Redlines and Deadlines

Winner - Best Reads of the Year

2012-01-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who posted their lists of best books they read in 2011. It's given the rest of us lots of new books and authors to consider.

So, random selection of winners!
Sidney Bristol
Joanne (e.balinski@att.net)
Aerinah

Please email redlinesdeadlines@gmail.com to claim your prize.

We Made the Lists!

2012-01-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

A huge thrill for Ellora's Cave and for our author Laurann Dohner -- Laurann's new book, Brawn, has hit both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists! This is our first book on the lists, although we anticipate many more in future.

It was such a major step forward for epublishing when these two lists began tracking ebook sales! NYT has separate print and ebook bestseller lists, and a combined list. USA Today has a combined list.

The New York Times Book Review, January 15, 2012
E-Book Best Sellers (Fiction)
35 BRAWN, by Laurann Dohner. (Ellora’s Cave Publishing.)

Purging the Paper

2012-01-03T22:38:00.001-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Last weekend my son helped me take 8 large boxes and 18 bags of books to the library, to donate to the semi-annual book sale fundraiser. Well over 700 books! And I've already got another three large bags filled, and will have more in the next few weeks.

Yes, I am purging my personal book collection. There are 8 bookcases in the den, 14 bookcases in my bedroom. And many boxes of books in the storage room. (And this is only the fiction, not counting the nonfiction and reference books.) I'm a book "keeper"--you never know when you might want to reread a book or even just a favorite scene in a book. Unless I disliked or was totally bored by a book, when I finish it I stick it on my shelves. Which is why there is no more space for books or for more bookcases.

So periodically I force myself to go through the shelves and cull books that I haven't looked at in several years. It's excrutiating to give them up, and I am never as firm with myself as necessary. But this time... Well, I'm having the flooring in part of the house replaced (my landlords love me, I spend more on the house than an owner would), which means having to empty and move all those bookcases, and then later put all the furniture back and reorganize all the books onto the shelves. So that's a strong impetous to have fewer books to deal with.

Also, my mind is finally making the subconscious adjustment to a digital future. I no longer have to fear that if I get rid of a book, I may later want it again and be unable to find it. No more haunting used bookstores--there's a good chance I can find most books in future as ebooks.

Not that I won't always want print books. I would never feel comfortable in a building without lots of books to look at and fondle. And I do have a few rare collectibles. But I can cut back a bit, I guess. Of course, I should probably mention that my office here at EC houses the official company library of one copy of each of our print books. Ah, lots of bookcases and books in my office to make me feel cozy...

So what about you? Are you an obsessive keeper of books, or one of those people who gives every book away once you've finished it?

Best Reads of the Year?

2012-01-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Okay, everyone’s doing it – making “Best of the Year” lists about everything in the world, including books. Hey, at least we waited until the year was over, to include that book you were reading on New Year’s Eve!

So tell us your top reads of 2011—the books that moved, intrigued or fascinated you; made you rush to buy other books by that author.

Yes, there will be prizes! Probably random drawing amongst the people who post their lists in Comments. Ebooks, t-shirts, hmm, maybe other good stuff.

To kick it off, here are my best reads of 2011 (not necessarily books published that year), in no particular sequence. These represent books that were “different” in my opinion, that had a unique take on a standard theme or a special twist. [Caveat: I have not listed any Ellora’s Cave books, although there were many I loved. Hey, I have to deal with 450+ authors, I’m not going to show preference. ;-) ]

Death Comes to Pemberley – P.D. James (mystery)
Dragon Bound – Thea Harrison
Steam & Sorcery – Cindy Spencer Pape
No Proper Lady – Isabel Cooper
Touched by an Alien – Gini Koch
Archangel’s Consort – Nalini Singh
Never Again – Michele Bardsley
A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness (despite how incredibly frustrating I found the cliffhanger ending)

Your turn!

Publishing Predictions for 2012

2011-12-29T12:27:00.000-05:00

Digital Book World has published a list of ten predictions for change in the publishing industry for 2012. None of them are surprising.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/ten-bold-predictions-for-book-publishing-in-2012/?et_mid=531908&rid=2646413

1. We will see more self-published best-sellers next year with an exponential rise in the number of million-selling authors.

2. Large publishing companies will go through major restructurings, creating new positions and redundancies of all shapes and sizes.

3. Amazon will come out with a larger tablet with an 8.9-inch screen and it will be priced at $299 or lower.

4. Apple will come out with a smaller iPad at a reduced price.

5. Sony will get a second life in the e-reader game when Pottermore launches in the Spring.

6. Literary agencies will engage in a campaign to communicate the value of their services to the book industry.

7. Authors will become disenchanted with the rights they sign away to publishers. Shorter and more flexible copyright terms will become more attractive to authors.

8. The standard e-book royalty from major publishing houses will rise next year and will escalate with increased sales.

9. Standards of what an app and what a book is will change and apps will eventually be sold in the iBookstore.

10. More publishing companies will form in-house transmedia groups.

12 Days of Christmas, Editorial Version

2011-12-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

The 12 Days of Christmas—for word nerds and grammar geeks

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10268.aspx

For example:
The Ghost of Christmas Future Perfect Passive: "Ebenezer! You will have been disappointed with your life."

Rap to Writing

2011-12-20T09:37:00.000-05:00

http://vimeo.com/33410512

A rap video about The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, from students at Columbia Journalism School!

Winner: Bad Sex in Fiction Award

2011-12-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/06/david-guterson-bad-sex-award

An over-reliance on coy terms such as "family jewels", "back door" and "front parlour" has won acclaimed American novelist David Guterson the dubious accolade of the Literary Review's bad sex in fiction award.

Guterson, who took the literary world by storm in 1994 with his bestselling debut Snow Falling on Cedars, snaffled the bad sex prize for his fifth novel, Ed King, a modern reimagining of the Oedipus myth. His win was announced in the apt setting of the In & Out Club in London by Carry On star Barbara Windsor; although the American writer was unable to accept his award of a plaster foot in person, he took his triumph in good spirits, saying in response that "Oedipus practically invented bad sex, so I'm not in the least bit surprised".

Guterson edged out strong competition from Haruki Murakami's long-awaited new novel 1Q84, which sees the Japanese writer pen the immortal line: "A freshly made ear and a freshly made vagina look very much alike, Tengo thought".

When Grammar Elements Go Out Drinking

2011-11-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

I love this! Maybe this will help you understand when your editor marks "comma splice" or "passive". Dangling modifiers are a particular pet peeve of mine.

From http://edittorrent.blogspot.com/

Jenny sent this along from a FaceBook post by Jeff Blackmer--

A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
A dangling modifier walks into a bar. After finishing a drink, the bartender asks it to leave.
A question mark walks into a bar?
Two quotation marks "walk into" a bar.
A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink.
The bar was walked into by the passive voice.
Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave.

Interesting News & Links

2011-11-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Author Anne McCaffrey died Monday, Nov. 21. She was 85. She was a prolific writer of over 100 science fiction and fantasy novels, with well-known series Pern, Crystal Singer, Freedom, Doona, Tower&Hive, and many others. She won the Hugo and Nebula awards, the Robert A. Heinlein award, was a SFWA Grand Master, and was a NY Times bestseller.

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2011/11/anne-mccaffrey-1926-2011/?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=c616a44ee5-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

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Nora Roberts: The woman who rewrote the rules of romantic fiction

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/nora-roberts-interview-romance-fiction?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=b1b22915cd-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email
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Amazon Reader Reviews: 12 Things Everybody and His Grandmother Needs to Know

http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/11/amazon-reader-reviews-12-things.html
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From the Shelf Awareness e-newsletter (10/12/11), reporting on the Publishers Launch conference:

The digital shift is happening faster than predicted, David Naggar, v-p, global Kindle content acquisition for Amazon, said. Digital now represents 20% of U.S. publishers' sales in dollars, and Amazon is now selling more Kindle books than print books in both the U.S. and U.K. "The transition is happening quickly and accelerating."

Readers who have been Amazon customers for at least a year buy three times as many print and digital books after they purchase a Kindle, David Naggar said.

Nook owners also "consume three times the content than before," Hilt [B&N's v-p of e-books] said, usually "a combination of digital and print." "If they were buying print, they still buy print books and use the Nook to enhance their library. We've learned that the print book isn't dead." In addition, new owners of the Nook buy "a tremendous amount of content for three to six months and then move into a more natural state of usage."

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Bad Sex Awards shortlist:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/stephen-king-haruki-murakami-top-bad-sex-in-literature-shortlist_b42761
or
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/bad-sex-awards-the-contenders?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=7e842f74de-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry
The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey
Parallel Stories by Péter Nádas
11.22.63 by Stephen King
Ed King by David Guterson
The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M Auel
The Affair by Lee Child
Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas
Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller
Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy
The Great Night by Chris Adrian

Survey of Romance ebook readers - Please participate

2011-11-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

From AllRomance eBooks:
We'd like to ask that you take a brief, 3-minute survey, and that you assist us in getting the word out to other digital romance readers.

LINK: https://www.surveymonkey.com/%20s/Romance-eReading

All Romance will be leading a session this January in New York at Digital Book World about Romance ePublishing. During the presentation we'll be sharing the results of a survey we're currently conducting. [Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora’s Cave will be participating in the presentation.]

For those interested, a brief summary of the presentation for DBW is below.

Lori James
COO, All Romance eBooks, LLC
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Ladies First: Lessons from the Romance Ebook Model

Romance books went digital faster and more readily than any other genre in publishing. Fledgling ebook-only publishers have thrived. Ellora's Cave, now a decade old, started doing erotic romance ebooks when the big players wouldn't touch it. Harlequin's ebook-only imprint, Carina, even publishes DRM-free! And the larger publishers all have robust romance offerings that add important dollars to their sales ledger, even though they are often outsold by scrappy competitors that people outside the romance business have never heard of.

Why did romance ebooks take off so quickly, and so successfully?

At Digital Book World 2012, we'll take a close look at the romance publishing business to find out what it can teach us about selling ebooks in other genres and to other audiences. Original data developed from surveying the customers of AllRomance.com, along with an examination of the players in the romance community, will provide the background for a discussion among publishers and retailers of how romance publishing practices differ from what is done in general trade. We'll tease out lessons we can apply to other genres as they work on catching up with the ebook uptake romance has pioneered.

USA Today - Happy Ever After romance novel blog

2011-11-21T08:39:00.000-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Ellora’s Cave has received much-appreciated attention and support from Joyce Lamb’s HEA blog on the USA Today site. Please do check out the blog and the many book reviews, and leave comments if you are so inclined. I hope the USA Today organization sees that a blog about romance novels is appreciated and popular, and gives the genre the respect and attention it deserves.
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/index

About the blog:
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2011-10-04/welcome-to-happy-ever-after/550363/1

Desiree Holt’s story “Bedroom Eyes” was reviewed on Oct. 16:
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2011-10-16/review-bedroom-eyes-by-desiree-holt/554111/1

Desiree was interviewed on Oct. 22: http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2011-10-21/interview-desiree-holt-author-of-bedroom-eyes-/556333/1

Yesterday Joyce posted my remarks from a discussion she and I had about a couple of recent EC books. Her reviewers can’t fit in so many EC books, but Joyce said she enjoyed my comments and she’d like to use them as a way to recommend the books to readers:
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2011-11-19/erotica-recs-from-elloras-cave-publisher-raelene-gorlinsky/569105/1

Meet the Editor: Ann Leveille

2011-11-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

What is your background and experience in editing?

I’ve been working at Ellora’s Cave since late 2004 – about seven years now. In that time I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of editing all sorts of books, including some for the now-defunct Cerridwen and Lotus Circle imprints. Before becoming an Ellora’s Cave editor, I was a reviewer for a time – I reviewed romance novels, erotic novels, erotic romance novels, and a bunch of stuff in between. I studied English in college without a clear goal besides wanting to do something with publishing, and hoping I could find a place for myself in the romance publishing world, as romance has been my favorite genre for a long, long time. I’m so, so happy I ended up at Ellora’s Cave!

How would you describe your editing style?

I’m nit-picky sometimes, aiming to make sure that every sentence is clear and every phrase is logical and consistent. I’ve been working hard at letting my authors know when I particularly enjoy a phrase or twist or aspect of their story, but I do have a tendency to get so deeply into an edit that it is hard to remember to put in those comments that I know authors need to hear.

Overall, though, I do think of editing as a partnership. I will always work with my authors to make sure that they’re satisfied with any changes and understand why a change should – or has to – be made. I do expect my authors to let me know if they’re uncomfortable with anything, and I’m always open to talking about any concern my authors have. I can’t promise that I can fix everything, but no author’s concerns should go ignored or unaddressed!

What is your favorite thing about editing?

Working with my authors to polish a story ‘til it shines! I know that authors work so hard to put together compelling stories, and I’m happy that I can help make sure that those stories put their best feet forward when they go out to meet the readers!

Of course, that whole “getting to read books I love and get paid for it” aspect isn’t exactly negligible!

What are your pet peeves in books or submissions?

A clear lack of knowledge regarding punctuation can irritate me. While an author’s characterization, world building, etc., are really a matter of practice and skill, punctuation is something that any writer can learn. And I’m not talking about the occasional hiccup or confusion about some specific rule, I mean authors who clearly don’t know - and haven’t bothered to find out - how to properly punctuate a common sentence before submitting their story.

In published novels that have undergone a full editing process? I’m always aware that a few errors in punctuation, grammar, etc., can squeak through, so that sort of thing won’t make a book a wall-banger for me, but if the book has logical/consistency errors, well, all bets are off. (Okay, I’ll probably finish reading it, but I’ll gripe all the way through…)

For personal reading, what are your favorite genres and all-time favorite books?

Of course I love romance and will happily read any subgenre of it, but I also really enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy (especially if there’s a romantic subplot in there!). However, I’m pretty much open to any genre. For the time that I lived in a very French-centric suburb of Montreal, I was reading whatever the local library had in English. (And then trying some young adult novels in French, too!)

My favorite books include:

Trust Me – Jayne Ann Krentz
Absolutely, Positively – Jayne Ann Krentz
Scout’s Progress – Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Conflict of Honors – Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley
Bet Me – Jennifer Crusie

Meet the Editor: Briana St. James

2011-11-14T08:00:00.034-05:00

Meet Bree, one of our longest-term editors.

What is your background and experience in editing?

I’ve spent much of my adult life in some facet of the book industry, as a bookseller, store manager, and purchaser. I first started out in this side of industry in the late 1990s, when I was running a book review website. An editor approached me, and I learned there was an opening for an acquisitions editor. I had several years of acquiring manuscripts and editing while also reviewing. I came to EC in 2002 as a proofreader, and began editing full-time in early 2003.

How would you describe your editing style?

Interactive. There are some authors who like brainstorming, and I quite enjoy that process. It is a real treat to see a story come to life from the germ of an idea an author has shared with me.
My philosophy is that the editor/author relationship is one of teamwork, and that we’re all united to get an author’s best work out there. Sometimes edits are very tough and other times they are a much easier process. It can vary on a book-by-book basis.
While I am concerned with grammar, my first concern is how the story reads. Are the characters memorable? Do they act within the character parameters the author has set for them? How is the pacing? Do the romantic scenes sizzle or are they more gratuitous? Grammar comes second to me in this process, though obviously grammar and readability are equal partners in the creation and editing of a winning book.

What is your favorite thing about editing?

The authors, without a doubt. It is nothing short of a sheer pleasure to walk into a bookstore and see my authors’ works on shelves. The author has put so much trust in the editor, but it goes both ways. I hope my authors have learned a lot from me, but I have learned just as much—if not more—from working with them.
On a more practical level, I love the exposure I get to different books and writing styles. I love that this is a constant learning process. No chance for stagnation here.

What are your pet peeves in books and submissions?

If an author has not adequately researched the company and studied what EC is about and our philosophies, the author may not submit a book that suits or audience. There are some submissions that are either far too long or short, are neither romance or erotic (depending on the line targeted), or just don’t meet EC’s philosophies. It is very unlikely that an unsuitable book will be signed, and takes away from both the author’s time and submitting process and mine.

The most important piece of advice is to be a good submitter and know your market. The second is to send the cleanest, most professional manuscript possible. This is the editor’s first look at your work. Dress it up with a pretty bow!

I also sometimes have trouble with historical submissions that use words or phrases that the characters would have no way of knowing. “Rev your engines” in a Regency will never work, and the Romans didn’t have Pampers or Band-Aids.

For personal reading, what are your favorite genres and all-time favorite books?

Gosh, I read almost everything! I have a particular fondness for old Hollywood biographies, biographies of musicians, alternate history novels and political thrillers. Make what you may of that! My all-time favorite books list changes almost by the day, but books that are being read and reread include.

The Stand by Stephen King
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Pieces of My Heart by Robert Wagner
Robert Ludlum’s early works
Clapton! by Ray Coleman
Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove

Name Fame

2011-11-11T08:00:00.005-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Authors keep hearing about "branding", about publicizing themselves, about engaging with readers to make their name known. Why? Because readers buy the books of authors they know, far more than they try books by authors they don't recognize. This has become even more critical with the explosion of ebooks and of self-publishing. There are so many more books to choose from now, and unfortunately some of them are not up to par. Therefore, many readers are even more inclined to stick with authors they already know or that are recommended to them by people they trust.

Several surveys have shown that one of the most critical elements a reader uses in electing to buy a book is author name recognition.

From 2010-2011 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review (Bowker): The author "is the key factor in both driving consumers to buy a book as well as making consumers aware of a particular book."

From the RWA's 2010 ROMstat Report, quoted in the November 2011 RWR: "50 percent of romance buyers stated the author was the reason for the book purchase."
From a survey of over 9000 people by the American Booksellers Association, 2009/2010, on how people choose books to buy:
1. Author reputation 52%
2. Personal recommendation 49%

Reported in Publishers Weekly in February 2007, a survey by the advertising firm Spier NY on American book-buying habits:
1. Friend’s recommendation 49%
2. Familiarity with author 45%

Any bookstore employee can tell you that it's quite common for a customer to ask for "the new book by...". The customer doesn't know the book title, may not know anything about the story, but they love this author and buy every new release, based solely on the author's name.

How about an illustration of this? An author in my local RWA chapter told us about an experiment she conducted. She's a well-established author, a New York Times bestseller, has a backlist of about three dozen books. She's not into self- or digital publishing, preferring the traditional print path, although her books now are of course also released in digital by her NY publishers. But she decided to try self-publishing to see how it works. She released a new story under her established pen name. She then released a book under a brand new pen name, with no connection to her other, well-known name. The first ebook sold 4000 in the first month; the second sold 8 copies. I'm sure her "voice" and style were the same in both stories. Readers found and bought the first one because they were looking for books by her and knew they'd like what they bought. Almost no one took a chance on an unknown name in the massive sea of unknown new authors available in digital. Name recognition at work.

So build your name as a "brand" people will recognize--website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, attendance at reader conventions. Establish a persona readers will like and identify with, and get out there and interact!

Meet the Editor: Grace Bradley

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Want to know more about the life of an editor? We're reviving our popular "Meet the Editor" topic, and introducing you to more EC editors. Today, Grace Bradley interviews herself.

What is your background and experience in editing?

I have been an editor at Ellora’s Cave for two years. Prior to that I was doing the stay-at-home-mom thing and enjoying freelance editing on the side. I hold a degree in psychology, which I utilize on a daily basis. Plausible character motivation? Check. Walking author back from the ledge? Check.

How would you describe your editing style?

