GLBT Bookshelf is ready and waiting!

GLBT BOOKSHELF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sara Lansing

Press Secretary

GLBT Bookshelf

Email: saralansing762(at)gmail(dot)com

GLBT writers and readers

launch revolutionary online community

Gay Indie Literature Industry Unites

Adelaide, South Australia – June 25, 2009 Bestselling gay author Mel Keegan has masterminded a web-based cohesive organization combining the skills of writers, publishers, editors, agents, reviewers and artists in the GLBT community to provide an unprecedented public access portal to independent- and small-publisher titles. GLBT Bookshelf is an online resource designed to counter the perceived discriminatory practices of major players in the book retail scene.

Frustrated by the infamous “AmazonFail” fiasco of early 2009, in which the online retail giant was suspected of attempting to deny GLBT literature the benefits of its promotional systems, Keegan conceived of an online community in which all such systems were circumvented -- replaced by “community promotion” with direct links to authors’ and publishers’ pages.

Keegan is highly motivated toward the success of this venture. “Nothing convinces you to act like being forced to the margins of an already marginalized community. In a way the AmazonFail business was a desperately-needed kick in the pants. Now we have a public contact venue and direct sales channel which is not dependant on the big boys, their promotional tools, their advertising -- not even their search engines.”

In creating GLBT Bookshelf, Keegan set out to answer the needs of most GLBT writers and artists: Create a place for their works to be cataloged, described and sampled, linked to their publishers and independent sales pages -- and promoted by joint funding amounting to peppercorn contributions from community members. In this way, all writers benefit from wide media exposure while no individual foots the advertising bill.

The site takes the form of a “wiki,” where users sign up (free) and a pilot page is created for them. They then use editing tools to flesh out their pages with text, graphics and video. They develop their own virtual website within the wiki, which is built on the EditMe engine, operated by EditMe.com.

Visitors find authors, titles and publishers via multiple, categorized contents lists, as well as the fully-featured Search function. The site features user forums, book reviews, author pages, and directories for publishers and cover artists. A free PDF user’s manual is available, and the public launch is underway.

After just one month GLBT Bookshelf boasts around 200 “authors and others” online. Writers are booking low-cost advertising in high-traffic page locations, months ahead. More than 1000 user-pages have been created, and 500+ books are currently cataloged. Projected growth rates suggest this is the tip of the iceberg.

Find GLBT Bookshelf at www.glbtbookshelf.com, and watch for developments in the months ahead. While it remains early days, Mel Keegan is highly optimistic. “We could be seeing a quiet revolution in GLBT book marketing, in which the community takes its fortunes into its own hands. Technology has freed us from the restrictive practices of the traditional industry -- the Bookshelf is the joint venture of a lifetime. We must evolve new ways of thinking to take full advantage of our opportunities.”

Mel Keegan lives with an eccentric family in South Australia and is the author of more than 25 books. “The Deceivers” won the Stonewall Fact and Fable Award in 2003, while “Death’s Head” was nominated for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1992. GLBT Bookshelf is the culmination of Keegan’s creative vision.

A new look at Cosmic and another Bookshelf

Well, according to my little statistics bar I'm over 60% for my planned length for my next m/m contemporary work. Of course this is just the rough draft. For me, the real work begins when I do my own personal edit rounds before submission because that usually requires me to set the work aside between rounds. I know I take much longer than many of the romance writers out there but I like to polish my work as much as possible. Usually as work overlaps this works out okay, but life has got in the way lately. I am hoping that within a very few short weeks things will ease up -- it should do, unless something untoward happens so that's the plan anyway. The good news is that I've a feeling that the rough draft of the book will be finished very shortly. I've time today to knuckle down to it as soon as I've popped around and made a few announcements.

One of those announcements is that I finally joined and completed my pages at the GBLT Bookshelf. Do drop by. It's a community for...well everyone who writes, publishes, reads any GBLT titles. It's for artists too. For anyone who has flicked through my website, my page will look very similar but that's because I took most of the info from here. It's a good project though and a good place for me to be.

