The Shard-o-verse

8 Dec 2017

Quote by Verbal
Sorta like sending your kids off to college and out into the real world. At least, I think so, I an still a few years from experiencing that.

No, sending your kids off to college is far worse. Mine is just finishing up his first semester in a city 7 hours drive from home. I'm fretting less than my wife is, largely because he seems to be adapting well and I'm more optimistic than her, but I still worry about him at times.

9 Dec 2017

Quote by Verbal
Okay, I now have every Shard still on Lush in my sig line (I haven't actually published it yet, as I am awaiting verification on the latest one, so if it is overwhelmingly long, I will just use my faves).

The are in rough chronological order for the first 10 or so (the v.2 Shards), after which it all goes to hell.

There are eight Shards no longer on Lush: Elevation, Fire and Ice, Buttons, Morning Light, Mindful, The Razor Thin Edge, Business Casual and Reruns. They are pretty much my faves, and I pulled them off Lush to try to get them published in online/print mags. Sold three so far: Elevation, Buttons, and The Razor Thin Edge. The other five are out, breathlessly awaiting approval or rejection, anxiously awaiting their fates. Sorta like sending your kids off to college and out into the real world. At least, I think so, I an still a few years from experiencing that.

That's great. Fingers crossed they get picked up. I love the shard series x

9 Dec 2017

Quote by Verbal
Okay, I now have every Shard still on Lush in my sig line (I haven't actually published it yet, as I am awaiting verification on the latest one, so if it is overwhelmingly long, I will just use my faves).

The are in rough chronological order for the first 10 or so (the v.2 Shards), after which it all goes to hell.

There are eight Shards no longer on Lush: Elevation, Fire and Ice, Buttons, Morning Light, Mindful, The Razor Thin Edge, Business Casual and Reruns. They are pretty much my faves, and I pulled them off Lush to try to get them published in online/print mags. Sold three so far: Elevation, Buttons, and The Razor Thin Edge. The other five are out, breathlessly awaiting approval or rejection, anxiously awaiting their fates. Sorta like sending your kids off to college and out into the real world. At least, I think so, I an still a few years from experiencing that.

Congrats Verbal! Significant accomplishment but not really a surprise given the quality of the Shards. Hoping you see all your favs published!!!

10 Dec 2017

Your sig line is hella pretty and neat for so many Shards. Fingers krossed you get tonnes of publikations!

10 Dec 2017

i'm just sad you've deprived me of reading some of your best. don't you know it's all about ME? smile

seriously, this is awesome and well earned. *hugs* couldn't have happened to a better writer or person or kaiju :)

You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.

10 Dec 2017

Thanks everyone for such encouraging responses.

My coolest sale (which comes out Dec 13th - three days away!) is to a "feminist, sex-positive" porn site, with their own self-produced videos and everything.

They said, when I was asking about future submissions, "Your story was quite different to what I usually publish because of the focus on male orgasm. But I liked the enthusiastic consent." I like to think I might become their token male writer. smile

I am pretty sure they'll buy more, at a few cents a word. They said it was unlikely they'd buy the whole series, which is my ultimate goal, though it may be unrealistic. Still, I think I have found a home for several of my stories there.

This makes me a professional pornographer! I should get business cards.

10 Dec 2017

Quote by Verbal

This makes me a professional pornographer! I should get business cards.

I'd hate to think what your logo would be. Regaeman Man

(actually, I wonder if you could do one as a stylized "shard", like a shard of glass or pottery)

26 Feb 2018

Despite the apparent randomness, there is a basic narrative to all the Shards and shard-related stories.

The newer Shards (with the .2 in the number) have an over-arching theme of identity and reflection: everything is seen through mirrors, or cameras, or artwork, or while role-playing, or as seen through the eyes of each other, or the eyes of strangers.

The most recent Shards, which are consecutively numbered to show there is a plot of sorts, have them buying a video camera.

Shard 8316.2: Viewfinder
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/shard-83162-viewfinder.aspx

After they play with the camera, they decide to upload a video, which is described in the Shard published today:

Shard 8317.2: Thumbnail
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/shard-83172-thumbnail.aspx

After this? I think someone recognizes them from the video. Ultimately that leads to another threesome. This threesome does not go as well as the first one (described in the Open trilogy), and they have a falling out (there will be a full short story--maybe several--devoted to this). Do they stay together, or does the stress of multiple partners break them apart? You're gonna have to read em to find out.

Regardless, the Shards will be done by the end of the year. I can already hear the collective sigh of relief. smile

26 Feb 2018

Quote by seeker4

I'd hate to think what your logo would be.

