The Transfiguration. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)
So, let’s say you’re a New York Times and USA Today bestselling erotic romance author. You have thousands of followers on Twitter, thousands of likes on Facebook, and have been called “One of the most popular authors in romance” by Amazon. Let’s also say that you and your agent are nearly done negotiating a well-paying, six-book publishing contract with a major publisher with little else to do but sign on the dotted line. Would you:
- Work like your ass is on fire to keep the momentum going and continue building your brand; OR
- Change your name, change your brand, drop your agent, give up your book deal, and let everyone know that from now on you’re going to be writing for the glory of God.
People who advise others on ways to further their professional livelihoods would tell you right quick that option 2 is what they call CAREER SUICIDE. An honest-to-goodness career buster. Or just a plain ol bat-sh*t crazy thing to do. But none of that matters to (former) erotic romance author Shoshanna Evers. As she let all her fans and followers know on November 12th, she’s choosing option 2.
Shoshanna Evers goes back a few years with LadySmut. Back in 2013 Madeleine Iva featured her in an interview that stemmed from her Enslaved trilogy and included comments on her controversial Held Captive by the Cavemen short novella, and her approach to her stories in general. But before New York Girl Shoshanna took up residence in northern Idaho, she was a member of the Hudson Valley RWA local chapter (still my local chapter) where I first met her several years ago. That’s why, when Shoshanna made her big announcement on her future career plans, I was keenly interesed in writing about it.
She blogs about what she’s going to do, and you can read all about it here. But the Cliff Notes version is this: after the Sandy Hook shooting Shoshanna turned to the bible for answers. While reading it she came to believe – which, she says, was admittedly difficult for a Jewish girl – that Jesus is the Messiah she’d been waiting for. After much reflective soul searching she realized that she’s no longer excited to write erotic romance and is going to change direction to focus on Christian inspirational. Her name, too, will be Shoshanna Gabriel instead of Shoshanna Evers so as not to confuse her readers. Probably a smart move there.
When I emailed Shoshanna to let her know I was going to be writing about her transformation and whether she wanted to add any comments, she wrote, “My word for this year is “new” – as in new start, new name, new books, new agent, new publisher, new website, new career path, and new faith. And new babies, too! TWINS!” Happy news indeed as she and her DH are expecting twins from a Mumbai, India surrogate. The due date is June 28th.
Admittedly, not all of Shoshanna’s readers are as excited about her new direction as she is. On her Twitter feed she noted that since her announcement she’s had a lot of “unlikes.” Yet she remains steadfast in her belief that making the change from sexy to sweet is what she’s meant to do. It’s a risky move. She may have a challenge building her credibility. Will readers of Christian inspirational buy into Shoshanna’s change or will they approach it with a more-than-healthy dose of skepicism? After all, how would this author, writer of (among others) The Man Who Holds The Whip and Hollywood Spank and editor of Hot to Write Hot Sex know anything about the Christian inspirational market and what those readers want? But as Shoshanna states on her blog, “God opens windows whenever he closes a door.” She genuinely feels that her new direction is where she’s meant to go.
What do you think? Comments welcome. And feel free to keep up with Shoshanna’s new direction via the links below.