I try to make the editing process as painless as possible, while also urging my authors to delve deeper into their plot and characters. I leave a running commentary of my observations as a reader, not only as an editor, as I go through the book. My goal is for the author to see how their work is impacting me as a reader as I go along. I also explain grammar errors, and expect my authors to make note of them and improve moving forward. Whenever possible, I like to incorporate humor in my editing comments. I think edits should be fun, not dreaded. And I point out things I really like or that make me laugh (or cry). A little bit of praise goes a long way when an author is being shown all the things that are not working in their book.

What is your favorite thing about editing?

My authors. It is truly an honor to play such a vital role in their careers, and I’m humbled that they trust me with something so important to them.

As for the job itself, I’ll say what most editors will say: I can’t believe I get paid to read. A recent discussion at the dinner table revolved around careers—specifically what my children wanted to be when they grow up. They both said they wanted to get paid to do something they love…just like their mom. It was a very proud moment for me.

What are your pet peeves in books and submissions?

My number-one pet peeve from the slush pile is a messy manuscript. If the author does not care enough to present their best work, I will assume what they have submitted is their best work and it will be a No. If they’re sloppy at this stage, the most important one in the process, how will they be if the book is contracted?

For established authors, my pet peeve is not learning from past mistakes and not following established guidelines. I respect my authors’ time by working as hard as I can to get their projects complete in a timely manner, and I expect them to respect my time by improving as they move forward and observing the correct submission/editing procedures.

For personal reading, what are your favorite genres and all-time favorite books?

When I’m not reading for work, I choose non-fiction, primarily health-related, and magazines. A very short list of some of the books that have “stuck” with me is:

Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr
Native Son by Richard Wright
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell
Love Music, Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark

Brainstormapalooza!

2011-11-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

By Kelli Collins, editor-in-chief

Hello authors, aspiring authors, readers and people who just plain luuurve EC! We're currently mulling through a list of potential themed series ideas for 2012 (quickly, before the world ends), and we wanted to give our beloved authors and loyal readers a chance to weigh in.

The themed series, if you're unfamiliar, are two to four series we do every year, each featuring stories written for a specific theme. For instance, in 2011 we published Ahoy!, featuring books about pirates (any type of pirates authors could dream up, not just those of the historical variety). We recently began releasing books in our Sex Bytes themed series, and stories in the Love Letters series will be coming your way in Jan./Feb.

We were lucky enough to get tons of ideas at our RomantiCon™ conference last month (thank you authors and editors!), which we've listed below. Some have been done elsewhere (which doesn't mean we won't consider them), some might need to be more focused, but a great start to the list nonetheless.

So how about it? What do YOU want to read or write? Comment with your own brilliant suggestions, or just comment with your favorites from the choices below, or even comment on the other comments. It's a free-for-all! We'll announce the 2012 series in just a couple of weeks!

Themed Series Brainstormapalooza 2012
Men in Chainmail
Gladiators
Speed Sports/Xtreme Sports
MILF/DILF (mothers I'd like to fuck/dads I'd like to fuck [other people's parents! no incest)
Men in Kilts
1-800-HOT-MD4U (doctors/nurses)
House Calls
Special Delivery
Five/Six Senses
Married Couples
Female Cops
Inked (tattooed lovers)
Power Tools
Utopia
Superheroes
Renn Faire
Smoking Gun
Leather
Witches
Spells/Spellbound
Blue Collar (male and female)
Exotica Locales
Fugitives and Outlaws
Angels and Demons
Bounty Hunters
Nudists
1920s (or other decades)
WWI and II
Genie/Djinn

Feel the Love

2011-11-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

by Grace Bradley, editor

I have many conferences under my belt, and have been fortunate enough to attend RomantiCon™ the past two years. As with any conference, I came away with new friendships, insight and information. But what I believe sets RomantiCon™ apart from other industry events is the overall vibe of the conference. Attendees love Ellora’s Cave, and rightfully so. What other publishing house holds an entire conference just to honor and recognize its authors, readers and staff? And at both conferences I was blown away by the effort that went into making everyone feel special.

What is clear to me? The love goes both ways. Ellora’s Cave loves its authors, readers and staff. And they show it. In my opinion, this event is the perfect mix of entertainment, education and networking. I am honored to be part of such a wonderful company, and seeing all the smiling faces at RomantiCon™, I know that feeling is shared among many. If you’ve yet to attend an Ellora’s Cave conference, you must remedy that situation as soon as possible. I hope to see you all at RomantiCon™ 2012.

RomantiCon© Awesome Awards

2011-11-03T08:00:00.003-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Every year at the RomantiCon© Saturday night banquet, we announce awards to our authors. It's a highlight of the night for many attendees. We give trophies to our Rising Stars--any author in attendance who had their first book with EC in the past year. We then do the Superstar awards--we have a few serious awards, but most are just great fun. You'll have to read the stories to find out about the award titles!

The Pillar - for strong public support of Ellora's Cave - Lynn Connolly

Centennial - Desiree Holt, for 100 books published (we’re honored the hundredth was published with EC)

Trendsetter - Jaid Black, for launching the erotic romance genre, and other brilliant ideas since then.

No Fear of Commitment - Laurann Dohner

Best Double Down Ever - Make Mine a Double by Nicole Austin

Best Reason to Get Stranded in the Gulf - Landlocked by Cindy Jacks

Death by Dildo - Hot, Hard and Howling by Mari Freeman

Felines Through History - Panthera series by Frances Stockton

Friends to Lovers - Bet Me by Katie Blu

Howling Horror - Howling Sacrifices by J.K. Coi

Interstellar BDSM - Christine d’Abo for her futuristics

Kinky Choreography - Passion’s Claim by Cara Carnes (ménage a cinq sex scenes that don’t end up looking like a bad game of Twister)

Makes Us Want to Be a Sex Worker - Red Light series by Jayne Rylon

Men We’d Most Like to Go Into Space With - Bounty series by Christine d’Abo

Menages, the More the Merrier - Brothers in Arms series by Samantha Kane

Most Creative Use of Christmas Ingredients - Ginger Snap by Shoshanna Evers

Most Interesting Use of Camera Metaphors - Waiting So Long by Kaenar Langford

Most Wicked of All Lovers - Wicked Affairs series by Eliza Lloyd

Not-So-Little Blue Men - Mystic Valley series by Anny Cook

Randy Reunion - Point Blank by Kaily Hart

Semper Fidelis - Faithful to a Fault by KJ Reed (taking hot Marines to the extreme)

Sexiest Use for a Pool Cue - Inflamed by Mari Carr

Spicy Rose - Punishing Rose by Kathleen Lash

Super-Sexy Shifters - His Purrfect Mate by Laurann Dohner

Tackle That Quarterback - Necessary Roughness series by Ann Jacobs

Unassuming Alpha - Appearing Nightly by Cat Grant (for a hero in heels as a hot drag queen)

Villain Who Should Have Been a Hero - Ian, from Skin Game by Cara McKenna

Voodoo Zombie Lover - Dead Sexy by Paige Tyler

Now That’s a Dungeon! - For the real dungeon in the Irish castle in Emerald Dungeon by Kathy Kulig

Steampunk: Really Gaining Steam

2011-11-01T08:00:00.003-04:00

by Ann Leveille, editor

The steampunk panel was one I’d really wanted to check out since I saw it listed on the RomantiCon© schedule. I wanted to know what EC authors and readers had to say about the steampunk phenomenon and how it related to Romantica© in particular. The Steampunk’d panel was presented by authors Christine d’Abo and Delphine Dryden.
They opened with a quote I’d heard before, "Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover brown", and presented a few generalities for those who didn’t know a lot about the genre, starting with the fact that, for a real steampunk story, the world building and backstory are just as important as the actual steampunky stuff.

Themes of steampunk were covered: navigation, time and mortality, clockwork, natural history and transportation. The presenting authors commented that a lot of steampunk themes grow from a combination of Victorian fascinations (death, nature and the mechanization of nature, armchair traveling) and the boundary-pushing tendencies of modern geeks and nerds, especially in the technological and mechanical aspects. The summary of it was that steampunk – well, historical steampunk – is “helping to solve the important issues of the day [ie., issues of the Victorian era in which is story is set], geek-style”. They also shared that a lot of class/cultural tension is played out in steampunk and mentioned the concept of “living symbols”, with examples such as needle-fingered seamstresses and jackhammer-legged construction workers. (This brings up questions of what is humanity, how far people will go to get ahead or even just to survive, etc.)

I loved the comment/question: Some great technology has been left by the wayside – what if it hadn’t been?

Delphine Dryden put a lot of importance on the fact that the author really can’t just make stuff up. Authors of steampunk have to have a firm grasp on politics, history and technology. (The presenting authors advised that aspiring steampunk authors find themselves a nerd/geek to help them with groundwork.)

Christine d’Abo, however, was quick to caution authors not to be scared, steampunk can be faked. (The idea of “aether” is apparently very useful when you run into issues with power sources.) She'll write a first draft and then tweak it until it works for her.

Then they got to the sexy stuff…

Steampunk, as we all know, is really neat when you throw sex into the mix. Our panel authors stripped the ideas down and showed attendees why, though – why the sex and steampunk work on visceral levels, and why it works as thought-provoking fiction and, of course, as just plain entertainment.

It was clear that real steampunk cannot just feature a decorative clockwork motif or just mention the occasional sexy gadget or toy. You have to actually use steampunk organically, make it an inherent and inseparable part of your story. The authors used some fabulous examples of how steampunk can enhance the relationships and sexuality in romantic erotica, like how “glasses slipping” can be used to show how one character sees a partner differently, or how bio-mech elements can make people view people (interaction and relationships with them, and sex with them) differently.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with fetishizing the steampunk elements either, and some of those gadgets can really get a character’s (and a reader’s!) blood moving!

There was a lot of great information, and I, for one, hope that the presentation got some authors thinking about some great, new, thoroughly sexy storylines that we’ll see heading our way soon! As a question for the blog readers, what do you like to see in your steampunk? And I would like to know, do you like your steampunk to be romance with sexy gadgets and a neat world, or do you really like sexy stories that have those complex worlds to complement the characters and the situations they get themselves into (and sexy gadgets)?

Flavors of Sex: Readers Weigh In

2011-10-29T08:00:00.006-04:00

by Ann Leveille, editor

Though I was running a bit late after lunch that first Romanticon© day, I wanted to know what was up with the delicious-sounding 31 Flavors of Sex panel and ventured forth to listen to what authors Desiree Holt, Allie Standifer, Cerise DeLand and Samantha Cayto had to say. And I’m glad I did, because I gleaned some interesting tips from the no-holds-barred discussion that those wildly funny ladies had going.
(Please be warned, I didn’t number my pages of notes, so if you attended the workshop and my order of discussion seems a bit…out of order, well, that’s why.)

Heavenly Hash, in the panel authors’ terminology, is just about any kind of group sex. They emphasized that the complications and difficulties of Heavenly Hash were the dynamics between the participants and the logistical aspects. Many panel attendees said that they preferred some sort of polyamorous relationship in the end to just having the Hash as an aspect of a more traditionally coupled story. (So go, ménage authors!) Desiree Holt confessed that she uses a certain brand of not quite anatomically correct dolls to act out her multi-partner sex scenes. She’s apparently broken off a few legs during her plotting stages.

As part of the discussion the authors asked about the male-female-male ménage. Readers agreed with the panel that the fun of that kind of relationship is that the focus is all on the central female character, the character with whom they most closely relate. However, the attendees were also clear that they liked to have an emotional connection of some sort between the male participants in ménage relationships, even if they weren’t physically interested in each other.

French Vanilla, defined as a male performing oral sex, was referred to as an “art form”. Authors and readers agreed that they didn’t want a male down there who didn’t know what he was doing.

Phish Phood, or sex on the beach, was only briefly touched on. Most agreed that while it sounded really romantic, there are a lot of practical considerations that can ruin the mood. (However, those considerations can be worked around, and attendees had some great ideas how to make the actual deed read as romantic an act as it sounds like it could be!)

I was happy to see that there was time spent on Rocky Road, or BDSM, and that I didn’t miss that discussion. Audience members said that they didn’t necessarily like submissive (doormat-y) heroines but that there was a lot of appeal to the strong woman who wanted someone to take over for a while. Some commented that they were drawn to the idea of BDSM in real life but that the question of who to trust left them preferring their fantasies on the page instead.

The panel agreed the BDSM is a misunderstood flavor in a lot of ways. It’s not just about hitting a person or making them submit or serve. They emphasized that BDSM requires intimacy, trust, emotion and respect between participants. There is, it was emphatically stated, more trust in a BDSM relationship than in any other relationship.

As things wound down, the panel threw out a few questions. One interesting one was if the audience had a preference for circumcised or uncircumcised male parts. While attendees preferred their men cut by a respectable margin, there were some holdouts for the au natural in the group. Panel authors were unsurprised and commented that in the United States readers tended to prefer the former, but international readers weren’t as fazed by the latter, as circumcision isn’t as widespread overseas.

My only regret is that I missed some of the fascinating flavors that these delightful authors came up with. I would have loved to have heard what they had to say about Icing on the Cake (Exhibitionist Sex), Chunky Monkey (Shape shifter sex) and Cappuccino Crunch (Morning sex). Oh and maybe Vanilla Fudge Twirl (Masturbation) and African Vanilla (Interracial sex). And Tutti Frutti (Same-sex sex). Okay, honestly, I’d have loved to have heard them all!

But let me put the questions to our dear Redlines and Deadlines readers: What do you think about the flavors of sex? Is there anything in particular that you’d like to share? What turns you on about fill-in-the-blank flavor when you read it? Inquiring minds want to know!

The Art of Exotic Pole Dancing

2011-10-27T08:00:00.006-04:00

by Martha Punches & Marie Allison

What do you think of first when the words "pole dancing" are mentioned? Yeah, I’m sure the first thing you thought was stripper dance. Well, think again. To be honest, we thought the very same thing. But to be a good pole dancer takes dedication, agility, practice and strength for this tough and demanding profession. And yes, believe it or not, being a pole dancer is a profession and requires a lot of work.
At Romanticon© 2011, a few of us editors decided to sit in on the Pole Dancing class. No, none of us are planning a career of being a professional at this. It was more out of curiosity. What we expected and what we learned were worlds apart. This class should have been attended by any author who has plans or thinks of including a pole dance in their book.

Because boy, did we learn a lot from this short class. For instance did you know that in some countries, pole dancing is done mainly by men? Also, there are national and international organizations for professional pole dancers, some of them in the Akron/Cleveland area. (Yes, that’s what I said, international as in all over the world.) Not only that, being a pole dancer requires a great deal of body strength not found in the average man or woman. The stamina for doing this dance is tremendous. We watched several attendees try their hands, legs and arms at the pole. From what we saw, just the attempt made our bodies hurt!

First of all, clothing must be kept to a minimum. Hmm, that probably is why many associate the pole dancer with stripping. But in fact, the need for more skin to be visible isn’t for the exotic part. A pole dancer must have a great deal of friction to stick to the pole and do very impressive moves, twists, climbs, and turns. Of course, if you really want to be covered, wear leather, vinyl, or pleather so that you do not slide down to your butt in a second.

Second, the pole cannot be lubed to make those slick moves. Every pole must be as clean as possible. During our demonstration, the dancers wiped down the pole with rubbing alcohol to reduce the amount of skin oil for the next user. Some even use gymnastic rosin to be able to grip the pole tightly. Slick moves are done with a spinning, rotating pole.

Third, I don’t know about you, but when we saw those moves the pros made, we saw that there would be a lot more involved to being a professional dancer who can move up, down and around the pole AND remove her clothes in a sexy, enticing manner. I’m sure there are those doing it well in stripper clubs but very few doing gracefully. And I’m sure the clothes are specially made for a fast removal. Your average male or female audience member won’t be able to jump up and do a great job with no training. All they will do is make a fool of themselves! Grace is a necessary element for doing a good dance!

Size does matter. Honestly, those women who are more impressively endowed in the chest department are NOT going to make good pole dancers. Their center of balance and arm strength will not give them the ability to be a good dancer. Stripper yes, dancer, no! Those who do this professionally are just that, professionals, probably more on par with professional gymnastics. In fact, did you know there is a grass-roots movement to make Pole Dancing a part of the Olympics? I could see that happen, and especially after seeing this class, I’d fully agree.

So, the next you want to include a pole dancing scene in your book, think about it, act it out and see just how easy it is. NOT!

The explanations and professionalism of all three women putting on this demo made us realize that yes, some will think Pole Dancer/Stripper were the same. If more had seen this class, I’m sure their opinion would be as changed as ours was.

The women of the Cleveland Exotic Dance Troupe are all professionals. To see more, visit www.clevelandexoticdance.com Oh, and they do more than just pole dancing.

In summation:

Myth: All Pole Dancers strip.

Myth: All Pole Dancers are women.

Myth: Anyone can do this as it takes no training at all to be a good pole dancer.

Myth: You can wear all kinds of clothes, be fully clothed in any fabric and still stick to the pole.

Myth: The more lube you use, the better the dance.

Myth: Wimpy, shy women (or men) with no strength can do this.

Myth: Stripping is really easy when doing a good, graceful pole dancing routine.

Myth: Anyone can jump up from an audience and do a great pole dance with no training at all.

Old-Time Cowboys: In or Out?

2011-10-25T08:00:00.016-04:00

by Ann Leveille, editor

At the 2011 Romanticon©, I had the privilege of helping out with the Bodacious in Boots panel held by Western Romantica authors Regina Carlysle, Desiree Holt, Cerise DeLand and Nicole Austin. They started with a description of what a cowboy is and what a cowboy does (complete with handout!), then discussed movie cowboys and asked attendees for a few cowboy seduction lines. Things got a bit…heated.
As the end of the session neared, this curious group of authors asked their captive group of fellow authors, readers and fans a few questions about their reading preferences. They wanted to know if readers were interested in historical Western stories, or if they only wanted modern Western stars.

The answers they got were enlightening.

Readers were clear that they were interested in historical Western romance but there were some specifics that came up. Current and aspiring authors, take note!

Readers said they want strong historical women – not weak-willed girls rescued by strong men. They want women who could stand up to modern women, women who can rescue themselves. And, one audience member noted, strong women shouldn’t be seen as anachronisms. Women in the Old West may have had different lives but those lives weren’t easy. Women became widows young, lost families, dealt with tragedy and hardship. They weren’t wimps waiting for heroes to come along and save them from their misfortune. (Okay, so there were probably a few of those hanging around but, well, we don’t want to read about that kind of woman!)

The trick is, they don’t just want these women to match their hero – they want them to feel as real and as alive as heroines in contemporary stories, not cardboard “strong women” caricatures slotted into a historical setting.

One audience member called cowboys, and the various trappings that leave readers wanting more (their rough and readiness, their physicality, their heroic qualities, their appreciation for the land and hard work and, of course, their proficiency with ropes and easy access to leather) essentially timeless.

In an interesting twist, some readers commented that the idea of bringing Dominance/submission elements into historical Westerns wasn’t really something of interest to them – but that wasn’t a comment echoed with room-wide agreement. But kudos to those who spoke up and brought the subject to light, as that’s something we do want to know more about!

Discussion turned to the fact that what readers really like, what draws them in and hooks their attention, especially in historical stories where an author has to fit in both a hot, sexy love story and the trappings of a historical world, is a good series.

There were lots of comments about why series were great – because the historical world could be developed over multiple books, and because characters could be introduced and developed and – this seemed key – returned to in future series installments. Some audience members even called out what seemed like wish list read ideas including books with horses, trains or mail-order brides.