(actually, I wonder if you could do one as a stylized "shard", like a shard of glass or pottery)

Actually the shards of a mirror would make a great book cover. Maybe have a hot image that you can just kind of make out through thee broken pieces.

6 Mar 2018

New chapter in the Shards and Shard related pieces. These latest three have all earned RRs.

Next up is a pair of full short stories, one from her point of view, one from his point of view, concluding this plotline. Then a handful of Flash pieces to tie things up, and the Shards are history!

They play with a video camera:
* Shard 8316.2: Viewfinder

They consider uploading their video to a sex site.
* Shard 8317.2: Thumbnail

And in the newest bit, there are unexpected emotional repercussions from posting the video.
* Shard 8318.2: Doppelgängers

Enjoy!

8 May 2018

I just put up a full, non-flash, Shards-related story. It's called This is Not a Game (https://www.lushstories.com/stories/exhibitionism/this-is-not-a-game.aspx). It was not easy to write, and I hope the seams don't show from pulling it apart and putting it back together.

I plan on writing two more stories in the same vein, not an official trilogy, but three stories sharing similar themes and events. They also put a bow on the whole Shards project, because while they have (mostly) been a joy to write, I am tired of writing them, and all this flash fiction is turning me into a lazy writer.

It combines a couple of threads running through the Shards in this story. It finishes up the sex video storyline, developed in these three stories.
*Viewfinder (RR)
*Thumbnail (RR)
*Doppelgängers (RR)

It also bring back their game of role-playing in a bar, referred to in these three stories.
*Candide (RR)
*Dirty Martini
*Dicks (RR)

You don't have to read any of these flash stories to get the gist what is going on in the new story. I just use this thread to tie everything together, for anybody out there who is interested in how these all fit together.

Is there anybody out there?

10 May 2018

Quote by Verbal

Is there anybody out there?

nobody but a kool kukumber wearing a krown and kurrently drinking köffee.

Awesome story! flower

Everyone read it and help me to harass this guy to enter the kompetition! evil4

11 May 2018

Oh, I liked this most recent non-shard!

They explore exhibitionism, but unlike most erotica, everything and anything isn't a turn-on.

12 May 2018

Quote by Burquette
Oh, I liked this most recent non-shard!

They explore exhibitionism, but unlike most erotica, everything and anything isn't a turn-on.

Well, not enough of the story was a turn-on in the first draft. I turned back to the more personal and emotional aspects of the story on the third go-round.

Exhibitionism can be a complex and tricky thing. I'm trying to get to all aspects of it, not just the sexy bits. smile

14 May 2018

New Shard up.

After the agita of writing This is Not a Game, I needed to write something light and fast and funny. This is the result. Hope I succeeded.

Shard 74.3: Wow
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/shard-743-wow.aspx

There is another Shard in the works, in a similar vein, light and fast, but more romantic than funny. Note that the current Shard has a .3 at the end of the number, as will the next few. It's a way to let the reader know something has changed in the relationship, and this is the latest iteration (yeah, I know no one cares about the numbering system but me). It adds a little linearity to a series that is meant to be read randomly.

There are also two more full stories in the works, not in a trilogy along with This is Not a Game in the traditional sense, but working with the same themes, and hopefully giving some closure to the Damned Thing.

26 Jun 2018

Sold two new Shards to an honest-to-God porn site. They are mostly a video site, with stories taking up a tiny section of ther site, but hey, if they're paying, I'm selling.

The six Shards sold so far (and so no longer on Lush): Elevation, Buttons, Morning Light, The Razor Thin Edge, Fire and Ice, and Mindful. Also missing are Business Casual and Reruns, as they are out to potential publishers.

I am about to pull three more Shards off of Lush so I can send them out:

*Domesticity

*Sexhair (I will miss having Sexhair here, I am inordinately fond of that story. Primarily because it is also one of my nicknames for Layla smile

)

*Click. This has an RR and audio!

Read 'em before they are gone! You've got a couple weeks.

10 Jul 2018

Okay, I am tying up the Shards with a big two story punch.

The first story is up (heh). It's called Safe Word, part 1. I tried to do a few things wiith it. I tried to make the sex very hot and very dirty. Partly because I think erotica needs to be hot, in addition to whatever else you are trying to do in the story.

I also went for a dark ending, though this is only part 1, and things will brighten for our couple in part 2. I wanted to show them feeling disconnected from each other, at a crossroads in their relationship. The aftermath (not a word of which is written yet) will hopefully pull together a lot of the strands threading though all the Shards, as He and She examine their relationship, the things that bring them together, the things that might pull them apart.

