9 of the 20 Best Selling Books, on AALBC.com for 2007, were written or edited by Zane

Author - Publisher - Bookseller - Producer

Zane is the New York Times Bestselling Author of several titles: Addicted, The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth, Skyscraper, Nervous, Gettin’ Buck Wild: The Sex Chronicles 2, The Sisters of APF, Shame on it All, and The Heat Seekers.  She has been published in several different languages including Japanese, Swedish, and Greek.  She originally self-published three titles in 2000 and went on to sell more than 250,000 copies; virtually by word of mouth alone.  After almost four years, she is embarking on her first tour this summer aboard “The Zane Love Bus.”

Having first signed with Simon and Schuster in June 2001, Zane has contracted fifteen books to a single publisher in less than three years with all of them due to be published by Spring 2005.  She has been on the Essence Magazine bestsellers list consistently since she began her published career and currently holds the number one and number two positions in the hardcover fiction section.  She is the only author to ever have three out of five of the top fiction sellers in one month and she accomplished the feat for several months in a row.  Recently, Zane held down seven of the top fifteen African American fiction titles at Waldenbooks Nationwide including the first, second and third positions.  She has sold more than two million books since April 2000.

She is also the editor of Chocolate Flava, which sold nearly 100,000 copies during its first month of publication (January 2004) and it recently went into its ninth printing. This is highly unusual for erotic fiction collections and Caramel Flava is already in the works.

In addition to being an author, Zane is the Publisher of Strebor Books International LLC (www.streborbooks.com).  She has twenty-eight authors signed to her house and the titles are distributed through Simon and Schuster.  Zane is also the executive producer of “Sock it to Me”: a DVD based on one of the stories in The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth. 

Zane’s Endeavors Books and Gifts, her newest venture, will open its doors for business in April 2004.  Located in the historic Fell’s Point area of Baltimore at 1622 Thames Street, Zane is truly excited about the possibilities that owning a bookstore will bring.

In the near future she plans to direct her first movie and is in serious talks for several major motion pictures and numerous plays.  She is sponsoring her first cruise in October of this year.
 

Love Is Never Painless
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Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Atria; 3 Books in 1 edition (November 14, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0743498623

Truer words have never been spoken. This heart-wrenching collection of novellas brings that statement to life in three unique ways, penned by three of the generation's most prolific authors.

In Eileen M. Johnson's "How the Other Half Lives," Jamellah and Fernecia have been friends since forever. Having escaped the poverty of their youth together, they both had made their mark in society. However, men problems threaten to make them literally fall apart. Fernecia is married to a man who was raised to think he is better than everyone -- even his own wife. Jamellah has always used men to get ahead but eventually everything catches up to her. The two friends must ultimately count on each other in a world of havoc and distrust.

In V. Anthony Rivers' "Love Is 2 Blame," Malcolm is devastated after a two-year relationship with Shaylisa ends. He finds it difficult to function because he cannot comprehend why she would want to end such a perfect situation. He was everything she had asked for; he treated her with respect and showered her with love. Yet love was not enough. Trying to move on to someone new will not be as easy as it used to be, but will the lovely Zahara show Malcolm what true love is all about?

In Zane's "Staring Evil in the Face," Robier has everything a man could ever wish for: a stable and rewarding career, two beautiful children, an elegant home, and the woman of his dreams. Having loved Tiphanie since college, he is determined to keep his marital vows until . . . Tiphanie is involved in a horrible car accident that changes the entire course of their lives.

From nervous breakdowns to drug addiction, Love Is Never Painless explores the deeper side of love; the side rarely explored in romance novels. Zane, Johnson, and Rivers have penned a powerful collection of novellas that will not only have readers talking but also examining their own relationships with a new perspective.

Caramel Flava: The Eroticanoir.com Anthology
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Breaking the Cycle
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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books
Pub. Date: March 29, 2005
ISBN: 1593090218

Breaking the Cycle is a stunning and moving anthology of stories, each of which focuses on an aspect of domestic abuse. This powerful collection is sure to serve as a wake-up call for people either dealing with a domestic abuse situation, or those watching someone else endure it.