Readers were clear though they may not go looking for more “mainstream” Western historical romances, if they could get some hot, sweaty, sexy historical cowboy romances, they’d sit up and take notice.

So, the general consensus was “Go for it!”.

As an editor I loved the panel and I was excited to hear all the comments and questions from the audience during the discussion. I’d also love (and the panel authors likely would too!) to know what Redlines and Deadlines readers think about historical versus modern Western erotica, and cowboys in general. And what about the kinkier stuff? Is that something of interest in your Westerns, be they contemporary, or set in the Old West? Please comment!

RomantiCon© Roundup

2011-10-23T15:18:00.002-04:00

Our EC RomantiCon© reader/writer convention gets better every year! Parties, awards, great food, gorgeous cover models, fun games, music and dancing. This year we had our EC-label dessert wines and root beer, scads of "interesting" tee shirts and lots and lots of souvenirs and promo items.

Author KJ Reed makes great videos. Have a ball enjoying her pre-RomantiCon© and post-RomantiCon© stick figure videos, and her film of great moments at the convention.

Pre-RomantiCon© stick figure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQ04Po7-lk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

RomantiCon©:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lwjeEFpevU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Post-RomantiCon© 2011 Stick Figure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rKmjopPqTo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

We'll be posting about the fun workshops over the next week or two.

Vote in Pitch Contest!

2011-10-11T11:12:00.000-04:00

Refine your own pitching talents by helping analyze and judge the pitches from other writers.

EC editor Grace Bradley has already made her selection of pitches to move on in the second annual Passionate Reads Blog pitch contest. Now thirty-four entries are battling to earn the most votes, thus moving one lucky author into round two (if the pitch was not already chosen by Grace). Cast your vote now. Poll closes at 11:59 p.m. EST.

http://passionatereads.com/2011/10/08/pitch-contest-round-1-the-polls-are-open/

2012 eBook Award Finalists!

2011-09-26T14:23:00.000-04:00

The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition has released it's annual list of eBook Award finalists, winners to be announced at EPICon (March 2012), and we're thrilled to announce the nominated EC titles!

HUGE congratulations to the following authors, who, along with their EC peers, demonstrate a level of quality and dedication to good storytelling that make us so proud to be in this industry. We wouldn't be here without you!

EROTICA
Entangled Trio by Cat Grant
The First Real Thing by Cat Grant

NOVELLA
Eagle's Redemption by Cindy Spencer Pape
Song from the Abyss by Margaret L. Carter
Stormy Wedding by Kelli Scott

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Woman on Fire by Fran Lee

HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Five Card Stud by Gem Sivad

HORROR ROMANCE
Endless Lust by Lexxie Couper

PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Dead Sexy by Paige Tyler
Mask of Ice by Elaine Lowe

Back After RomantiCon

2011-09-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

Next week is RomantiCon, EC's annual reader/author convention.

http://ecromanticon.com/

We're all frantically busy with the last-minute details and stuff to do. And then we'll be "on stage" all day and night at the convention. So look for us back on this blog in the first or second week of October. We should have some good stories to tell!

Sexy Stick Figures!

2011-09-22T10:19:00.000-04:00

This video is absolutely hysterical, you must go view it! Author KJ Reed as a stick figure, demonstrating her excitement about attending our upcoming RomantiCon.

http://passionatereads.com/2011/09/21/romanticon-stick-figures-sexy-sexy/

Fudging the Facts

2011-09-19T08:00:00.008-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

So, you need to have some profession for a character in your story--but you're not an expert on whatever. The September 2011 issue of Romance Writers Report (from RWA) has an article by Courtney Milan, "Five Ways to Fudge Legal Details". The author focuses on legal details, but her advice is good for handling any profession or job in your novel if you are not an expert in that field. This blog post is a combination of suggestions from that article and my own advice.

Her first and most important advice, which we know authors will ignore, is that if you have no experience with the legal profression, do not write lawyers; if you must write lawyers, avoid talking about the character's legal practice. I say the same thing applies to cops, chefs or chiropractors.

If you do have a character in a profession in which you are not experienced, you absolutely should have someone--several someones--who is in that profession read your book and point out the errors. Law and law enforcement are especially complex, as there are so many types, plus laws vary by location (state, city, federal). So get several experts, but make sure they are the right variety--if you write an FBI agent, don't expect a small-town cop to be able to give you the insider scoop on that job. And it can be very helpful to have consultants and beta reviewers who teach--someone from the police or FBI academy, a doctor who actually teaches at med school, the director of a beautician college, whatever applies.

Ms. Milan suggests, "Have your characters choose not to consult lawyers." There can be many reasons why your heroine feels that seeking legal advice would be too expensive or time-consuming or bring more trouble, why your hero doesn't want to involve the police and would rather investigate himself, or why your heroine doesn't trust doctors so decides to treat her symptoms with "natural" cures. That way you can avoid having to provide a realistic and true representation of that profession.

The last piece of advice: "Have your characters delegate". Not only is it easy to get the details wrong, but often those details are boring or are unnecessary for your story. Is the cop a central character, or can all the crime investigation details occur off-screen? Does the reader need to know the details of meal preparation in a restaurant kitchen, or just that the food was poisoned? We probably don't need to see the doctor's office or the medical procedures, we just need the results and how that affects the characters.

If you have something that must be handled by a lawyer, have your character delegate the matter to a lawyer. "You take care of the details," he said in a commanding voice. "Call me when it's done."
Sometimes it really is that simple. [...] delegation means you have no details to get wrong, and no readers to bore.

If you present details in your story, they must be factually correct. But there are ways to avoid the details, fudge the facts, when they aren't critical to the story's flow.

Fact or Fiction?

2011-09-16T15:49:00.002-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Authors sometimes get confused about our insistence on “factual accuracy” in our stories, while we are also agreeing with them that this is fiction. Are these conflicting requirements, are editors talking out of both sides of their mouths? No. There are two primary parts or elements of a romance story, and they have different expectations and requirements.

The relationship—romantic/sexual/emotional—is the FICTION part. People read romance and erotic romance for jolts of emotion and sexual titillation. Readers know that what is depicted in this element of the story is not in any way a match for real-life relationships. Uh, a guy who can get it up five times a night, every night? Men who instinctively know what a woman is thinking and exactly the right thing to say or do to meet her emotional needs? People who recognize their mate within minutes and are irrevocably in love, talking about commitment for life? Now, c’mon. In reality, you’d give that relationship/marriage about a zilch chance of lasting. And those uber-alpha heroes that we swoon over in books? We all know if we met a real guy like that, we’d probably kill him within days—or have him arrested for stalking, abuse, kidnapping… But in a romance story, we happily buy into the relationship and HEA that would be unbelievable in real life. We know that it is fiction, but it satisfies an emotional need for us, so we are willing to play along.

But then there is the story itself—the setting, background, plot actions, historical and geographical details, the science/legal/medical/law enforcement information. That is the FACT in the story, that is what must be real and accurate and true-to-life. (Assuming the story isn't fantasy or alternate reality, of course.) Otherwise, readers think very negatively of the author (and by extension, the publishing company), and are likely to speak up about it. You can’t have zippers in ancient Egyptian clothing, trains or the Underground in Regency London, sites on a hunting rifle in the 18th century, turkey and corn at a meal in medieval Europe. You can’t cross over the border from Canada to Mexico. If your hero suffers a serious gunshot wound, it’s going to take months of recovery and rehabilitation. Tests based on crime-scene evidence or DNA takes weeks to months to process, not a few hours. If you have cops, lawyers, or medical personnel in your story, you had better either be in that profession yourself or have researched the hell out of it and have every detail and character action right and justifiable. Beyond facts, people’s actions and reactions have to make sense, they have to be what could “really happen”, not something that any reader would say “No one would ever do that!” And don’t think readers won’t recognize the errors. Lots of them are in the professions or places you depict. And everyone else has seen it on TV. Yes, CSI is all wrong, it’s fiction, don’t copy from that for your story. But other court, crime and history shows have taught people how things really work and they will spot the “I can’t suspend disbelief enough” inaccuracies in your story.

So yes, we—as both editors and readers—expect that you as author will stick to the facts when writing fiction.

So, what unfactual “facts” have driven you crazy in a romance novel? All those examples I gave above are things I’ve actually seen in submissions or published books.

Puppy Love

2011-09-14T20:28:00.000-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Hmm, I was trying to figure out how to make this blog post related to writing or publishing.
People need puppies.
Publishers are people, so publishers need puppies too.

Today was a stressful day at work. Things go wrong. It is difficult when what goes wrong is out of your control, or you don't understand what is causing the problem. So by end of day, I was not in a cheery mood.

I got home and let our two puppies (4 months and 6 months old) out in the yard to play. I just sat there and watched them - and I felt lighter, the world was brighter, my headache was less and things no longer seemed a mess.

They love to play Stalk. It's just like watching one of those nature shows, where the lioness or cheetah stalks the gazelle. The puppies flatten themselves into the grass on opposite sides of the yard, just staring. Then one of them starts to wiggle its bottom -- and suddenly leaps up and charges the other. They chase around the yard, through the bushes, through my vegetable garden ("Stop trampling my zucchini, you little beasts!"). They knock each other over, wrestle and tussle, break away and charge back. All with complete joy and excitement. Who can help but watch and smile at puppies at play?

Puppies should be issued to publishers as part of standard "office equipment", just like getting a laptop and desk chair. Today's major problem is not fixed yet, but I don't feel quite so stressed out about it.

Faolan and Fancy with Jonathon.

Regency Britain Is Not Modern America

2011-09-12T08:00:00.003-04:00

By Helen Woodall, editor

With the renewed popularity of Regency-set romances, more and more non-British authors are penning Regency-set stories. This article is not referring to stories in a world invented by the author which may have some similarities to Regency Britain, but to stories purporting to be set in Regency Britain.
Many of these are excellent stories, but are ruined for non-American readers because they have included peculiarly American traditions. Traditions that are probably so “normal” to the author, the editor and the publisher, that it never occurred to them to check if they were “British”.

1. Calling a married woman Jane Smith Jones. If Jane Smith got married she was Jane Jones. If someone wanted to know her heritage it would be said as Jane Jones, née Smith. Or possibly as Bertie Smith's daughter Jane. Using the maiden name as the middle name is a distinctly American tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_and_maiden_names

2. Houses in England in that day (and the vast majority of them still now) had a front door that opened onto the pavement (sidewalk). There may or may not be steps up to the door but no stoop, no porch and definitely no porch swing! Most town houses had no garden. The garden was in the square, gated, locked and shared by all the houses in the square. Country houses had a garden. Not a “yard”. A yard was where the farm animals and horses were. Google 'Regency architecture'. There are lots of pictures.

3. The evening meal was not called supper. There were two meals, breakfast and dinner, with nuncheon (a light meal) in between if dinner was to be eaten late. In the Season, supper may be served at balls after midnight. A light meal again. Dinner is a hot meal with three courses and several removes, served around 5 p.m. in the country and 9 p.m. in town.

4. Yes, “bloody” is a very British swear word. But it was not used at this time period. Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c.1750, and it was used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c.1750-c.1920, perhaps from imagined association with menstruation. The term was debarred from polite society during the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=bloody&searchmode=none

5. “Gods”. In this time period, the British people were Christian. The official religion was the Church of England. The King was the Head of the Church and the House of Lords included many religious officials. The Lords Spiritual were 26 senior bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal made up the rest of the membership. Of these, the majority were life peers who were appointed by the Monarch. If an aristocrat had pantheistic thoughts, he would keep them to himself for fear of losing his inheritance.

6. “Bathe” and toilets. Thomas Crapper did not invent the flushing toilet. The Minoans of Ancient Crete did. Although the U-bend was invented in 1782 (making them suitable for indoors by taking away the dreadful smell) they did not become common in Britain until the late 19th century. Rich people had servants who emptied chamber pots (bedpans) into outdoor earth closets. Up until 1900 almost all British houses had outdoor toilets. In poor areas one toilet served an entire street of families.

People rarely took baths. Before the 19th century it was difficult to heat a large amount of water in one go. Suppose you heated a cauldron of water and poured it into a tub. By the time you had heated a second lot of water the first lot would already be cold. The rich stripped and washed all over in a small amount of water carried to them by servants. Those old metal tub baths you see in pictures are about the size of a baby’s bath. You stood up in it. http://www.localhistories.org/toilets.html

Some good references:
http://joannawaugh.com/
http://www.reg-ency.com/
Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester, Random House

Helen is on safari in Africa at the moment, but will be happy to respond to comments in a few weeks.

Crazy Confusibles

2011-09-07T08:00:00.004-04:00

Yes, alas, the online world does seem to decrease people's skills in word usage, spelling, punctuation, grammar. There are seldom proofreaders for all those blogs, or even for the articles in online newspapers and such.

8 Words the Internet Loves to Confuse With Other Words
by Christina H, Aug. 30, 2011
http://www.cracked.com/blog/8-words-internet-loves-to-confuse-with-other-words/

As the author of this article says, "there are still a lot of other rogue (not rouge) words out there mixing with their homophonic or lookalike cousins and wreaking (not reeking) havoc on news articles, blogs, and forums everywhere." She illustrates word misuse with hysterical headlines and quotes from online sources, and with wildly amusing pictures. Do go read the full article. But make a note of these words in your personal proofing list.

1. Bear/Bare - A large, furry carnivore - naked. As the article author says, "I would never dream of insulting you by explaining the difference between bare and bear. Third graders know this. Nevertheless, people mix them up all the damn time."

2. Tack/Tact - Tack has several unrelated meanings: a change of direction, a pin, or the saddle and all that stuff you put on a horse. Tact is a kind or socially acceptable way of talking or acting so as to avoid offending others.

3. Hanger/Hangar - A hanger is something you hang things on. A hangar is where you keep aircraft.

4. Principal/Principle - Oh year, I see this error all the time in lots of places. The principal is the head of your school or the main person in some group. A principle is a basic belief about what's right and good. We would like every principal to have principles.

5. Per Se/Per Say - I've never actually seen this error, but according to the author of the blog article, it is rampant online. There isn't such a word or phrase as "per say", it's just a mispelling of per se.

6. Epitaph/Epithet - I see this misused/misspelled all the time, and it cracks me up. An epitaph is what they carve on your gravestone; an epithet is a term used to characterize something, often meant in an insulting or offensive way. Let's hope your epitaph is not an epithet.

7. Wary/Weary - When you are weary, you're tired; when you are wary, you are cautious and concerned ('ware' like in 'beware').

8. Regimen/Regiment - A regiment is a military unit; a regimen is a routine or a planned health schedule. So you don't have an exercise or diet regiment (although the soldiers would certainly be in good shape, if so), it's a regimen.

New Line: EC for Men

2011-09-05T10:47:00.001-04:00

Stories written specifically for our male readers.
We are now accepting submissions (find instructions in the Author Information brochure available under Submissions on our website).

~ 7,000 to 30,000 words

~ May contain relationships, but should focus more on the sex than the romance; Romantica is fine, Exotika is also encouraged

~ Realistic wording and dialogue for male characters (not the language women WISH men spoke); this extends to the male narrative

~ Written from male POV preferred

~ Should be aimed at male sexual fantasies (what men think of when they get off)

~ More of what men want or need from women: sex, love, acceptance, admiration, dirty talk; less of what they don't need (judgment, drama, expectation of anticipating woman's needs)

* Examples include, but are in no way limited to:
- Women taking the initiative during sex
- Female pursuit of the man
- Voyeurism of female/female sex (as well as F/M/F and F/F/M themes)
- Risky sexual situations or locations; a sense of the forbidden (e.g. the boss's mistress, the maid, the college professor, sex in public, etc.)

Remember that sex is largely visual and verbal for men (for women, it is mainly mental and emotional). Men polled preferred "real women" (natural as opposed to surgically enhanced) and wanted women to "do some of the work". Interpret that as you will!

2011 Banned Books Week

2011-09-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

From the American Library Association:

"Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them."

Read a Banned Book

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/48132-banned-books-week-features-youtube-read-out-.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=fa61d64fce-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

For Banned Books Week (Sept. 24-Oct. 1) this year, booksellers and their customers can proclaim their support for free speech on the Internet by joining a worldwide read-out of banned and challenged books. For many years, Banned Books Week has featured readings from challenged titles in bookstores and libraries. This year people can participate no matter where they are–in bookstores, libraries and their own homes–by posting a video of themselves reading their favorite banned book on a special YouTube channel.

Readers can select any banned or challenged book, and excerpts can be up to two minutes in length. Alternatively, people who have worked to defend banned or challenged titles can describe their battles in videos of up to three minutes in length. Booksellers will send the videos to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), which will edit them, add the names and logos of the bookstores where the filming occurred and then post them on YouTube. The videos will also be tagged to make it easy for bookstores to feature them on their websites, blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.

For further information, e-mail info@abffe.org

Discovering Old Books

2011-08-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

A coworker at EC clued me in to a great website, The Public Domain Review:
http://publicdomainreview.org/

The site's description of itself:

The public domain is a vast commons of material that everyone is free to enjoy, share and build upon without restriction. All works eventually enter the public domain – from classic works of art, music and literature, to abandoned drafts, tentative plans, and overlooked fragments.

The Public Domain Review aspires to become a bounteous gateway into the whopping plenitude that is the public domain, helping our readers to explore this rich terrain by surfacing unusual and obscure works, and offering fresh reflections and unfamiliar angles on material which is more well known.

By providing a curated collection of exotic scraps and marvellous rarities and linking to freely distributable copies of works in online archives and from far flung corners of the web, we hope to encourage readers to further utilise and explore public domain works by themselves.

The site seems to mainly focus on books, but also covers film and images. Lots of weird and wonderful documents that few of us would likely ever discover on our own. I've already downloaded English as She is Spoke from 1884, and am enjoying browsing leisurely for other items of interest. Hmm, I'm rather tempted by The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals from 1906 (animals tried for human crimes) and The Danger of Premature Interment from 1816 (make sure someone is really dead before you bury them).

The site encourages submission of articles about public domain works, and is open to suggestions for works to include.

New Words in Webster's

2011-08-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

It's always fun to see lists of the new words the major dictionary companies accept each year and add to their dictionaries. The words are a great reflection of our changing world, new trends, new ideas.

Here are a couple of the 150 that got added to Merriam-Webster's College Dictionary this year. Actually, I'm rather surprised they didn't get in sooner.

bromance: a close nonsexual friendship between men.

cougar: a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.

crowdsourcing: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.

social media: forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).

tweet: a post made on the Twitter online message service.

See the Publishers Weekly blog for a longer article and list:
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/?p=6615&utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=c1236bebe7-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

Happy Anniversary!

2011-08-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

By Raelene Gorlinsky

(Based on information from an article in Publishers Weekly, 8/15/11 issue.)

Ah, the books we remember fondly from our childhood - or from reading to our children. The classics are called that for a reason - they are great stories that stay popular. Some of the most popular children's books are celebrating long anniversaries, and most therefore have special editions coming out.

Remember the series about Babar the elephant? I loved those drawings. The first book, The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, came out in 1931, so is now 80 years old and still beloved by and relevant to children. Coming out this month will be Babar's Celestville Games by Laurent de Brunhoff, Jean's son.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle made a deep impression on me as a preteen. It's celebrating it's 50th with a special commemorative edition. There will also be a graphic novel adaptation out next year.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster & Jules Feiffer is 50 years old. The special anniversary editioin will be released in October.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is also 50 this year. The publisher, Puffin, is not only putting out an anniversary edition, but having a variety of online activities and contests.

Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day will be 50 next year. It was considered groundbreaking back in 1962, and won the Caldecott Medal, because the young boy was African-American.

Remember the jungle animals coming out of the game in Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, 30 years ago? It was a 1982 Caldecott Medal winner, and came out as a movie in 1995.

The Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole is 25. I read these to my son when he was small; I enjoyed them as much as he did. The illustrations by Bruce Degen are wonderfully clever.

I'm likely to succumb and buy some of the special editions, to add to my collection of children's picture books.

Not as E as We Think

2011-08-24T08:00:00.048-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

I've got hundreds of unread print books on my TBR shelves, there is no more room left. So I made a conscious decision last month that I would buy only digital books from now on. Well, I tried...

I just assumed all the books I want would be available in digital format. Those of us in the epub industry and those readers who are heavily into digital tend to forget that many publishers are not yet with us. The big publishers still often delay the release of the digital version of new books until later than the print release (especially for hardcover books). And although they talk about digitizing their backlist, they are still nowhere near getting any significant portion actually available in ebook format.

What happened with the twelve books on my "buy" list last month? The list was a mix of new releases and older (but not more than three years old), fiction and nonfiction, well-known and new authors. To my surprise and annoyance, only FOUR of the twelve books were available in e. Those four were all new fiction releases that were also available in mass market paperback. And one of the ebooks was available only on Kindle; sorry, I buy ePub format. So I was able to get only 25% of my buy list as digital. I had to buy print for the rest.

This month looks like it may be almost as dissatisfying. I want to buy four books. One is available only in e, from a digital-first publisher, and I've bought it. Yay! One is a Harlequin category, not yet out, but I'm sure will be available in e. The other two--I don't know. One was a mass market release six months ago from a big NY publisher, but I haven't managed to find it in any digital format except Kindle. Hey, publisher, do you realize how much of the e market you are missing by not offering ePub and PDF? The other is an upcoming fiction hardcover, I don't have high hopes for a same-release-date ePub digital version.

I'll keep trying--when possible, I'll buy an ebook instead of a print book. But looks like I'm going to have to find more space on those TBR shelves.

What's your experience? What percentage of the books you buy are digital versus print? If you can't find it in digital, do you buy print or refuse to buy?

Renaissance in Publishing?

2011-08-21T13:25:00.000-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

The July 25, 2011, issue of Publishers Weekly had an insightful opinion article by Ashley Rindsberg, "Renaissance: Are niches the new mass market?" He summarized the changes of the past two decades and explains just how the whole basis of the publishing industry has been shaken. Some excerpts:

< Through all the panic and hysteria that's gripped the publishing world over the past few years, and in spite of academic musings on the fate of the book, we're witnessing an unprecedented flourishing of creativity and innovation in the book business. [...]

Social media has made "the niche" the all-important marketing concept today. Readers now gather around shared passions and interests [...] book production and distribution has finally become advanced enough to deliver titles directly to individual niches in a cost-effective way.

In short, a new publishing industry is emerging. For decades the book business has been dominated by what's become the "big six" corporate publishers and the major bookstore chains. [...] Given the high fixed costs of producing and selling a book, it became critical for big publishers to invest in titles that could nto only bring a return on the investment but subsidize the other titles that didn't sell. Thus, the focus of much of the book industry began to shift away from the kind of magical books that enrich our culture, to those books that could sell big. And how do publishers predict what will sell? By looking at what's already sold, of course.

In this way the book industry began to churn out expensive, generic titles that merely mimicked previous bestsellers. And smaller, niche-oriented titles--books that [...] lacked that "mass market" gloss--went unpublished or, ast best, were left for dead on the backlist.

Then, in the late 1980s, things started to change. Small publishers began using new digital publishing technologies--the era of "desktop publishing". In the mid 1990s, Internet sales, through services like Amazon, emerged. And now, in just the past few years, social networking and social media have changed the game; Google has scanned and made millions of books discoverable; digital print-on-demand has become practical and cost-effective; and most important, the Kindle, Nook and iPad have paved the way for an e-book future.
[...]
The current environment has all the makings of a renaissance for books. Even as the major publishing conglomerates contract, and retail chains like Borders flail, small and truly independent publishers are flourishing. >

Yep, I think that explains the success of Ellora's Cave and other indies and epubs like us. We target a specific market niche (such as erotic romance), and we understand that niche. We take chances on new authors and new styles within that niche, because we grasp what our readers may want and we cater to the diversity within that market and we provide value to those readers.

Of your recent reads, how many were those "megasellers for the masses" from major publishers, and how many were niche books from smaller publishers or the targeted genre lines of the big publishers?

Worst Writing Award 2011

2011-07-27T11:11:00.000-04:00

The Bulwer-Litton Fiction Contest was started in 1982 at San Jose State University to celebrate bad writing. The contest is named after Victorian novelist and playwright Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who started a book with “It was a dark and stormy night”. From the contest's website (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2011.htm): "The contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels".

The 2011 winner is Sue Fondrie, an associate professor at U of Wisconsin.
"Cheryl's mind turned like vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories."

Don't you wish you could write like that?! Please send us submissions in that style--we like to torture our editors.

Runner-up is Rodney Reed.
"As I stood among the ransacked ruin that had been my home, surveying the aftermath of the senseless horrors and atrocities that had been perpetrated on my family and everything I hold dear, I swore to myself that no matter where I had to go, no matter what I had to do or endure, I would find the man who did this . . . and when I did, when I did, oh, there would be words."

Romance category winner is Ali Kawashima.
"As the dark and mysterious stranger approached, Angela bit her lip anxiously, hoping with every nerve, cell, and fiber of her being that this would be the one man who would understand—who would take her away from all this—and who would not just squeeze her boob and make a loud honking noise, as all the others had."

Winner in the Purple Prose category is Mike Pedersen.
"As his small boat scudded before a brisk breeze under a sapphire sky dappled with cerulean clouds with indigo bases, through cobalt seas that deepened to navy nearer the boat and faded to azure at the horizon, Ian was at a loss as to why he felt blue. "

There are winners in genre categories and various other classifications, including Dishonorable Mentions. They are all hysterical - go have a bit of reading fun.

What Guys Think Women Want to Read

2011-07-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

This is from an article in Publishers Weekly, July 4, 2011. The article is by author William Dietrich, about his attempts to attract women readers to his books, which are usually labeled male action/adventure or male thriller.

"The question is: what do women readers want? I've asked this of book clubs I've visited (always exclusively female) and their answer is [...] relationships. Romance. Food. Cool places to hang out, like castles and palaces. And sex, if tastefully calibrated.

"Women like action, but they want stuff happening inside to people as well as outside to armies. Scientists report that women are hard-wired for empathy, probably because it was an evolutionary advantage in raising children and a disadvantage in spearing enemies.

"Twenty-first century ladies are also stern. No wimp women, they warn. No shrieking ninnies. They want authors who understand them."

I think Mr. Dietrich has developed a good insight into what women want to read. (Okay, especially the food and sex.) What about you? Do you agree with him? What would you say to male authors trying to add women to their mainly male readership?

EC for Men

2011-07-05T21:17:00.000-04:00

Ellora's Cave is planning to launch a new line soon - EC For Men.

This will be erotica (not porn) for a male audience. Therefore, we are interested in hearing from men about their sexual fantasies, to help us target appropriate submissions and story types. Not what women think men want - we really want to hear directly from men. However, all you women reading this blog, feel free to pass this along to every adult male you know.

Men, give us your opinion. It's very easy, just send an email.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To: jaidaa@live.com
Subject: Male fantasies

~ What are your sexual fantasies, what turns you on?
~ Would it matter to you whether the author name was male or female? If so, which would make you more inclined to buy the ebook.
~ Include "I was referred by Redlines and Deadlines blog."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You don't have to include your name or any other personal info. However, if you are feeling very brave, cc redlinesdeadlines@gmail.com on your message, and we'll put you in a drawing for free ebooks.

So, men, speak up about what you would read in erotica!

Bookstore Wit

2011-06-27T13:03:00.000-04:00

http://www.quickmeme.com/Judgmental-Bookseller-Ostrich/?upcoming

OMG, you have got to go look at these satiric Q&A signs for bookstores. Makes you totally understand what booksellers go through.

A few samples:

"Yes, we have that book with the green cover by that famous guy. It’s over in the books section."

"Where non-fiction? See the Fiction section? Everywhere but there."

"I’m trying to just be happy that you’re reading…but seriously, put down the Stephanie Meyers."

"It’s a green book with a flower on the cover? No problem. Because that’s totally how we organize this store."

Fiction Rules Ebooks

2011-06-22T21:55:00.000-04:00

Over half of all ebooks purchased are fiction, according to the recently released Bowker "2010-2011 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review". Their survey of 40,000 book buyers reveals that fiction ebook sales account for 61% by unit and 51% by dollars. The other (various non-fiction and children's) genres measured ranged from 3% to 14% market share each.

Online retailers of books accounted for 30% of all sales in 2010, with the major bookstore chains captured 29%. It was clear that consumers buy both ebooks and print books more from online retailers. Amazon and Barnes&Noble tied as the U.S.'s largest volume booksellers in 2010.

Cave Tales: Fun With Faolan

2011-06-17T21:22:00.001-04:00

The jobs of the hard-working Publishing staff are stressful. Therefore, as thoughtful and wise employers, we implement techniques and activities to reduce that stress. As displayed by this clip.

Proven stress-reducer: new Corgi puppy.

Thank you to Meghan for taking the video, to Kelli for starring in it, and to Raelene for supplying the puppy (who is now named Faolan, Gaelic for "little wolf").

Influential Female Authors

2011-06-09T11:29:00.001-04:00

Forbes has an article listing the ten most powerful woman authors.

http://blogs.forbes.com/avrildavid/2011/06/06/the-10-most-powerful-women-authors/
(June 6, 2011)

"The women selected for this list are powerful because of their ability to influence us through their words and ideas. Collectively, these women hold readers captivated with stories of fantastical worlds, suspense and drama, insights into the complexities of minority experiences and cultures, and fresh takes on societal issues and expectations…not to mention, book sales of up to 800M copies sold and a wealth of prestigious awards and recognition including Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes."

Read the article for details on these women. They are quite a diverse group.
J.K. Rowling
Danielle Steele
Toni Morrison
Stephanie Meyer
Mary Higgins Clark
Maya Angelou
Alice Walker
Jhumpa Lahiri
Joyce Carol Oates
Isabel Allende

These are all big, famous names. (And the list is limited to living authors.) But for many of us, the books and writers who influenced us personally are not such global personalities. Reading Georgette Heyer as a pre-teen gave me my livelong love of history, of social manners, and of romance novels. What female authors had an impact on your life?

E-millions

2011-06-08T08:42:00.000-04:00

Amazon has announced that six authors have now sold more than 1 million Kindle books each: Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child and Suzanne Collins.

I'd love to know what the total number of ebook sales are for these authors, not just Kindle format sales. If you add the ePub format sold at Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo... Let alone the smaller e-tailers, direct from publisher sales; and then additional common ebook formats like PDF and others.

You're Gonna Have to Face it...

2011-06-01T10:17:00.000-04:00

By Kelli Collins

So this was fun. This article warning women of those dangerous, dangerous romance novels. You know…those things to which I’ve dedicated my professional life.

Apparently romance novels can ruin your marriage, turn you into a recluse, cause clinical depression, lead to nosebleeds, increase flatulence, prompt rituals in the name of Aphrodite and contribute to tingling in your nether regions. (And let’s not forget the dreaded Fluttering Vajayjays.)

What? You didn’t know?

The article by Kimberly Sayer-Giles points out romance sales exceed those of inspirational, religious and self-help books combined by more than half a billion (though she fails to mention from which year she culled those figures). That Ms. Sayer-Giles is a self-help guru speaks volumes. Gee, lady, how about veiling your attempt to drum up business for yourself by trashing an entire industry? Home-wreckers like myself would really appreciate it, thanks.

Oh, I’m sorry. Not self-help guru. Ms. Sayer-Giles is a “life coach”. Yes, in quotes. Largely because I figure we need “life coaches” like we need “executive phone managers” and “deep-fry specialists” and “nail technicians”. Slap a fancy title on your business card and you’re still making a living telling people their underachieving choices aren’t good enough.

But what am I saying? I’ve completely overlooked the known fact that romance readers believe every syllable we publish. Of COURSE they fully believe every man alive should be a 6’5”, ruggedly handsome, muscular bronze god. Of course they expect every man to plumb the depths of his deepest feelings and invite his studly friends home for a three-way romp to satisfy his woman’s fantasies. Before shifting into a werewolf and scurrying out the back door to howl at the moon. Naturally.

Thank God we have professional self-help mavens to pull us back from our unrealistic expectations and give us a nice punch of reality to the face. I was thisclose to divorcing my husband and posting a personal ad to find my own broodingly sexy vampire life-mate.

Whew. Close call. Thanks, coach.

Supporting Bookstores

2011-05-24T09:17:00.000-04:00

An interesting article by M.J. Rose with advice from best-selling authors and from booksellers on what authors can and should do to support their local bookstores and improve local sales of their books.

http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/05/romancing-the-bookseller/

E overtakes Print at Amazon

2011-05-19T12:02:00.000-04:00

So, are you a member of the "print is dead" party? Or the "there will always be both" group? Or the "If it isn't in print I won't read it" fringe? Where do you see print books five years from now?

Here's the first section of the press release:

Amazon.com Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Print Books

SEATTLE, May 19, 2011

Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books - hardcover and paperback - combined.

"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly - we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com. "In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family. We continue to receive positive comments from customers on the low $114 price and the money-saving special offers. We're grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world."

Recent milestones for Kindle include:

Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.

So far in 2011, the tremendous growth of Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital. Free books are excluded in the calculation of growth rates.

Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.

Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1.

Blue Collar Erotica

2011-05-17T09:14:00.000-04:00

Okay, you absolutely must go watch this video. It's long, but sheer entertainment to the end. George Lopez promotes romance heroes who are plain, working class guys rather than millionaire businessmen or SEALs. He and some audience members read some sample ideas. Hysterical!
http://www.lopeztonight.com/episode_recaps_and_highlights/blue_collar_romance_novels.php

Fun With Adjectives

2011-05-13T13:41:00.000-04:00

by Kelli Collins

**Note: “Fun” as in “making fun of”. Because that’s how I roll.**

I see a lot of original adjective use during the course of an average submission read. And that’s cool. I’d rather authors take a stab and get creative, even if it ultimately doesn’t work, rather than bear witness to the word “hot” or “wet” 192 times in a 10K sub. Again. Adjective abuse, my friends, is no laughing matter.

I’m lying. It’s funnier than a rubber crutch. Especially when the adjective lends impossible action to body parts. That’s the best. For instance, we’ve all read about the mythical Pulsing Penis, right? I hate to be a wuss but if my man stalks toward me with his love muscle visibly pulsing, I’m frickin’ outta there. Or setting him up as a human carnival ride and making a TON of money.

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of what I suspect is the female counterpart to the glut of pulsing penises—the Fluttering Pussy. And after pausing to pull myself together because the very sight of those words together makes me giggle like a five-year-old, I just shrug and let it go. Because most authors can restrain themselves from using a humdinger like that over and over and over. I mean, something that phenomenal should be reserved for special occasions, right? Sort of like your heirloom china or your best rubber sheets.

Then I read a sub last week that used the magical phrase 34 times. Now, I know it was probably meant in the “throbbing” definition of the word, but still…34 times. I had to make fun, right?

And of course I have to share the fun that resulted from that fun, right?

Right. So for those of you not down with the Twitter, please enjoy the Tweet spawned by this abundance of Fluttering Pussies, along with some of the responses. And authors…you don’t have to choose your adjectives with more care. But you might end up in a post if you don’t. You’ve been warned. *evil grin*

Original Tweet:

@EditMeThis: The book I’m currently reading is chock-full of “fluttering” vajayjays. #fly! #flyawayvajajay

Responses:

@caitmiller: I can see where a vajayjay would flutter…but not so much it’s in danger of taking off.

@DelDryden: LOL Okay I’m picturing like some sort of SF/F horror thing where the fluttering vajayjay is 1st clue she’s an alien. Not good.

@AnnMayburn: I’ve heard of fluttering your eyelashes to get a man’s attention…maybe my flirting techniques have been too subtle.

@Christine_dAbo: I hate it when that happens.

@shainorton: Please tell me they don’t also have butterfly tattoos.

@victoriablisse: I am pretty sure my vajayjay has never fluttered. Unless it was very windy I suppose…

@andrewtshaffer: Flying vajayjays? Say it ain’t so.

@marifreeman: Noooo. Stay, vajayjay. Stay.

@sommer_marsden: Oh look! There goes one! Hand me the net…

@LeighElwood: I need to read this now.

Blunt Truths for Aspiring Authors

2011-05-09T08:00:00.004-04:00

Writer Chuck Wendig's "Terrible Minds" blog offers what he describes as rants, rambles and babbling. Plus some frank and brutally honest advice to authors. Things that editors wish they could bluntly say to submitting authors, but they can't because they have to be polite and professional. So cheers to Chuck for throwing reality into everyone's face. I recommend all authors read these two "reality checks" in full. Just remember when you get to the brutally honest parts, I didn't say any of this--Chuck did, blame him.

25 Things Every Writer Should Know
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/04/26/25-things-every-writer-should-know/
1. You are legion
2. You better put the "fun" in "fundamentals"
3. Skill over talent
4. Nobody cares about your Creative Writing degree
5. Speaking of luck
6. This is a slow process
7. Nobody "gets in" the same way
8. Writing feels like--but isn't--magic
9. Storytelling is serious business
10. Your writing has whatever value you give it
11. You are your own worst enemy
12. Your voice is your own
13. Cultivate calluses
14. Stones are polished by agitation
15. Act like an asshole, you'll get treated like an asshole
16. Writing is never about just writing
17. This is an industry of people
18. The worst thing your work can be is boring
19. No, wait, the worst thing your work can be is unclear
20. Writing is about words, storytelling is about life
21. Everything can be fixed in post
22. Quit quitting
23. No such thing as bad writing advice
24. Though, nobody really knows shit about shit
25. Hope will save you

Why Your Novel Won't Get Published
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/01/10/why-your-novel-wont-get-published/

1. Them brownies ain't done baking
2. Your training wheels are still attached
3. You're allergic to following instructions (AKA you suffer from "The Special Snowflake" conundrum)
4. Novel's great, but the query letter sucks eggs
5. You're a dick
6. What genre is that, again?
7. Deja vu
8. The book is not, how you say, "commercially viable?"
9. Sometimes, even the brightest spark won't catch fire
10. Unfortunately, you're a deluded, talentless hack

Random Snippets

2011-05-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

Margaret Atwood:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/no-e-books-without-authors-atwood-reminds-us/article1943785/page2/

"...the Bayeaux Tapestry which is sometimes called the first comic book. It’s a series of panels with text here and there, and a frieze along the bottom which consists basically of people getting their heads chopped off and their clothes pulled off. It’s very non-linear, but also quite linear because you read the panels in sequence; but you also read them back and forth and up and down."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nancy Werlin: The Anatomy of a Book Cover
YA author talking about the development of the cover art for one of her books
"Then there’s the mission of any cover: to represent the book’s contents authentically enough while appealing to the tastes of those most likely to want to buy it and read it.

“Authentically enough.” What do I mean by this? Well, I’m a veteran of YA book covers (just take a look at my website’s Cover Gallery, in which you’ll find my sometimes trenchant comments on the covers of my books over time). I used to want covers that represented the book’s contents very closely, and were also pretty. Many folks automatically believe that this is what makes a good cover.

