It was a strange feeling to wake up this morning, go to my Kindle app, and search the store for "Balloon Fetish," and find my book listed at $0.00. Am I doing the right thing? Others who have tried free promos say that their sales increased after a free promo. I just want lots of people to read my book, because that's why I wrote it.
But if I can't even give it away ... no, that's just author's paranoia setting in. I've already given away four books, and the promo has just gotten started.
So, click here and have a good read. But hurry, because it's only free until midnight tomorrow (PDT).
And review, please. It doesn't have to be a good review, just an honest one.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Free Book, But Don't Blow It!
Blowing It! will be available for free from the Amazon Kindle Store, but only on Friday, September 14th and Saturday, September 15th 2012. Download, read, and tell me what you think! And then tell everyone else!
Click here!
Click here!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Interesting Stuff I Find
As I said in my last post, I look around every now and then to see if my book is getting any wider exposure. And I notice interesting things. Like the fact that the book is listed in a couple of sites carrying textbooks. Hmm. Wonder what class my book would be used for? A little specific (and for that matter fictional) for Human Sexuality, I would think. And my ego isn't big enough to think that my book would form any part of a writing class.
Another thing is that several of the pages that show my book for sale have sharing buttons for the various social media. Now, I have a Twitter account for myself as fetish author, but Blowing It! does not have, for example, its own Facebook page, and is unlikely to anytime in the future. I think of Facebook as a place for people to be themselves with their real friends, and not so much a place to share their most intimate secrets (although from some of the posts I see, others might have a different opinion).
In any case, if you come across the book and hit the Facebook Like button, be forewarned that whatever you are liking has nothing to do with me.
Of course, as I have written before, promoting a pseudonymously written erotic novel is not easy, and so anything you can do to share with someone who might also be interested is much appreciated. But I don't expect you to go so far as to out yourself on Facebook.
Another thing is that several of the pages that show my book for sale have sharing buttons for the various social media. Now, I have a Twitter account for myself as fetish author, but Blowing It! does not have, for example, its own Facebook page, and is unlikely to anytime in the future. I think of Facebook as a place for people to be themselves with their real friends, and not so much a place to share their most intimate secrets (although from some of the posts I see, others might have a different opinion).
In any case, if you come across the book and hit the Facebook Like button, be forewarned that whatever you are liking has nothing to do with me.
Of course, as I have written before, promoting a pseudonymously written erotic novel is not easy, and so anything you can do to share with someone who might also be interested is much appreciated. But I don't expect you to go so far as to out yourself on Facebook.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Pricey Options
Every once in awhile, I Google the search terms "Blowing It!" and "Tim Popper" together to see if anyone has got around to mentioning my book. And pretty much the only reviews I find are the one on Amazon, and reposts on various sales outlets of the blurbs I wrote myself. Most of these I initiated, and almost as many are automatically generated. But I got a couple of fascinating hits.
For one thing, there is a seller selling my book on Barnes & Noble. For $19.95. Plus shipping, I expect. Please, folks, don't waste your money. This seller is taking a gigantic markup, and I don't get any extra royalties, so you may as well buy the book from Amazon.com, or if you want to send a little extra my way, by the hard copy from the link on the blog, which links to CreateSpace.
Another hit was a site selling books to buyers in South Africa for 269 rand. That's about 32 bucks! Now, I don't know how import restrictions come into this, but something tells me that if a South African buyer can get it through some offshoot of Amazon.com, he might make out a little better.
If anyone knows, I would be delighted to hear.
I want everyone who's interested in balloon fetishism to read the novel. But I don't want them to pay more than they need to!
For one thing, there is a seller selling my book on Barnes & Noble. For $19.95. Plus shipping, I expect. Please, folks, don't waste your money. This seller is taking a gigantic markup, and I don't get any extra royalties, so you may as well buy the book from Amazon.com, or if you want to send a little extra my way, by the hard copy from the link on the blog, which links to CreateSpace.
Another hit was a site selling books to buyers in South Africa for 269 rand. That's about 32 bucks! Now, I don't know how import restrictions come into this, but something tells me that if a South African buyer can get it through some offshoot of Amazon.com, he might make out a little better.
If anyone knows, I would be delighted to hear.
I want everyone who's interested in balloon fetishism to read the novel. But I don't want them to pay more than they need to!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Aaargh!
