‘Heated Rivalry’ Success Sparks Gay Adult Company Publishing House

Just nine months after “Heated Rivalry” premiered and became a worldwide phenomenon, gay adult entertainment company Falcon | NakedSword is getting into the book business.

The San Francisco-based company is launching FalconInk, a publishing house with a focus on erotic fiction, Variety has exclusively learned. The publisher will consist of three imprints: Falcon Books, NakedSword Books and Raging Stallion Books.

FalconINK has debuted two novellas: “Hard Ball,” an original sports romance from Falcon Books, and “Wild Game: Open Season,” a prequel to the gay adult film “Wild Game,” from NakedSword Books, releasing Sept. 10.

“This exciting venture reflects our commitment to expanding beyond our traditional audience while staying true to the storytelling and sexuality that have defined Falcon for more than five decades,” Falcon | NakedSword CEO Tim Valenti said in a statement Monday morning. “For the first time, we’re also creating content for one of the largest audiences in the M/M romance space: women. No company is better positioned to tell accessible romantic and erotic stories than the one that has been doing it so successfully since 1971.”

The company’s co-chief content officer Ben Rush said, “Beyond publishing, FalconINK will serve as an incubator for future film and television adaptations, both mainstream and adult, and further expand the Falcon | NakedSword universe through original and existing IP. We’re proud of how the company continues to evolve while remaining committed to the freedom and acceptance we’ve represented within the LGBTQIA+ community for 55 years.”

“Hard Ball” tells the story of Mateo Ruiz, a professional baseball player in the minor leagues who sparks a romance with his rival, a fellow shortstop named Chase Whitaker.

In “Wild Game: Open Season,” Derek Kage appears to be happily married to a woman when his life is turned upside down after meeting construction worker Adrian.

Both titles are available as trade paperbacks, ebooks and audiobooks. Written by Riley Parks and Ben Rush, the audiobook edition of “Wild Game: Open Season” is narrated by adult entertainer Derek Kage; fellow porn star Eddie Burke voices the “Hard Ball” audiobook, written by Parks.

A launch party for the publishing house is set to take place at Book Soup in West Hollywood on Aug. 29.

The launch of FalconINK comes alongside several major milestones for Falcon | NakedSword, including an induction of “Hard Ball” and “Wild Game: Open Season” into the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library, the premiere of the industry’s first-ever SFW vertical micro-drama and an upcoming underwear design collaboration with Skull & Bones.

The television series adaptation of “Heated Rivalry” is based on the “Game Changers” book series by Canadian author Rachel Reid. Season 2 begins filming in August. In March, show creator Jacob Tierney told me he was trying not to feel pressure to live up to Season 1. “I think I realized a little while ago that what I have to do is go back to where my head was at the first time I wrote, which was love these books and try to make the smartest thing I can make of it,” he said at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.