Turn Up The Heat - Reflections

 It started with a joining a discord channel meant to hold writers accountable to reach goals. I saw someone post that there was a plan to boost the attention and sales for erotica authors by doing a reader challenge. This would eventually be the Turn Up The Heat challenge.

The setup was this: Download a challenge board, read as many erotica titles as you can and review them. Each book reviewed counted for one vote. The prize, $40 of erotica and $200 worth of Sohimi sex toys. Over $200 worth of prizes just to read erotica less than $1.99 is a pretty damn good deal. I had just the title I wanted to bring attention to.

Since I wrote Privilege, it hardly received any sales. I even gave it away for free for a period of time and after approximately 30 downloads, no reviews. Given the subject matter was about White privilege and racism, I anticipated I would eventually get some reviews, particularly negative ones. When giving it away for free does not work, I was willing to try something else. Thankfully, the TurnUptheHeat organizers accepted Privilege to the challenge board. I knew that if I was going to do this, I would need to commit and put in my own work by promoting the hell out of this. So for the month of May, I avoided promoting the Immodest Collection and focused my attention on boosting the challenge.

During this time, all of the other authors pitched in by creating promos and boosting each other's tweets. This was something new and I'm not sure what organizers expected but by the end of the month, we all shared how much our online presence had increased. This was my big takeaway in how one change can result in amazing outcomes. I can't speak for the other authors, but I will say I was more than happy with the results. Within a few weeks, sales started coming in. One awesome author was nice enough to buy 10 copies as a give away. Most affirming though, were the reviews:

"The kink is hot and steamy but what sets this one apart is the underlying message addressed within and how well that is handled. The author interweaves it well without leaving us feel preached to, giving the message meaning and voice of it's own. Very well done and well worth picking up." - Alexa Sommers

"Privilege is not quite the story I expected from the cover blurb - it's more, it's deeper, and it's heavier, and it's so much better. J.C. Parker manages to weave themes of race and privilege into the story without ever feeling forced or out-of-place. It's heavy at times, almost even heavy-handed, but that's the whole point - it's a story about confronting privilege and understanding that that means. Along the way, of course, it's also a kinky story of lesbian love, female domination, bondage, punishment, and orgasm denial. To Parker's credit, she never pulls back, never shies away from Kayla's anger, even when we might expect a softening into an apologetic sort of happy ending. It's a story that arouses mind and body, and that's not an easy thing to do!" - Sally Bend 

Sales are awesome, ratings are also great, and for me, the time reviewers took to share their reactions to Privilege were what really touched me, that folks connected with the heart of the message in addition to enjoying the sexy aspect of it. Also awesome was that these were reviews from other writers and it was an honor to have it reviewed by them. I'm certain had I not contributed to this challenge it would not have been seen by many, and that was the point of why the organizers wanted to try this out.

Not only did this challenge bring new attention to my work, but it also connected me with the nice folks at Sohimi, who had asked me to review some of their toys. Here is my favorite one I recently tried. Never would have expected to list sex toy reviewer on my kinky resume but that's the fun of giving new things a try. The positive outcome in participating in the Turn Up the Heat challenge was more than I could imagine. It boosted my sales, reviews, and more importantly connected me to the wider community of erotica authors. It was cool to see everyone pitch in and help others promote, offering videos and promo images for others to share. I can't wait to see what the organizers have in store next, but I applaud them for seeing a need to bring attention to indie writers and for pulling off an amazing event. Bonus points for doing it during Masturbation Month >:). Even if you missed out this time, that doesn't mean you can't check the challenge board and read the awesome titles on it!

Turn Up The Heat! and a Sohimi Sex Toy Review

 Oof, talk about embarrassment, I'm feeling that way after over a year hiatus in posting. Much of it was due to managing a work/life balance in my final year of my doctoral program, other aspects were emotionally feeling drained from the ongoing accounts of police brutality and also my own management of emotions processing my own internalized racism as a transracial adoptee. Perhaps that will be a post for another time to give it the proper focus and attention. For now I wanted to post a first time for me: My first sex toy review!

How did this happen? It all started when I submitted Privilege to a reader challenge for the month of May (which also happens to the National Masturbation Month;) called the Turn Up The Heat reader challenge. The goal was to showcase indie erotica authors by having participants read a list of erotica, review it, and post it on their challenge board. The prize was MORE erotica AND free toys from Sohimi the company sponsoring the challenge.

 

As I promoted the challenge, Sohimi reached out and asked me to review one of their products. I've been curious about a fleslight type of toy for years and so this felt like the perfect time to try the The Automatic Male Masturbator Cup .

 

 

 

Wow, for a first toy, this came with a LOT of fun features. This version comes with a set of audio noises of moaning. It also comes with a wall mount to prop up so you can use it hands free. I was taken aback by the size of it (it was the length of a large thermos). The inside is a clear vagina-shaped opening that is soft with several bumps inside. It also comes with headphones, a USB charger, and lube. 

It took a bit of trial-and-error but once I got the hang of it it was definitely something I look forward to trying to again. I underestimated the amount of lube needed to penetrate. What first happened was getting my penis partially through and I found that to be a bit frustrating. But, reading some erotica (always a nice way to get in the mood) and a lot of lube used to coat the inside and on myself was what worked out. 

First, the thrusts are INTENSE! I did not need to do a thing, I just lay on my back and held the toy while the thrusting did the work. It has 5 different thrusting modes and with each mode are 6 different frequencies (3 to lessen and 3 to increase the intensity). It takes a moment to adjust, but the intensity of the thrusting starts to feel good the more you just relax and let your fantasies run wild in your mind. I preferred the mode with a constant thrusting motion (some do it in short bursts). I was able to cum with some patience and focus. 

 The second time was where it really knocked it out of the park. For the second, I tried the headphones and listened to the moans and wow did that make a difference. Admittedly, the sounds are not groundbreaking, it's a woman's voice on repeat making some dirty talk. What made it work was combining the overall experience of sex with the sounds of someone else, letting me envision other fantasies (of the naked embarrassed female kind). I got so excited it slipped off! I was frustrated in a good way, and when I slipped it back on I had an amazing orgasm and a sense of joy having found the right settings for me. The other nice part is that it's easy to wash, simply pull out the inside and rinse with water, letting it dry before use again.

I have not tried the toy using the wall mount but that is something I look forward to trying next time. Overall, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars (Rounding up on Amazon). I don't see this replacing my preferred way to masturbate, but the price for this is the same as a fleshlight, and considering all of the fun additions that come with it (wall mount, moaning sounds) it is definitely worth checking out for yourself or as a gift for someone else. I also appreciate that the company honors privacy. It arrived in a discrete box without any indication it was a sex toy, just the name of the company.

You still have a few weeks to do the TurnUpTheHeat Challenge. You get to win $240 in sex toys and erotica by simply reading and reviewing erotica!!! Don't hesitate, sign up now and win your chance to buy the Automatic masturbator or some of Sohima's other fun toys!