I'm bringing you behind the scenes with this post. Strap in, tie those shoelaces (made ya look!) and grab a warm mug of cocoa. Here we go!
In August I published a sweet, lovely bisexual teen novelette called And Plaid All Over. More recently I published a gritty, honest bisexual teen chapbook called Gayboy.
And, actually, they're both the same book. Different name, different cover, different branding, but the story inside is exactly the same.
The plan from the very beginning was to a/b test this story. What's a/b testing? It's when you present different versions of something to see what will have better results. In the case of Plaid/Gayboy I wanted to see whether a softer or harder title and cover design would sell more copies.
Of course, I'm being totally unscientific about this by actually telling you what I'm up to. I published the Plaid version first and kept it exclusive to Amazon for 90 days, then I unpublished it. My plan was to do the same with Gayboy, but I gave up pretty fast because Kindle Unlimited never works out for me. The bulk of my sales come from other ebook stores, so I've uploaded Gayboy pretty much everywhere.
The only thing I didn't change was print version. Chalk that up to laziness. But that also meant I was able to include in the Gayboy blurb: Paperback version available as "And Plaid All Over." Because, of course, I changed the title and cover art to test design concepts, not to trick anyone into buying the same book twice--yet another reason I'm letting you in my evil plan to take over the world. I mean to a/b test this book. Sorry, I glanced at the wrong notebook for a sec.
Now I know what you're thinking: which one's the winner--a or b? Plaid or Gayboy?
Well, the wheels fell off when I changed so many testing parameters, so I can't really say. What I can say is that you are more than welcome to scoop up a copy of Gayboy anywhere you like.
Oh, and if you want to know what the actual story is about... well, you could read it. Or you could check out this post I wrote: http://foxglovelee.blogspot.ca/2016/08/new-teen-fiction-bi-guy-his-best-friend.html
There are plenty of places to find Gayboy, including:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gayboy-foxglove-lee/1125245376
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1179950968
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/gayboy
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1I8V9V?tag=foxglovelee-20
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01N1I8V9V
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N1I8V9V
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/332231797/Gayboy
24Symbols: https://www.24symbols.com/book/x/x/x?id=1808057
I keep coming back to the 90s. I just can't help myself. 1994, in particular, grabs me. Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost was set in 1994. My new novelette, And Plaid All Over, is set in that same year. It's about two best friends who are madly in love... with Forever Plaid.
In case you haven't heard of it, Forever Plaid is a one-act musical about a singing group from the early 60s who time-travel into the future to give a concert for you, the audience. It's a weird musical for a pair of teenagers to be obsessed with, but there's a bit of a based-on-a-true-story aspect to And Plaid All Over: in 1994 or so, my best friend and I went to see Forever Plaid multiple times. Not as many times as Marco and Anna, but more than most teens. We'd stand in line for rush tickets. Much like Marco and Anna, we were always the youngest people in the audience.
For all you 90s historians out there (or at least for fans of musical theatre), I've got a few artifacts to show you.
Here's my "Plaidbill" from one performance, so when Anna asks "Why's it called a Plaidbill?" you'll know what she's talking about:
Marco and Anna are members of the Frequent Plaid Club. Here's what that's all about:
And when Marco hooks a plastic bag from the gift shop around his wrist, this is the bag:
Having said all that, And Plaid All Over is a work of FICTION so please don't sue me, Forever Plaid people!
And Plaid All Over is a cute little novelette about a bi guy with a crush on an actor, his best friend who kind of annoys him sometimes, and their mutual love of Forever Plaid (and... each other?).
You can read And Plaid All Over as an ebook from Amazon, but if you prefer paperbacks you can actually get this book in print too even though it's quite a short read.
Here be the linkages (I don't know why my urls look like they're not hyperlinked when they are...):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KOUZTCO?tag=foxglovelee-20
In the UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KOUZTCO
In Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01KOUZTCO
In Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01KOUZTCO