In the title story, Zane describes the turmoil that a young girl suffers at the hands of her stepfather. The girl and her mother plan their escape, but at the last minute the mother falters—causing her to break down and tell her daughter the long history of domestic abuse in her own family. In D.V. Bernard’s “The Lonely Echoes of My Youth,” readers are introduced to a young boy who witnesses an alluring young girl who encourages the boys around her to physically fight one another until they become violent by nature. And Nane Quartay’s provocative story “The Grindstone,” a tale based on the author’s own experience, describes a boy who witnesses a brutal murder, in which a woman decapitates her abusive husband with a machete. The boy’s mother is a victim of abuse herself, and as her son relates the story over and over, she starts speculating about the benefits of sharpening knives on a grindstone.

These stories capture the dangerous realities of domestic abuse, while also pointing toward the steps that need to be taken to break the cycle that perpetuates it. It is sure to serve as a rallying cry for all those who desire victory over their own victimization, and a guide for understanding the complex undercurrents that make such patterns possible.

Afterburn
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ISBN: 0743470974
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Pub. Date: January 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

In the latest romantic romp from New York Times bestselling author Zane, two hapless lovers get lost in a dating game gone awry.

When Washington, D.C., chiropractor Yardley Brown goes to his local bank, it isn't only to make deposits into his account. He has long since accrued some interest in Rayne Waters, a bank employee who's too beautiful to be true -- and too beautiful to be single. At least that's what Yardley believes, which is why he has never approached her.

Little does he know that Rayne is anything but taken. Not for want of trying, of course. But after barely surviving a dating disaster with her hairdresser's brother and then falling for a member of her church band who, it turns out, is celibate, she's on the verge of giving up. That is, until Yardley -- discouraged by his own slew of dead-end romances -- finally works up the courage to give her a try.

The true craziness, however, is just beginning, thanks to a cast of characters who seem bent on botching the young couple's relationship.

There's Rayne's erratic mother, who constantly boasts about being a "good whore"; Yardley's playboy buddies, always trolling for sex; and, worst of all, past lovers who make a habit of popping up and ruining things as only old flames (or previous mistakes) can. Weaving the carnal and the comical in true Zane fashion, Rayne and Yardley's struggle to find love in a world gone mad is a timeless talk about everything that can go wrong in the dating game -- and a few things that can go right.

Chocolate Flava: The Eroticanoir.com Anthology
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Zane (Editor)

ISBN: 0743482387
Format: Paperback, 352pp
Pub. Date: January 2004
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

As a bestselling author and successful publisher of Strebor Books, Zane's name is synonymous with popular fiction -- especially erotica. Her website, Eroticanoir.com, gets over a million hits a year from around the world, and her fans look forward to every one of her publishing ventures with eager anticipation.

Chocolate Flava is the first in a series of collections of great erotic fiction edited by Zane, the reigning queen of erotica. Based on the Featured Erotica section of her website, Chocolate Flava gathers twenty-five sizzling tales from some of the most talented -- and dedicated -- writers of erotica working today.

This is a his-and-her collection. There are stories specifically written with female readers in mind, and others written expressly for men. Among the contributors are names already familiar to readers of erotica, such as Reginald Harris, Robert Edison Sandiford, Jonathan Luckett and, of course, Zane -- as well as emerging voices, such as Geneva Barnes and Robert Scott Adams. What they all have in common is that they are great at what they do, and have been handpicked by Zane -- an editor who knows a hot story when she sees it.

Zane wanted stories "that took risks, that explored unique situations, that were creative beyond compare." She wanted to show that men and women can equally express themselves through the medium of erotic fiction. She wanted stories that would turn her on. This collection of selected sexy short stories will turn you on, too.

Skyscraper
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ISBN: 074345703X
Format: Hardcover, 288pp
Pub. Date: December 2003
Publisher: Atria Books

Most corporations hand out bonus checks or gift certificates for Christmas but Wolfe Industries hands out drama. Skyscraper centers around the week before the Annual Christmas Party at Wolfe Industries, the first African-American automobile manufacturer. It examines the lives of four central characters: Chico, an 18-year-old mailroom clerk, Anastasia, a 25-year-old secretary, Diana, a 37-year-old executive assistant, and Tomalis Wolfe, the 50-year-old CEO.