But I’ve changed my mind about this. While the cover should not lie (by implication or outright), its job is simply to say: “Pick me up!” to someone who might like the book. That is all. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail Rebuck, the chief executive of Random House in the U.K., recently described her “idea of hell” as a website ‘with 80,000 self-published works on it’ – a world where publishers and bookshops are replaced by a sort of online, super slush pile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Authors occasionally ask what is meant by the "Big Six" in publishing. It's the major U.S. New York-based traditional publishers (used to be referred to as print publishers, but now of course also offer their books in digital).

Hachette
HarperCollins
Macmillan
Penguin
Random House
Simon & Schuster

Need to remember that? Raelene's mnemonic (memory trick): Heros and Heroines: Most Prefer Romance and Sex.

And each of those publishing houses has multiple imprints. It's not unusual for the house to reorganize and rename imprints, so any list can become outdated. But for example, a not-too-old list of Penguin imprints: Berkley, Berkley Sensation, Gotham, Heat, Jove, Obsidian, Onyx, Prime Crime, Putnam, Signet, Signet Eclipse, NAL, Riverhead, Viking.

Of course, because the Big Six refers to U.S. publishers, it is missing the largest romance publisher: Harlequin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Typewriters to Dodo-land

2011-05-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

It's official - manual typewriters are about to become extinct. The last manufacturer of them is closing their plant. The world of documents is now officially all-electronic.

http://newstonight.net/content/godrej-and-boyce-shut-down-world-s-last-typewriter-factory

Godrej and Boyce has announced that it is shutting down its plant in Mumbai, India, which is the last typewriter manufacturing facility in the world.

Milind Dukle, Godrej and Boyce's general manager said, "We are not getting many orders now. Till 2009, we used to produce 10,000 to 12,000 machines a year. But this might be the last chance for typewriter lovers.”

He also said that the main market for the machine include defence agencies, courts and government offices. Godrej and Boyce, which has been in operations since last six decades, has been producing and selling tens of thousands of units annually. However, it was struggling with sales and managed to sell only about 800 in the year 2010.

Godrej and Boyce has about 200 machines in inventory of mostly Arabic language. Anyone one wishing to buy the machine will probably have to look for a used on or in antique shops.

Latest Study of Ebook Reading

2011-05-02T08:00:00.016-04:00

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has been conducting surveys since November 2009 to track book consumer attitudes toward ebooks. They just announced the results of the latest survey. (Survey results available at $500 and up, depending on how much detail you want.)
http://www.bisg.org/news-5-631-press-releasebisg-study-reveals-e-book-buyers-are-accelerating-their-move-away-from-print.php

"The surge in sales of e-reading devices like Amazon’s Kindle during the 2010 holiday season launched a turning point in e-book history according to the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). The second installment in VOLUME TWO of BISG’s closely watched Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading survey shows the percentage of print book consumers who say they download e-books jumped from 5% in October 2010 to nearly 13% in January 2011. In addition, fully two-thirds of survey respondents said they have moved exclusively, or mostly, to e-books over print. Finally, despite declining sales of pricier hardbacks, overall spending on books shows an uptick over the past six months, with 44% of respondents reporting higher unit purchases and 34% reporting higher overall spending on a combination of print books and e-books."

And just what type of ebooks are people buying?

"Fiction continues to dominate downloads, with literary fiction, science fiction, and romance each comprising over 20% of all format purchases."

Have the Self-Esteem of a Whale

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

The article below has appeared in a number of places on the web since summer 2009, but I only recently discovered it. No, it isn't directly about writing or publishing. But it does illustrate having a positive and accepting attitude about yourself, and empowering yourself with whatever your assets and realities. How you perceive yourself has an enduring impact on your ability to succeed.

Recently in a large city in France a poster featuring a young, thin, and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym:

To Whom It May Concern,

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins, stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea, and the coral reefs of Polynesia .

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them … where is IT? Therefore, they don’t have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated, and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!¨

Cave Tales: Assume the Position

2011-04-27T08:00:00.005-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

We (the Publishing Department) have a weekly status meeting. Well, it's theoretically about the status of various projects and any issues that have come up during the week, but it tends to go in unexpected directions. We have learned to keep my office door shut during the meeting.

So at a recent meeting we were discussing how editors must watch out for what we call "choreography" problems in scenes. You know, where the author describes Tom sitting down in the chair, then several paragraphs later has him rise from the couch. Or Sue takes off her shoes three times (just how many legs does she have?). Or puts on a t-shirt in the morning, but removes her lacy blouse later on. I have several times conducted a writer workshop on this issue of choreography--always hysterical to watch. But new and interesting situations always arise in books being edited, and sex scenes are the most entertaining to analyse for choreography correctness.

At this particular meeting we discussed a question that had come up recently on a scene in a book--can a woman lick her own nipples? Because I know you're dying to know--yes, some women can. It doesn't depend on the size of her breasts, it is far more dependent on her flexibility. If you want to be sure a reader will believe your character can do this, establish earlier in the story that the woman practices yoga. If she can get into some of those yoga positions, she can get her tongue to her nipples, no matter how flat her chest!

Often an editor has to determine whether some position is humanly impossible or if the problem is with the way the author describes the action. As I teach in my workshop, the best way to test this is to act out the scene exactly as the author wrote it. So after we finished discussing tongues and nipples, editor Meghan brought up a sex scene in a book she was working on. Before you know it... "Jennifer, you lie down on the floor and raise your legs. Jaime, you kneel here and..." Jaime and Jennifer are our Publishing Assistants. When we hired them, we didn't exactly tell them all the duties of the job. Well, the J ladies are both young and slim and flexible--like most romance heroines--and were able to prove that the position could work.

Do you see why we keep the door closed?

Ten Libraries We Love

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

Well, okay, libraries and bookstores, but that's less catchy.

Arabic Books by Hasaam Siddiqi

The most beautiful bookstore in the world by Jessie Reeder

Old and charming book by Maurizio Abbate

Dining Room Converted to a Reading Room by Curious Expeditions

bookshelf spectrum, revisited by chotda

Beautiful bookstore by Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Hobvivliothek by Craig Elliott

La caverne aux livres by Alexandre Duret-Lutz

La bibliothèque humaniste de Beatus Rhenanus / Humanist Library of Beatus Rhenanus by Alexandre Dulaunoy

Stockholm Public Library by Samantha Marx

Cave Tales: Bad Bunny

2011-04-21T11:12:00.002-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

We often have people asking about our offices, or wanting to come tour the building. We point out to them that it's pretty much a standard office building with an attached warehouse, people sitting at their desks and doing their jobs. There isn't anything weird to see -- well, except the snakes, and the visiting pets, and the Egyptian decor, and the stored "sets" from various RT parties, and... Okay, maybe we're not quite a typical office. And some of the things that go on here are unusual.

We have an onsite daycare center for the young children (babies through kindergarten) of employees. This is an incredible benefit for a small company to provide! (Sure wish the huge corporation I worked for when my son was little had offered such a thing.) And it provides some interesting moments, such as this week.

My office is down the hall from the stairs leading to the daycare center. If someone forgets to close the door, I occasionally hear a baby crying or a toddler's excited squeal. But not much. Until this Tuesday. I was jolted from my work by the hysterical screaming and crying of multiple little voices. It went on and on. Clearly someone was torturing our children! As it got even louder, it was obvious the kids were up on our floor of the building. What in the world was going on? Something must be terrifying these kids.

And something was.

The Easter Bunny.

Yep, a photo opportunity had been set up. As had been done at our Christmas party, one of the staff dressed in costume and the kids got their pictures taken with him. Santa Claus was no problem, but apparently a giant bunny is extremely frightening. There were heartbreaking sobs from little girls who wanted nothing to do with this creature. It took much parental soothing to get unsmiling children to stoically sit for their picture with the beast. Who knew that the Easter Bunny was a traumatic experience?

Kids and costumed characters - yep, definitely adds to the uniqueness of Ellora's Cave.

Book Signing Crowds

2011-04-15T12:09:00.000-04:00

All you authors and aspiring authors have got to read The Onion's funny take on an author booksigning. Unfortunately, it is too often true that the author spends most of her time alone and waiting. What do you do when only a couple of people show up?

Author Promoting Book Gives It Her All Whether It's Just 3 People or a Crowd of 9 People
http://www.theonion.com/articles/author-promoting-book-gives-it-her-all-whether-its,19985/

Show vs. Tell

2011-04-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

by Grace Bradley

(This was first posted on the Passionate Reads blog.)

Any writer who has been in the business more than five minutes has no doubt seen these words in a comment bubble of a critiqued manuscript. Don’t tell us what your character is feeling. Show us. I’d like to take this concept and apply it to the pursuit of publication. Don’t tell an editor you’d like a contract. Show them.

1. You present your best work. Your query, synopsis and submission have been proofread. Many times. By multiple people. This is the first exposure an editor has to your work. Make it count. If there are typos, grammar errors or missing words in what should be the best representation of your work, chances are the rest of the manuscript will be worse.

2. You behave in a professional manner online. Google is a valuable tool for editors, and a necessary step in the consideration of a new author. Do you make negative comments about the industry, your current publisher, other authors? Are you a “Debbie Downer”, bemoaning how difficult this business is and how you, personally, are affected? Does an editor want to work with someone with this temperament? You probably know the answer to that one.

3. You research publishers prior to submitting. It’s very important to not only know what you write, but also which editors and agents are appropriate for your particular book. It doesn’t matter how well your manuscript is written, if it’s not something your target publishes or represents, it will be a pass. In all likelihood it will also leave the editor or agent wondering if you’ve put any time into your research.

4. You handle rejections in a professional manner. This business is subjective, and an editor’s opinion is just that…an opinion. If you receive a rejection with editorial feedback, you’re fortunate. The editor has taken the time to let you know where the book fell short for them and how you could improve moving forward. Give their comments some thought. Do you agree? Do your critique partners agree? If so, implement those changes. If not, disregard. What you don’t want to do is respond with a long, detailed email addressing each comment and stating why you disagree, and worse, why you think you are right. What this tells an editor is that you will be difficult to work with during the editing process. Once a book goes to contract, the editor and author work as a team to make the book the best it can be. Since editors choose who their teammates are, you will want to show you know how to take constructive criticism well.

5. You persevere. I can’t speak for all editors, but I respect authors who do not give up, who take editorial feedback and try to improve their work. I pay attention to authors who continue to submit, despite being rejected. These authors clearly want to be published with Ellora’s Cave and are willing to do what they must to make it happen. This is the type of author I want to work with.

Top-Earning Crime Writers

2011-04-11T11:01:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of The Guardian news organization in the UK, we can now all be green with envy of these writers, even the dead ones.
Earnings are "based on recorded sales, box office returns, licence fees and company accounts".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/10/top-earning-crime-writers-uk

The top 10 UK crime authors

Ian Fleming £100m+
Agatha Christie £100m
Jeffrey Archer £70m
Jack Higgins £50m+
Ken Follett £50m
Dick Francis, just under £50m
Ruth Rendell £30m+
Lee Child £30m
Ian Rankin £25m
Alexander McCall Smith £20m

Top 10 US crime writers

John Grisham $600m
Dan Brown $400m
Patricia Cornwell $300m+
Robert Ludlum $300m
Michael Crichton $300m
Michael Connelly $250m
Thomas Harris $150m
Elmore Leonard $100m
Ed McBain $75m
James Ellroy $50m

Choose a Chair

2011-04-08T11:52:00.000-04:00

Ah, the joys of relaxing with a new book in your favorite comfy reading chair.

http://designcrave.com/2011-04-06/the-octopus-chair-a-throne-fit-for-cthulhu/

The Octopus Chair: A Throne Fit For Cthulhu

http://www.wishihadthat.com/monacozigzagchairssoldseparately.aspx

http://www.opulentitems.com/Unusual-Lobo-Chairs_p_1048.html

http://www.opulentitems.com/Unique-Furniture-Design.html

http://www.digsdigs.com/15-the-most-unusual-lounge-chairs-in-the-world/

Flower chair

Bathtub chair

Tour de France chair

http://decorfair.com/chairs/unusual-library-chair/

This chair is also shelving - store your books in it.

TMS

2011-04-05T14:04:00.000-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

All the authors around the luncheon table stared at me, mouths agape. "What did you say?"
"There was too much sex in the book."
"Uh, don't you think that's an odd thing for a publisher of erotic romance to say?"

Well no, actually I think I'm one of the people best able to make that statement. I work with erotica and erotic romance stories every day, I recognize what works and what doesn't, what the sex is supposed to be in a story.

The book we were discussing was the latest in my favorite paranormal series (from another publisher, not Ellora's Cave), and was by a bestselling author. The previous stories in the series had a huge amount of sexual tension leading to the climactic act near the end. That building sexual awareness and longing helped define the developing relationship between the hero and heroine, and affected the plot and the behavior of the othere characters. And totally grabbed the reader: "When are they finally going to do it?" But in the latest book, well, the h/h have done the deed, they are now together as a couple, they can have sex whenever and wherever they want. And they do. Too much. Yes, some of the sex scenes worked, they fit the emotions or illustrated the continued growth of the relationship. But several scenes seemed unnecessary--they interrupted the plot, rather than being a part of it.

The book is classified as urban fantasy romance, not erotic romance. Maybe if it were labeled erotic, I'd have been more tolerant--whether we like to admit it or not, erotic romance readers buy the books for the sex, and they want a lot of it. But on second thought, no, I would not have been tolerant. If I were editing this as an erotic romance, the author would be getting back revision notes from me explaining that having lots of sex was great, but the sex needed to more relevant and integrated into the story--so please rethink and rewrite, Madam Author.

Our Author Information brochure (available under Submissions on our website) provides the three elements of our definition of erotic romance. The first item is:

The sexual relationship must be integral to and an important element of the storyline and the character development. Sex scenes should contribute to furthering the plot or affecting the development of the romantic relationship or the growth of the characters.

So have lots and lots of relevant sex--but not Too Much Sex.

Diagram Prize Winner!

2011-03-25T12:01:00.000-04:00

Those of you who follow the news of the weird and wonderful in the publishing world are aware of the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year, awarded by The Bookseller. It's selected by online voting; we'd previously posted the shortlist of finalists and and voting link.

And this year's winner is...Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way by Michael R Young.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/dictator-dentistry-wins-odd-title-prize.html

Bookshelf as Video Star

2011-03-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, how often do you see bookshelf assembly featured in a YouTube video? Don't stop watching when the bookcase is filled! Wait for the cat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WBX57boTF5k

Oh, and a bookshelf video by someone who really, really has too much time on their hands if they spent it setting all this up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFnuP9niRUg&NR=1

Google Books Settlement

2011-03-23T12:02:00.002-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Well, if you read any of the industry newsletters or blogs, you are aware that yesterday Judge Denny Chin rejected the Google Books Settlement deal. This thing has been dragging on for several years, so it is at least good to have some sort of progess. Now, of course, most people are betting that Google will appeal the decision. So it's not really over. I'm sure that eventually--in how many more years?--a deal will get worked out.

My personal opinion all along has been what the judge suggested--make it opt-in instead of opt-out. But that is not what Google wants, as it increases the work and record-keeping for them and greatly reduces the number of books that could be included in their digitize-the-world plans.

Publishers Weekly article:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/46582-after-rejection-a-rocky-road-for-google-settlement.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=328b50e3d9-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

New York Times article:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8983687699975451453&postID=5141179333328836827

D.I.Y. or D.I.with a Publisher?

2011-03-15T21:51:00.001-04:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Writers are now inundated with stories about how self-publishing will turn them into mega-selling authors, millions of copies of their e-books snapped up by slavering fans. This is based on the very admirable success of a very few authors. But can the same thing be achieved by everyone or anyone?

An aspiring author needs to reseach the publishing industry and all the options, analyze what fits their style and their situation, what skills they bring to the table when it comes to all the things beyond the actual writing that need to be done to publish and promote a book. What would work best for them? Traditional big publishers? Digital-first publishers? Self-publishing? Or who knows what other options may become available.

Even supposing a book is in fact really good, there are lots of other factors in play besides the wonderful story and writing. One of the self-pubbed icons you constantly see mentioned is Amanda Hocking. When she realized she was being used in the "you too can easily become rich and famous by self-publishing" legend, she felt compelled to put some reality into this discussion. Writers considering self-publishing need to think seriously about her advice.

Some Things That Need to Be Said
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-things-that-need-to-be-said.html

What did she have to say? Please read the whole (fairly lengthy) article, but here are some highlights.

~ "others will be as successful as I've been, some even more so - I don't think it will happen that often."
~ "Some books and authors are best sellers, but most aren't."
~ "Self-publishing is great, but it's not easy. Most people who do it will not get rich."
~ "it's harder to be a best seller self-publishing than it is with a house."
~ "I don't think people really grasp how much work I do. [...] This is literally years of work you're seeing. And hours and hours of work each day. The amount of time and energy I put into marketing is exhausting."
~ "There is so much stress in doing it all yourself. The editing is never good enough. And finding an editor isn't as easy everyone thinks."
~ "ebooks make up at best 20% of the market. Print books make up the other 80%. Traditional publishers still control the largest part of the market, and they will - for a long time, maybe forever."
~ "I just don't understand writers animosity against publishers. [...] Publishers have done really great things for a really long time. They aren't some big bad evil entity trying to kill literature or writers."

To me, Amanda Hocking makes a lot of sense. She makes it clear she's been writing and trying to be published for years before she hit success, that the success is the result of an enormous amount of hard work. And she has a realistic view of the publishing industry, in all its many permutations.

Here's a short article and video that again stress that writers should figure out whether self-publishing is a good fit for them or not:

Publishing Perspectives: Is D.I.Y. or Self-Publishing Best Suited to Energetic Extroverts?
http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/03/is-diy-or-self-publishing-best-energetic-extroverts/

The article points out the most important attributes of successful sel-published authors, and that D.I.Y. is not going to work for everyone.
~ They already had established reputations via working with traditional publishers. (They've already got an established and large fan base.)
~ They are self-motivated, high-energy, charismatic individuals. (Which does not describe most authors, as writing is mainly a quiet, largely introverted job.)

If that truly describes you, then you may indeed be able to hit self-publishing success. But if you are in a different place in your career, or you don't have the time and interest and personality to take on all the publishing tasks, you should find the alternative that will work best for you.

National Grammar Day

2011-03-04T11:24:00.000-05:00

Yes indeed, it's today! As their website says:
Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It's not only a date, it's an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!

http://nationalgrammarday.com/

You'll find all kinds of fun things, including the theme song!

The Perils of Purple Prose in Erotica

2011-03-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

Ooh, the things one can do with purple prose, euphemisms, and double entendres, especially of the sexual nature! And then throw in some standard outworn romance cliches. This had us howling and falling off our chairs. Please enjoy--

A Bluff Pirate’s Tale - Semen at Sea
by Katalina Leon

“Ha, ha, ha, I don’t give a heck if yer ah virgin lassie, I’m going to peek in your porthole and force you to ride mi bucking lower deck whether ya like it or not.” Captain Muskysac, the much dreaded handsome bastard pirate of the inky blue undulating ocean, lorded menacingly over his newest captive, conveniently kidnapped on the eve of her wedding, the wistful jewel of his heart since childhood, the beautifully, delicately innocent Miss Ashley Roseheather.

Captain Muskysac insolently puffed his broad chest forward, thrusting his man-nipples three feet apart, kicked his boots astride and stood thusly with his fists firmly planted on his insinuating lean hips and barked. “On your knees lass, I’m going to spoil you!”

