Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

I’m actually thinking of having “Queen of Smutty Sex” tattoed on my ass . . . or maybe Empress.  I loved that the title of the piece was “Guilty Pleasures” too!!  Yay, me! ROFL.

Hope the Loretta Chase book isn’t the result of the amazon kindle swindle.

As for the non-review review…wow! I mean, I suppose you could look at it as a very tongue-in-cheek sort of compliment, like, “if you don’t give a hot damn about what other people think and you just want to have a good time, here’s the book for you!” sort of thing, just gone wrong. But, yeah…ouch!

I like that, Sharon.  “For a good time, read Alyssa Day.” I can get scores of shameless romance readers to write that on bathroom walls!  hee!

Well, I’m going to go buy it—both a digital & book copy.  Does someone have a problem with that?

From her site:

“Why can’t I get your latest book for my Kindle?

... Meanwhile, my agent and publishers are working on the problem—you can send them aspirin, if you want—and I simply beg you to be patient. ...

When will your out-of-print books be available as EBooks?

2011, very likely. We’ve begun the process of converting the older books to digital format. “

My guess is this is legit and through her publisher. I have bought it and it seems okay on the inside, though that still doesn’t prove anything.

I will gladly be flaunting my copy of Alyssa’s book in public!  Her books freaking rock.  I am counting down the days until I can go buy my copy.

Not only have I bought everyone of Alyssa’s books I have pre-ordered Vampires in Atlantis. I also work in a bookstore and proudly display her books are my staff recs!

The author of that article sounds like a closet romancer. You know, the ones that don’t ever want to admit they read it and publicly laugh at those of us who don’t care if we’re walking around with a cover full of man titty.

Honestly, I love doing that just for people’s reactions. The quickest way to get people to leave me alone when I’m on house manager duty is to tell them I’m reading/writing romance. They give me the “oh, that’s nice” treatment and quickly wander off to some other part of the building.

Never mind that there’s usually some element of romance in the plays they’re putting on. /rolls eyes

Whoever wrote that review sounds like a cold shrew. I love all those genres in one! ;) Not to mention, woman who read romance novels are proven to have better sex lives. ‘nuf said. :)

To make the review worse:

You seem like the kind of person who might enjoy this kind of thing.

Or…

It’s a beach-read (something you won’t mind dropping in the ocean if a rogue wave comes?)

Oh dear, the first name that came to mind for NYLA is, unfortunately, New York Literary Agency, a notorious scam agency run by Robert Fletcher and a team of hand-picked sock-puppets.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=729

I hope it’s not the same. I’d heard that Fletcher was branching out into publishing, but with a different company name, so as not to make it obvious that he was selling his clients to himself.

How about this little gem:

“If you’re not so desperate as to resort to reading a trashy vampire romance novel…”

Nice.

Wow, that recommendation is bitchy and NOT in a good way.

I actually clicked with that review.  I’ve never read Alyssa Day but, apart from the last sentence, that would probably be something I’d write to recommend JD Ward.  I mean, her books are ridiculous but they’re BLOODY FUN ;-)!  [Or they were.]

The only way that review is insulting is if Alyssa Day was attempting to write a serious anstsy issue-filled romance with philosophical musings on the meaning of life, love and mortality.  Which I’m seriously hoping she wasn’t as smutty sex, bloodsuckers and vanishing cities sound like a whole lot more fun…

CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT is one of my favourite books so I’m hoping that she’s self-published it.  Dying to get an ebook version of it.

Not sure how I felt about the idea of Atlantis-inhabiting vampires before this moment, but now I’m not only going to buy the book, but I’m going to read it and wave it around in public, goddammit.  In airports, on trains, on benches in public parks…  Because I AM “so desperate.”  Ugh.

Tell44: Tell 44 people you’re reading this book.  No, really.

I think literary taste would be the amongst the worst places to feel “shame.”  However, professional judgment would be amongst the best.

Perhaps Ms. Dempsey should think about that—

Well, I’ll eventually read the book, I guess because I’ll be that desperate.  But I have to get through the rest of the others first!  This is my kind of story.  I wonder what that says about me?

Kudos to Alyssa on her awesome response to something that was completely inappropriate! I only wish I had that presence of mind and sense of humor. I have no problem proudly reading Vampires in Atlantis in public. I actually feel bad for Allison Dempsey. What must her life be like in that stuffy, narrow closet?

