Money for Nothing...

Everyone is in the same boat. I know. How can I tell? Well, first off, it's really crowded in here. And we're about to start eating each other. Heh. What I mean is that everyone I know is in the same financial boat. But I have to tell you—well, I don't even know how to tell you. See, a few years ago, Pretty Things Press was doing awesome. (Or, as Charlotte Stein would say, "orsom.") We had $40,000 in sales with one big online bookstore. In a year. After discount. At the time, though, there were only about 700 titles listed in the store's erotic section. No joke. And ours were nearly always at the top. Then the romance community added the word "erotic" to their titles. And suddenly—well, there are currently 29,555 books listed in the erotic section.

There are also all sorts of deals that happen in the wonderful world business. When you're a big player, you can name your terms. Often, the large publishers have deeply discounted titles online, while PTP titles will only have a 2% discount. We do not set these terms. I'd love to give our customers a deep discount. But we don't have any say. The store decides what your book will sell for. Cover price. 2% off. 35% off. Their choice.

I never thought we'd be a player in the brick-and-mortar bookstores—because we can't compete with the big boys for shelf space. But I did feel pretty smug about our online sales for a little while.

Last year, we did $17,000 of business with this online seller.
This year, we have done $5,000.

Ouch.

But I've actually not worried about this at all in 09, because I was worried about Sam's health instead. And now that he has his health back, I'm still not worried because worrying won't do anything for you. (Except make you eat your boat mates.) I just thought I'd put it out there—let you know where we stand (or sink). Let you know why I am decorating* my blog with PDFs and Kindles at bite-sized prices. Because I know that everyone's in the same boat. But I also know that every little bit helps. I'll stop gnawing on Sommer now.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. *Do you all like The Unforgiven? I cannot use the word "decorate," without thinking of this marvelous scene:

Little Bill Daggett: Well, sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch! You just shot an unarmed man!
Will Munny: Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend.

Fuck you

I mean, "Fuck" for you! If you win Metal Taboo's latest contest, that is. Enter here.

You want to hear something super cool? One of my readers (I'm so possessive!), won last month's contest! No joke! So you know how you say to yourself, I won't enter, because nobody I know ever wins anything...? Well, scratch that negative thought out of your head! Because Lindsay won the "Rock Star" bracelet!!

I'm so totally thrilled for her! (Can you tell? I have clearly lost my ability to edit out my !!s)

XXX,
Alison

Get Naked...

Several writers have asked me for my guidelines for the Naked, Too collection. Here they are. The only difference is that the deadline has changed. I am open to accepting stories for the next few weeks. If you get me a piece by December 15th, I will consider the story for the manuscript. I tend to wait until all stories are in before I send out acceptances/rejections. With this extended deadline, it will probably be mid-January before I send out the yays and nays.

For the record (and because I keep getting asked): I have to say that this is *not* the same Naked book that Rachel Kramer Bussel is editing. She is putting together a book of Naked Erotica for Women for Cleis Press. I am not putting books together for Cleis Press any longer. So if you subbed to her Naked book, you did *not* sub to mine. Also, my collection is not just for women or by women—I am thrilled to have both male and female writers in the line-up.

Any questions, please drop me a note at msalisontyler at yahoo dot com.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Delightful decal is available here.

Gidgets and Gazmos

Jo wrote and asked:

Is there any chance you remember your post about your friend telling you the story of how she came out of the shower and her boyfriend put her over his lap and inspected and fingered her ass? It was gorgeous, v evocative, but blogger search is pants, I'd never find it.

I wanted to send it to someone for inspiration.

The link is here. The story is from Bondage on a Budget, which contains 69 short stories plus little tips for incorporating the gidgets and gazmos into your own sex life. (Honest to god, I just wrote gidgets and gazmos and could not figure out why that looked odd. Now, that I know, I am still going to leave as is. Because, hell, that's pretty fucking cute. Don't you think?)