I also wanted to make the reader genuinely uncomfortable by the end, as uncomfortable as the couple feels.

Anyway. Here is is:

Safe Word, part 1

6 Sep 2018

So, first of all, there might be a few more Shards. I can't imaging never writing about this couple again. But not for awhile. And I won't label them as Shards.

By the numbers: 38 flash fictions, 8 short stories, 19 Recommended Reads, 1 Series Award, 1 Editor's Pick. 7 of the flash stories have been sold to magazines and sites.

The stories follow our couple from their first meeting, through their various rendevouz in hotel rooms, to moving in together, and marriage. The sex is hot and BDSM-tinged, but emotion is always present, and their feelings toward each other always tender.

That was one of the goals of the stories: to show rough, sometimes brutal sex in the context of a deeply loving relationship of equals.

Thank you to everyone for showing such support for this two year project, whether as an editor and second set of eyes (Curvy, Rumple, Ravenstar, Shannon, Molly) or as reader. Thank you most of all to Layla, because this is all basically one long love letter to her.

Anyway. The Last Shard.

Safe Word, part 1
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/threesomes/safe-word-part-1.aspx

Safe Word, part 2
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/safe-word-part-2.aspx

14 Sep 2018

So someone who shall remain anonymous (hi Julie!) asked me what stories should be read before reading the final two stories in the narrative. Which brings up the whole question of what order the stories should be read in.

My original idea (which is wholly undoable) was that, if you sell the stories as a book, every time it's bought the order of the stories are randomized, so that everyone gets a different narrative (I am sure there is a way to do this, but I don't know how). Multiple part stories, of which there are a few, would have their parts scattered throughout, rarely in the correct order, and with several unrelated stories separating them. The attempt is to mimic memory, so that the episodes have no fixed order, and no neat and tidy plot. Only brief unrelated flashes of sensation and emotion, with connections between episodes never fully known.

Since I can't do that, I am now trying to assemble what seemingly random order they work best in, and rewriting them as I do.

Anyway. Here are the stories, since they are no longer on my sig line. 11 stories are gone from the site, as I am trying to sell them (7 sold so far). And I will write 7 more, so that there are 52 stories in all, one a week for a year. If I can ever get my shit together, this is how I will release them.

Stories

Safe Word, part 2 (RR) |Safe Word, part 1 (RR) | This is Not a Game (RR) | Open Door (Series Award) | Open Window (Series Award) | Open Eyes (Series Award) | Serious Moonlight (EP)

Flash

Drowning (RR) | Wow (RR) | Doppelgängers (RR) |Thumbnail (RR) | Viewfinder (RR) | Dicks (RR) | Dirty Martini | Candide (RR) | Symmetry (RR) | Sideways (RR) | Unguarded (RR) | What Do You See? (RR) | You Know Who (RR) | Fashion | Theater | Art (RR) | People Who Bought This Item | The Gravity of Desire | Enraptured | Closing Time | Bound | Have A Nice Day | Unmasked | Simple | This | Quicksilver

14 Sep 2018

Quote by Verbal
this is how I will release them, on Amazon. They won't be here forever.

This is how you start a marketing push. You're already crushing it on that front (see: you better read my stuff before I start charging you all, hahah)

Seriously though, this idea sounds completely awesome.

I love the idea of being able to read them in a random order, other than the multi-parters, from a creative standpoint. The novelty alone is awesome, and the fact that you're a fantastic writer allows you to pull off some really wicked stuff.

But I know people that would likely never come visit this site that would almost certainly buy your stand-alone novel if I recommended it and told them "Hey, go read this story about this couple that's into bdsm. It's super filthy, but it's also very honest and sweet too."

They would almost certainly love it. But they'd also ask me what the fuck I just made them read because 50 shades is the filthiest thing they can possibly imagine. You'd make some sweet ass moolah, and I'd get the satisfaction/chuckles of watching them have to handle the new reality that they are now stuck with. Everyone wins.

Self-publishing on Amazon seems like a beast in and of itself.

I wish you Godspeed on what could be a large to enormous undertaking

26 Sep 2018

Quote by julie_slink

This is how you start a marketing push. You're already crushing it on that front (see: you better read my stuff before I start charging you all, hahah)

Seriously though, this idea sounds completely awesome.

I love the idea of being able to read them in a random order, other than the multi-parters, from a creative standpoint. The novelty alone is awesome, and the fact that you're a fantastic writer allows you to pull off some really wicked stuff.

But I know people that would likely never come visit this site that would almost certainly buy your stand-alone novel if I recommended it and told them "Hey, go read this story about this couple that's into bdsm. It's super filthy, but it's also very honest and sweet too."

