I want to thank Social Butterfly PR for the advanced screener of Naughty Books a new documentary from director Austen Elanore Rachlis.
This is a bit of a different review from me. I had an opportunity to watch a screener of this documentary. A documentary all about the ups and downs of the genre we all love.
NAUGHTY BOOKS: A Documentary directed by Austen Eleanore Rachlis and starring Kelli Maine, Laurelin Paige, Kristen Proby, CJ Roberts, Aimee Garcia, Allison Tolman and Aisha Tyler is available now!
“No one was prepared for the success of Fifty Shades of Grey. Originally written in 2010 as a piece of Twilight fan fiction and posted online, it eventually sold over 100 million copies, taking erotica mainstream. But women didn’t only read erotica in large numbers; they also wrote it. In the aftermath of Fifty Shades a cottage industry emerged around self-published romance novels. Once women who worked forty-hour-a-week jobs, living paycheck-to-paycheck, many of them are now New York Times bestselling authors with their own merchandise lines and die-hard fans. Naughty Books follows three such women: an Air Force vet, a telemarketer, and a hospital administrator who became millionaires in under a year by using pen names to sell erotica online. They garnered thousands of fans and secured lucrative book deals with major publishing houses by writing about good girls and bad boys finding love and having steamy sex. However, as more and more people saw writing erotic romance as a quick path to money and fame, the market became saturated with hundreds of romance novels published every month, making success difficult to maintain…”
A Few of My Personal Thoughts…
- What I Loved: I loved the way they showed off our community. The documentary showed bloggers, book clubs, and conventions. It showed how we are all in this together and we love what we love and that is more than okay. My favourite cameos were the owners of The Ripped Bodice, the bookstore in LA that I have always wanted to go to. The way they talked about the industry in such a knowledgeable way was amazing. They said some of the things I have been screaming from the rooftops for years, that this genre is written by women, edited by women, marketed by women, reviewed by women, for WOMEN! Expert voices were really great too, this was well researched and overall a great exploration of the romance genre.
- What I Was Only Okay With: First off I was let down by who the documentary chose to focus on. I gather based on the events of the documentary that this was filmed a while ago, so who was dominating the genre was a different story back then. I was really let down because I initially signed on to review this because of Colleen Hoover’s involvement, I love her and wanted to get some more insight from her. I swear she was barely in this and when she was in it, it was so valuable I really think they lost an opportunity to feature her way more in this documentary. I have not read any books by any other author that got the most speaking time. I understood looking at someone like Kristen Proby, but it made me wish they could have spent more time on what is going on today like how she not only writes but is publishing other authors. CJ Roberts really did demonstrate the burnout and demand the genre asks of you, so I valued having that perspective somewhat. I really did not understand why Kelli Maine was so focused on, she bugged me quite quickly honestly. It was the insinuation that the genre was not allowing her to write what she wanted and how she wanted it. And maybe that was more of the story when this came out but I would say today there is way more respect from fans when it comes to pushing boundaries and breaking the genre contract. I would also say that these fans are loyal, I read and review every release for the authors I love to death. When they are writing what they are truly passionate about it shows in the quality of their story. I have been through numerous experiences where books get pushed back or another book takes precedence and I have always never abandoned the author because of it. I don’t “forget” authors like how Kelli stated it, and it was her sections that made me feel as if the fans who to me are some of the best in the book world were not represented fairly.
You Can Watch the Doc at The Link Below…
I want to thank Social Butterfly and 1091 pictures for this opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog. Stay safe!