What's funny is that I only now realized I've been writing stories plus sex tips for 15 years. (Bondage on a Budget was originally published by Masquerade books.) I did a version of this type of story/how-to for Laura Corn last year, and I had a pitch out with Shanna to Quiver that was similar. (They wanted the book, but we could not sign the writer-unfriendly contract.) But Bondage on a Budget (pitched as DIY, when it really should be in the anthology section), was my first to incorporate fiction and how to. It's one of the manuscripts I'm trying to get up as a Kindle/PDF. Even though it has 69 stories (and I *love* 69 stories) I thought when I do the e-version, I might add a few new ones, as well. You know, as a little bonus.

Okay. Back to coffee.
Clearly, I need it before I try to start up any of my gidgets. Or gazmos.

XXX,
Alison

"fantastically filthy"

Dirty, my sequel to Obsessed, just won a rave review from Chicago Girl:

Ohhh!! Who knew getting clean could be so Dirty! Brandon and Janie are my two new favorite people - oh and Daniel and Parker too, make that four new favorite people. AT - you have been one of my faves for a while now. DIRTY is fantastically filthy, a new snippet in what looks to be a sweetly satisfying saga. Thanks again for turning me on and making me wet!
—Chicago Girl

Ta very much, Chicago Girl! You made my day!

XXX,
Alison

I'm not ignoring you...

This is a quick note to Tessa to say, "I'm not ignoring you! My email to you keeps bouncing back!"

XXX,
Alison

Second Life

I'm not very virtual. I don't play a lot of games. I don't understand avatars. And I have no Second Life alter ego. I believe my interest in video games expired at Centipede. However, I find the concepts interesting, and I loved the interview with Eloise Pasteur on Lust Bites. You know me. I always want to know more about what other people are doing in their private time.

So I was damn thrilled to get this request early this week:

I am a storyteller/reader in the virtual world of Second Life, and I would like permission to read stories from some of your books aloud at a gathering of adults in that virtual world. The proposal would be to read one hour of stories per month, giving all credit before and after each story to the author, mentioning which book it is in, and encouraging folks to purchase their own copy. The chances of everyone getting to all of those readings is slim to none.

I already own Down and Dirty, Naughty Stories from A-Z, Lipstick on her Collar, Naughty Spanking Stories from A-Z and Juicy Erotica; so if i read just 1 or 2 from each book every month, we'd never get through any one whole book, and folks would need to buy all of them in order to enjoy them at home. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I'd love to do all 'food related' stories, so I especially would like permission to do stories from Juicy Erotica. (Oh I notice Bondage on a Budget, my crowd would totally enjoy that one too.)

I think these are fabulously fun books, and that my audience will like them.

How cool is that? The storyteller promised to send me a more detailed write-up to post shortly. But I wanted to give a heads-up to any other avatars out there. I'm totally fine with people reading my stories in Second Life. I need to get permission for other authors for theirs, but I have no problem doing this. I think most authors would be open to the concept. Am I right?

XXX,
Alison

Mono Blue and other Hues

When I worked at a beauty supply in junior high and high school, we sold Brucci nail polish. Mono Blue was my fave. I remember the brand cost $3.00 a bottle, and this was back when minimum wage was about $3.50 an hour. Brucci's hard to come by now. No idea why. The image above is from a store in South Africa, I think.

I have to admit, when other girls lined up their Barbies, I had a nail polish collection. I owned (*cough, cough*) over 100 bottles. I am this weird shade of girly-girl who has never used make-up to enhance or blend, but always to draw attention and stand out. Do you know what I mean? Glittery eye shadows. Glossy scarlet lipsticks. And yeah. Bright blue nail polish.

Now, I keep my polishes in a cool little round suitcase. But I have to tell you—there is still not a wallflower hue in the mix. My (much smaller) collection features turquoise and ruby and emerald, and the colors make me just as happy now as they did back then. Jo's right. I've never grown up.

XXX,
Alison

Are you dirty?

No? Then you should get Dirty, my new sequel to Obsessed. Yes, I am starting a new series, which I'm loosely calling my "Definition Series." Same characters. Same sizzle. New situation. Of course, if you answered, "Yes, I am dirty," you should *still* get Dirty! The Kindle will be up in about five days, but the PDF is rock-hard and ready right now!