I’ve never read Alyssa Day but now I’m planning to!  :)

Also, I’m very much tempted by the Loretta Chase book.  I love Lord of Scoundrels so much that the thought of a book featuring a character that was in LoS is enough to make me want to get it!  And in e-format!

Re the Kobo Reader—I have a wireless Kobo eReader which is languishing from neglect partly because 1) I couldn’t find a way to organize collections and 2) I’ve had difficulty with some books (even purchased from the Kobo store) that have teeny-tiny font, even when I set it to largest, plus wide, wide margins for some books.  Arrgh! I’m frustrated by the lack of consistency in font size, margins and line spacing from book to book. This is why my Kobo ranks a solid and far #3 behind Kindle and Sony.  (Anyone know a good site that gives practical help for Kobo?  Neither the manual nor contacting customer service has helped me at all.).  Sarah, I’ll definitely look forward to hearing your thoughts about the new version if you’re able to play with one at BEA.

Oh, Captives of the Night. I love that book the most. I’ve enjoyed quite a few romances, but I really clicked with the characters in that one, and it’s a favourite re-read on lazy days. No idea about self publishing, but I once found a PDF of the book on Pirate Bay, so I had assumed it was already digital. I guess not.

On which note, I have a kindle and it suits me just fine, but I can’t have PDFs on it at all. The font is so tiny and impossible, and if I try to make it bigger then I have the aggravating task of scrolling side to side to read a full line because of the stupidly huge margins. It’s aggravating.

I sent Loretta Chase an email to query whether the book is being sold legitimately. I want to buy it, but I really don’t want to support anyone stealing from authors.

I saw today that Amazon now sells 105 ebooks for every 100 traditional books. This doesn’t include the free ebooks.

It is hypocritical that a site that DRM’s its books won’t act quickly to block third-party sellers/thieves.

I’d love to download that Chase book because i haven’t read it, but I really really don’t want to buy a pirated book. Hmmm.

Kudos to Alyssa Day for handling that “recommendation” with such humor and grace. In that situation, I suspect my Southern friends would make some very pointed comments about Ms. Dempsey, followed by “bless her heart.” Never fails to crack me up.

I love you all.  Thanks for the lovely comments, too.  I am not insulted at all - I consider it a win to have someone who clearly is either not a romance reader or ambivalent about it recommend me as a Guilty Pleasure.  Like chocolate and shoe shopping . . .  :)

Peggy, MobileRead has a Kobo forum. They’re a great site if you want to type an issue into the search box and wade through some posts. There are some super-smart people there and I don’t think there’s a digital problem somebody hasn’t asked about there. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=223

I’ve had my finger on the pre-order for the Kobo Touch twice today, but I can’t find out if I can turn off the “Reading Life” function. I can’t on the Kobo app on my Droid X and I don’t want trophies and reading timers and social media all up in my book. I just want to read.

But the lilac…so pretty.

Re Alyssa Day, military spouses have a unique talent of being able to multi-task.  No doubt her stories are thrilling as they reflect what she has accomplished by moving every 2, 3, and 4 years, sometimes without the flyboy to help.
 
Historical Romance?  Must represent the surly staff at the base hospital who cannot possibly find an appointment in this century for the families’ physical exams required before orders can be cut (which are necessary to make any moving appointment). 

Smutty sex scenes?  Must have overheard through the thin walls at base billeting after vacating house (or before moving into new house).

Bloodsucking creatures?  Must be the privatized housing company for levying fees for “every day wear and tear” to poorly constructed structure.

Disappearing city?  Probably reprsent her favorite DVD collection that the movers were eyeing during packing. 

I will camp out at the book store to buy this book on June 7!

Alyssa, I consider this an unqualified recommendation and will go browse your back list ASAP. But the preview is rather obnoxious, this especially:

If you’re not so desperate as to resort to reading a trashy vampire romance novel: “Happy Birthday” by Danielle Steel.

Steel is known for her myriad romances with great potential to be adapted into Lifetime Original Movies. Fact: She has sold more books than any other living author. You should probably help her maintain this extremely honorable title by delving into her latest, a tale of class, wealth and romance among the New York City elite.

1. Quality-wise, Alyssa Day

2. Danielle Steele does not write romance novels.

Oh well.

