Erotica Cover Watch 1 : Naysayers 0
We’re back! It’s beautiful! And we’re boasting! Find out why by scrolling down this man:
Remember when we started Erotica Cover Watch? We wanted to highlight how unfair it was that sexy books always featured sexy women on the covers and *never* sexy men. It was a crazy time on the blog with people zooming in from far and wide to join the debate. We got a lot of enthusiastic support (thank you!) and a lot of flak (yeah, sod off!). One of the frequent criticisms we heard was that you couldn’t put a guy on a cover because the world would end. OK, I’m paraphrasing a tad. What some of our critics said was that our efforts were pointless since publishers’ attitudes were never going to change. Were a publisher ‘to go radically against the grain,’ we were told, ‘they would just be committing commercial suicide’.
Back in September, we didn’t know if anyone with influence would take any notice of what we were saying. Of course, we hoped they would. I wrote: If one publishing co, having heard what we are saying, opts to put a bloke on the cover instead of a woman [...] and they actually give consideration to women as consumers, I’d consider that a victory.
And so we have it! Our amazing victory! Yippee!
When we first stumbled across Sex and Satisfaction 2 on one of our regular patrols, we were so happy we did a little dance (the BICEPS boogie). But it wasn’t until we got in touch with Xcite’s editor, Miranda Forbes, that we realised the decision to put a guy on the cover was a result of our campaigning! Yes, lil ol’ us! We did it! And you lot – the people who’ve supported us by commenting, lurking, emailing, drooling, spreading the word or joining our Man Candy Mondays – you are all part of our success and you too must do the BICEPS boogie!
After we’d caught our breath, we put a few questions to Miranda about Xcite and the sexy, wet man in a low-slung towel and this is what she said:
Practically all erotica covers feature a sexy woman. What inspired you to put a hot guy on the cover of Sex and Satisfaction 2?
Well, I must confess that it’s a direct result of reading the Erotica Cover Watch blog! We do tend to go for female covers but you made us think again and hence the sexy hunk this time.
We’re thrilled! Thank you. What’s the response been like so far?
So far we have only got the reaction of the trade buyers but orders are good so it is looking promising.
On ECW, we’ve heard people argue publishers can’t put hot guys on erotica covers because people will assume the book’s aimed at gay men. Has this been a concern of yours?
Yes, I did get that feedback from one of the buyers who felt it looked like a book aimed at gay men. We will have to see what our readers feel. I do understand that many women prefer a man on the cover. We are quite unusual because we accept male writers writing using male names – since most of our readers enjoy heterosexual stories it seemed a shame to exclude men from writing them!
We’ve also been told booksellers would refuse to stock such books on the grounds the reading public don’t like men on their smut. Have any of your usual stockists turned the book down?
No, all our usual outlets have placed orders for this title so it will be available in the UK from Waterstones, Borders, WH Smith, LoveHoney, Ann Summers and Amazon UK (also Amazon US).
The first Sex and Satisfaction is Xcite’s bestselling title to date. Are you optimistic about the success of Sex and Satisfaction 2? Do you feel you’re taking a financial risk in putting a guy on a potential top-selling title?
Yes, Sex and Satisfaction is our bestselling title to date which goes to show our readers want sex AND satisfaction! It was a risk but we felt it was a good book to try the new cover format as we expected it to do well and it would get good exposure.
Can readers look forward to more Xcite books with sexy guys on the cover?
I really hope so. We will monitor the reaction and will use more men if we get a good response. We are also using couples more and Ultimate Curves features a lovely curvy girl since all the stories celebrate sexy larger ladies.
How did you choose the image? Did someone have to trawl through hundreds of photos of semi-naked men? If so, can we have their job please?
Sorry, not giving up that perk of my job – I also get to read sexy stories every day, it’s tough but someone has to do it! The hardest part is thinking up new titles so suggestions are welcome. Please email them to miranda@xcitebooks.com – there’ll be a free goodie box for any we use.
