Does Sex Sell?

We see all the glossy magazines with photos of beautiful models both women and men.  They advertise clothes, shoes, perfumes, hair products, makeup and numerous other items.  There are even more advertisements on television with gorgeous women and hunky men. 

What woman hasn't drooled over the beautiful swishing hair of actress/model Andie McDowell? Everyone would love to look like the models who wear Cover Girl makeup. Sometimes, dancers are used to model clothes and shoes, especially kids' shoes. 

You're probably wondering what is bringing about all these thoughts, so I'm going to get to the point now.  My publisher decided a while back to make new covers for my books; you know update their look.  The first thing I noticed was there is a sexy looking couple on each cover. 

The romantic couples look great on my new book covers, but I am going to be eager to learn if these covers sell more books.  What do you think, does sex sell?

Have a great week, and I'll see you next weekend.

Sandra K. Marshall, Author at

Eirelander Publishing

Do You Listen to Too Many People?

Good Morning Everyone,

Are you one of these people who listen to everything anyone tells you?  I am.  Is this good?  It maybe, but more often than not it isn't.  Why, you say?  Because you are the only one who knows what you are trying to say, or make your characters say.  When you listen to other people, they can lead you away from your voice. 

For years, I listened to contest judges, critique groups, chapter members and tried to do everything they told me to do, making my writing better in some ways, but totally losing my way.  I didn't have a voice of my own, and there's the crux of the matter.  I found myself trying to write like everyone else, which only made my writing sound like everyone else. 

In defense of my early critique groups, all of us were unpublished and we were all learning.  We had help from our published peers at times, and I'm not faulting them either because they couldn't follow us through our stories to make each of us stay on track.

An aspiring writer must get some backbone and stick up for what you think is right for your story.  If it's not a romance, don't let someone make you turn it into one.  If someone says you can't have sex in your story or you have to have sex in your story, and you don't want to do it that way then stay true to yourself. 

Do you listen to anyone?  Of course, you do.  I prefer to listen to those who make me think rather than those who tell me what to do.  I like to hear what's wrong with my work, how to fix the problem, but doesn't tell me how to do it.

Also, I recommend that if they aren't willing to listen to you run the other way.  If they think they know your story better than you do, they are wrong.  You know your characters and what makes them the way they are better than anyone. 

This article was posted in MARA MATTERS in April, 2008 by Sandy Marshall.

Thank you for reading.  See you next Sunday.

Sandra K. Marshall
Author Page at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/author/sandramarshall

Review of Addiction

Hi Everyone,

Okay, I normally wouldn't do this but I thought my sister was honest in her review. However, it was just her opinion, and I would love to have others comment who have read Addiction. Below is what she said about Addiction:

"I stayed up until almost midnight to finish the last 70 pages of your book. You did a great job telling the story. It was interesting and held my attention. BLANK (I took this part out because she gave away the killer in this part of the review) Basically, what she said is that I was clever. lol The only parts of the book I didn't really care for were the way too graphic for me raunchy sex. The romance was missing. I enjoyed the story though. You have come a long way in your writing. Congratulations."

Is this a good review? Well, it depends on how you look at it. lol I certainly won't pick up any inspirational readers and maybe I won't get the romance readers. Not unless you like raunchy sex. Wink! But then I might pick up some men readers because men like raunchy sex. hehehe

Other reviews can be found on Amazon and at these links:
http://bkwalkerbooks.weebly.com/1/post/2009/12/-read-review-of-addiction-by-sandra-k-marshall.html

http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/addiction-by-sandra-k-marshall.html

http://www.nightowlreviews.com/nor/Reviews/Vee-reviews-Addiction-by-Sandra-K-Marshall.aspx

That's it for this Sunday. Have a great week.

Sandy or Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirelander-publishing.com