, and otherworldly scenarios. My story,  Racing Hearts, will give you a heartwarming peek into Phase Nine; a treacherous race that spans the corners of space. Order your copy now.

Sonya stood to face him. His expression displayed a mix of irritation and amusement. “I know the concept of a hard day’s work is difficult for you to understand, pirate, and you’re functioning on a damaged moral compass—”

“My moral compass may be damaged, but at least I’m not a slave to my baser needs.”

She stilled. “And you’re saying I am.”

“You are a demon after all. Your kind are notorious for their debauchee and barbarous natures.”

She choked out a laugh, “My people are barbarous?”

“You said it.”

“And this coming from a pirate.”

“You know nothing of it!” he snapped.

“And you know nothing of me!”

“I know more than you think. And even if I didn’t, I had you pegged purely by the manner in which you dress yourself.”

That gave her pause and she resisted the urge to look down at herself. Her outfit was no more revealing than any other female on the ship. In fact, compared to some, she could be considered downright modest. Her skirts, she had to admit, were on the short side, but that was only to accommodate her tail, and nobody had ever commented on it before. Not that it mattered what anyone else thought of her, especially not some hypocritical pirate.

“Get out of my pub before I smash your face into the wall,” she hissed.

Instead, he took a step closer, goading her. Something in that action fired her blood in a way she’d never felt, and the pace of her heart increased with a surge of excitement. Sonya was used to people backing down when she issued a threat, they never willingly opened themselves up for attack.

She tilted her head at him with renewed interest.

Fellow author, Candice Bundy, who also happens to write about sexy demons (as well as some freaky ones) recently pinned me down until I agreed to an interview.

Here is the result of her rabble-rousing. > http://candicebundy.com/2012/10/indie-author-interview-kiersten-fay/

The Internet is a massive place, and readers can be found every which way. Some of the most popular places authors tread—myself included—is Twitter and Facebook. There are other great places to promote, but for me, these are probably the most used. Actually, mostly Twitter, even though in the beginning I remember saying, “Twitter? What a ridiculous concept.” Meanwhile, I’m still addicted.

There are some potential pitfalls, however.
For authors, these social media platforms are used for marketing. Marketing is important, but it takes time away from what we’re all supposed to be doing, which is writing. And it is super easy to get sucked into Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and now Pinterest has its claws into me, LOL.

Aside from that, their true purpose (being social) all too often gets overlooked. So what you get is an author that only posts about his or her books, and little else. I’m guilty of doing this myself, though I try not to do it too much. However, I notice some folks on twitter who practice this as if it were some kind of religion, and it saddens me because what they’re actually doing is burning up their following. People don’t want to be sold to all the time and will just stop listening if you don’t have anything of interest to say. Bottom line, the point of social media is social interaction.

On the other hand—and forgive me for spinning your head in the opposite direction—if writing is your business (and for most authors, that’s our goal) then all these social media sites have to be looked at as business tools, which means they should be used as business tools. This doesn’t mean I’m telling you to forget everything I just said above. People who use social media correctly still promote themselves. They just don’t do it all the time every time. There is a balance to it all, trust me. I’m not sure if I’ve found it, but I know it’s there.

So what is your preferred social media outlet?

With an inordinate amount of trepidation, I clicked the button to enroll Demon Possession in KDP select. The trepidation was a result of the required three month, or ninety day, commitment. Once I clicked to enroll, I was informed that I have roughly three days to back out. So I guess that lessened the blow a little.

Why did I enter? Curiosity, for one. Would it hurt or help sales? For two. I recently had Demon Possession re-edited by Rainy of the Dark (who was my editor for Demon Slave), because, apparently my two previous editors had been inadequate. Now that I feel all the editing issues are resolved, I’d like more reviews that aren’t tainted. I figure, the more people who read book one, the more people who will love it, and thus review it.

Getting my book off the other sites, which is one of Amazon’s conditions, was a bit of a pain. Especially Smashwords. I had to wait two months for the books to be pulled off of all the sites they published it on. But I’m a silver lining kinda gal, and this turned out to be a good thing, because it gave me time to go through and fix all the little issues.