“Captives of the Night” is definitely NOT a self-published work - it’s the second book in the series that starts with “The Lion’s Daughter” and is followed by “Lord of Scoundrels” and “The Last Hellion,” but chronologically “Captives of the Night” follows “The Last Hellion.”

It’s the story of Leila Beaumont, wife of the disgusting, evil Francis Beaumont, and the Comte D’Esmond (who Beaumont lusts after).

You may be more familiar with it in it’s paperback format.

I’ll proudly flaunt my copy of Alyssa’s book on my vacation. But tha review was just amazing. You almost have to embrace it and beat the sanctimonious little twit at her own game.

@Elr:

I’m pretty sure Sarah was referring to the fact that some authors have recently begun self-publishing their previously published books in digital format, once the rights have reverted back to them from the publisher.

My concern was that this was one of those pirated books that have also been showing up with increasing frequency on Amazon.

I’m still waiting to see if anyone has more info on that.

Never heard of Alyssa Day before, but am going to check out those books of hers now. Especially if they are what JR Wards books used to be. I want to be entertained.

If the Chase book is pirated, it shows how naive I am. Didn’t occur to me that someone would do that, especially since she says on her website that she’s re-publishing all of her older books in e-format. If it’s pirated, I’m, I’ll be requesting a refund from Amazon and ask them to try verifying the legal owner of their ebooks.

Well, considering the sheer volume of romance sales, I sincerely doubt any public judging of my reading material would fall to the negative. Honestly, I get more - “I"ve never read her before, is she good?” than eye rolls. And really, who wants to read “The Road” at the beach?

Why can’t we all just get along? When will these literary snobs finally realize that they are the minority, not the majority? I can’t stand that snarky shit! And just because I read trashy romance novels doesn’t mean I’m some “tasteless” idiot who’s afraid of being “judged” for her book choices. Truthfully, most of that literary crap puts me to sleep. Give me a good ‘ol bodice ripper any day of the week and I’ll stay up past good sense to read it.

Here’s to Ms. Day and her smutty, historical, bloodsucking romance. Keep ‘em coming, sista, and know that the bitchery supports you 100%. In fact I think we should all have t-shirts made that proudly declare “I read trashy romance and if you don’t like it, you can suck it!” Ha!

Well, I think the Bitchery should definitely award Alyssa Day a title.  “Queen of Smutty Sex” is good but maybe “Duchess of Good Sport”.  She’s certainly taking this review well.

Oh, & for the tattoo? Empress, definitely Empress.

spamword: learned74 - I’ve learned more than 74 valuable things reading smutty historical vampires living in a mythical location novels.

I once had a guest in my home tell me “for someone who seems pretty intelligent, you’ve sure had a lot of blue collar jobs” and that remains the most insults per shortest sentence I’ve ever been handed.  I think I’d have to track that girl down to find out if it’s possible to condense the review and throw in a few more taunts, my own gift for being obnoxious having been (amazingly) surpassed.  That review took my breath away with its rudeness, and then again with anticipation.

I can’t wait to read Vampires in Atlantis!  Love the series, and just have to laugh at that ridiculous reviews.  Go Alyssa!  Not just the Queen of Smutty Sex—also the the Queen of Wonderful Stories :)

Do you think Allison Dempsey knows she’s being judged in public RIGHT NOW?  I judge her to pitifully ashamed of having fun or believing that reading romance is a kind of ‘bad fun’.  NO! Bad fun is dwarf tossing. Bad fun is shoving puppies down stairs.  Genre fiction is NOT BAD FUN.  Dempsey can shove it while I read my zombie detective, or magician detective, or vampire detective, or cowboy detective books.  OR MY SMUTTY SMUTTY ROMANTIC SMUT! Smutacular Smutapalooza Summer of Smut.

About Allison Dempsey’s review: she COULD say a person could read this book if she doesn’t have anything better to do.  OR…people could question a reader’s intelligence if they see her read this book.

I love reading various paranormal fiction, but I haven’t read any Alyssa Day books yet.  I’ll have to check out the first book in her series.

Hey - I emailed Loretta Chase and she confirmed that the CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT ebook on Kindle is legit.

Now, I just need to find out if I can get an epub version…

And I want to be the Queen of Smutty Sex.

