REFLECTIONS ON MY 10-YEAR CAREER AS AN AUTHOR

I’ve always been a writer at heart—I wrote long before I published my first book on December 12, 2005.

There have been many highs and lows during my publishing journey.  Readers have emailed me or written reviews that assured me my words had affected them in the way I’d hoped.  A few of them have even become long-term online friends.  There are others, though, who have given a book of mine a low-rated review, stating that they didn’t enjoy it as much as some of my other works, but never took the time to post reviews for the ones they did enjoy.  For those people is obviously easier to criticize than to give praise.

I’ve never let this trouble me; I appreciate feedback, whether positive or negative.  My reading choices are diverse, and so is my writing.  I enjoy every story I’ve ever written—I’m one of those writers who first write for themselves and then hope to find others out there with similar tastes.  I don’t expect everyone to like everything I’ve written, although I write every story with the same passion and commitment.  What I hope for is for them to take a minute to read the book’s blurb to see if the story is for them before purchasing it, or downloading it for free.

Fellow writers, however, are the ones who have surprised me the most.  I’ve met some incredibly generous authors who have willingly shared their secrets of success and helped in many other ways.  But, there have been others who deliberately tried to sabotage my books because they weren’t doing as well themselves or saw me as a threat.

This is the most baffling thing of all.  As a writer I know how many tireless, lonely hours I spend at the keyboard trying to breathe life into my story ideas.  The very last thing I would ever do is shoot another writer down.

Not everyone is cut out to be a writer.  There are some people who are capable of penning masterpieces who simply lack the desire or patience to write them.  There are others who have the tenacity but lack the talent.  I don’t believe that the internet should be flooded with interior writing, but I do believe that anyone who’s made their very best effort by putting their heart and soul into a story deserves a chance for it to be read.

Due to certain constraints in my personal life, I haven’t been able to write or publish as I would have wished in the last two years.  Now that I’m able to devote more time to writing again, I’ve found that self publishing has changed beyond recognition.  It’s no longer simply a matter of writing a good book and letting readers find it organically.  To be successful, most writers now spend countless hours on social networks cultivating fans, and thousands on dollars on advertising.  There are a lucky few who built their fan bases years ago and now can afford to do less.

I’m not one for socializing on the internet.  For me, it was enough to write and price my books cheaply so that they reached as wide an audience as possible.  For years this approach worked—and more successfully than I could have ever dreamed—but now my books are no longer able to compete, especially on Amazon, due to lack of visibility.

The books I write are geared for a niche market.  I enjoyed giving readers something a little different, but as a full-time writer I have to make some tough decisions if I want to be able to support myself from my royalties.  The choice is now to continue using this pen name, but publish more commercial books, or create another which will give me that freedom.  It will be hard to abandon Lexy, she’s been so good to me, but it may be time to spread my wings and fly, taking the good memories I have of her with me.

I will make my decision on the first day of 2016 and see where it takes me.

Lastly, Coming Home for Christmas has now been updated and is available on all major online retailers.  It’s gone from a measly 12K words to 50K words in length and encapsulates the follow-up I’d planned.  And in true Lexy fashion I believe that length is important and promise that you’ll find it even more satisfying.

Please, please, post reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, iTunes or Kobo, and anywhere else you’re able, for this and any of my books.  Thank you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2016!

Lexy xxxx

HAS FIFTY SHADES RUINED EROTICA?

I like erotica to tease me, stimulate me, titillate me but never totally satisfy me.  I use it as preplay—something to get me in the mood for a night, or day, of fun and frolics.

It’s not something I want to read on the way to work or during my lunch break.

Fifty Shades of Grey is not erotica to me.  It’s romance, erotic romance at best.  But what publishers have noted is that erotic romance sells better if they are categorized as erotica.  And because they are longer works, readers can’t help themselves—in a world where ‘more is more’, they go for length.

Turned Out! was a 4000 word BBW erotica short I previously published on 27th November, 2013.  It was meant to be kinky and funny, but some readers didn’t appreciate my warped sense of humour.  4 out of 6 reviews were positive, but two readers gave the book 1-star reviews.  I could have gone with the majority vote, but after some consideration I realized that it might not be a true reflection of readers’ thoughts.  I don’t give bad reviews.  If I don’t enjoy a book, I simply think that it wasn’t written for me and leave it alone.  That got me to thinking - perhaps there are readers out there who do the same. With that in mind, I looked for ways to improve the story.  It’s now a 12000 word slightly less erotic story which I hope you will enjoy.

If, like me, you preferred the shorter, nastier version, do nothing.  For those of you who wanted more, here’s your chance—Turned Out! is available for FREE download June 24 -28, 2015.

All reviews appreciated.  Thank you.