Amazon has done some wonderful things for authors that is quickly being taken for granted. I read blogs and forums grumbling with fears that Amazon is trying to stifle or screw indie authors, which is ridiculous. Indie authors have become a huge part of Amazon’s business model. Why would they shoot themselves in the foot? However, they are a big corporation, and profit is the bottom line. To expect otherwise would be idiocy.

They’ve provided a way for many, including me, and I’m grateful for that. I’m excited to see if Amazon’s newest endeavor will actually be a powerful tool for authors, or just a way for them to corner the market.

It is generally known that most romance novels, even self-published, utilize a buff male frame, or a couple in a heated embrace, for their all-important cover image. I’ve gone the opposite direction with my first series and I continually wonder if going against the grain is a good idea, or even makes good business sense.

Contemplating The Change:
I’ve been contemplating romance book covers for a long time now—wondering if I need to update my covers to be sexier or leave them as is. I’ve received plenty of advice both ways. Some folks like the covers as is, and I do too. They’re not bad looking as far as covers go. But some comment that there’s not enough inference to the romance and sexual content of the story, and I have to concede that that is a valid argument.

Branding and Consistency:
I’m not a marketing expert, but I understand branding and the need for consistency, so if I were to change one book, I would need to change them all. That means the ebook covers as well as the physical book covers. Ebooks are easy to change. However, the trade books are costly and time consuming to update. If I did change the covers it would most likely be for good. So I really, really need to think it through.

As far as other books, I appreciate some of the covers that depict hot sexy guys on them, but then, there are those that I really don’t like. There’s really no rhyme or reason to it, it’s just personal taste, and I’m sure, or rather, it is inevitable that something I don’t necessarily like someone else will positively love. I’ll just have to pay more attention to which ones I like and why.

What’s in store:
I’m currently working on book 3 of my Shadow Quest series, and there is another book in the works that will be a spin-off series. I’ve decided that the spin-off series will be in e-format only—at least until enough people complain—so I might just stick with what I’ve already created for Shadow Quest and then play around with sexy covers with my next series and see how it goes.

As my list of books read gets longer, I find I’m getting pickier with the new books that I buy. I want specific story lines and the right kind of hero and heroine. I want smart and sassy, wicked and wild, and a little bit of sickeningly sweet. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to find a story I can lose myself in. So anyway, I decided to compile a list of things I look for in a romance.

1. Cover Art
I know it shouldn’t affect my decision, but it does. If the cover looks bad to me, it makes me wonder if the story is bad too. Cover art also influences the way I picture the lead characters. Too many books show blonds on the cover, when the heroine is actually brunet, or vice versa. So as I read, my mind wars with the descriptions.

 2. Interesting Story Line
Some story lines are getting old for me. Cop and detective stories, for one. They do nothing for me these days.

 3. Must Be a Series
I look for books that are in a series, because I love to get totally dragged into the lives of all the characters. And if an author can make me eager for the next character’s love story, that’s the best.

 4. Removed From Reality
I have no interest in stories that are based on something that can happen in real life. This sort of goes back to the cop/detective thing. I don’t want to read a long story about chasing an insane killer while two partners fall for each other. Blech. I guess that means no thank you to murder mysteries.

 5. Alpha Male
I need a hot alpha male with attitude, a slight sense of honor, and a wicked dark side. Oh yeah, pack me up some of that to go.

 6. Great Female Lead
I also need a smart witty female who can challenge the hero and drive him a little nuts at the same time. Females are probably the most difficult to write. Their emotions are much more complex and convoluted than any guy. You may say, “but my guy has really deep thoughts.” No he doesn’t. He thinks about food, sex, work, and sleep. Not always in that order. Any deep thoughts he comes up with are derived from the desire to get one of those four thing accomplished.

 7. That Brings Me to Sex
Don’t stiff me on the sex! I hate when the sexual tension gets built up to a fever pitch, only to receive one mild sex scene before the end of the book. This happens mostly in older books. These days, authors are getting a little bolder when it comes to sexing up their characters. However, I don’t want sex scenes at the cost of story line. Ha! Just try to please me, I dare you. LOL.

So anyway, that’s my long list of requirements. As you can guess, I don’t always find what I’m looking for, but the hunt is fun nonetheless.