It won't be the first time that balloon fetishism has been presented on national television. I know of at least two other segments, the most recent on Strange Sex. But when National Geographic does something, you expect a nice, straightforward, factual account.
But if the preview on NG's YouTube channel is any indication, the upcoming episode of "Taboo" will be the most sensationalized, and misleading, portrayal of balloon fetishism I've yet seen.
The preview features Dave from Arkansas, who doesn't pop his balloons or, according to Dave, have sex with them. I don't know if I'd even categorize that as "fetish," but who am I to split hairs. The fact is, I've managed to find out a bit more about Dave than that little clip; he has posted and commented on YouTube in the past.
He has strong feelings about popping balloons, but he comes across in his YouTube persona as a pretty nice guy, and no stranger than many other people I see on the Internet. In fact, a whole lot less strange than some.
But at the hands of the folks at National Geographic, he comes across as really, really creepy. Even the music they edit into the end of the segment makes him seem completely bizarre. This is just sensationalist crap, and unworthy of anything that bears the National Geographic name.
I am swayed toward the view expressed by Tim Popper in the afterword of his novel. He talks about there not really being a single balloon fetish, but a huge variety of fetishes that happen to involve balloons. And the more I see other balloon lovers talk about their particular likes and dislikes, the more I think that this is true.
Dave, as unfairly portrayed in this hideous video, does not represent the panoply of balloon fetishes. But then, no single one of us could. It's bad enough that people who know nothing about us write term papers and magazine articles. But to use the most blatant tricks of the motion picture trade to make us all look truly insane is beneath contempt.
And it makes me cringe even more to hear the term "looner."
But if the preview on NG's YouTube channel is any indication, the upcoming episode of "Taboo" will be the most sensationalized, and misleading, portrayal of balloon fetishism I've yet seen.
The preview features Dave from Arkansas, who doesn't pop his balloons or, according to Dave, have sex with them. I don't know if I'd even categorize that as "fetish," but who am I to split hairs. The fact is, I've managed to find out a bit more about Dave than that little clip; he has posted and commented on YouTube in the past.
He has strong feelings about popping balloons, but he comes across in his YouTube persona as a pretty nice guy, and no stranger than many other people I see on the Internet. In fact, a whole lot less strange than some.
But at the hands of the folks at National Geographic, he comes across as really, really creepy. Even the music they edit into the end of the segment makes him seem completely bizarre. This is just sensationalist crap, and unworthy of anything that bears the National Geographic name.
I am swayed toward the view expressed by Tim Popper in the afterword of his novel. He talks about there not really being a single balloon fetish, but a huge variety of fetishes that happen to involve balloons. And the more I see other balloon lovers talk about their particular likes and dislikes, the more I think that this is true.
Dave, as unfairly portrayed in this hideous video, does not represent the panoply of balloon fetishes. But then, no single one of us could. It's bad enough that people who know nothing about us write term papers and magazine articles. But to use the most blatant tricks of the motion picture trade to make us all look truly insane is beneath contempt.
And it makes me cringe even more to hear the term "looner."
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Need Some Advice
I want people to be able to buy "Blowing It!" in a more private way. You know, not have a telltale charge show up on a credit card statement and have a significant other ask questions.
I'm considering using PayPal and making an ePub version of the book available via email. Do you think PayPal is private enough? Is there some other method that's both secure and private? I could also offer a print copy of the book, although if it was ordered through me, I would have to charge about $4 extra to cover the additional shipping step (and I wouldn't be able to offer that option outside the US).
I'd really like to make more people comfortable buying this book. I know that, although erotic fiction (like erotic images and video) in general is now more widely acceptable, fetish fiction is still a much more private sphere of many people's lives. I'd appreciate any advice on how I can make buying this book a little easier.
I'm considering using PayPal and making an ePub version of the book available via email. Do you think PayPal is private enough? Is there some other method that's both secure and private? I could also offer a print copy of the book, although if it was ordered through me, I would have to charge about $4 extra to cover the additional shipping step (and I wouldn't be able to offer that option outside the US).
I'd really like to make more people comfortable buying this book. I know that, although erotic fiction (like erotic images and video) in general is now more widely acceptable, fetish fiction is still a much more private sphere of many people's lives. I'd appreciate any advice on how I can make buying this book a little easier.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
New Prices Are In Effect on Amazon.com
The new prices have propagated through the system, and now appear on Amazon.com. I hope the lower price will encourage you to read my book and recommend it to your balloon-loving friends. Enjoy!
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