We've shared some fun memories of EC's early days. Things are still great and getting even better. How has EC grown in twelve years?
Originally, Tina was the only "employee" and worked from a corner of her apartment. As staff was added, they also worked from home, until we got our first office space in Ohio. Now we have an office building, a warehouse
and a storage building for the RV and trailer. We've got about sixty staff:
employees, freelance editors and artists.
A dozen or so authors published with EC in the first year. We now have over 750 authors represented on our webstore.
In the beginning, we released a few ebooks a month. In 2012, we will release 500 ebooks! We currently have 4400 ebooks and almost 1500 print books available.
In the first few months of the company, a few thousand dollars in sales was a big deal. Where are we in 2012? We sell well over 600,000 books every month! We project $12 million in net sales income in our 12th year!
We've come a long way, baby.
So, tell us about your history with us. How long have you been an EC fan? What was the
first EC book you read? We’d love to know. Post it comments here, and we'll do a random drawing next Friday for winners of EC stuff.
What happens in the Cave doesn't always stay there... Conversations and news from Ellora's Cave Publishing, an erotic romance publisher.
26 comments:
I discovered Ellora's Cave in 2001 when there were only a few ebooks available. I purchased The Fall of Troy by Marilyn Lee and was immediately hooked! I went on to buy several more books from EC before I decided to try and write one for them in 2002. Happily Raelene accepted my first manuscript in February 2003 (The Birthday Gift) and I've been an EC author ever since.
Lynn
Like Lynn, I was a reader first - though I don't remember my first book from EC, but I do know it was a Cerridwen book - then I went on to become one of their authors. Been with them in one form or another ever since! Love this place. :)
I have to be honest, I don't know what my first EC book was. I know I probably started around 2001 and I was so excited to find EC that I purchased all the books they had and then I eagerly awaited when the next books would come out. I remember we never knew when they were going to come out and you had to keep checking LOL. I loved the fact that I could have my sex out in the open and still have romance. I was also excited that my SO didn't have a clue to how many books I bought LOL, and when EC went to print, I was lining up to buy them. I have bookshelves full of them now and I haven't read most of them because I have them in various ebook formats.
awe, EC popped my ebook cherry, so to speak. I read an Secrets anthology that had a story by MaryJanice Davidson and LOVED it, went looking for more books by her and discovered she was only published at one other place - Ellora's Cave! Don't remember the titles now but I can clearly remember buying all her available ebooks and then sweating bullets as I worried about screwing up the downloads. LOL I've been hooked ever since - and that was well over 10 years ago
I'm kinda part of the second wave! I discovered EC through reading, too and my pal Desiree Holt said they were great to work with.
I had one book that had been published by a now defunct publisher, one more written and plans for a series. EC took me on, so although it was heavily rewritten, my first book with EC, "Sunfire" was a reprint!
I was amazed by the response, and continue to be. I followed the "Pure Wildfire" series with another paranormal series, STORM, badass secret agents with wings and fangs, and now I'm writing the "Nightstar" series.
I do not recall when I discovered EC but my first paperback was The Possession by Jaid Black. I saw it a bookstore and spent almost an hour trying to decide where to buy it or not. So glad that I did - it's still a favourite. Congrats to everyone at EC on your 12th anniversary!
Sherry H
im not sure when i found EC. I cant even tell you what was the first book i read from them , I can tell you that i remember reading a book by Francesca Hawley and being hooked. now i have shelves full of EC books
meandi09@yahoo.cm
I discovered EC in 2002 when my friend Angela Knight told me I should submit something to them. While I'd never read an EC book, I had read and enjoyed books by Angela, Diane Whitehead and Mary Janice Davidson, who were three of the earliest EC authors that I knew and respected. Never having considered epublishing before, I decided to submit three books in September 2002 and got accepted in a matter of hours, not years as had been the case with my NYC publishers at the time. My first EC book came out in November 2002, and I'm still a happy EC author, many books and a lot of great memories later!
My first EC book was a Angela Knight book! Loved her then, lover her now.
I submitted to EC in 2005. My husband was dying of cancer at the time. He'd been a big supporter and fan of my writing. When EC published my first novella, he was still alive to see it happen! That meant so much to him.
Since then, I've been to many conferences as an EC author, met (and danced with) almost all the staff.
EC feels like family to me. Always will.
My first EC book was Cricket Starr's Violet Among the Roses. :)
I discovered EC while looking for more to read by Ann Jacobs, Angela Knight and MJD...back in 2002, I think. Hard to believe that was 10 years ago.
I was a reader first, trying a few of the free reads, which got me hooked. Reading a short, sexy story is a great way to unwind at the end of the day.
