I wrote Sin as a fun book to make me smile. I didn't pay for promotion, put it on a book tour, or basically anything else. I didn't even pay to have a cover designed. It was for my own enjoyment and to be honest I doubted it would sell. In comparison, Romance Book Club: I forked out tons of cash on editing, virtual book tours, and other promotions and it barely sold. Color me stumped.
This crazy world of publishing is one fickle lover. It seems to me no matter how you stroke it, readers are going to find what they want and they'll like what they like. Maybe it was the use of the F word? Did the fact that I blushed while writing all Sin's colorful language yank some chains for folks? Not a clue again.
I gained some very cool insight from a review I read on Sin. One of the reviewers said this book wasn't overly edited. I was kind of tickled by that remark, because that's all I've ever heard is that you need to edit the crap our of your books. Heck if readers like my country slang better than the edited watered down version, I'll give it to them. The truth is I like writing books about sex. I like using all those words that would make my mom long to wash my mouth out with soap. It's fun!
As a mom of five I sure as sin can't use them in real life. Well, unless I want my kids running around talking like sailors. Living in Alabama I definitely don't talk about sex to folks that come up to cook out, so yeah I enjoy writing all those naughty thoughts in my head! I may write nothing else for the rest of my life but these sexy little books because the truth be known, it makes me feel good.
I'm not winning any awards with my small little community here, that's for sure. I think that newspapers here would rather pretend people like me don't exist. We wouldn't want to stir up the local women by letting them discover they don't have to pretend to be nuns. Don't get me wrong, I love my little hometown. Me and my family are very isolated up on our mountain, and outside of school functions I don't rub elbows with many of the locals. Mainly because being told you're going to burn in hell for writing such books ticks me off. Seriously? Pick up your bible and start with the part that tells you not to judge other people.
The bottom line is I am clueless when it comes to how bestsellers are born. My advice? Write what you love, be proud of who you are, and when someone tells you not to do something... do it! These people that give advice love tooting their own horns, but the truth is they don't know any better than you do. Some books will sell others won't. The more you write, the better chance you have of getting that one that blows the roof off the charts.
This is Michelle... Clueless in Alabama... but I'm having one hell of a good time doing it!
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