“There’s been a slightly awkward miscommunication.” Ashley glanced upward and mumbled softly through rubied rosebud lips. “I’m not a virgin…”

Captain Muskysac frowned. His posture wilted. “What do mean yer not a virgin? I had a whole deflowerment routine of horribly protracted degradation painstakingly planned for you. I was going to win your heart by conquering your frail womanly form and easily shocked sensibilities. I went to a great deal of effort. Manacles were polished, Neverwash Walter is eagerly waiting in the next cabin to shout rude, inappropriate comments and leer over the entire sordid event. I’ll be honest with you, this is quite a bitter little let down.”

“I’m so sorry I’m not a virgin but there nothing to be done about it now. What about a sassy whiskey-voiced, salty-tongued, been abandoned by love but has a heart of gold, hip-swishing sea wench? Could you use one of those? I adore life-jarring forced seductions and humiliating degradation on the high seas.” Ashley’s limpid baby blue eyes bulgingly pleaded. “It’s not too late to have a good time, is it? I’ll just behave flustered and witless and we’ll put the whole embarrassing misunderstanding behind us. You’ll never notice I’m not a virgin. What do you say, my spicy pepperoni—is the party on?”

Captain Muskysac stared dejectedly at the toes of his tall boots. “I don’t know—it's not quite the same. I take pride in my arrogantly aberrant behavior. Menacing maidens is an art form. I’m not really prepared for an experienced woman. I don’t want to just walk through the act half-heartedly.”

“Oh what the hell, I’m starting without you.” Ashley shouted, “Nay, nay dark ruthless master, don’t burst my preciously treasured carefully guarded and saved for sacred marriage maidenhead and ruin my chances for a peaceful, productive life and soak my virgin tight-as-a-kidskin-glove, pouting rosebud, woman’s secret cottage in the glen, quimmy with your steamy hot juices! Spare me, lava hot love god. I beg of you!”

Captain Muskysac’s expression was appalled. “You do realize Neverwash and others can hear you in the next cabin?” He whispered a tense warning.

“I don’t care! Lash me to yer throbbing purple yardarm, Hop’n jack me, Whip the pony, butter the biscuits, take me if you must, grease me with deck-wax, pin me flat and ravish me on your thick commanding masthead. Your mysteriously threatening knobby turgidness compels me to surrender!”

“My turgidness?”

“Yes, your stony, rock hard as iron, straight as a plank of wood, turgidness. Shove it in me, lord of my mattress! For you, my dewy quim is like a fragrant rose shyly opening its delicate silky pink petals to the first fair day of spring sunshine that we call love. My naughty lady slipper pouts, longs, desires, drools and oozes with love nectar waiting for you to take me again and again and again and again…

“All right already!” he announced as he tore at his laces and evacuated his threateningly turgid, inhumanly proportioned, mapped with veins, sweaty, salty manhood from his skintight period-correct breeches and let it thrust in all its twitching glory toward her startled face. “I’m going to slip you the sausage and mash the potatoes. Then I’m going to spill man-gravy all over your plate, and let it all soak in the sink until morning. I doubt you’ll walk upright for a week!”

“Nay, if I ever walk again!” She screamed ridiculously and ducked under the bedcovers. “You’re so massively, hugely big! The sheer girthy width of your tremendously engorged spit–red-hot-rivets-wang-hammer is enough to kill a girl. The impressive volume of your man-tool leaves me humbled, awed yet strangely drawn to the danger-tinged mystery of its wrinkled foreskin. Your balls are big too.” She sighed sweetly.

“So is your plump round bottom, madam! I think I’ll take a brisk palm to task against those firm, proud peaches and paddle a happy tune on your pink drumskins before I lave my tongue between your warm, wet woman folds and send the fire truck to hose down the flames.”

He did and they lived happily ever after. The End.

Katalina Leon writes actually excellent stories for Ellora's Cave. Her editor keeps her purple prose in check. Katalina’s latest erotic romance is Nice Package. You can check out all her releases on her website at http://www.katalinaleon.com/

New EC Lines!

2011-02-25T17:21:00.000-05:00

Authors, get your typing fingers ready! We've got two new Lines (genres) to announce and we're itchin' for new submissions. The deets:

Ellora's Cave Shivers
You know those erotic horror subs our Editor-in-Chief (@EditMeThis) has been begging for on Twitter and Facebook? They've finally got a name, and the very first one releases on March 25 (Endless Lust by Lexxie Couper)! The horror genre is broad, and in the spirit of encompassing as wide a definition as possible and appealing to various types of readers, your horror submission can be:

* Psychologically scary
* Blood-and-guts scary
* Pee-your-pants, hide-under-the-covers scary

You catch that keyword? And let's not forget, above all, erotic. However, mindful that horror doesn't always lend itself to happy endings, HEAs and HFNs are optional in Shivers stories. But hey...if you can work a believable romance in there, we'll be impressed. And might even send you candy. Let crippling fear fuel your characters' lusts, authors...drive them to the brink of insanity and orgasm.

Ellora's Cave Kink
This aptly named Line is just what you'd expect -- kink and fetish. No, not BDSM. That has it's own Line (Taboo), and is less kinky these days than you might think (oh, those jaded readers!). We'll give most subject matter serious consideration if the execution is stellar, but remember what EC readers love most -- hot sex and happily ever afters. We want romantic relationships that develop not despite a kink, but because of it. A single foot-rub scene won't get the Kink banner on your cover. The sexual thrust of the story (no pun intended) should revolve around your chosen fetish or kink. Delve into the psychology behind it, both historically and from your characters' POVs. How does the fetish make the characters feel, physically and emotionally? How has it evolved? How did previous lovers handle it? And so, so much more; there are endless ways to develop your story -- but no dry History of Kink lessons here. Make it fresh, make it funky, make it fetish. ;-)

Like all our Lines, Shivers and Kink are open to all EC book lengths (7K to 120K-ish), and can have as many themes as you'd like (menage, vampire, shifter, historical, Rubenesque, M/M, F/F, etc.).

Got something sitting on your computer right now that might work? Perhaps some idea brewing in that big brain? Then check out the Submissions page on http://www.ellorascave.com/, download the Author Info PDF for additional instructions, including submissions address, and start flooding our inbox!

And pass it on!

Diagram Prize: Oddest Book Title

2011-02-23T08:00:00.020-05:00

It's that time again - cast your vote in the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title!

The six finalists are:

8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings
Various authors (TWI)

The Generosity of the Dead
Graciela Nowenstein (Ashgate)

The Italian's One-night Love Child
Cathy Williams (Mills & Boon)

Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way
Michael R Young (Radcliffe)

Myth of the Social Volcano
Martin King Whyte (Stanford University Press)

What Color Is Your Dog?
Joel Silverman (Kennel Club)

Article about the Diagram Prize contest: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/diagram-prize-shortlist-announced.html

To vote, go to http://www.thebookseller.com/ . So far, Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way is way in the lead.

How to Query The Bible

2011-02-21T08:00:00.032-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

EC does not need or want query letters - just read our submission guidelines, send us a cover email with sample chapters. However, a query letter is the way to approach most agents and many publishing houses. (Always check their website to see what is required.) So if you are struggling with the task of writing that query, let me point you to an excellent - and highly entertaining - resource, agent Janet Reid's Query Shark blog.

http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

She dissects letters, explains what works and what doesn't. And she is very blunt, which is what is needed! Here's her analysis of part of a query letter, it's the same thing I've told writers many times.

Letter: I have become irrevocably attached to Jeromy and his heroic tale; I know that many readers will feel the same way, and I hope you will give him a glance and find out whether he is able to break your heart and put it back together.

Janet's Critique: This is a HUGE warning sign in a query. What you think it means is you're passionate about your work. What I think it means is you're the kind of writer who is more likely to take rejection personally, not be able to handle revisions with objectivity and be a total pain in the ass.

But mostly I read this blog for the entertainment value. Whether you are an author or not, writing a query letter or not, you must read the query letter from The Lord, pitching his book THE BIBLE, a 775,000-word historical fiction/religious memoir.

http://queryshark.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post.html

2011 Conferences

2011-02-18T08:00:00.020-05:00

We've been posting a lot about submissions and pitching to editors. So...are we going to see you at an upcoming conference where you can talk to us about your book (or anything else)? Here's where we'll be.

Liberty States Fiction Writers: March 19 in Iselin, New Jersey - Publisher Raelene Gorlinsky

Romantic Times: April 6-10, Los Angeles, CA - several EC staff, including Editor-in-Chief Kelli Collins

Cleveland Rocks Romance: May 13-14 in Cleveland, Ohio - Kelli Collins

Lori Foster Reader & Author Get Together: June 3-5 in Cincinnati, Ohio - Editor Meghan Conrad

IASPR Conference (International Association for the Study of Popular Romance): June 26-28 in New York City, Raelene Gorlinsky

RWA National Conference: June 28 - July 1 in New York City, Raelene Gorlinsky, Kelli Collins and Editor Grace Bradley

Authors After Dark: Aug. 11-14 in Philadelphia, PA - Raelene Gorlinsky

RomantiCon: Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Akron, Ohio - ALL EC editors

NJRW Put Your Heart in a Book Conference: Oct. 21-22 in Iselin, NJ - Kelli Collins

If you are involved in planning/organizing a 2011 or 2012 conference and would like to invite EC to participate, please feel free to contact me.

When Not to Hit Send

2011-02-16T08:00:00.005-05:00

by Meghan Conrad

The other day, Raelene was talking about Self-Rejection by Non-Submission--reasons authors don't submit their work, and why they should.

Today I'm going to look at the other side of that story--reasons you shouldn't submit your work, at least not yet.

1. You're really writing this story for yourself.
Raelene mentioned this in her point five--some people just love to write and don't have any desire to get published. There's nothing wrong with this, and if you fall into this category, not submitting is a perfectly okay thing to do. You can enjoy playing piano without wanting to be a concert pianist--writing's no different.

2. You're done writing, not revising.
Just because the book has a beginning, middle and end doesn't mean that it's done. Have you read the book? Have you set it aside for a month, then picked it up and reread it? Have your crit partners read it, and have you addressed (or at least considered) their criticisms? If you're not saying yes to all of those questions, you're not ready to submit.

3. You think the story is perfect.
I know, I know--I just told you to finish revising before you submit, but this is different. If you're not able to look at your book and admit to yourself that there are things that could make it better, even if you don't yet know what those things are, you're not ready to submit. We think that your baby's lovely--and it would be even lovelier if we were to edit its face just a little.

4. You don't have enough time to commit to the process.
Getting published isn't easy, and that doesn't change once you've signed a contract. First there's researching companies and submitting to them. Then if you're lucky enough to have your book signed, there's edits, more edits, promoting your book, more edits... If you're in your last year of grad school, are six months pregnant, have four children under three, work full time, and are moving across the country in two months, maybe you should consider waiting until your life settles down before submitting.

5. You're not prepared to be rejected.
It takes a fairly thick skin to be rejected over and over--and let's face it, most people are rejected over and over--and not let it destroy you. If you can't handle gentle comments from crit partners or you feel like being rejected might put you off writing altogether, consider that maybe you're not yet psychologically ready to go through the potentially grueling submission process.

There are plenty of really fantastic reasons to submit you work, but when you do submit, make sure you're ready to really go for it. Publishers will still be buying books next year, and for a long time after that. There's no shame in waiting.

Pitchin' Good

2011-02-14T08:00:00.050-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

The stories about awful pitch experiences are always more entertaining (see Kelli's "Pitchy Behavior" post). But there are also some good "outside the scheduled appointment time" opportunities to talk to an editor or agent about your book.

Of course, there is the most common--as Meghan says, "Buy me a drink and I'll listen to anything." Editors often congregate in the bar at conferences. They are feeling chatty and friendly. Make conversation, offer to buy a drink or a plate of munchies. Just show common courtesy--if the editor is in a group or a general conversation, don't expect her to ignore everyone else just to talk to you. Maybe you can turn the conversation to "so, what's everyone working on now?" and get all the authors present talking. Throw in your WIP description, maybe the editor will look interested and ask for more info. Or if you can get a few private moments with her, ask her if you can talk to her about your book or if you can set up a time with her to do so.

Drive the editor. This is my favorite. I greatly appreciate conferences that arrange to have someone meet me at the airport, rather than leaving me to struggle with finding a shuttle or expensive taxi. And of course while I'm in the car with you, my designated driver, I'm going to make polite conversation, starting with "What do you write?" That's your cue that I'm willing to listen. I've had authors fighting over who will take me back to the airport at the end of the conference, getting the chance to do a car pitch to me.

Feed the editor. There are always meals that are not included in the conference schedule. The editors have to eat somewhere with someone--so why not ask one if she is free to join you? This is good if there are several authors together. And it doesn't always mean you have to pick up the tab--just phrase the invitation appropriately: "would you like to join us" versus "can we take you to...". Do allow the editor time to chew and to have some general pleasant conversation; don't make the whole meal a series of book pitches.

Be kind to the editor. These are serendipitous opportunities. There was the time I arrived at a conference with a painfully damaged knee and back. An author I bumped into in the hotel lobby helped me check in and drag my luggage to my room, offered to go get me something from the lobby coffee shop, and was generally helpful when I really needed the hand. So besides thanking her profusely, I did the conversation thing: "What do you write? Got anything ready to submit?"
At the lengthy and crowded pitch appointments at an RWA National conference, I was exhausted and commented on how I really, really needed some chocolate to keep me going. A few minutes later, a man I'd seen standing in line showed up with candy bars! No, he didn't have or need a pitch appointment with me. But his wife was an author, and I had a nice chat with her when I spotted them at dinner that night--we progressed from "You have such a wonderful, considerate husband" to "So, what do you write?".

In other words, editors are normal people who appreciate kindness and helpfulness, and will try to repay that with what they have to offer--their time to talk about your book or answer your questions.

What Not to Submit

2011-02-10T19:00:00.004-05:00

by Meghan Conrad

Ellora's Cave, as most of you know, only accepts electronic submissions. It's easier for the editors, easier on the environment, and arguably harder for the authors, who have even more to remember when sending in their manuscript.

This is a list of things we wish you'd avoid when submitting electronically. While none of these things will get you rejected, they certainly don't win you any points.

1. PDFs. Yes, they're wonderful when you need to control every aspect of the document, but this isn't that time. That's why it's called submitting. If you send us a PDF file, we will simply delete it and email back to ask you to send a doc file.

2. Locked documents. Maybe we hate Courier and want to change the font; maybe we need to add your contact info to the header; maybe we want to be able to leave notes to ourself in the document. If you lock it, we can't do any of those things.

3. Wrong file versions. If you realize you've sent the wrong version of your manuscript, send the right version immediately. If you don't realize that you sent the wrong version until you've heard back from the editor, you're probably out of luck unless you have a fantastic working relationship with that person--and even then, you're going to be waiting until your manuscript comes back to the top of the queue.

4. Missing attachments. Everyone does this once in a while--I did it earlier this week (sorry again, Dee!)--but it's worse when you're submitting. This goes double if you're submitting to a catch-all submissions address instead of a specific person. Making more work for people who deal with the tedious task of logging the slush submissions gets you a special place in hell.

5. Comments from your crit partners. I'm really thrilled that you have a crit partner. A good crit partner is worth their weight in rhodium. I do not, however, need or want to see their comments about your book. I promise that I can think of plenty of comments on my own.

6. Tracked changes. Invaluable while you're revising, but do you really want to have an editor reading over the scenes that you deleted? Because while I can't speak for anyone but myself, if the words are still there, I'm going to read them.

7. Unlabeled manuscripts. A manuscript that's named submission.doc could belong to anyone. Even worse is when it's called submission.doc and doesn't have the author's name or the title anywhere within the document.

8. Reply-to addresses that aren't the same as the from address. If you don't want me responding to your work email, then don't submit from your work email. Every major email provider offers web access--use it.

9. Uninformative emails--or, worse, emails with no text in the body. Don't attach a cover letter--that should go in the body of the email. And, as with all cover letters, it should have the title, word count, genre, your name and your contact information.

10. Email stationary. We don't need fancy backgrounds, sparkles, or theme music when we open your email. It's the digital equivalent of submitting with your cover letter written on Lisa Frank stationary--not a fantastic first impression...unless you're writing to an eight-year-old.

Self-Rejection by Non-Submission

2011-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

I am frequently amazed by how many writers will write and write...and never submit their work to be considered for publication. Why pour all that effort and commitment into a product that you then hide away? Talking to such writers, I've come up with some of the reasons. Do you see yourself in any of these?

1. Fear of rejection/failure

"If I submit, I may be rejected." Well, yes, acceptances are rare, rejections frequent. But if you don't submit, you are just rejecting yourself. You'll never get feedback, never find out what publishing professionals (editors, agents) think of your work, never get the chance to incorporate that advice into improving your work.

2. Lack of knowledge on how to take the next step

You've labored over that story for months or years. You've self-edited, you've had others critique and proofread it, you've polished and polished. But then you don't know what to do next! How and where do you submit your story, what are the requirements, the process?
Okay, here's where you have to accept that writing for publication is a profession, not a hobby. Join a professional writing organization! Study the profession, subscribe to the appropriate magazines, e-newsletters. Join writer groups, in person and online. Attend workshops. All the information you need is out there--go find it.

3. Love to write, hate the "business" end of things

Researching agents and publishers. Writing query letters, preparing and sending submissions, then keeping track of them all. If you do get a wonderful acceptance, then it's analyzing the offer, wading through the contract language. Then deadlines and other commitments on the way to seeing that story actually be published. Does all that make you scream "But I just want to WRITE!"? Time to ask yourself the question again--is writing a hobby you enjoy for itself alone, or is it a profession involving publication?

4. Love to write, hate to market yourself

This is a business, remember? It does no good to produce a product if you don't get out there and sell it. Nowadays, all publishers expect the author to handle much of the promotion of their book and their author name. Even the large NY publishers expend minimal promotional dollars on most of their authors; only a small percentage of the very top sellers get heavy marketing support. So as an author (or aspiring author), you do have to put effort into things like a website, blog, e-newsletter, presence on the social networks. Belong to writing groups that offer you networking and cross-promotional opportunities, take workshops on self-promotion and book marketing that are offered by author organizations. If your book is contracted by a publisher, you will indeed need a plan for how you will promote the book. Your potential income from a book is dependent on how much you put into publicizing your book and your author name.

5. Priorities and commitment: Love to write, less interest in being published

This is for the writers who are willing to honestly admit that what they enjoy is the process of writing, and admiring their finished product themselves--but they don't necessary need or want to or can commit the effort to getting published. Writing as a hobby is perfectly valid, don't feel guilty about it. But don't pretend to yourself or others that you are striving for professional publication if you are not.

I have to admit that I fall into the "why I haven't submitted" group for this reason. I write children's picture books. I love doing it, I love sharing them with my friends, my crit group, my family. (Nothing will erase the memory of my father's joy when, for his 80th birthday, I gave him a story based on his tradition of making special pancakes for my sisters and me when we were children.) Sure, I would love to see my stories professionally illustrated and published, I'd even like to make money from them. BUT--I have an incredibly busy and stressful life, many things I'd like to do but can't get to. So the huge amount of time needed to do all the steps of submitting my stories to children's publishers just hasn't made it high enough on my personal priority list. Maybe someday, but meanwhile I can enjoy the writing itself.

What's your reason for not submitting your story?