I also found a little time (don't ask me how -- well, by watching the TV with one eye, actually) to make a little promo video for Cosmic. I'm never sure if these are a good idea or not but some readers like them and they can be a rather fun to make. I also wanted to try out iMovie on the Macbook. Not sure it was easier than the last system I used to make a small 'vid' but it worked, which is the main thing. I'm seriously considering just paying someone else if I can manage to make myself let go of some artistic control. LOL. I love the music on this one. I think it sets the whole tone.

Walk with Fragrance

I'm blogging about something close to my heart today over at Britwriters: http://wulfwaru.wordpress.com/

Amazingly, for once, it has nothing to do with writing or books.

Do drop by to read up on camomile lawns. I've also posted a couple of garden photos.

Want a peek at where I write?

Fellow Brit author, Fiona Glass, is running a series of writer's desks and mine is up now. If you'd like to see where I sit and pen...um...I mean type my stories then drop by her blog at: http://fionaglass.blogspot.com/

I've also explained, or rather 'attempted' to explain some of the strange things on there. :o)

A first review for NIPS

Elisa Rolle may have started off as a reader but she's become quite a respected reviewer among writers, although I don't know if she's aware of that. Being that she hails from Italy and English is not her native language, she surprises us by managing to write both eloquent and enlightening reviews. I'm not just saying that because she almost always find something to praise in my books. I'm not the only writer to feel that way. So let me start by saying a collected thank you to Elisa.

I also need to thank her for the wonderful review she has given me for Nights in Pink Satin, available from Changeling Press.

She starts by saying, "The normal level of Changeling Press' books is good but seldom they are "deep"." She calls my book "a gothic romance with a touch of urban fantasy." Then she goes on to say: "Martin has probably had enough bad experiences of rejection when he was a man due to the fact that he is gay, and now as a vampire he is re-living all of that, now he has another reason, even more scaring, to hide from people. It's so sad to see his life through Vincent's eyes when he is spying in the apartment, all the objects tell a life of loneliness and lost hopes. Even if I was really wishing that Vincent would have been starstruck by Martin at first sight, his reluctance makes for an even more interesting reading, I loved to see the innocent seduction of Martin, and the sex in the closet was hot and "symbolic"."

You read the whole review by clicking here: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/690193.html

Want to ask me some questions?

Someone has done it for you. Yes, I've been interviewed!

Author and editor, Barbara Custer, has interviewed me on her Night To Dawn blog.

Some of you may know I had a short story of mine "Effigy in Garnet" appear as a re-print in NTD magazine. Barbara has since contacted me with some very interesting questions.

Do drop by to check out my replies at: http://barbaracuster.wordpress.com/

Thanks!
Shaz

Slip into pink...

Vincent is a vampire of world renown, even if most people believe his story is a fable, but with age comes boredom. Seeking out new silk to line his coffin for his annual ball, he comes across a bolt of pink fabric. Curiosity leads him to seek out who ordered the cloth and in so doing, Vincent makes a mistake that is about to change his existence.

Martin is a newly turned vampire and a lonely gay man. When he returns to find a famous vampire in his humble abode, he’s glad of the company even though he’s also afraid. Moreover, he’s excited for this vampire is extremely good looking.

When trapped by the sun together for an entire day leads to an explosion of unexpected intimacy, Vincent is left wondering what has come over him and has to decide if such choices carry the same type of angst or consequences for one who has lived for so many decades, even centuries. Martin is left wondering if he’ll get what he hoped for — one night of passion — or if Vincent’s interested enough to see where their relationship might lead.

Setting doubts aside, Vincent and Martin have the opportunity to turn their back on their very different but equally lonely existences. As soon as Martin get rid of his ridiculous pink-lined coffin, Vincent and Martin can then look forward to many nights between sheets of pink satin.

When a simple mistake leads to a day of explosive passion, what’s a vampire to do, but look forward to a future of gay nights between sheets of pink satin?

Release date 19th June 2009. Check out the publisher's site right now for an excerpt and the author's site from the 19th.