From Ms. Chase’s response

Yes, we’ve been in an ongoing battle with the illegal downloads—it makes me crazy, and it’s extremely difficult and time-consuming to make the sites take these down!

BUT, I’m happy to report that the Kindle version of Captives is the first release in the process of an ongoing digitization of my back list—and yes, I’ve authorized it, and I get compensated.  NYLA is my agent.  Yes, sorry about the cover art, but they had to find public domain material, and I didn’t want to drag the process out by micromanaging the design.  Completely legit—and more to come!  I have been meaning to post a blog to this effect, but the last two weeks have been very hectic, so please feel free to pass the word.

Thank you again for taking the time to make sure this wasn’t a rip-off.

Very best wishes,

Loretta

I had never heard of Alyssa Day but I definitely have to read this now.

It doesn’t seem like a good sign that Amazon has messed up the title of the Kindle edition though.  I might have to go the print route.

I’m trying to think of something gracious to say in response to that book recommendation, but I’m overwhelmed by the urge to to hunt Allison Dempsey down so I can personally tell her to go piss up a rope. I happen to enjoy “ridiculous genres.” And if I’m ever asked to defend my “self-indulgent” reading choices or judged for toting them around in public, well, all I can say is that I pity the fool.

Alyssa, I hope you sell a boatload of books, and that you laugh all the way to the bank.

And on that note, I’m off to check this title out on Amazon…

CD—I’m glad to hear that CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT is a legit
E-book.  I would HATE to give my money to PIRATES.  Which is the reading order of this series?

I’ve learned more from romance novels, especially well written historicals, than I have from most “good literature”. and I have an English degree!

Thanks so much for coming back to post about the Chase e-book, CD and Hen! Much appreciated.

Off to Amazon.

Can I put in a vote for the Empress of Smutte Sexe-Coven and Gothe for Alyssa Day’s honorary Bitch title? (It needs to be an empire rather than a duchy, definitely, and if the Coven title doesn’t apply at present, I’m sure she could work some witches in in future books. LOL)

Whew! Glad I can go ahead and read Captives of the Night without guilt. Now to decide if I re-read the other related books first, especially when I’m in the middle of two other books and a boatload of work this week.

Eh, I’m kind of bummed now. As soon as I saw the paperback cover of Captives on Amazon I realized I’d not only read it but had the paperback on my shelves. Can’t decide whether to buy it anyway. Hmmm.

My memory for book cover art is so much better than my memory for titles, it’s not even funny. You’d think i was an artist or something. LOL

Oh, well. On the upside, now I know I can re-read the entire series. After I finish Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. I’m so glad Estep did that post on Scalzi’s blog. I’m halfway through the second book and really enjoying them, if anyone is looking for some urban fantasy.

@megalith re. cover art—When authors get the rights to their older books reverted, they don’t get to use the publishing house’s covers. So expect to see more books that you’ve possibly read before, but with different covers, as authors get their backlists digitized.

And go Alyssa go! I will eat chocolate AND wear new shoes while reading your latest.  Not-so-guilty pleasures, I haz them.  :)

Actually Allison Dempsey makes Vampires in Atlantis sound like it might be campy fun.  And no, I don’t want to sit around in public and read books with covers with half naked men (or women) on them.  Don’t care if it’s romance, mystery or sf. 

I participated this month in a Harlequin survey about ebook purchases, where one of the questions asked was about the advantage of not having the covers available to the public.  For me that is indeed a plus.

I read the link about the Kindle swindle.  I am thankful that someone finally appeared who knew where the resources were that the afflicted authors needed.  There was a lot of misinformation being tossed around at first.

Honestly, a DMCA take down notice (Cease & Desist)  is not difficult.  http://www.chillingeffects.org/  has a database of take down notices which can be searched as well as providing good information about how to protect your rights as well as defend yourself from phony take down notices—which do happen.  I think if I were going to law school now IP law would be one of my main areas of focus. 

spam word:  also89—not yet, but give me a few more years.

Alyssa Day rocks.
Now, where can I get me some of that publicity :-D

So, where does one get Captives of the Night as an ebook if one has a something other than a kindle?

Thank you, Shannon!  The forum looks amazing—-Hopefully I’ll find answers that will allow me to dust off my Kobo! 

And thanks for the folks who checked with Loretta Chase re her book.  I started an email to her to ask about this and then ended up not sending for some reason.  Off to buy now!