They would almost certainly love it. But they'd also ask me what the fuck I just made them read because 50 shades is the filthiest thing they can possibly imagine. You'd make some sweet ass moolah, and I'd get the satisfaction/chuckles of watching them have to handle the new reality that they are now stuck with. Everyone wins.

Self-publishing on Amazon seems like a beast in and of itself.

I wish you Godspeed on what could be a large to enormous undertaking

Large to enormous undertaking pretty much describes it. smile

Heh.

So, the Shards are gone. They will reappear on Amazon at some point, hopefully a few months. I went from 27 RRs to 11 in one fell swoop. From 59 stories to 22 (for those doing the math, I deleted 3 RRs and 11 stories several months ago). Ouch. It was kinda painful to do, but I wanted them fully off the internet before I self-pub them.

The 8 longer stories connected to the narrative will be gone soon: I couldn't bring myself to delete an EP and 3 Series Awards. But the departure is imminent.

I will keep writing erotica, though I am taking a short break from it.

It occurs to me that I might chronicle the whole process of self-publication on Amazon on this thread, as a help to others making the attempt. What pitfalls and successes I encounter, what to do and what not to do (trying to prove I own the rights to the stories, even though they were published under another name, and have been stolen and posted on less ethical erotica sites, is pitfall number #1, one of the reasons I am deleting everything now).

If anyone is interested, drop me a line.

It's been a fun ride. Thanks Lush, for giving these weird little stories a home.

2 Oct 2018

So i guess it's no longer self-promotion if the stories aren't even available anymore. And I don't know if people read this thread anymore, but I figured I'd explain the process of moving the Shard series to Amazon, in case someone else wants to try it someday.

I don't call the stories Shards for this project. All the stories are under the umbrella title Serious Moonlight. My pen name is J G Cain, taken from J G Ballard, and James Cain. Mostly I chose it cuz it sounds cool.

I spent $90 for a Wordpress site for two years, using one of their free templates. It's here: https://jgcain.com/.

I spend $50 for 100 stock photo downloads (never expires) at DepositPhotos. Good high-resolution images, lots of covers that would work for erotica. The banner photo on the site is from there.

I am spending $200-ish ($40 a hour) for help designing one book cover template, that I can use for all 52 stories, simply by changing the name. I'll post it when it's done.

Putting the book on Amazon is free. Go to KDP--Kindle Direct Publishing--upload your cover, your content, give it some keywords and categories. Proof it a million times. I have one book up, as a test, while I fine tune it. You get 30% royalty if you charge .99 cents (which I am). You get 70% royalty if you charge $2.99 or more. Sadly, I can't really justify that for little 5 page stories. In fact 99 cents seems a little much.

That's probably all my expenses for the project: $340. I will release one story a week on Amazon for a year. 99 cents each. I get 30 cents for each sell. I expect to break even. Anything after that is gravy.

Anyway. That's as far as I've gotten. Wish me luck.

2 Oct 2018

good luck

2 Oct 2018

Glad you're going first on this, Jeff. As you know, I've been contemplating doing something similar, though it would more likely be compiling one of my series into a novel/la including some rewrites and additional material. So, more ambitious in some ways. Thanks for costing everything out for me, though. Will be helpful.cNvuetiSHRwdX3eT

More seriously, good luck with your first publishing venture. Hope it exceeds your wildest dreams. And even if it doesn't, that it at least proves rewarding. A toast to your success. toast

3 Oct 2018

Awesome!

Likin' the J G Cain a lot too. glasses8

'Tis cool!

3 Oct 2018

Quote by FirstBlush
Awesome! Likin' the J.G. Cain a lot too. 'Tis cool!

NO PERIODS! (Sorry for yelling.) It's J G Cain. smile

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.

Just added a mailchimp email list popup thing to the site but I can't get it to work. Wah.

19 Oct 2018

So. Hit my first road block. It concerns Amazon standards for erotica.

I watched a full two hour presentation on selling erotica on Amazon. Really useful. https://amyharrop.com/pages/jjerplay/ There is a counter up top counting down two days, so the link may disappear in two days.

Anyway. Turns out there are few things that can get you in Amazon jail (banned or excluded from search results) as far as content, and they are about what you'd expect: beastiality, , non-consent (the cool kids call it non-con for short). BUT...covers are trickier. No nudity, no implied nudity (hands covering breasts), no side boob (that made me laugh), no sexual situations (silouette of two people fucking, implied oral sex). AND...no ropes, chains, or handcuffs, because that implies non-consent. Which totally fucks me over because my cover image was gonnna be this:

This gets trickier. The image below WAS allowed, even though it is far racier (and stupider) than my image, because while it contains handcuffs, they are not attached to anything, so non-consent is not implied. So you can use ropes, chains, or handcuffs, if it doesn't look like they someone is being controlled. Not sure if my image will pass or not. The woman is holding her own chain, so that shouldn't imply non-consent.