XXX,
Alison

Rated R

Oh, my god. I love this shirt. I mean, I need this shirt. Want. Crave. Desire. Lust after...

Do you want to hear something funny? You know how obsessed I am with the Alphabet. Yes? Well, I just remembered this morning that there was a picture on our wall when I was little. It was an Alphabet story about an apple pie. A asked for it. B baked it. C craved it. D desired it.... Z said, "Zounds, let's eat it up!" (I'm riffing here. I can't remember the exact phrases.) The words were written on a giant apple pie, or a giant apple. I have to ask my mom. I'm wondering if that started my forever-obsession with A is for... and so on!

XXX,
Alison

Bittersweet

Okay, so it's true. I *do* find the best things on ETSY. I didn't even write the hot new story Bittersweet that's up for sale on eXcessica. But I still crave this drop-dead gorgeous bracelet!

Here's a snip of the rave review from seriously reviewed: OMG!! Excuse me while I try and catch my breath. *pant* Okay. *gulp* I think I can type now :) SO, a total page turner that will keep you riveted and captivated from beginning to bittersweet end leaving you sad that it's over. I felt the emotion all the way through this novella. Every tummy swoop, every pain filled smack, every big "O" WOW!!!!

Way to go, Sommer!

XXX,
Alison

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

I thought it was adorable that on her birthday, some randy reader hit my blog with the search string erotica excerpt fuck horny kramer bussel! Many happy returns, RKB!

XXX,
Alison

I turned her key...

I love keys. I have always loved keys. I wore a skate key on a shoelace around my neck—even though I never had skates that used keys.

This week, I am editing (and re-editing), visiting (and re-visiting), a selection of short stories I wrote more than 15 years ago. And I see the little gadgets and gizmos that I like to use—words and phrases and items and issues—but the one that hits me over and over is the image of a key. Like here, from "Miss You," which ends the book:

But now I’m alone in our bed, and I think that every small sound is her key in the lock, and my body readies itself for her—as if it has nothing to do with my brain—it readies itself and my hips shift so slightly and my heart beats so fast, and if she were to walk in and tear down the sheet she could fill me and turn, turn, and open, and then it would end.

But she’s gone.

And I don’t think she’s coming back.

I can remember writing this. I can remember who I was thinking about when I wrote the words. I have chased this lover through story after story. The ending is always the same.

XXX,
Alison

Bondage on a Budget... literally

Right now, you can buy Bondage on a Budget for just a little over $8 bucks. That is more than 45% off the cover price. What a bargain—for any budget!

Here are a few shiny quotes about the book:

"A very playful and sensual read...a great sexy romp." -- Playtime Magazine, March 2003

69 delightful vignettes... -- Gary Meyer, Clean Sheets, 10/02/02

A clever collection of 69 erotic short stories. -- Carolyn Vakesh, The SandMUtopian Guardian #31

After these sultry chapters, you'll never look at a quarter the same way again! -- Playgirl Magazine, January 2003

Here is a book that will kick down roadblocks and start you off right. Destined to be a classic. -- Heather L. Seggel, EIDOS, V10, Issue #38

XXX,
Alison

"loaded with sexual tension"

Got a Minute?: Sixty Second Erotica just got another ace review!

Just a minute!

This is how I like my erotica--short and to the point, loaded with sexual tension and spice. And this is what I got with Sixy Second Erotica. It was filled with all sorts of goodies and was a real pleasure to read. I would love to read more like this and will be on the outlook for more like this, that's for sure.

Thanks so much! I love when people find what they're looking for in books I've puzzled together.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Sexy clock features Debbie Harry licking an album.

Pet my...

...rock! I was looking for a Pet Rock for Shanna, who dropped a casual mention in her blog today. Apparently, Pet Rocks no longer exist in captivity. But these ones do! And they cracked me up!

XXX,
Alison

Get Spanked!