Now I'm very happy to be an EC author. But I'm still a reader. When my husband asked what I wanted for Christmas, I gave him a list of EC books. ;)
I discovered EC either late 2008 or early 2009. My first book was Michelle M. Pillow's Maiden and a Monster. I personally love the selection of M/M romance books.
Don't want no Prize because Ellora's Cave, Blush (formally Cerridwen Press) IS my prize.
Imagine, having written and published more than two hundred (yep! over 200) short stories for various women's magazines, and you write a book on a subject you love and you send it from hither to dither only to have it returned. This of course is when people were saying that E-publishing (like the internet) was a flash in the pan. Several people kept telling me about Ellora's Cave who was literally the leader in E-publishing and like everyone else I thought, if I go that route and IF they publish me, I may never be able to hold my own book in my own hands. NOTHING was further from the truth.
I took a check in 2007 and sent out my medieval Novel to then Cerridwen line, and because EC was so famous I fully expected to get a rejection because that is what I had been getting from the bigger houses and AGENTS who did not want anyone who hadn't previously published a novel.
I can remember to this day the joy I felt when I got an email beginning with: "I would like to offer you a contract for…"
To say the least I was jumping up an down like a mad woman. What an opportunity, and to be in an organization with authors I have known, read and loved for a long time was just over the top for me.
I wrote several other books for them and lo and behold one of my novels went into print. It was like holding a new baby (I never had).
There are no two ways about it, EC gave me the joy of achieving something I always wanted to and I will forever be grateful .
Congratulations EC on your 12th anniversary, there is so much more to come.
Happy 12th Anniversary!
I have been a fan since I read "Menage a Magick" by Lora Leigh, when it was released in print. I was hooked on LL's books, and over the years, I've found other favorite authors.
Jacki
First purchase was Nov. 7th 2001 where I bought The Empress' New Clothes, No Escape, No Mercy and Enslaved in PDF. So you can tell I've been a customer for many years.
my first EC book was The empress's new Clothes by Jaid Black way back when. It was gift from a friend and I was hooked from the on. My first purchase was all of lora Leigh's Breed books. lol.
I'm a newbie to EC and my first books were Laurann Donner's New Species, recommended to me by a group I'm in on FB.I moved onto her Cyborg's. Next will be Denise Agnew's Daryk Hunter series and I can't wait!
I bought my first EC book on Amazon.com in 2003, The Fall of Troy by Marilyn Lee. The book, it came as a small burned CD, was an eye opener for me. It was the first erotic romance novel I had read and it had a plus size heroine! This made me so happy that I had to track down the publisher and see what else they offered! When I went to the website, my mind was blown by all the innovation going on. There was a completely new way of reading novels and a host of genres already established on EC that mainstream publishers hadn't even thought of developing. It was a celebration of love and romance, especially the erotic kind, in all the different ways one can find it. I have been a die hard fan of EC ever since, and several hundred ebooks later, I have yet to be let down. Congrats EC, here’s to the next 12 years!
I can date my reading to 2007 when I was first published by EC and got an e-reader. Have written for them very happily ever since, with equally happy reading....
My first ec was Marly's Choice by Lora Leigh. I've read ec for many years. I read my first ebook on a desktop.
Forgot my email address. It's amysmith98@gmail.com.
I discovered EC about six years ago, but I don't remember what my first book was.
I am contracted to publish my first book with them, and I am wondering why I waited so long to make a submission!
I am delighted to be part of the legacy as we look back in the next 12 years.
Love you all. Thanks for having the courage to offer this for women (and men), and for refusing to behave!
sbjfap2@gmail.com
My first EC read was Cris Anson's Dance of the Seven veils. I was hook on both Cris and EC from then on. In 2011 I had my first release with EC and this year attended RomantiCon. So happy to be part of this crazy family. :)
I was I introduced to EC by my then mentor Julia Templeton who encouraged me to send my first novella to them, which they bought!! This was in 2004 and no one I knew even knew what an ebook was or how to read one LOL my first two books were one of Julia's and one of Jades. We've all come a long way baby!
OMG, I have to say that I have been here since the beginning! It's funny I always hated to read in school but what do you know, I get sick with a messed up spine disease and I read like crazy now. I think 2-3
books a day. It was hard to get these books in the beginning but now it is not. I just started to use the e read books about 8 months ago. I love your books. Not to mention Hubs knows he is going to get some when I finish a book, or sometimes if it is real hot and steamy , then right while I am reading. LOL. I wish that I could work for you as an editor. With much love, your loyal supporter "Carie"
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