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July 17, 2019

Guest Post: The Writing Journey of Luke D Light

Luke D Light

My preferred pen name is Luke D Light. I’m a Bronx, NY Native. I write as a mean to express myself, come up with short stories and even bring awareness to certain topics. I write plenty of poems, some of which I incorporate into my songwriting ability, short stories with a science fiction twist. 95% of materials I’ve produced are poetry books. That is my main speciality. Even my other genre books would have a poem in it or two.

Some obstacles with writing could be finding the time or inspiration. I’ve been meaning to write a third installment in the sci fic series actually because the two books I have on the market are like crossover events/stories. Just the opportunity to be alone and draw out a detailed scenario just hasn’t presented itself, the time wasn’t right. One thing my buddy once said was that I had such a way with words that I was able to draw her deeply connected to the story. Funny how one thing lead to another, I used to have like this stick figure comic story and eventually I was working on a movie script and scenario for the origin movie to explain the background history a bit. When I was 13, I told my late uncle that I wanted to be the writer and team up with an illustrator to help create this comic book series. Which I have recently 2018-2019 worked with illustrators on panel sketches. Who knows what the future holds!

I been writing for 11 years whether it be speech bubbles on comic sketch, short stories, poems, etc.. Recently, I had an idea, I write it out. Poems bleed onto the notepad, ideas crawl their way to the notes. Might take a week or two for anything to gets published. As a self publisher, that’s the routine with Amazon Kindle. I’m more passionate about poetry and songwriting in general as opposed to the other genre yet it’s a fun escape and challenging activity and definitely interested in creating more material. For now, let me do the one thing I’ve failed before and that is promote my work. Till next time, namaste. – Luke Daniel Light (RA Light)

www.instagram.com/ralight369

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February 21, 2016

More Votes for Book Trailers

video-marketing-for-authors

As you may know, International Book Promotion focuses on video marketing to promote books and author Justin Bienvenue tells us all why book trailers should be one of your marketing tools.

Read about them here:

Why Are Book Trailers Underrated?
6 Ways to Generate Book Trailer Views
The Importance of Book Trailers
The Right Music for Book Trailers
On a random thought, how many of you who are having great trailers, sharing them for promotions regularly? Acquiring book trailers and not using them wisely would only be a sheer waste of money.
July 26, 2015

Guest Post: Does Sex Sell by Samuel Alexander

Samuel Alexander

Samuel Alexander

About Samuel:

Local to the island of bermuda. Likes to write, think I can sing and have a poetry blog with a few actual blog posts that aren’t poems. Samuel Alexander is my middle name. So it’s not a pen name in it’s true form. Just Wrote the first of a trilogy ‘Salinor: The Beginnings, it’s awesome. Best book i’ve ever written. I love to read and usually think myself to sleep thinking about the books I have to write that I havent’ begun yet. That’s about me in a nutshell, when something more ingenius comes to mind, i’ll share it here.

Check out his books at http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Alexander/e/B005VCVE8Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Does Sex Sell

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about the obvious.  Of course sex sells. Still, it isn’t as simple as it may sound.  The problem with sex is where it is.  Sex doesn’t actually sell it’s the genres that sex is in that sell.  People expect erotica, and romance, and chick-lit and even some comedies to have steamy sex.  Suspense novels and mysteries even get away with it because of their darker adult nature.  Sex in places people aren’t used to seeing it, not as successful.

Lets take my own books for example.  My first three horribly written.  The sex, hardcore to the bone.  There were problems on both ends of the scale, not enough, or it’s all about the sex.  There wasn’t a lot of sex, but when there I didn’t get all ‘tone it down because it’s not about the sex’.  In my head adults have sex.  We know what it is.  We’ve done it.  It’s not going to distract me from the plot.  I was of course very, very wrong.  Apparently it’s all the way erotica or soft-core.  There is no middle ground.

So did I tone down the hardcore.  Hell no.  I went on this journey to prove you can have hardcore sex in a standard none-erotica book and it could work. Have the story be about the plot but just happen to have real not-so-dumbed-down sex.  Book one, fail.  Two was better, better sex, more plot, sales… zip.  Book three, I finally got into my steamy stride, the sex was great, and I got my plot to almost make sense.  It wasn’t a good book to be fair but the balance was finally on it’s way. The sex, didn’t sell them.  People clearly want sex to be in the box/book they want it in. So it could be the best sex ever and that shit would be totally irrelevant.

Finally book four.  The magic has happened.  A plot that actually works, sex that blends in seamlessly without being too much or too little, and/or detracting from the plot.  Obviously I struck gold right.  No.  Regardless of the steamy sex, decent plot, and comedy, it didn’t quite make the cut.  And lastly my last book which is by far the steamiest, the first in a fantasy trilogy and apparently actually is good.  It’s the only book I’ve ever gotten a review for and I sold the most of it and… not a single drop of hardcore sex but as my characters are adults, sex oozes everywhere in conversations and flirtation.  The steam is at its pique without me even needing the sex.  So how did I finally actually go from Zero sales to sales.  Reviews.  Feed back.  That’s the key really.

What actually sells a book is word of mouth.  Reviews on online bookstores.  Book ratings.  It doesn’t matter how much or how little sex you have, if people don’t start talking about how awesome your book is, or how much it sucks ass, no one will buy it.  It appears that sex sells, and on a certain level it does, but it’s really the hype around a book that sells it.  So if the buyers don’t talk about it.  Then usually no more people will buy it.  The curse of the starving indie author is that good or bad, no one ever seems to want to talk about their books but they will gush all over a famous author, or equally hate them if they don’t like the book.

Sex can sell, but that is only after people talk about it.  Therefore in actually the sex doesn’t sell the book, the readers do.  So more people should speak up if only so the masses can also enjoy the passion oozing out the pages seeping into their minds and then sweating out their pores in sinful bliss.  Get to writing those reviews and telling the world about this book, whether you hate it or love it.  You have the power to sink or sail a book, and what small chances at ultimate power we have we should use.

Sex sells.  But it can’t sell, without you.