Pitchy Behavior

2011-02-03T10:03:00.001-05:00

By Kelli Collins

There's tons of info on the Net regarding pitch protocol. I’ll let you find that. You don’t really want me to regurgitate all the stuff you can find with a simple Google search, do you? Of course you don’t. Not when personal pitch stories are so much more interesting. The following are based on past experiences, both mine and other EC editors. If you want the short-short version of this post, the overarching theme is: Don’t pitch in inappropriate places. If you want to know why, specifically…keep reading.

Food for Thought: So there I was, innocently standing in a buffet line at a conference, salad dressing ladle in hand, when I hear a polite “excuse me” to my right. I glance over to see a woman smiling broadly, who introduces herself as an author—and proceeds to pitch her book. I’ll admit it took me a full three minutes before I realized she was actually pitching me while I had a plate in one hand, a ladle full of now-dripping salad dressing in the other. The loud throat-clearing behind me helped. That person really wanted their salad.

I’m normally a champ at dissuading conversation. And I tried all the usual lines to clue the author in, up to and including, “I’d love to hear about it later,” and telling her my prescheduled time for pitch sessions. I even continued shuffling down the line, gingerly trying to make dinner selections via my peripheral vision (hey, I was starving. But also raised to look at someone when they’re talking to me). The author just shuffled along with me, talking all the while.

I finally broke away from the line and stepped to the side, listening for another fifteen minutes, half-full plate hovering between us. By the time she was done, my food was ice cold. I was so annoyed, she could have written the erotic version of War and Peace and I probably would have passed.

Stall Tactics: There’s really no easy lead-in on this one. So I’ll just say it: Don’t pitch to an editor when she’s in a bathroom stall. No, I’m not kidding. This happened to one of our editors during an RWA conference a few years back. I’ll let her explain:

“It was a male/female team. She was very petite; he was maybe 6’4” with a huge padlock on a choker around his neck, the size you’d see on a shed or storage unit. They’d pitched to me, I’d very politely declined, had given them my card. He had been very aggressive during the pitch, using his body language to loom over me at the table. It was a wee bit disconcerting but my Spidey senses were only tingling a little.

“The pitch session finished and I went to lunch. Afterward, I took a brief bathroom break. As I was in the stall, the outer door of the restroom thudded open. Next thing I knew, the woman was crouching under the stall, though I could only see her red hair trailing on the ground. The man’s hands were on the top of the stall door and it appeared he was trying to chin himself up. They kept saying things like ‘you have to accept this right now’, and ‘you don’t understand how good this book is’. They kept at it maybe a minute or two while I was trying to figure out an escape route. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the guts and unprofessionalism.

“Someone else came in the bathroom and was shocked that a man was in there, and the couple fled. For the rest of the conference the couple shot daggers at me and trailed after me like I was the Pied Editor playing their tune.”

Over your shock yet? I think I would have killed them. Plain and simple. If there’s more inappropriate pitch behavior, I’ve never witnessed. If your desperation has reached this height, seek help. Immediately.

The Electronic Advantage: I had taken a pitch at a conference, liked what the author had to say, and invited her to send the full manuscript directly to me for review. This is already more than most authors get. The author emailed me just a few weeks later, claiming to have lost the book in a computer crash, but would I like to see a slightly older book she’d had on another computer? She’d updated it and included a short synopsis and all the particulars with her query. This second story also sounded great, the query and synopsis were flawless, so I agreed. (This, despite the fact I was stunned she hadn’t somehow backed up her work on the other computer.) The author was thrilled, and sent the full manuscript.

Four days later, she sent another. You know, since I was “so kind to look at her work personally.”

Less than a week later, she sent three more.

The following day, I emailed the author to explain that the original offer was for book X, and because she viewed my willingness to review a replacement book as an open invitation to take advantage of my generosity, I was hereby rescinding my offer to review any of her work.

Sound harsh? Possibly. And given the first two books sounded good, I might have passed up some potentially good sellers. But look at it from my point of view: I couldn’t review the book I’d really wanted to review. The willingness to read a replacement submission is a pretty big deal already. And I’m super busy. I have more than a dozen submissions and active edits on my desk at any given time, above and beyond the daily work that comes with my position. It takes me roughly three to four weeks to read a submission, so the woman had just added about five months of unsolicited work to my plate. Thanks, but no thanks.

Hundreds of authors aren’t even lucky enough to get an invitation to submit. Get one book accepted first, then worry about the rest.

By the way, this has happened to several of our editors. Authors taking excessive advantage of a contact is extremely common.

Just Plane Crazy: This time I hadn’t even reached the conference before the fun began. I was winging my way from Tampa to St. Louis and happened to end up on a plane chockablock with romance authors. Including the woman sitting next to me. When she found out I was an editor, she immediately began to pitch her latest work. Okay, no surprise. And we’re on a plane, so what else is there to do, really? I politely listened, offered some advice and agreed to let her pitch in a more official capacity at the conference.

The author excused herself and left her seat. I didn’t give it a second thought. Until the woman who reclaimed said seat was someone else entirely. She said her author friend (my former travel companion) said I was an editor and I was nice enough to take her pitch, and I might be willing to hear another.

She had pointed out her friend and I looked up the aisle. There was my old seat mate, waving and smiling back at me encouragingly from farther up the aisle.

From there it was airplane hopscotch as authors continually swapped seats for a chance to sit next to the editor who was taking pitches at 30,000 feet. Worse, I was stuck in a window seat and the authors were swapping places so quickly, I couldn’t even escape to the bathroom for a moment of cramped peace. At one point, the line to sit next to me had to be dispersed by the flight attendant—who gave me a dirty look. The nerve.

Personal Touch: I was in a hotel coffee shop when I met an author who had missed her chance to pitch during normal sessions. I had time to spare, so I invited her to join me and pitch while I finished my coffee, because that’s the kind of nice person I am. (What? I am! Who told you otherwise? I want names and social security numbers.)

The woman was excitedly grateful and, after getting a coffee, sat and pitched her book. The first part went well. She told me the title, word count and a short, pitch-worthy blurb. I wasn’t certain of the genre—it could have been a couple different ones—so I asked, “It sounds like BDSM. Is it for our Taboo Line?”

“Oh yes,” she said, pausing to rummage in her large purse, “it’s a subject I’m intimately familiar with.” She punctuated this last by cracking her palm with the riding crop she’d taken from her bag. Loudly.

I was equal parts amused and mortified. I remember feeling the blush spreading up my neck to my face. (Note: Making an erotica editor blush? No small feat.) I looked around; the place was pretty busy. It was a hotel coffee shop, after all. And yes, I immediately confirmed the crack of the crop had caught the attention of several patrons. The men looked amused/interested. The women looked amused/shocked. The one woman with a toddler in tow looked disgusted before hauling her precious cargo the hell out of there. The author didn’t notice any of the attention (or my blush, presumably), and just smoothly transitioned from her pitch to particular details about her personal life, and why they made her an "authentic" BDSM author.

This is another thing that happens all the time during pitches—over-sharing. I’m gonna go out on a limb and declare it’s probably worse for erotica editors. But yes, non-erotic romance authors over-share too, it’s just that their personal details tend to be less blush-worthy.

Is there a difference between pitching an erotic and non-erotic romance (for instance, something for EC’s Blush Line, versus all the others)? No. Not at all. This is a business meeting, not a gabfest with your girlfriends. I expect authors to stick to the details during pitches, regardless of genre, and when/if I have questions about erotic content, I expect the answers to be equally professional. Leave the props (and crops) at home, pretty please.

This post originally appeared on http://www.pitch-university.com/school-is-in-session/2011/1/16/lesson-13-pitchy-behavior.html.

You can find Kelli on Twitter and Facebook, and pitch your erotic and non-erotic romances to her in person at RT (April; Los Angeles), Cleveland Rocks Romance (May; Strongsville, OH), RWA National (June; New York City) and RomantiCon (September; Akron). Just don’t get between her and her food or bathroom breaks.

Luddites Unite

2011-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

I don't really want to go around smashing textile looms or laptop computers. I don't reject or resist new technology. (Don't listen to Kelli or Meghan! It's not true!) But the hardware and software are not toys to me, they are just tools to accomplish tasks--technology is not an end it itself, it is merely something I need to do my real job. And it's always difficult when the tools change, it temporarily slows down my ability to get the real job done. You need to feed me changes slowly, give me time to learn and adjust without being overwhelmed or unable to get things done. I'm of the generation that did not grow up with computers (yes, I am indeed old enough to be Kelli's, Meghan's, and Jaime's mother, sigh), that wants to read the user manual first (they don't even provide manuals anymore!), that doesn't start just pushing buttons or clicking on things--I might break it!

(And it isn't just high-tech stuff that gives me trouble. After the stapler debacle--don't ask--I wasn't allowed to order an electronic pencil sharpener. Patty gave me a little red plastic manual sharpener, the kind you had in grade school. It works great, it's lasted me four years.)

So last Wednesday was off the charts in terms of stress level. It started with a new laptop. It's a lovely laptop--wide screen, number pad, more ports. But of course I have to adjust to a slightly different "feel" to the key spacing; it took two days before I could type a paragraph not filled with typos. And who the ha-ell decided to move the Delete key?!

Of course, this laptop has a newer Windows operating system and newer Microsoft Office software. Aack! Why did they change and move everything? Shortcuts, options, menus, all the stuff I'd customized to be just the way I wanted it -- I have to redo it all. And I can't even find it in order to change it! I went through a bag of malt balls, a brownie, and two chocolate chip cookies between 10 am and 5 pm. (Don't believe that nonsense that fruit or yogurt will make you feel better--only chocolate works.)

I'll learn it all, but I can't cope with everything at once. Thursday I focused on Microsoft Outlook, so I could do email. Friday I tore my hair out over Excel. (Note to Microsoft - the new way the Sort and Filter works is a pain in the ass. Why didn't you ask me first, I'd have told you how to do it right.) This week I'm fighting through Word. Coworkers have learned to ignore the shrieks and curses coming from my office.

And then there's trying to figure out what other software I had installed on the old system, and reinstalling it on the new one. (Actually, Randy does that--experience has shown it's not wise to let me try to install software. Did you know a PC can have a nervous breakdown?) It took three days to realize I couldn't get onto the company email or server from home because I was missing the appropriate program.

By 4 pm Wednesday I was trying hard not to hyperventilate or throw the new laptop across the room. Then the day crashed into final deadly overload. Darrell showed up in my office--with a brand-new cell phone! Everyone seemed under the truly false impression that I would be delighted to change from an old phone-that-only-makes-phone-calls to this monster that seems to do everything else except make a simple phone call. Kelli was drooling, "They got you an iPhone 4!" Darrell and Randy wanted to demonstrate everything. I just wanted to turn it off, except I couldn't find the Off button.

By the time I got home Wednesday, I think my eyes were vibrating and my body quivering. I walked in the door and blurted "I got a new laptop and cell phone" to my son. He looked warily at me, did not ask to see the laptop, and gently removed the cell phone from my clenched hand. When he returned the phone ten minutes later, he'd turned off WiFi and email, set it to a gentle ringtone, and found how to make the virtual keyboard larger--he knows me well, he simplified the thing so I can cope with the basics now. Of course, there was a setback later that night. The phone rang for the very first time. I whipped it out of my pocket, stared at it, then shrieked "How the hell do I answer the phone?" Hey, I didn't have my reading glasses on at the moment, without them the screen is just a blur. I sure didn't know there was a bar at the bottom I was supposed to slide to answer.

Kelli is now allowed to show me one new function a day on the cell. So far, I can check the local weather (after she changed it from Cupertino to Akron for me), find out what time it is in London or Australia (yes, Kelli set it up for me), and make a call via my Contacts list (I put in the Contacts, I didn't know Kelli was adding pictures for them). I haven't had to do text messaging yet, that's next. I might actually get brave enough to have her show me how to get driving directions.

Oh, there was one last "technology" debacle on Wednesday. There was a very expensive case provided with the phone, and it was stressed to me that these cell phone screens shattered easily if dropped, so I must put the protective case on. But I couldn't get the case open in order to put the cell phone in it! I struggled and struggled. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to go to the IT support guy and ask him to show you how to open a cell phone case?

Forcing the Issue

2011-01-30T13:18:00.001-05:00

By Kelli Collins

One of my recent tweets:

Rumor 193: EC doesn’t, in fact, “ban” forced seduction novels, nor do we fire editors who accept them.

EC’s no stranger to rumors; some bloggers have nearly built their reputations on EC smack-talk…but that’s another post. Aside from a firm conviction that all these scamps need to look into getting a life, I don’t much care. What’s that saying--as long as they spell your name right? And doubtful though I am about the IQ levels of certain bloggers, I’m fairly confident they can spell E and C.

But on to the latest rumor, one that resurfaces with predictable regularity. Like the cycles of the moon. Or PMS. That which says EC doesn’t allow forced seduction books. That we reprimand and/or fire editors who accept them. That we ban authors who write them, etc.

The truth is simple: Everything above is false.

Our founder, Tina Engler (a.k.a. Jaid Black), has written more than one forced seduction book, some of which are her best sellers. Another EC author, Laurann Dohner, made her EC debut with a wildly popular forced seduction book. And we’ve published many besides.

Have we published hundreds? No. Just as forced seductions books are not for every reader, they’re not for every author. In my experience, it’s the rare author who can write an FS novel that can believably get into the psychology of the phenomenon. And THAT, my friends, is what sells me as an editor. I want to get into the characters’ heads. Why is the hero compelled to make women bend to his will? Why does the heroine like, need and get turned-on by FS. And pay attention to that last part, authors, because whatever else the hero does, ultimately he must make the heroine feel good, and the readers should feel it in spades. After all, no still means no. If that word passes your heroine’s lips, it’s best to listen.

(Note: While I’ve seen the reverse scenario—a heroine forcing her will on the hero—it’s rare. A fact that intrigues me in its own right.)

As for readers, who knows why they love FS stories? A secret desire to give up control, perhaps…a longing to put their complete trust, and their pleasure, in the hands of another. We could speculate for ages, I suspect. What do you think?

Holiday Time Off

2010-12-21T09:35:00.002-05:00

Hi, all,

We're taking a break for the holidays. Posts will resume in early January.

Have a great winter holiday of your choice, everyone!

Winners - Books of the Year

2010-12-20T09:35:00.000-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Thank you to everyone who commented on our Books of the Year post. I have a list of books and authors I want to try, based on your recommendations!

So, random drawing for winners amongst the participants:
Cathy M
Cara Bristol
Audra

Ladies, please email RedlinesDeadlines@gmail.com and provide your mailing address. We'll send you a prize collection, including the 2011 EC Cavemen Calendar. (Probably will mail after Christmas.)

Books of the Year

2010-12-13T11:34:00.001-05:00

Seems like everyone is doing a list of their top books of 2010. We don't want to be left out! But we'd like to be a bit different. So tell us some special stories that you read in 2010 (don't have to be new release in 2010), in the categories below.

And yes, of course, there will be prizes! Since it's the holiday season, we'll mail you a 2011 Ellora's Cave calendar and some other great goodies!

From the stories you read in 2010:
1. Story that resonated the most with me, emotionally.
2. Story I recommend most to others.
3. Story I wish I hadn't wasted my time on.
4. Most unusual story.

Put your responses in Comments by December 20. Oh, and please say why! We're always looking for book recommendations. I asked for an Amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas - help me spend it.

The Eyes Have It

2010-12-09T20:28:00.001-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

We've mentioned common romance stereotypes before. And this one was a question on Kelli's Fiction Feud. But this week hit me with a really stunning example of the heroine eye color issue.

Yes, we all expect romance heroines to be beautiful and somewhat unusual. But what, pray, is wrong with eyes of brown or black or hazel? Nice colors. But it seems like a massive percentage of heroines have blue eyes--almost always with some adjective to enhance the blue. Well, this week I read a story where the heroine had sapphire blue eyes and her BFF had eyes of emerald green! WTF, did they rob a jewelry store? If you see people with eyes of those colors, you can bet that over 90% of them are wearing colored contact lenses.

Do authors know how rare green eyes really are? It is the most recessive eye color gene. I read an article in a science magazine that said that within the next two generations, green eyes will be virtually gone. There are so few people with green (not hazel) eyes, and how often do two of them get together for child-creating? The green eye color has been bred out of the gene pool.

So although I love the colors blue and green, and I appreciate stunning-looking heroines, please...let's try for more chocolate brown or jet black. (Oh, and no one but Elizabeth Taylor gets to claim having lavender eyes.)

Best & Worst Book Videos

2010-12-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

The Huffington Post has listed their choice of the 19 (why 19?) best and worst book videos of 2010. Take a look. Do you agree with them?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/book-videos-best-and-worst_n_791645.html#s198807

2010 Bad Sex Award

2010-12-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Britain’s Literary Review awards the "Bad Sex in Fiction Award” each year. The 2010 winner is Rowan Somerville's The Shape of Her. In accepting the award, Somerville said, “There is nothing more English than bad sex, so on behalf of the entire nation I would like to thank you.”

The novel contains sentences such as "Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a too blunt pin he screwed himself into her." A nipple is compared to the “nose of the loveliest nocturnal animal, sniffing in the night.”

http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex.html

Fiction Feud Winner!

2010-12-01T11:54:00.000-05:00

Yeah. It was just as hard as we'd thought it would be. :) Many thanks to our 15 players for giving it their best shots. And special thanks to Lynne and Barbara for making us laugh our asses off.

The actual game at RomantiCon had the top 4 or 5 answers for each question, and a lot of you got the number 2 or number 3 answers. (For example, wet or moist, which most of you guessed for the most common adjective to describe a vagina, was the number 2 answer.) Had we played the full version of the game, it would have been a super tight race.

Several of you got 4 of the top answers correct, but our winner, with 5 correct answers, was B.! Woohoo! Congrats! B, just email Martha@ellorascave.com and tell her which book (and format) you'd like to receive.

Now the answers:

1. Name the most overused hero name: Lucius, Lucian or Luke

2. Name the most common adjective used to describe an erection: Hard or rock-hard (several of you gave us "cock". Tsk, tsk. That's a noun, people) :)

3. Name a type of sex play authors throw in their books to get the BDSM icon: Cuffs, ties or scarves (we'd also accept "bondage")

4. Name the most common uncommon eye color for heroes OR heroines: Emerald green (we'd also accept just "green"; several of you listed "brown". Is that uncommon these days?)

5. Not counting those that are sexual or romantic in nature ("passion", "love", "desire", etc.), name the most overused word in erotic titles: Night (the toughest question, based on the fact no one got it. Other overused title words: dark, hunt/hunter/hunted, bound, blood, fire)

6. Name the most common adjective used to describe a vagina: Hot

7. Name the most common thing a hero does to a woman's nipples: Lave or lick ("suck" was a super close second)

8. Other than a bedroom, name the most common place characters have sex: Shower

9. Name the most common last name authors use for their pseudonym: Black (Lee/Leigh, James and Quinn are hot contenders)

10. Name the most common occupation for romance heroes: Police/FBI (some form of law enforcement)

11. Name the most common way that M/M heroes meet: In a bar/club

12. Name the most common euphemism for coming: Explode

Thanks again for playing, folks. Your consolation prize would be our undying gratitude, which is worth a pretty penny on certain author black markets. Oh, and we're currently dreaming up games for next year's RomantiCon...if you have something you'd like to play, by all means, let us know!

Reminder: Fiction Feud Contest

2010-11-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Remember, Tuesday is the deadline for the Fiction Feud! Enter your answers in Comments. Winner will be announced Wednesday.
(Hint: Don't bother sitting next to Barbara Elsborg and copying her test answers!)

