On average, I've been reading 65 books per year for the past three years -- but it seems I have little time for reading in 2016!
Since my last post about reading here on OGAG!, I only just recently finished those books. (They were mostly okay.)
This time around, I've got four books on the go. One of them is a beta read of an epic fantasy novel written by a friend of mine (but a different one than the one I was reading last time). The remaining three books are:
As I mentioned last time, I'm a huge Star Trek nut. Ascendance continues the plot of Deep Space Nine past the end of the TV series. All of the Star Trek book series have continued on beyond the end of the TV series now, sometimes making drastic changes through collaborative efforts among the Trek authors, or crossing over or tying together different series. No one does it better than David R George III, though. He just gets Deep Space Nine like no one else does and his books are better than any of the shows and better than all the other books.
Tie Me Up! by Stephan Niederwieser
Niederwieser has written a few non-fiction books on gay sex that I've read. I like his casual style and to-the-point writing.
Tie Me Up! is about, well, tying people up. Like many erotica writers, I've got a few different pen names, tackling slightly different smut. It's really through sheer coincidence that all three of my pen names are tackling various forms of BDSM very soon! Some will be more hardcore BDSM than others and some will be more formal/strict about BDSM life than others. For one of my pen names, the BDSM will be as accurate as possible and involve a lot of rope work, so this book is helping me get the terms correct and helping me better understand the effects of bondage on the sub.
Now to find a nubile twink to practice this on...
I'm partnering with a couple other people to create an e-publisher of M/M erotic romance and gay erotica. While a lot of people in the industry self-publish, there are also a lot that either find themselves unable to do it on their own or not wanting to be responsible for all the steps. Personally, I love the publishing process, perhaps even more than the writing process. I'm teaming up with a handful of excellent editors and a couple people with experience with graphics work -- and together we're working on creating a professional and comprehensive publishing company. It'll still be a few months before we're open for submissions, though.
I'm somewhat envious of the ease of creating a limited liability corporation in the USA (based on what I've read in erotica forums). Up here in Canada, the process is both expensive and complicated, hence why I'm reading this manual. The company is currently in the hands of my lawyer, who is registering our company name and drafting our Articles of Incorporation. From there, there's a ton more paperwork and I'll have to hire an accountant to set up the financial system and complete more paperwork.
Two thirds of this 600-page book, which is how far I'm into it, is about setting up the business (and the remaining third is HR and marketing) and this still doesn't explain everything I need to know. This week I'm at a three-day business start-up workshop that I hope will explain the rest of it (or at least a little bit more).
So that's what I'm reading! After I finish these, I think I'll be diving into a bunch of sci-fi, so the next reading post might be a little less business-y. :)
Cameron D. James is a writer of gay erotica and M/M erotic romance; his latest release is Seduced by My Best Friend’s Dad (co-written with Sandra Claire). He lives in Canada, is always crushing on Starbucks baristas, and has two rescue cats. To learn more about Cameron, visit http://www.camerondjames.com.
I know a few other people working on setting up small presses, but no others, as far as I know, in Canada. What my friend In Minnesota is doing seems quite complicated enough. I do wonder sometimes whether some folks just plunge into it without even finding out what the legal requirements are, and, if so, what happens if they get into trouble.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly -- just setting up an incorporated business (regardless of what industry) is difficult enough! If I was impatient, I could've just jumped into it and promised myself to figure out the details later, which would be a huge mistake!
DeleteI'm very surprised that incorporation is so much more complex in Canada. Anyway, I applaud your business-like approach. I've seen many small publishers fail over the years due to a lack of professionalism. You can't succeed on passion alone.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether incorporation is more complex in Canada, or whether it's always byzantine in every country, but some newbies don't realize that until they're neck-deep. I'm impressed, Cameron. My partner Mirtha has recently studied accounting for small businesses and non-profit organizations, and she loves it (something I didn't know about her when we first got together in 1989 - one more sign that every relationship is an adventure). She's been taking a non-credit class on running a small business in the evenings, and she already has a project in mind that she plans to implement after she retires from her current job. You might want to compare notes with her. You could reach her through me. (She prob. wouldn't respond to a message from an unidentified male.)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with all these endeavours! I hope you find a great practice partner for the rope, and that your small press goes well. :)
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