Chico resides with his overprotective, extremely religious mother and is the typical young man when it comes to sex. He doesn’t turn it down. Anastasia, along with her best friend and coworker, Shakia, spends her nights in the secret penthouse maintained by Wolfe executives for partying and wild sex. Diana, a single mother of twin boys, is frustrated with her current position as an executive assistant. Meanwhile Edmund, a parking garage attendant, has the hots for her but she will never give him the time of day. Tomalis has all the money in the world and all the problems: a whorish wife, a bitchy mother-in-law, a druggie daughter, and a trifling son. A determined individual who built his empire from scratch, Tomalis is not one to be toyed with and he intends to make everyone around him understand that for once and for all.

The week leading up to the Christmas party is unforgettable, as the lives of four people who have barely interacted with each other in the past begin to cross paths in the most disturbing ways. By the time the actual party takes place, they will be lucky if the Wolfe Industries Skyscraper is still standing.

Nervous
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ISBN: 0743476239
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: September 2003
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

Zane's legion of fans can't get enough of her way of telling a juicy, sexy story. Now, the New York Times bestselling queen of erotica brings us a tale of a woman with a split personality -- one highly sexed and one sexually repressed.

Jonquinette Pierce has always been nervous when it comes to men. She took a job dealing with mostly women so she could avoid men. She goes to work and comes straight home during the week, but on the weekends her other self, Jude, takes over and goes on intense sexual escapades.

Jonquinette recognizes that her alter ego is a problem and seeks to resolve it with the help of Dr. Marcella Spencer, the psychiatrist Zane originated in her bestselling novel Addicted. Jude's response is to get angry and go on a sexual rampage. In the meantime, Jonquinette becomes interested in her new neighbor, Mason, after having a conversation with him at a mutual friend's wedding. Jude has no intention of letting Jonquinette fall in love and find happiness at her expense. Jude is having way too much fun using the body she shares with Jonquinette. This "two faces of Eve" scenario is a fun fantasy for women who have imagined their own alter ego behaving badly in a sexual way. But for the leading lady of Nervous, this is a nightmare. Based on a short story of the same title from her bestselling collection, The Sex Chronicles, Nervous is classic Zane with an edge. So, relax, sit back. You're in for a nerve-tingling read.

The Sisters of APF: The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick
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ISBN: 0743466985
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: April 2003
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

The Sisters of APF is Zane's first book based on one of her most popular short story subjects, the sexy escapades of a sorority like no other.

APF stands for Alpha Phi Fuckem, a sorority dedicated to sexual freedom and the fulfillment of its members. Zane's APF stories have appeared in her earlier collections, including The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth, and are favorites among her readers.

Many readers have written to Zane and asked to join the sorority or to launch a new chapter in their region. APF is fantasy, but the enthusiasm of Zane's fans is real. So now, with The Sisters of APF, she's offering readers what they want, a book-length story chronicling the adventures -- and recruitment process -- of the fearlessly sexy women of APF.

Mary Ann is the daughter of a chicken farmer from South Dakota. She has never been more than fifty miles from home and has led a sheltered life. By the time she goes off to college in Washington, D.C., she has been intimate with only one man -- her high school sweetheart. The resident manager of Mary Ann's dormitory, Patricia, befriends the country bumpkin. She finds Mary Ann amusing, but also senses something intriguing about her, hidden under the surface. After Mary Ann becomes smitten with Trevor, the campus playboy, Patricia is determined to show Mary Ann how not to be a victim, but rather how to outdo the players and heartbreakers. She indoctrinates Mary Ann into the ranks of the sexiest secret society ever: the sisters of APF.

Addicted 
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Format: Paperback, 336pp.
ISBN: 0743442849
Publisher: Pocket Books
(This title previously self-published by Strebor Books Inc.)
Pub. Date: October  2001

Description from the Publisher:
Addicted is the story of Zoe, an African-American female arts dealer. It traces her life from the time she first meets her husband, Jason, in the fifth grade, falls in love with him over a game of Twister in the eighth grade, loses her virginity to him in high school and eventually marries him. Everything seems perfect in Zoe’s life to her friends and family as she secretly deals with serious problems in her marriage.

