I bougth the book after browsing through Amazon UK. It’s where I’ve been living for the last six years. It retain my attention because there was a black woman on the cover. I’m french and black. In France Harlequin and its romantic romance with white characters prevel.

After reading that first book i was hooked. I decided to continu with the Trek Mi Qan serie and purshased another (by the way Jaid is there gonna be a next TMQ book?). But I couldn’t found a proper order. So i went on the website who was written on the book. And this is where i discovered the word of e-books, erotic romance (of all genres!!!), and the best invention ever Paypal.

Paypal changed my life. I can pay anything with it from anywhere in the world. I even pay my rent trough Paypal. But i have to say that EC system is top notch. I’m living in the other side of the world with a different time line and never had a glitch. I can’t say the same for other websites!

In anycase by creating EC, Jaid Black had open my mind to new possibilities and I thank her for it.

Any consideration to invide the french market? Those guys are too dusty! They need to get shake up a bit!

Also,

Can someone tell me when the new books come out for the Trek m Quan series? And what their titles will be…..

I think one of the reasons you see many erotic romances (including a lot of my own) coming in at novella or short novel length is that the longer the story is, the more difficult it is to keep up the level of eroticism without getting redundant with the sex acts, which I feel have to further the emotional arc of the story if they’re to be relevant.

I try to get around the readers’ “want more” feelings by writing most of my books in series, where the protagonists of one novella are secondary characters in the rest of the books.

As to the other posts in this blog, which I re-read when I somehow got notice of a new post, I continue writing for EC because of 1) my editor, 2) my ability to write novellas that are not part of a multi-author anthology, 3) and the fact that I get to write what I love and not to a formula. It doesn’t hurt at all that my sales of one novella to EC generally exceed the paltry sums I made with my five NY novel-length books back in the late ’90s.

As to the preponderance of BDSM, menages and MM romance, I’ll be having a “straight” contemporary series out around mid to late 2009 and early 2010, and I’m looking forward to it having great sales. The series probably will have light BDSM elements (sex play) in some of the books, and it may include some “swapping”, but it will be basically heterosexual romance (hot as hell) between one man and one woman. I, too, need a break from multiple partners and BDSM.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Like Ann, I cannot speak highly enough of Sue-Ellen Gower as an editor. Her input is invaluable. She catches character inconsistencies, plot holes and awkward sentences. She makes me look good. Robin commented about the importance of top-quality editing. I could not agree more. I DEPEND on Sue-Ellen and I have absolute confidence in her.

Given that my critque partners refer to me lovingly as the Picky Bitch from Hell, this is a real compliment!

I do find the standard of both writing and editing in e-books variable. I’ve often been disappointed by sloppy editing, banal plots, obligatory sex and two-dimensional characters. Equally, I’ve been thrilled by intense emotion, lyrically written sex and interesting ideas. The work of Joey W. Hill and Sarah McCarty is a stand-out in any company you care to name.

Similarly, there are print books I’ve paid good money for and thrown against the wall. As Jaid said, someone’s sugar is another’s shit.

Oh, and one of my books is longer, so it’s $7.99. I understand that readers may be wary, but that length is what the story demanded. It’s sold almost as well as my first with EC, which was $6.49. One reader wrote to tell me it was the longest e-book she’d ever bought, but that she felt she’d got her money’s worth! Both Joey and Sarah write often at this length and they have a huge following.

And yes, I’ve had the same PayPal problem. Not good.

Denise

Yes, EC is known for sex, sex and more sex, but there are a lot of EC books, including some of mine, that have won nominations and awards from groups who don’t hand them out to poorly written smut. EC books had seven nominations for RT’s Reviewers’ Choice awards this year, and its authors are finalists in a variety of prestigious RWA chapter contests.

As for editing, I’ve had editing at EC that’s been more thoughtful, more in-depth, and more helpful toward improving my writing than I’ve had with any other publishers I’ve written for, including two big NY houses. SueEllen Gower is without a doubt the best editor I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. Her edits are never intrusive, always on the mark as to what needs to be fixed to make the story better.

Reader interest drives sales, and right now the interest (as shown in sales numbers for me both at EC and Changeling, where I also write short erotic romances) is in BDSM, menage a trois, and MM romance. My forte is contemporary with occasional paranormal elements, but adding BDSM or menages has a way of ratcheting up the sexual relationships in any book. I don’t believe going hotter necessarily makes the stories less compelling, so long as the sex is motivated by emotion and logical in terms of the story line. I haven’t delved into MM because it’s not my personal cup of tea–but no one at EC (other than my first editor who hasn’t been there for close to three years) has ever suggested that I switch and write a genre I’m not comfortable with for the sole purpose of driving my sales up.