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Sex and Satisfaction 2 has just been released and we’ve got a fabulous 25% discount for readers of Erotica Cover Watch. The anthology features stories from top smutters including Donna George Storey, Scarlet mag regular, Carmel Lockyer (aka Kay Sexton), Sommer Marsden, Dakota Rebel and soon-to-be Xcite novelist, Jeremy Edwards, whose story, Moistened by Mercer, can be downloaded for free right here!
If you support our campaign and would like to see more hot guys on erotica book covers we urge you to put your money where the muscle is and buy this book! To claim your 25% discount via Xcite’s store, simply add the code ECW25 to your order and £7.99 magically becomes £5.99! It’s easy-peasy. I know because I just tried it – and now (despatch within two hours!) I’m looking forward to owning my very first erotic fiction anthology with a guy on the cover. Jeesh, feels like we’re making history here!
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Since we did this interview with Miranda, Xcite have released their second erotica cover featuring a super-sexy guy. Boy Fun is, as you may have guessed, m/m, so straight guys aren’t really part of its target audience, meaning this cover doesn’t challenge erotica’s sexist norms in quite the way Sex and Satisfaction 2 does. However, it is totally fucking hot so we think you need to see it! Plus, it’s great that an erotica imprint whose books are aimed primarily at women are embracing m/m. Erotic romance cottoned on to m/m’s hotness a long time ago. Hurrah, erotica is catching up!
Boy Fun is set for release in March 2010 and Xcite are still open to submissions of guy-on-guy action. Check out their guidelines here along with Xcite’s other current calls for subs.
And remember, Xcite are looking for title suggestions so drop them a line if you want to be in with a chance of winning a goodie box.
If you want Sex and Satisfaction 2 to be the first of many books featuring hot guys on the cover, please let the publishers know by buying yourself a copy. The code ECW25 will get you 25% off the cover price at Xcite. Then read it on the train, on the bus, on the tube; tell all your friends; link to this blog, and help us spread the word: women find men sexy! More please!
Kristina x
Man Candy Monday
I really can’t believe I’ve never offered a lick of this candy before, because it is quite probably an all time favourite. I have this pic up on the wall by my desk and a visiting friend once saw it and said ‘Is that David Boreanaz in the bath? God, no wonder you write so well.’
So, now my secret is out. Enjoy!
Man Candy Monday
What, us? Need a cheap excuse to post pics of hot men kissing?
This Wednesday, Mathilde Madden and I will be reading from our dirty books at Polari, ‘London’s peerless gay literary salon‘. The theme is ’supernatural’, headlining the bill is author, Paul Magrs, and hosting the night is Paul Burston whose latest book, The Gay Divorcee, is currently storming the charts. We are beyond excited! If you live in the South East, join us in Soho for some sexy spooky fun. Buy us a drink and we might even tell you what’s in store for Erotica Cover Watch’s re-launch in July! Check out Polari details on MySpace and Facebook.
And for more hot men kissing pics from photographer David Vance, visit this this gallery.
Kristina x
Man Candy Monday
Several times, I’ve talked myself out of using this image on Cover Watch because the horse:man ratio is quite high. However, I can no longer resist. Anyway, if you’re anything like me, when you fix your eyes on Chad White’s thigh, you’ll soon be going ‘Horse? What horse?’
His arse is quite horse-erasing too.
Photography by the ever fabulous, Francois Rousseau.
Kristina
X
Man Candy Monday
It’s been blazingly, blisteringly hot in the UK this weekend, so to celebrate summer sunshine here’s a bumper Man Candy Monday for you.
Zachary Quinto used to be best known for Heroes and the new Star Trek movie. But soon I’m pretty sure he will be best known for this delicious video portrait (also by Tyler Shields). He looks so cross. Perhaps he has a dairy intolerance. That is milk, right?
In other news, our partners in crimes of man candy, Filament Magazine, got a write up in The Independent. The piece takes the usual tone of ‘this hasn’t worked before so will it work now?’ I really don’t know. I think what Filament is offering seems genuinely innovative and also something that is not available for free on the internet.
Issue One is out now. Will you be ordering a copy? Ours is on the way and we’ll certainly let you know what we think.
Happy, happy Monday
Mat x
PS We will return with more cover watch features in July. We have some very exciting plans. Stay tuned.
mathildemadden
kristinalloyd