Review Repetition?

2010-11-26T08:00:00.023-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

My turn to talk about something that's bothering me. What does Kelli call it, Me Time?

As a reader (NOT wearing my editor or publisher hat) I'm getting a bit concerned about a particular aspect of online reviews. As in, how many of the reviewers actually thoroughly read and think about the books--or how many are just copying someone else's review? Every person has individual reading tastes and preferences, so I'd expect opinions on books to reflect that diversity. Why am I seeing more and more online reviews that say the same things about a book? (I'm specifically talking about online review sites and bloggers who post reviews, as those are the most prolific and the ones I'm most likely to read. I'm not talking about reviews at big businesses like Publishers Weekly or the New York Times.)

Okay, if a book has very apparent glowing elements or serious flaws, likely most readers/reviewers would notice and mention those. But type of plot, characters, setting -- everybody's different, so should have different things to say. But I'm seeing multiple reviews with almost the same wording. And that's not matching up with the diversity of comments from my fellow readers. For example, I just read a steampunk romance by a well-known author. The book got a lot of buzz and a number of online reviews. A lot of those reviewers had close to identical comments about the hero. Yet when I read the book, I saw the hero in a completely different light, I had a different understanding of his motivations and emotions. And when I talked to others who'd read the story, they had varying takes on and opinions of the hero. If a dozen readers voice a dozen different opinions, it seems odd that another dozen readers who happen to label themselves reviewers churn out almost identical opinions.

The same thing happened with a recent erotica story. Every reviewer seemed to make the same comment about an item they felt was unnecessary. In fact, the sentences in reviews on different sites were practically duplicates. And yet comments from readers reflected that some of them appreciated that element or felt it was not a problem -- again, diversity of reader opinion that was not reflected by diversity in reviewer opinion.

A "reviewer" is just a reader who posts their comments for others to see. And nowadays anyone with a blog wants to post reviews, whether they have any skill at explaining a book's strengths and flaws or not. It isn't like there's special training or testing to be allowed to call oneself a reviewer. Just (hopefully) a love of books and an ability to analyze what you like and dislike about a story and express that coherently.

Unfortunately, sometimes authors are so hopeful to have someone mention their name and praise their book that they provide free copies to any person who says they'll write about the book on a blog or review site. Authors should research all such requests for review copies: ask the person for all the places they post reviews and under what names, how many books they have reviewed and in what genres, what their process and timeline are, what their criteria are for selecting books to review and what books they will not accept, what they do if they DNF a book. Make sure you trust this person to read your whole book and give it a fair and well-thought-out review. (And I am leery of reviewers or sites that never post negative reviews -- I don't want nasty, but I do want honest. I learn a lot about a book that got an F or DNF at AAR, SBTB, DA or GBU, and I may choose to read some of those books based on the analysis in that review.)

It was pointed out to me by someone associated with a review site that six online reviews are not necessarily six reviewers. It isn't just that a person may post their review in multiple places -- lawdy, how many places can you find the same Harriet Klausner review. But some reviewers use several "pen names" to post on different sites. They just slightly modify the wording of the review to post it elsewhere as if they are a different reader. And it has always been rumored that some reviewers don't read the books -- they read the blurb, excerpt, and other reviews, and then post a review under their own name. So of course in such a case they'd be mimicking someone else's comments and reflecting the same opinions.

Why? Are some people so eager to believe their opinion matters to others, to suck up to authors, or to see their own name online that they will "cheat" in order to post lots of reviews?

I don't really care whether a reviewer liked or disliked a book. I read reviews to find out about the plot and characters, the writing style, particular elements it contains -- so that I can decide if it's the type of story I would like. So it does bother me that I may be misled by reviews that are just a copy of someone else's opinion. For example, I would avoid a book if multiple reviews say the heroine is TSTL -- I assume if that many people had that same reaction, it likely is accurate about the story. But now I wonder if I'm missing books I would enjoy, because really only one or a few people had that opinion, and others just copied them.

I appreciate insightful and informational reviews, I thank and applaud the dedicated reviewers who put time and effort into reading and analyzing a story. So it's discouraging that I'm seeing less of that, more useless repetition from a minority who are diluting the value of the reviewing process to readers.

If you read reviews, have you noticed this phenomenon? Do you post reviews and have an opinion to offer on this?

Fiction Feud!

2010-11-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

By Kelli Collins

One hundred people surveyed, top five answers are on the board...

Not really. Just the top answer is on the board, but if you've seen Family Feud, you get the gist. All the fun of the game without all the perviness of Richard Dawson! Win! The following is a shortened version of a game I hosted at RomantiCon 2010, used to illustrate some of the most over-used items in Ellora's Cave books. If you weren't able to attend, here's your chance to get in on the action and prove your romance/erotica smarts. Using Comments, post your best guesses to the questions below, whatever you suspect might have been the #1 answer. The person who guesses the most correct answers wins an ebook of his or her choice!

Deadline: Tues., Nov. 30; answers posted and winner announced Wed., Dec. 1. Good luck!

(Tip: Answers are collectively culled from all genres. And your gut instinct is usually correct.)

1. Name the most overused hero name

2. Name the most common adjective used to describe an erection

3. Name a type of sex play authors throw in their books to get the BDSM icon

4. Name the most common uncommon eye color for heroes OR heroines

5. Not counting those that are sexual or romantic in nature ("passion", "love", "desire", etc.), name the most overused word in erotic titles

6. Name the most common adjective used to describe a vagina

7. Name the most common thing a hero does to a woman's nipples

8. Other than a bedroom, name the most common place characters have sex

9. Name the most common last name authors use for their pseudonym

10. Name the most common occupation for romance heroes

11. Name the most common way that M/M heroes meet

12. Name the most common euphemism for coming

Write Us a Story!

2010-11-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

Ellora's Cave Publishing announces its special theme series for 2011.

~ Story length 18K - 45K words.
~ Any genres, settings.
~ Must use the theme as a primary story element.

Submissions should be sent (as .doc email attachment) to Submissions@ellorascave.com. Include full story, 2-page synopsis, and professional cover email. See our Author Information brochure (available under Submissions heading on our website) for additional info.

Submission deadlines are firm. Earlier is preferred.

AHOY!
Theme is pirates: historical, contemporary, futuristic/space, or your interpretation.
Stories will release in June 2011.
Submission deadline is January 15, 2011.

SEX BYTES
Theme is tech sex: all the ways to meet and fall in lust and love via modern technology--texting, IM, skype, online dating.
Stories release in October 2011.
Submission deadline is April 30, 2011.

LOVE LETTERS
Theme is love letters, cards, diaries.
Stories will release in January/February 2012 (in time for Valentine's Day).
Submission deadline is August 31, 2011.

OH, CANADA!
Stories must be set in Canada, at least one of the main characters must be Canadian, and the story should have a Canadian "flavor" (slang, customs, holidays, etc).
Submissions for this can be any length 7K to 120K words.
Submissions must be received before September 1, 2011.
Stories release throughout 2011.

Jaid Black's BLOWJOB

2010-11-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

At the 2010 Ellora's Cave RomantiCon convention, best-selling author Jaid Black presented a workshop on writing sexual tension and erotic stories. Remember the acronym "blowjob".

Basis: What is the conflict to start the tension? Why is this happening? What is the underlying foundation, the reason for the story? Start fast with the story, have impact at the beginning.

Libido: Establish that the hero is "larger than life" in all aspects. Building the heroine is even more important; she's the one readers will identify with. Make her real. What is missing that she needs from this hero?

No Orgasm too soon.

Withhold: Build as much sexual tension as you can before the first sex scene. To get the reader hot, you as author should be aroused by what you are writing.

Journey: Take time with the sexual journey, keep it building. You don't have to jump into penetration and orgasm right away, use other types of sexual interaction to advance the intimacy and build sexual arousal.

OMG Moment: The moment before the "moment", holding on right before orgasm, where you (the heroine) can't take it anymore.

Burst: Then go back and do it all again, building up that tension again.

Story - Book

2010-11-15T08:00:00.016-05:00

by Raelene Gorlinsky

I'm trying to watch my words. To me, a "book" can be any format. But most people still associate that word with print on paper. If I am talking about a specific product, then I differentiate--a print book, an ebook, an audio book (and who knows what could come in future). But here's the important point--what authors, editors and publishers deal with is not a "book", it is a story. That's what we care about--the words themselves, the ideas and information they convey. Authors write a story, editors acquire and edit a story, publishing companies produce and distribute a story. That story will be provided to readers in a variety of formats, but that doesn't necessarily change the story itself.

One of my favorite sayings is All words are pegs to hang ideas on. The terms you use have an effect on people's perceptions, sometimes beyond what you intend. It's like the old argument about using "man" or "mankind" to describe human beings as a whole. Yes, logically we all know that word means everyone, regardless of gender. But what it conveys subconsciously is that males represent the world, are the important people, and women are subsidiary. The underlying implications of words are more often limiting rather than inclusive.

So I'm trying to remember to use "story" instead of "book". Because that's what is important--the story you are telling, not the format in which the story appears.

Assistant Needed

2010-11-12T08:00:00.014-05:00

By Grace Bradley, editor

As my stable of authors continues to grow, I find myself needing more hours in the day. Since that is clearly not a possibility, I decided to bring in some help. Piper came very highly recommended, the purrfect editing assistant. She has it all—intelligence, good looks, a fondness for cheap lunches out of a can. I really didn’t see any way this could go wrong. But she’s been on the job for three weeks now and my schedule is not any less hectic. In fact, I’m working just as much as I ever did and the grocery store runs for Fancy Feast are cutting into my work day.

I can credit Piper with one thing, and that is her ability to keep a close eye on office inventory. She pointed out to me recently that we are running low on red and pink pens. This is a problem for two reasons. First, I can’t edit without them. Second, I buy them in a twelve pack. This can only mean that I’m getting some messy manuscripts. Piper has one thing to say about that: Self-edit.

Either this manuscript is really awful or Piper hasn’t taken her morning cat nap. She’s falling asleep on the job. You’ve got to grab her on the first page, folks. Unless you’re writing about the extra-groovy feeling your character gets while imbibing in catnip or sharing a can of minced meat with the one they love, you’ll lose her. She neglected to tell me in her interview that she had been spayed. Sex scenes will not do it for her. This is a problem, considering what I contract.

She’s taken over the office like she owns the place. Here she is again, falling down on the job. I’ve tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but this is an internal submission from one of my best authors. It certainly shouldn’t put her to sleep. So sadly, I must let her go as my editing assistant. I think I’ll keep her on as the family pet, though. I kinda dig the way she sits in my lap while I work and purrs. It makes me a happy editor, and that makes all the empty red pens more tolerable.

Romance Recipe for Success

2010-11-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

One of the reader discussion groups at this year's RomantiCon convention was "Recipe for Success", hosted by authors Fran Lee and Amber Skyze. They solicited reader opinions on "the most important ingredients for a breathtaking, satisfying romance" (with emphasis on erotic romance).

As always, there was wide diversity of opinions, but consistency in basic areas.

The five most important elements in a good romance:

HEA
Hot, delicious sex
Strong romance
Believable plot/conflict
Strong, engaging (and enjoyable) characters

Almost all agreed that a relationship was of the utmost importance in a romance. They wanted to see the characters develop strong emotional connections.

Humor was appreciated.

About half stated that sweetly poignant moments were essential to their enjoyment of a novel.

Plots were expected to be unique, not simply makeovers of overused situations and reworked “same-old, same-old”, and have believable world building.

Many stated that the author's voice was important.

Sensual content: Two-thirds of the participants stated that they liked to see a delicious, hot buildup of tension between the H/H. About half stated that instant hot sex was good, but most of these also liked “slow buildup”. The general consensus was that the sex must be hot and intense when it did occur, but that slow and seductive was appreciated as well. Most participants made it clear that the sex must fit the story. No one wanted gratuitous sex just tossed in. The sex had to be part and parcel of the plot, and be steamy. One said “must be breathtaking and memorable”.

Heroes: The overwhelming majority wanted alpha heroes who were strong and tough. Roughly half added “flawed” and “bad boy”. A few added “tortured” or “smart”.

Heroines: Saucy and sexy. About half liked heroines who exhibited tomboy tendencies, were wicked, strong, and/or flawed. About one-fourth liked their heroines to be ultra-feminine. A few participants added “smart”, “smart and independent”, “witty…keeps hero on his toes” and “tortured”.

Genres: When presented with a list and asked to indicate all their preferences, almost all marked Contemporary. Over half also chose Paranormal, Vampire, Shifter, historical, BDSM, Erotic, GLBT, Cougar, Ménage, or “all of the above”. Erotic, Cougar, and Ménage were most notably chosen. Sci-fi/fantasy was included in about one-third of the responses.

Book length: A majority of participants preferred novellas or short novels, but about half said they also enjoyed full length novels.

When asked what made the participant re-read the same book over, most responded that they liked to go back and re-read the good parts, memorable sex scenes, or the hilariously funny parts. They liked to re-read the places where the characters began to build their relationships, and a good percentage liked to go back to the scenes that really “touched” them.

One person stated that she found that each new reading revealed even more than she had found in the prior reading. One person stated that she almost never re-read a book, but that she does search for more by the same author if she liked the book.

As Fran said afterwards, "The responses were gratifying in that every single participant reinforced our impression of the deep sense of individuality in our readers. We found that our readers (and the participating reviewers and authors) are discerning and share a taste for high-quality books that leave them emotionally moved. Not willing to sit back and simply accept what is offered out there, they were most willing to step up and tell us what they wanted."

Nothing but 'Net

2010-11-03T08:00:00.012-04:00

By Kelli Collins

The lovely ladies over at Three Wicked Writers plus Two tell me they've fielded lots of questions from new authors regarding websites. As in, whether or not to have one, and the importance of the content contained therein. What works, what doesn't...and what editors recommend. That's where I come in, by answering some of the Wicked Writers' most frequently asked questions. I'm honored you would want my opinion, ladies. The fact you may have asked because I never shut up and have an opinion on everything has crossed my mind...but I don't care! I'm taking the opportunity and running with it! (Oh, and gentlemen, we love you and we love men who write erotica, but considering the industry is dominated by chicks, I'll be going with the feminine pronoun for the purposes of this post. No offense, dudes.)

Why do editors need to look at an author's website?
Need? Well, some think they don't. But for my money, it's the quickest way to learn about a prospective author, in particular how she presents herself. And not just her site...but her blog, tweets and Facebook posts as well. Is the site a raging grammatical nightmare? That's likely how her submissions will look (don't kid yourself; your mom's/sister's/friend's proofing skills only go so far, in most cases). Is the author slamming fellow writers or (god forbid) publishing companies on her blog? Is her Facebook wall just a loooong rundown of game posts? To me, these things matter. They tell me pretty much everything I need to know. And they continue to tell me things after an author is signed. (Your edits are 5 weeks late because you've contracted a disease that renders your fingers immobile? That's funny. According to FB, you've been playing FarmVille for the last 15 hours straight, and your Twitter feed from the last week could be a novel unto itself.)

If a website seared your retinas and offended your sensibilities to the point you thought the author had committed web page murder, would you feel compelled to tell then they may be better off changing their website?
Yes. Lol! I have no problem telling authors why I don't visit their sites. The music (which I can't turn off!!) makes me wanna commit hari-kari. The home page is a visual nightmare, with texts and graphics seemingly placed at random so my eyes ping-pong all over with no place to land. The text is too small; the colors are too visually straining (black is always easiest to read...but not on an equally dark background). Some semblance of order is needed. Without it, it's just too mentally exhausting to navigate the site.

If yes, how would you broach the subject and what would you say?
Well, seeing as how I have little to no filter, I just lay it on the line: "Hon, you need to revamp your site." Followed by all the reasons why. It's not personal for me, it's business. And I relay that to the author, explaining as best I can why her site might be offending the masses. Websites are an author's number one promotional tool. If you're lucky enough to get readers to visit, but can't get them to stay, well...you're pretty much screwed.

Where does your gaze land when you view a website for the first time? The banner? The sidebars?
On websites, as in newspapers and magazines, our eyes are attracted to images first, large headlines second. I'm no different. Because our eyes are also trained to read top to bottom, left to right, my eyes are drawn to the banner first if there's an interesting graphic element. My eyes almost always go to sidebars last; an argument to place links to site pages beneath the banner. (We're conditioned to think sidebars are largely reserved for links, advertisements, etc. Things that may hold my interest the least.) Because graphics and headlines are so frequently viewed, make them count. Use them to point readers in the direction you want them to go, to entice them to read your posts and as tools to keep readers on your site as long as possible.

If you see a vulgar website, does it put you off reading any of the author's work?
Not necessarily. While vulgarity does tell me a bit about the author as a person, it doesn't necessarily reflect the type of books they write. But that's years of experience talking. An author might not get so lucky with readers, who may well assume a crude site is a sign of crude books. But while I might still read authors' works, their use of vulgar images, language, etc., is another thing that might keep me away from their sites. For instance, I swear like a sailor and I love looking at hot bods as much as the next person, but there's something to be said for teasing glimpses and a modicum of professionalism. There's at least one site I no longer visit because I'm just not interested in seeing the author's "cock of the month" pictures. There are plenty of other places I can go for that, if I really want to see it. Websites should appeal to the broadest range of readers possible.

As tastes are subjective, what one person thinks is an ugly website, another will like. What are the basic things you look for when visiting sites?
Some sort of order; if I want to see your bio or view your current releases, finding the pages easily is key for me. A degree of simplicity (you don't need to pack every square inch of the site with content or images. Seriously). A pleasing color scheme. If my eyes are happy, I'll stay on the site longer.

What is the one thing you do NOT want to see on a website, as in, something that looks unprofessional in your opinion?
See previous "cock of the month" mention...

What is the main thing that turns you off a website?
Disorder, followed very closely by dated information. I can't tell you how often I visit sites that haven't been updated for months. There's just no point in having one if you're not maintaining it. Silly, poser-style images. Come on, people, there are oodles of free pics available on the 'Net, nearly all of which are more appealing than creepy-looking pod people. Finally, no contact link. If you're interested in publishing...you might want to give editors/publishers a way to contact you (and of course, readers LOVE to email authors).

Would you advise authors to post portions of a WIP on their website?
Man. Tough question. And I'm truly torn. Half of me would rather see a short, super-enticing blurb. For one thing, I've seen some seriously long excerpts (as in, several chapters). Why should readers buy the cow when they're getting the milk for free? But more importantly, excerpts from current WIPs are unedited. No. I'm sorry. I don't care if you've had 12 people read it. They're still unedited. And that can work against an author in a big way, particularly if the excerpt doesn't specifically state it's unedited (no, most readers won't assume).

On the other hand, I'd be lying if I said I haven't invited authors to submit books directly to me on the strength of excerpts on their sites. I've done so frequently, actually. If an author follows me on Twitter, for instance, I check out their site (if they are smart enough to link it in their Twitter bio). If there's an excerpt or a free read of some sort, I read it. Nearly every time. And knowing these things are largely unedited makes me doubly impressed if I stumble upon one that's clean and compelling. I don't hesitate to invite those authors to submit. So I suppose in the case of new authors, there are great advantages to excerpting your WIPs. But if you choose to...for the love of all that's holy, make sure the excerpts are as clean as humanly possible and chosen VERY carefully (use the excerpt you think will instantly hook the reader).

Three Wicked Writers plus Two are Tess MacKall, Regina Carlysle, Anne Rainey, Natalie Dae and Madison Scott. Together, along with a host of guest bloggers, they post several times per week.