We are gonna try for a tamer version of the original cover.

In other news: launch date is in February. Here is my social media line-up.
I have a website: https://jgcain.com/
I have an amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jgcain (probably need to change images on this too) (the book cover is my own clumsy beta attempt, it will not be the one we use)
I have a fledgling Tumblr: https://jgcain.tumblr.com/ (I gotta remember to not simply reblog a pic, but try to point some traffic to the site)
I have a FB: https://www.facebook.com/jgcain23/

Okay. More later.

EDIT: Ooh, one more thing - Julie Slink pointed out the Reddit thread on erotica writing to me, and it has a TON of useful info on it. https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthors/

1 Nov 2018

Got the first draft of the cover back. Notice how the designer circumvented the non-consent/bondage issue I discussed in the last post.

I like it, a lot, actually, with some reservations. I think the "Serious Moonlight #1" should NOT be bigger than the title. My guess is the designer sees "Serious Moonlight" as the brand and wants to emphasize thst over the actual title.

I also think the red (which matches her lips) doesn't stand out from the black of her hair quite enough.

Thoughts from anyone? I need to get back to the artist in a couuple of days with notes.

Shooting for a Feb 2019 launch.

1 Nov 2018

I like it a lot and think it’s very well-designed. I’m good at nitpicking though so here are a few that you may consider.

1) Bottom half looks awesome. I wouldn’t change a thing.

2)I would change the “Business Casual” font to match the “Serious” font. There are four fonts used, which is too busy imo.

3) The coloring of “#1” should match the red used for “Moonlight” and be a bit larger.

4) I agree with you that the red should be a few shades darker so that it pops more.

5) Space “Moonlight” so that the bottom of the “g” isn’t overlapping “Business Casual.”

6) I agree with the designer that “Serious Moonlight” should be larger than “Business Casual” for the reasons you stated above.

7) I would probably put the “#1” on the same line of “Business Casual” rather than next to “Moonlight” though.

8) I think the shadow comes down too far over her face. I would bring it up a bit so that it gradually fades in and you can see part of the bottom of her nose (like an actual shadow would). I really like the inky-looking, asymmetrical feathering at the end of the shadow though. Alternatively, if it's supposed to be hair, rather than a shadow, I would lighten it a bit so that you can tell it's mostly hair. Hopefully, that made sense. Lfunny

Number 8 is more of a personal preference. Here is one of my covers so you can see what I’m talking about with the shadow and how it fades in.

Good luck!

1 Nov 2018

Quote by julie_slink
I like it a lot and think it’s very well-designed. I’m good at nitpicking though so here are a few that you may consider.

1) Bottom half looks awesome. I wouldn’t change a thing.

2)I would change the “Business Casual” font to match the “Serious” font. There are four fonts used, which is too busy imo.

3) The coloring of “#1” should match the red used for “Moonlight” and be a bit larger.

4) I agree with you that the red should be a few shades darker so that it pops more.

5) Space “Moonlight” so that the bottom of the “g” isn’t overlapping “Business Casual.”

6) I agree with the designer that “Serious Moonlight” should be larger than “Business Casual” for the reasons you stated above.

7) I would probably put the “#1” on the same line of “Business Casual” rather than next to “Moonlight” though.

8) I think the shadow comes down too far over her face. I would bring it up a bit so that it gradually fades in and you can see part of the bottom of her nose (like an actual shadow would). I really like the inky-looking, asymmetrical feathering at the end of the shadow though. Alternatively, if it's supposed to be hair, rather than a shadow, I would lighten it a bit so that you can tell it's mostly hair. Hopefully, that made sense.

Number 8 is more of a personal preference. Here is one of my covers so you can see what I’m talking about with the shadow and how it fades in.

Good luck!

Her thinking--and I agree--is that the stories are all about contrast: loving vs. brutal, dirty vs. sweet, love vs. lust, objectified vs. connected. That the sex is wild but the tone of the writing is very conntrolled. So the Serious and the Moonlight should be very different fonts, to refect that (it also reflects their personalities).

EDIT: Wait, you were talking about Serious and Business, not Moonlight. That makes sense. Duh.

I agree about the color of the #1.

I like the overlappping "g."

There is no shadow, that's all hair. No eyes, no nose.

That was helpful. Your cover looks great. What fonts did you use? Where was the text?