Ebooks also give the option of choosing to purchase just one novella for $3.00 to $4.00 rather than being forced to purchase a much more expensive print anthology that may contain authors they’re not interested in (not that I have anything against anthologies, they can be a great way to try new authors).

In contrast, most mainstream ebooks sell for the same price as the print version, giving the customers less incentive to purchase ebooks versions which they are not able to share or resell if they didn’t like it enough to keep it. I work for a bookstore and with my discount, mainstream books are cheaper for me to purchase in print and books from Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, etc are cheaper to purchase as ebooks than purchasing print versions in Trade size.

I just started purchasing ebooks in July 2007 (darn that Fictionwise…600+ and counting) and I never thought I’d be willing to give up print books but I’ve found that I love the convenience of being able to carry my books with me (even if it’s on my laptop) and having them in one location. I’ve started buying duplicates of old favorites and a few newer authors in ebooks after having trouble locating the whole series to reread or to ensure I have a readable copy of some old mm that are falling apart from age and rereading.

So for me the answer is a combination of print and ebooks and I look forward to replacing some old SciFi/Fantasy as well as picking up new ones.

Hey! Just had to point out that Like a Thief in the Night hit the top ten at MBAM.

Heh. I just bought a copy this evening. Very good, btw.

Any author has learned, you can;t make people want a book.

That’s certainly not true from my perspective as a reader. Every time I turn around there’s an author making me want her book. Off the top of my head, I can think of three new-to-me authors who’ve convinced me to buy their books recently. And my usual policy is to NOT buy new authors until I’ve tried them from the UBS. So it’s definitely not impossible. These NY pubbed authors succeeded (where most fail) because they post excerpts and discuss their books at blogs where I hang out.

I discovered ebooks originally because that’s where it was easiest to find hot books, and I’ve never really branched off into general romance. My buying has also tapered off drastically since the explosion of edgy ebooks has made it harder for me to find books that I want to read.

Any author, epub or NY, has to get her writing in front of me so that I can see that it’s something I’d like to read. A five sentence cover blurb and a few paragraphs of excerpt aren’t going to cut it. This is where epubbed authors have a potential handicap. If I happen to be interested in a book because of a blurb and miniscule excerpt, I can always flip through the book in a bookstore and make a final decision. Ebook authors have to make-do with that initial contact. But then that is how those three new-to-me NY authors I’m planning to buy managed it.

For me, at least, Jane’s piece is a little reminder that I have to fight more consciously against the link [e = erotic] when I’m looking at epub sites and looking for new ebooks to read.

From my non-reviewer, non-blogger perspective, why should I have to fight any stigma? I’m the customer – all I want to do is sit back and choose books from those vying for my attention. And my attention, for books of any format, is focused primarily online.

I’m going to try to put together a list of the new releases I know about/find out about that are non-erotic romance each week. I’ve already put up a few on my blog, but it’s become apparent that I’m really going to need to just make it a full webpage. I will be working on that.

If people want to send me their current or upcoming releases, please do.

I mean, Emma Holly: not porn. Evangeline Anderson: Not porn. Lisa Marie Rice: not porn. There’s an emotional component there. The sex drives the relationship, but it is not the entire relationship.

I was reading a print book, Lora Leigh’s Nauti Boy, and I’ve got to tell you, no offense to her, but I had a thought about halfway through that this: Was. Porn. Sex for no reason, plot without point, everything happening in order to lead to sex. I could almost hear the “bow chica bow bow” music every time there was a romantic scene.

I would love to read more ebooks that were not erotic rom, but try and find them on Fictionwise–if you use the ratings system or the bestseller list, it’s menage after menage after menage. How do you find the good authors?? I don’t want to waste money on books I won’t finish.

Angela, I wish you WOULD blog about the “hidden gems”.

Please. For those of us who are looking for them.

People who accuse Ellora’s Cave or Samhain or Loose-Id of selling porn.

Probably need to actually go get some porn to see what the difference is.
I notice quite a few people have obviously never actually read any.

Porn is notoriously hard to define, and tends to have a negative (and subjective) connation, as in “it’s porn when I think it’s yucky”. So, probably I should have said “sexually explicit material created with the main or sole intent to sexually arouse the consumer.”

And do I think a lot of the stuff we’re talking about fits that bill? Yeah. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Probably need to actually go get some porn to see what the difference is.
I notice quite a few people have obviously never actually read any.

Well…. There are undeniably some work at EC that really are no better than porn. I should know, I read the damned things. When you have a scene where two men start going at it, in the middle of a bar, the lines kind of start to blur.

Jane, I understood and frankly, I do think a lot of people do associate epublishing to erotic romance ONLY, not even realizing the huge assortment of romance in all categories that they are missing on. I think more could be done in terms of marketing. I am sure most people here have noticed how aggressive marketing is for erotic romance, whilst very seldom you see the same degree of marketing effort for other categories of romance sold online.

And to do my part, I went to New Concepts Publishing and got me a non-erotic time travel book. It was nice to see that some old favorites are still there, I have to check if more earlier titles are around. I really enjoyed quite a number of their early historicals. I have to go back to Fictionwise as well, see what’s there. So many books, so little time.

Definitions/labels are nice, but, unfortunately, when it comes to the romance genre, they’re surprisingly hard to make stick or agree upon (ie erotic romance, chick lit, urban fantasy, paranormal, and lets not forget the uproar over the definition of romance). Nevermind throwing in the terms that ‘marketing’ uses to place/sell the books.

I’ve been trolling Fictionwise for my Regencies, I totally forgot about the Cotillion imprint. H/H is not really working for me. :-/

I appreciate the comments everyone has made including the link to the website, although it was hard to ascertain, Diane, what books each author has written from that site.

Thanks for looking Jane. Actually, each contributing author at this point has their own page, and each cover that is on their page is linked if I have it available back to the publisher. It’s basically a catalogue of the authors, and on site we have over twenty to date, and that is always growing.

I see it as my responsibility as a reader to be more proactive (like Jayne) and seek out other sub genres of romance being offered by epublishers.

I do agree here. I shop around, but can get comfortable with certain houses and authors. I also feel guilty increasing my TBR when I have so many already. I’m also broke for the next two months. LOL

My post and question wasn’t that erotic romance was stifling the epublishing industry but that readers’ association of erotic with epublishing could stifle the industry or make it a one-note instead of the cutting edge, genre blending/genre bending type of publishing it could (and I guess I would argue should be). Because if sex is the only thing that sells then why else would any respectable epublisher go a different route?

I see it as my responsibility as a reader to be more proactive (like Jayne) and seek out other sub genres of romance being offered by epublishers. I absolutely love old Signet Regency romances and am definitely going to check out Cotillion. Frankly I had forgotten it even existed.

And yes, you are right, it all comes down to what each individual is looking to get out of their reads. I’ll keep on dreaming about the elusive definition anyway … my anal retentiveness demands it LOL

Here’s a link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerridwenchat

But thing is, that there are stories out there full of sex and in which the reader still can feel the emotional connection between the main characters,

I agree, Mireya (lovely spelling of your name by the way, is it pronounced like Maria?), but my point is you, I and Charlene and many others agree on this deal breaker. For other? eh? Doesn’t really matter to them as long as all the other elements/hallmarks of erotic romance are there for them.

It’s the old wall-paper historical romance vs authentic details historical romance conundrum in a different package. It really depends on what you’re looking to get out of your read.