(This site and the people in its community rocks!!)

I was very excited to see Kobo was unveiling a new eReader.  As an electronics impulse junkie…when I see something shiny I have to have it…it doesn’t matter if I know what to do with it or not…but I’ve been pretty restrained over the last year or so and haven’t had a lot of rash impulse buys…no Nook Color…no iPad.  So, I was tempted to pre-order the new Kobo, but then B&N came out with one eerily similar…except for the longer battery life (supposedly up to 2 months).  It’s $10 more @ $139, but I didn’t care, I already have a Nook and I could just transfer my library over to the new device, so I pre-ordered me a new Nook simple touch eReader with an e-ink screen.

But I love that we have all these choices!

And concerning the review…I have no shame in my literary tastes, I proudly admit it…but last week, B&N had the novella “The Princess and the Penis” for free on their website and I couldn’t resist.  The title alone makes “Vampires in Atlantis” look like a trip to seaworld!  So, I’m kind of glad it’s on my nook!

:o)

My first thought was that NYLA = Nancy Yost Literary Agency, and I was correct. My second thought is to wonder why published authors digitizing their backlists give the ebooks covers ranging from ugly to boring, when there are plenty of cover artists on the market. Some of the top artists like Frauke of Croco Designs or Anne Cain may be expensive and/or backlogged, but there are others like Dara England or Kimberley of Hot Damn Designs doing equally amazing and affordable work (and in the case of Hot Damn, they are also a great stock image resource).

I’m so glad to hear the Chase isn’t pirated.  And that she’s getting her back catalogue published, yay!

Would it be possible to update the main post with this info?  I almost didn’t make it through all the comments to find this info (and I would have passed up the book rather than support this form of piracy).

Ditto me on one of the people that doesn’t understand why the book needs public domain cover art (why why why?).  And that there are lots of places to make the book available online rather than JUST Amazon.

But I’m glad to hear that she’s monetizing her backlist!  One of my favorite authors. :)

SO GLAD Captives Of The Night is legit—and is hopefully the harbinger of more books from Chase’s backlist. If Sandlewood Princess is made available, I’ll be a happy, happy girl.

And to answer the question of why public domain art? Because money.

As mentioned before in the thread, the author does not have any rights to the original cover art (Those rights belongs to the publisher or the original artist, depending on the artist’s contract.) Any other art you choose to use for a cover, unless it is public domain, requires payment to its copyright holder, usually the artist. That includes drawn art, stock photography, digital art, and graphic design. Even paintings by old masters can be unavailable, because while the actual painting may have long since become public domain, the museum that houses it may have control over photographs that painting, and may be willing to slap a Cease and Desist order on anyone who uses such a photo commercially. Too risky.

So when an author goes to self-publish, she can either pay a bunch of money for new art (graphic designers and freelance illustrators like to get paid; I know cuz I am one.) or she can put together something on her own using copyright-free images and/or typography. Your results may vary, but the book is available, so that’s one in the win column!

A review like that will sell books.  :)  Go Alyssa !

@Colleen Coover:

Beautiful, original cover art created by graphic designers (like the ones I mentioned) is very affordable, and many times, you can request to keep the graphics you’ve commissioned. The only excuse for finding a free public domain photo is that Chase and her agent likely assume that cover art or stock photography is as expensive as cover art created by traditional publishers’ art departments.

@Evangeline Holland

Keeping one’s overhead as low as possible is not a bad reason to go DIY on cover art, but I agree that it is rarely a choice that will get good results. And in this case, the results surely contributed to the concern that the ebook was a bootleg.

I’ve looked closer at the design since flying over to Amazon to hit the “Buy With One-Click” button, and it does kind of make me want to scratch out my eyeballs. There are at least five design choices made in that image that a decent designer would have done differently, starting with the typography that reminds me of the days of blinged-up MySpace posts.

Hopefully COTN’s sales won’t suffer too much from being judged by its cover, and Chase’s future ebooks will be presented with a little more care for their looks.

I’m trying very hard without much result to remember the last time I worried about what people might think from seeing the cover of a book I was reading. Nope, coming up empty. I’m not ashamed to post thumbnail reviews on my Facebook page about the books I read, and I include them all from Pulitzer Prize winners to pulp fiction. Reading is reading, and I’ve learned something from every book I ever read.