I'm late in letting you know that the book I worked hard on all year,
Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 is now officially released in
print,
ebook and
audio, because I've been busy spreading the word on social media and posting interviews with the authors which you can read on the
Best Women's Erotica of the Year Tumblr. Since I don't have time to post here too often, you can get the latest on the series by following us
@bweoftheyear on Twitter and on
Facebook.
If you are interested in the writing process, I highly suggest checking them out. Even I am learning a lot from them! The basic buying links are at
bweoftheyear.com (and more will be added as I hear of more stores stocking it) and for more about my vision for the series and why I'm devoting pretty much everything I've got to it, read on.
About the book:
Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 gives us fierce female passion, timeless love, and lustful encounters that are guaranteed to fill you with utter delight. Edited by the award winning Rachel Kramer Bussel, these sexy stories about women on the prowl span the globe, traveling from Peru to the Bahamas and beyond in pursuit of pleasure. Learn why "Teacher Appreciation" is so special, what sex is like "At the End of the World," and explore some very explosive "Volcano Nights." These unforgettable erotic tales by the top authors in the genre as well as newcomers will arouse and thrill readers looking for a hot time between the pages.
To say that editing this series is a dream come true would be a massive understatement, so I'll just say that back when I was writing my first erotica story in 1999, I never dreamed of editing any anthologies, let alone a prestigious annual series. It's a privilege that I don't take lightly, and right now I'm getting ready for our
book tour hitting Los Angeles, Baltimore, New York and Jersey City as well as selecting stories for Volume 3. I'm thrilled that this volume has so many authors being published either for the first time or on the early side of their publishing careers, because that's truly my vision for what this series can be: both a place to showcase very sexy stories that, hopefully, readers enjoy reading for years to come, and a launching pad for authors and way of joining forces and forming a community through both live events and social media and the online presence of the series. That's a post for another time, but it's what I'm working toward as I go all out with Volume 2 promo, select stories for Volume 3 and craft the call for Volume 4. See below for how you can help shape those next books!
I'm also doing my best to give back with this series, by increasing author pay, paying authors for out of state readings, offering a free copy to all 2,000+ subscribers to my newsletter (thank you to everyone who took me up on that!), sponsoring events like the
Sex Down South conference and funding these readings and promotions so that these books have the longest life span they possibly can. I get sad when I see my books go out of print (though we'll always have ebooks, I hope), so I want these to stay on shelves far into the future. I don't know if I'm capable of making that happen, but I vow I'm trying my absolute hardest and brainstorming daily on how I can make this series better for authors and readers.
I'm thrilled that for the first time in my publishing career, one of my audiobooks was released i the same month as the print and ebook edition and that I got to work with my favorite narrator, Rose Caraway, who I think has the best voice for erotica out there. I never want to feel like I'm just doing the same thing over and over in the exact same way, so figuring out how I can improve is like a never-ending jigsaw puzzle that I keep striving to solve.
I also wanted to ask that if you've read Volume 2 (or Volume 1 for that matter) or are planning to, a hugely helpful thing for me and the series would be to leave a review on
Amazon and/or
Goodreads. It doesn't have to be long; even one sentence sharing something you liked (or didn't like), or a favorite story, not only helps the book gain visibility and therefore new readers (yes, the more reviews a book has on Amazon, the better it will sell generally), it also helps me in making my selections for future books. Right now I'm slated to edit Volumes 3 and 4 and I am hustling every day to help this series sell better than all my other books so that maybe I'll be asked to keep on editing it. I learn from and value reader input and want to include the kinds of stories that you want to read. So if there's something you've seen in the series that you liked or things you wish were in them, leave reviews on those sites and/or drop me a line at bweoftheyear at gmail.com. Ultimately, I answer to readers (and, of course, my publisher), so I want to do my best to give you the kinds of stories you most want to read. Thank you!
Labels: anthologies, anthology, Best Women's Erotica of the Year Volume 2, books, Cleis Press, happy editor, new release, Rachel Kramer Bussel
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