I sometimes consider sales potential when plotting a story. After all, I’m a businesswoman as well as an author. I’m also a reader, and I hate hearing people diss authors for a house as a group because I know very well there are topnotch authors writing for EC–not only ones like me who’ve been around a long time, but many of the newer ones like Lauren Dane, Lacey Alexander, Judy Mays, Tawny Taylor, Rhyannon Byrd, Denise Rossetti, and others whose names escape me at the moment. Among the ones who’ve been around a while, I can enthusiastically recommend Jaid Black, Joey W. Hill, Anya Bast, Denise Agnew, Lorie O’Clare, and of course, me, LOL.

I’m back to writing–I try to keep my nose away from blogs but got sucked in by another post about another house that caught my attention and led me here.

I recall when EC first started and most of the books were written by Tina Engler under a variety of names. I also remember reading some amazing stories being put out that were so different from anything being put out by NY. I used to spend nearly a hundred dollars a month there. But now I might spend 10 dollars every 3 to 4 months. Part of this is due to variable quality and writing experience, which one hopes would be accounted for by editors. Of course, this might be my view as a relatively naive reader.

As much as I think many books are utter crap I try to remember that what I consider garbage might be someone else’s dessert. A friend of mine who used to write almost exclusively for EC would complain that the books where she worked the hardest on plot and character development always sold the worst while the ones that had a relatively flimsy plot but lots of sex sold like hotcakes. Personally, I don’t expect too much from EC brand books in terms of plot and creativity. The editors are sensibly on the lookout for a book that readers will buy and readers have pigeonholed EC for sex and more sex. Sometimes we luck out and you get both, but what I want is not being provided so I look elsewhere.

Of course, for everyone who is complaining or irritated with EC take your money away. If enough people talk with their wallet then they will finally hear you because their wallet is screaming. If they cannot take the time to correct a problem with a payment method then how much do they really respect the readers who are keeping them in business. Don’t buy the books until they make an effort as well. I have been talking with my wallet for some time. I am a small voice, but as far as I am concerned, I am making my point. I am not wasting my valuable time e-mailing customer service or waiting for them to refund my money.

To me, that quote speaks to the questions of diminishing quality and increased production. “Churning out” and “quality reads” just don’t seem to go together.

Hopefully I'll get my legs under me soon and get back to having regular EC releases.

*G* Anya has her hands full right now. Hope you enjoyed Mama’s Day, Anya!

What I will say is I've found over the years that readers don't post anonymously b/c they have no reason to…

Tina, I can’t necessarily agree with this. I know a decent amount of readers who do post as anon on blogs. A few of them have been burned by flame wars and they just prefer to go anon.

I don’t have much to comment on this topic that hasn’t already been addressed or said,but as an author I do know that when I have concerns about my edits, I address them. Something I did in my last Hunters novella for EC had my editor concerned (the heroine was basically losing her mind) and I had to clarify a little. A book I wrote right after I miscarried a few years ago was very..very..dark, violent even, and the editor had some concerns, wanted some changes. I wasn’t comfortable with the changes, but I could see her concerns so I went back and worked on it until she could understand the motivations behind the characters. The comma issue isn’t one I’m familiar with although I do vaguely recall a few being taken out. If it had changed the general vibe of the story, i would have said something. But I tend to overpunctuate, I think, anyway.

We live in an informal society and pop fiction has evolved to shape with it. We also live in a faster society, so yeah, commas slow things down.

I mean, I can’t even have a decent conversation with anyone at a cocktail party anymore. The minute I comma my spoken words, ie pause, someone else interrupts. So, I think the comma thing is just a reflection of real life.

I’ve gotten around it by using periods. But, with the influx of patches and drugs, periods might be a thing of the past soon too.

*martyred sigh*

Damn it.

*gg*

I'm not saying women should be silenced. I'm just saying trash talk in general is useless. But open dialogue–that is totally useful, and should be employed and celebrated.

LOL we posted at the same time. Yes, I agree.

I have no idea how my comment devolved into silencing abused women.

Ah, it was probably the divorce metaphor. But in any case, I wrote a five paragraph response to your post, with only a few sentences addressing that example, so I don’t really think your comment “devolved’ at all.

I’m not saying women should be silenced. I’m just saying trash talk in general is useless. But open dialogue–that is totally useful, and should be employed and celebrated.