As I've been getting quite a few hits lately from The Spanking Universe—hello, fellow spank-os!—I thought I'd plug my two mini-spanking stories: Sass and Casual Spank Day. Both are available as PDFs or on Kindle for .99 cents and $1.49 respectively. If you read and like them—please drop me a note at msalisontyler at yahoo dot com to let me know. (That would count as a good deed. I swear!) I'm currently working on a brand-new story. The piece is almost done. I'm right at that iffy spot. That, "Come on, accept the fact that you're finished" place. Do you know the feeling? Wish me luck!

XXX,
Alison

No Good Deed

Have you thought of any good deeds to do today? I dropped off three bags of clothes at Good Will. (So, um, does that equal 3 x 10,000,000 bags? Heh.) And then I looked for "good deeds" + "sexy" on ETSY and came up empty. Apparently, you can have "good deeds" or "good sex," but not both. And *then* I found this awesome print from Bright Design. And then I lost my train of thought.

Oh, I found out last week that my story, No Good Deed, is going to appear in RKB's new collection, Please, Sir. Back after I've figured out another good deed, or two (x 10 million).

XXX,
Alison

Ravishing...

Sommer Marsden's first Ellora's Cave title Corporeal just won a 9/9 review, which included this fabulous line: "I feel like I’ve spent an hour in bed, being totally ravished by the words on the page."

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Ravishing card is available here.

"Spitters are Quitters"

In response to this comment: "One does wonder with all the complaining one hears these days about the politics of sucking cock and particularly swallowing cum, that it is so prominent and detailed a feature of these stories" found here, Confidant sent me a snapshot of a very hunky man in this t-shirt. I don't know if I was meant to post the picture—so I found the fabulous t-shirt minus the uber-hot man.

Ta very much, Big C!

XXX,
Alison

10 Million reasons to be positive.

One of my very best friends is a practicing Buddhist. (Is anyone ever a lapsed Buddhist?) And she wanted me to pass on the news that today is the Buddhist holiday, Lhabab Duchen, "which commemorates the Buddha's descent from the deva (heavenly or angelic) realm after teaching his deceased mother, Mahamaya. Lhabab Duchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month each year."

On this day, the effects of positive and negative actions are multiplied by 10 million times.

All righty, then. What positive actions are you going to do today?

XXX,
Alison

"Deviantly Written"

Here's a fab 5-star review for K is for Kinky!

5.0 out of 5 stars Deviantly written
By ihavehissyfits

I loved several of the stories in this series. As with all of the books I have read in the "Alphabet Series" so far you have your good and bad stories. This book however I felt had nothing but the best collection of stories by far. Many of the stories were right in line with being kinky, some with a humorous twist and one told as a kitty in a kennel (one of my favorites). Excellent stories from all writers.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Hey, Sommer—don't be scared of this necklace!

Are you a rock star?

Tomorrow's the last day to enter the drawing for this fabulouso bracelet from Metal Taboo! What are you waiting for? Go enter!

XXX,
Alison

"Unnecessarily Explicit"

Want one? The fabulous Buttonhead is making me 25 to give away! (They will be tiny 1-inch buttons—not the huge image staring you in the face right now!) Are you "unnecessarily explicit"? Then you definitely need one of these to pin to your lapel!

Drop me a note at msalisontyler at yahoo dot com with your snail-mail address, and I will pop a button in the post for you tout de suite!

XXX,
Alison

Blue Sky Sideways

I am an avid rewriter. Many of my stories have 12 or more versions. I tend to block in the framework and build from there. My word of choice is "layering." However, once a house—I mean, a story—is done, I rarely visit. Generally, I'm consumed by the next structure. Which is why I've been loathe to excavate my old files. I'd always rather start something new than blow the dust off the old.

