Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Erotica Writer Zane: I’m Facing Discrimination

May 14, 2008 at 05:43am

Thanks to the multiple Bitchery readers who forwarded this over. Erotica author and editor Zane emailed a DC-area email loop the following account of how her latest book is facing an uphill battle in terms of finding places in which to advertise. Why? Because it’s Black erotica? Nope. Because it’s gay. Specifically, according to Zane’s email, lesbian erotica. Read on

Zane’s Apology for the Status of Today’s World

At first, I was going to hold my tongue about this issue; I really was. When one of the biggest National chain bookstores informed my publicist that my latest book was “too racy” for me to do signings there, I discussed it with a few people and let it go. When a book club service that has carried every last one of my other titles decided “to pass” on this one because they did not feel it fit their demographics, I let it go. But, there is always that proverbial last straw and that straw broke the camel’s back last night. I received an “Apology” email from a person who runs an online magazine. It was an apology to her …

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We’ve Got More Legs

May 13, 2008 at 10:55am

Bitchery reader Paul did some mad Photoshop action on the hot stepping leg model, and look at what he came up with:

I did some quick Photoshop work to test your theory about the leg model and the trenchcoat. You’re 100% right, it’s the same model. See attached (I cut off the left leg, changed its angle, adjusted for the same skin tone, and then filled in the gaps).

The “Girl’s Guide” cover designer had a few more changes - impossibly flat toes in those new stilettos, and softer muscle definition on the legs.

Now, aside from the fact that there’s no way the leg model has thighs that wide that aren’t airbrushed into impossible thinness, Paul is totally onto something here. I also think that trenchcoat model’s shin - the one marching up in the air - was thinned out through the magic of editing as well. I’m fascinated by the art of retouching on the whole, and of how much of it goes on. But special …

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More clinch covers to fascinate and horrify!

May 13, 2008 at 03:50am

It’s hard to beat a good old-fashioned clinch if you’re looking that delicious taste of WHAT IN THE FUCK in the morning.

So here. Have some delicious WHAT THE FUCK this morning.

How we know vampire romances have finally hit the big time:

May 12, 2008 at 11:41am

When a certain notorious biology professor from Minnesota notices the massive wall o’ befanged man-titty adorning his local Wal-Mart, and finds it notable enough to blog about. Poor PZ. I can only pity his eyeballs. I don’t know if this is a sign that paranormal romances have finally hit the big time, or whether they’ve jumped the shark.

It’s always interesting to pop outside the romance community and see how people outside of it perceive the genre. Do I have thoughts on that? Boy howdy do I ever.

Sex: The Revolution

May 12, 2008 at 11:20am

Fire up the DVR and invite it to record some revolution, if you like. Over the weekend I had a chance to review advance DVD copies of a documentary that’s premiering on VH1 this week, and on the Sundance Channel next week. If you’re at all interested, go after the Sundance one, because while VH1 alleges to “boldly explore a time in history that challenged centuries of traditional morality about sex,” the VH1 version is censored out the wazoo with black bars and blurry bits over every possible naughty part, not to mention naughty language - and oh, that delicious irony implicit in fuzzy-censoring because of the fuck-you-very-much FCC affecting a documentary talking about the sexual revolution in America.

If you’re a documentary buff, this won’t be your cup of naked, simply because VH1-style documentaries are sweeping gloss coverage of huge spans of time - in this case, the 1950’s through the 1990’s. But it doesn’t bother me because I’m used to it from VH1’s other projects, and because I think that is a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers, who target these documentary clip shows …

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Leg Models: Behind the Scenes

May 12, 2008 at 09:01am

Bitchery reader Joanne sent me this fascinating link, which she found hunting for information regarding our curiously Photoshopped (maybe) leg model of pink flippy skirtdom. A leg model reveals the behind-the-scenes action, and discusses photo shoots and imperfections. Fascinating.

I still strongly suspect that our model is the same, with the leg moved over and the trenchcoat Photoshopped on top of the skirt - which would account for the strange angle at which that skirt is blowing - but I still haven’t found any proof. Either way, I still can’t walk like that without falling flat on my face.

And in a complete change of subject, while reading about children’s books yesterday, I came across a very interesting profile of a children’s book by Louise Fitzhugh, of Harriet the Spy fame, that almost was, but wasn’t. Sort of.

Wise Pig, Wise.

May 12, 2008 at 02:18am

Teddy Pig, who I would love to call “my favorite shit stirrer” but someone will totally accuse me of being homophobic, has a majestically awesome article on his blog about website design for e-publishers. Not only does he name some of the most annoying habits of some epub sites - like changing the entire URL on a book when it’s released from a “coming soon” link to an entirely different, non-intuitive link. That has driven advertisers on our site crazy because they don’t know until the last friggin’ minute what the URL will be. Bad, bad bad!

But by far the most interesting, and the part I’ve dealt with the most, is this section about sight impaired linkage and code usage:

Are all cover pictures clearly text and alt labeled for sight impaired and also hyper-linked to the book’s sales page?

Did you know even Amazon fails at this? As I said, this is becoming a big thing and should be part of your companies presentation in a professional manner. I find the most dedicated eBook customers are those who are site impaired. Catch the clue and ride the wave.

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Happy Mother’s Day, Book Style

May 11, 2008 at 08:39am

Happy Mother’s Day to you, if it applies, and to your mother, because it’s fun to say “Your mother” and mean it in a nice way. My Mother’s Day started off with my going back to bed with a migraine (fucker) and then getting back up once I was firmly in the embrace of painkillers to enjoy having my children and husband make me breakfast and give me gifts.

One of my gifts, from Freebird: The Mommy Book, by Todd Parr: “Some mommies work at home. Some mommies work in big buildings. All mommies love to watch you sleep.” I love the Parr books, especially The Daddy Book, which we read all the time with Freebird. Baba O’Riley gave me a copy of The Family Book, which is terribly sweet and made me smile-cry with the pictures of families of different colors and sizes. My favorite part was the page about how some families look like each other, and some families look like their pets. If I look like our pets, we are so screwed. And hairy. Very very hairy.

Since my gifts were books - …

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Here Comes the Hot Stepper

May 10, 2008 at 08:04am

Remember the high-stepping pink miniskirt lady? You know, she was over here, and she was over there, on sample covers from HarperCollins. Leg problems and romance, that flippy-skirt lady had them all.

And, it seems she has a new wardrobe, and possibly more stock options—stock photography options. From alert reader Becky comes a new link: The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career into High Gear cover features similar legs in a similar pose.

My questions? Who is this lady that she kicks her career into high gear by wearing a very short trenchcoat and a very much shorter and thus invisible skirt underneath? Exactly what kind of career is she kicking here? And who ARE these women who can get away with heels and high-legged marching without stockings on? Do they never get blisters? And finally - is that in fact the same shot, with a different purse and a jacket Photoshopped over the pink tweed?

Kinsale Re-Released Through Small Publisher

May 9, 2008 at 10:39am

From my inbox comes news that Laura Kinsale’s books are being rereleased through Sourcebooks Casablanca, a small independent publisher. Midsummer Moon, Seize the Fire, and Prince of Midnight are being promoted as spring reads, and two of the books are available now via Amazon and Powells.

I am guessing the rerelease will bring a lot more historical romance readers to Kinsale’s stories, as some have been out of print and have been hard for me to find when I go looking.

That said, I have to mourn the old style covers, because, damn. They were full of Fabio-esque goodness and oddly-lit visible buttsecks. And, I think, Scarlett Johansson.