After failing to get Jason to open up to her sexually, Zoe becomes involved in not one, not two but three extramarital affairs. By the time she seeks the aid of a prominent female African-American therapist, the walls of her picture perfect life have already started to crumble. 

The book shifts into high gear as Zoe finds out that everyone from her lovers to her husband to her own mother are hiding secrets of their own. Her best friend, Brina, is physically abused by her alcoholic boyfriend, Dempsey. Zoe discovers under hypnosis that her fascination with sex stems from two incidents in her early childhood she had buried deeply into the crevices of her mind. She is stalked and attacked. The book comes to a head on a cold, dark mountain following a trail of murders and the true murderer is anyone’s guess. Addicted does for women what Fatal Attraction did for men. It will make a woman think twice before risking it all.

Shame On It All
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Format: Paperback, 320pp.
ISBN: 0967460123
Publisher: Strebor Books International, LLC
Pub. Date: June  2001

From the Publisher:
Can you say WILD? Can you say FREAKY DEAKY? Can you say in your best Shananae imitation, "Oh my goodness! No she didn't even go there!" If you can say all of that, then you can probably handle reading this book. However, the only thing you will be able to say after you finish it is "Shame on it all!" Thus, the title.

Harmony, Bryce and Lucinda aka Lucky Whitfield are sisters in the truest sense of the word. They argue and they get on each other's nerves but when it comes down to the wire, they are extremely protective of one another. One brotha in particular has to find out the hard way that if you mess with one of the Whitfield sisters, you mess with the whole family.

Shame On It All is a dramady about their adventures, their friendships, their love lives and their outlooks on situations facing most African-American women in today's society.

Harmony, the oldest, is the conservative type. A successful business owner who often puts in long hours to make extra money to help support her younger sisters. She is often torn between doing what's right and doing what feels good but there is one thing she doesn't sway her opinion on and that's the physical and emotional welfare of Bryce and Lucky.

Bryce, the middle sister, is fascinated with two things; hair weaves and hellified sex in that order. She is by far the wildest of the Whitfield crew. While she often talks trash about Harmony to her face, she simply will not tolerate it from anyone else. Sometimes rowdy and always uninhibited, Bryce takes no prisoners when it comes to getting what she wants out of life.

Lucky, the baby of the bunch, is a thriving medical school student and as Afrocentric as they come. She brings a degree of balance to the often volatile conversations between her two older siblings but sometimes she lacks good judgment when it comes to relationships with men.

Fatima, Harmony's best friend, wants out of a troubled marriage to a wealthy businessman. She is willing to do just about anything to get him out of her life and with the aid of a few trusted friends, she does just that in the most unique way.

Colette, Bryce's best friend, puts the H in hoochie. She spends the majority of her time macking men. That is, until she meets her match in the form of a male stripper sporting a 2 x 4 between his legs.

Jam-packed with unpredictable, unbelievable and just downright crazy situations with a few surprising twists thrown in for good measure, Shame On It All is as wild as they come.

The five sections of Shame On It All are separated by four commercials, adding to the uniqueness the book. All of the people featured in the commercials end up as minor characters in the book.

The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth
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Format: Paperback, 2nd ed., 304pp.
ISBN: 0967460182
Publisher: Strebor Books International, LLC
Pub. Date: February  2001
Edition Desc: 2 ED

From the Publisher:
After more than two years of entertaining tens of thousands of loyal readers on the Internet with her vivid imagination, a large collection of Zane's erotica is finally available in a published format. Zane has captivated the minds of both sexes and all races. She has completely shattered the myth that men are more sexual in nature than women and that African-American women in particular are inhibited compared to their female counterparts of other races.

The erotica collection is divided into three sections: Wild, Wilder and Off Da Damn Hook. Her characters run the gamut from the sensual housewife that wants her husband to experiment more to the secret underground sorority of women that let it all hang out literally.

Related Links

Zane's Official Website
http://www.eroticanoir.com

Black Gentlemen
http://www.blackgentlemen.com

Strebor Books
http://www.streborbooks.com

(this store is now closed)
Zane's ENDEAVORS Book Store and Gift Shop
1622 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231



 

 

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