Yet I've received a handful of requests for older titles. What I'm calling "Vintage Alison Tyler." See, way back in the 90s, I penned a slew of titles for Masquerade Books:

The Blue Rose
The Virgin
Dial "L" for Loveless
Dark Room
Venus Online
The Silver Key
Bondage on a Budget
Girls on the Go, ed.
Batteries Not Included, ed.
Blue Sky Sideways

Now, I'm working to add the books to my Kindle/PDF list. But this means (for the most part), revisiting. And honestly, I'm a little scared. Then I found this mini-review of Blue Sky Sideways this morning:

Get this book! It messes with your head in the most pleasant of ways.

And I've decided to pull out the dust rag and see what I find. This was my first single-author collection. An honor for a writer as green as I was when the book first came out. I'll let you know when the collection goes live!

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Gorgeous choker is called currency and is from Smashing.

"hot and smoking fucking"

As I mentioned yesterday, this month's issue of "Erotica Revealed" features reviews of two books I edited for Cleis Press. Playing with Fire won a two-thumbs up from Steven Hart, who says:

The balance of the stories are clit-stroking, cum-choking, hot and smoking fucking with an inordinate amount of cock sucking. One does wonder with all the complaining one hears these days about the politics of sucking cock and particularly swallowing cum, that it is so prominent and detailed a feature of these stories. Nonetheless, all that suction does make for lively reading even if the outcome is always the same. That’s all perfectly fine, making Playing with Fire both steamy and fiery, as promised

I have to say, this may be my favorite pull-quote of all time: clit-stroking, cum-choking, hot and smoking fucking!

As to the other—I was unaware of anti-cock-sucking politics. Isn't that funny? Are people against that these days? And by people, I'd have to guess women, because I haven't ever heard of a man who was anti-cock-sucking or cum-swallowing. (At least, as it applied to him.) All I know is that when Sommer Marsden created her fabulously sexy Blow Hard Tour, there was a line nearly out the door of writers who wanted to be a part of the lick. I mean, list!

XXX,
Alison

"explore the darker side of BDSM"

Thanks to Shanna Germain for sending me the link to Erotica Revealed. I had somehow missed the new reviews this month. Pleasure Bound received two thumbs up from Lisabet Sarai, who said:

One of the things that I appreciate about Alison Tyler's anthologies is her willingness to explore the darker side of BDSM. Some stories in this volume—Sophia Valenti’s “On the Mend,” Tess Danesi's “Tears of All Kinds,” Stephen Elliott's “Once More Beneath the Exit Sign”—dwell more on the sadism component in the acronym. I don't necessarily prefer stories of really rough sex myself, but I know that they're part of the power spectrum and I applaud Ms. Tyler's discernment in including them in her books.

I am not talking about a lack of consent here. Mercy isn't in Marc's vocabulary—and for that I'm thankful begins Ms. Valenti's story. That sums it up. Some people crave a level of pain beyond what I'd seek. For some, real fear is truly arousing. Ms. Tyler recognizes this, unlike some editors who shy away from the darkness and treat BDSM as a kind of game.

Pleasure Bound is another exceptional collection of BDSM fiction--or is it fact?—from a daring and sensitive editor who clearly understands her topic from personal experience.

Read the whole thing here.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Naughty Necklace is available here.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Hey, check it out! Jason Frost is an Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer!

Well after years of working, reading, reviewing, and heartache I have finally reached one of my goals. As of right now I am one of Amazon's Top 1000 reviewers. My number (for today at least) is #968.

Now... I just have to keep it!! When I say that it was heartbreak at times, I meant it. It's a small thing in this world but it's MY THING!! :-) Now... on to my next book...

Way to go, man!

XXX,
Alison

Ooooh, Panties!

I've been fighting the weather this morning. Sometimes, when the wind blows, we lose our internet. So I think Fetish Friday will have to wait for Salacious Saturday. Or Sultry Sunday....

But I have a few quick posts to slam up. So stay tuned! And Wind, please hold your breath for a moment. Will ya?

XXX,
Alison

On Pins and Needles

During acupuncture tonight, I thought how odd it is that I need someone to actually stick needles in me before I can be still and quiet and in one place for any length of time. That realization cracked me the fuck up. But in a very low-key way. As I had needles in me.

XXX,
Alison (who adores this pin called Relics)