EDITED TO ADD: Other RR threads here.
I received a number of complaints about start up epress Ravenous Romance harvesting email addresses from the web (if you leave an email to comment, we only use it for contests and don’t give that information out to anyone else) and then spamming people (particularly authors) with news about its activities and requests for submissions.
You’ll remember that Ravenous Romance promises to blow other epresses out of the water. You might also remember one of its biggest cheerleaders is Jill Elaine Hughes or Jamaica Layne who, among other things, is now editing at least an anthology for Ravenous Romance. At first, the word was that RR was only accepting agented submissions. Now, RR seems hard up for content as it is soliciting writers on the NaNoWriMo boards and mass emailing on erotic romance mailing lists.
Maybe it’s part of their awesome PR campaign to raise awareness of the product. I don’t know, though, that is the best way to go about gaining new business (or new authors).
Wow. That would annoy the hell out of me. If they have to go to such lengths to promote their business, that doesn’t say much good about them.
Hey, if John Scalzi’s got any of his Schadenfreude Pie left after the election results, do you think he’d send a piece to Ms Hughes?
No, maybe not. She seems to be operating on a sugar rush most of the time she’s posted, so more sweet stuff probably isn’t a good idea.
Their homepage lists a “TwittErotica” contest. Your best erotica in 140 characters or less.
I shudder to imagine.
I–wow. Words just fail me.
I sincerely hope I do not wind up on the spam list.
Wonder if they’ve begun spamming at Literotica yet…
Thanks for the warning!
How widespread is the belief that writers and editors are interchangeable in terms of their skill sets?
Yes, I wondered about this as well.
Funnily enough, I haven’t been spammed. I suspect it’s because I haven’t kept my feelings about startup epresses silent. But I know a few people who are getting new spam emails every day. They are not pleased.
Class all the way, huh?
I’m being spammed and yes,all that does is make me not promote them.
I received two unsolicited messages from them. Both from Dalyn A Miller. One had to do with the Twitterotica contest Shannon mentioned (either for me to enter, mention it to my friends who Twitter, or post the contest info (included in the email) on my blog. Looks like I deleted that one, but the other email (which I found auto-dumped in my junk file) announced their ‘high-quality’ audio books. Here’s the email in it’s entirety:
RAVENOUS ROMANCE™
TO PRODUCE DAILY AUDIOBOOKS
Erotic romance publisher to provide once-a-day high-quality audiobooks at competitive prices
[Boston, MA, November 6, 2008] –Ravenous Romance™, an online publishing company launching December 1, will offer daily, full-length audiobooks as a part of their suite of downloadable products. While many traditional publishing houses have successfully produced audiobooks for years, Ravenous Romance™ is the first e-publisher to offer content in this format. The company will publish daily novel-length erotic romance books which they will sell in both eBook and MP3 format. The audiobooks will be available to consumers for $12.99 directly through the company’s web portal http://www.RavenousRomance.com and for $16.99 through Audible.com and iTunes.
“We believe that digital publishing is the new mass market,” says Editorial and Subsidiary Rights Director Lori Perkins. “With the advent of the iPod and other MP3 players, the audiobook market has the ability to reach more customers than ever before. We’re proud to be the first e-publisher to offer content in this format, and are confident that consumers will appreciate the excellent quality of both our content and recordings.”
Ravenous Romance™, an imprint of Literary Partners Group, Inc., will offer erotic romance – stories with strong plots and character development, but with steamy sex scenes and explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. The stories will feature strong, passionate characters and plots that express a broad range of fantasies in the following categories:
* Modern Love™ (contemporary)
* Fantastica™ (paranormal)
* Red Carpet Romance™ (glamorous, celebrity-oriented)
* Breathless™ (romantic suspense)
* Forever Again™ (second-chance-at-love)
* The Lust Chronicles™ (erotic memoir)
* Wicked Pleasures™ (kinky/edgy)
* Once Upon a Time™ (erotic historical)
* Real Man Romance™
* Panamour™ (gay, lesbian, bisexual)
* Lovestrology™ (New Age)
* Green Love™ (environmentally-themed)
Ravenous Romance™ will be a destination site for women with strong Web 2.0 community-building features.
Romance is the most popular genre in modern literature, generating $1.37 billion in net sales annually and accounting for 26.4% of all books sold. Demographically, 56% of romance consumers are under age 44, and 74% have college degrees.
Visit Ravenous Romance™ online at http://www.RavenousRomance.com , where you can download a free Ravenous Rendezvous™ and register to win an iPod Touch.
For more information please contact Dalyn A. Miller at 617-504-6869 or via email at Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com.
About Literary Partners Group, Inc.
Literary Partners Group, Inc. is a partnership among three creative industry executives. Holly Schmidt is a publishing executive with 15 years of experience in editorial, marketing, and sales. She joined forces with award-winning photographer Allan Penn to launch book packager Hollan Publishing, Inc. in 2006. Lori Perkins is a New York City literary agent with over 20 years of experience and an impressive stable of authors.
Ravenous Romance™ will be a destination site for women with strong Web 2.0 community-building features.
I don’t have strong Web 2.0 community-building features. Not their kind of woman, I guess.
But anyway, they also seem to be doing what EC’s new structure is doing—making it damn near impossible to find a book you’re looking for. I don’t want to figure out which fancy name might correspond with which subgenre. I want to click on “contemporary” or “paranormal”.
And who’s doing the audio recording? $12.99? Dayum. And erotic romance is very, very difficult to read aloud without sounding ridiculous.
I’m curious about Real Man Romance as opposed to Fake Man Romance. ;-P
I got spammed by an intern of theirs (same person who posted that advert on the NaNo boards). It was basically that post except they added a mention of Ellora’s Cave. Same email was sent to at least two other EC authors on the NaNo boards that I know of.
It’s frankly bizarre and unprofessional. I’m sorry, but I do not respond to people named Brattyhack on message boards who want me to submit to their start-up, never been tested epublisher. Especially when the contact is completely unsolicited. Perhaps some of the more desperate Wrimos might be drawn in by the spamming, but thank you very much I’m perfectly content with the publishers I have.
Depends on which world of publishing you’re asking. It seems quite prevalent in the epubbed world, but not so much in the print world. Yes, a few editors write, but few authors edit professionally. I mean, we edit ourselves, of course, but that doesn’t mean we can eschew the line editor, the copy editor and the proofreader. If that were the case, no books would have typos.
Fantastica? Lovestrology? Um…no, thanks. I don’t want to have to wade through several bizarre sub-genres to get to what I want to read either.
I did read through that post on NaNo. Why would I want to follow up on any post written by someone who chooses a user name like BrattyHack? Sounds like a teen-aged computer hacker to me!
So far, I’ve not gotten anything. Then again, if they’re culling email addys from Nano, I’m so far in revisions, I haven’t had time to Nano yet. I’ll be doing the “gee, I have two weeks left, maybe I should start now” push around the fifteenth… *sigh* At least it’s kept me under their radar!
Dalyn Miller has an astonishing gift for PR.
Every press release makes the client look worse and worse.
Also, the Series Titles TM are hilarious.
I predict complete implosion of Ravenous Romance within a year.
Oh, I don’t think they’ll implode, as such. The actual owners of the company do have professional experience. But to quietly shut down…yeah, I can see that one happening.
I hope it doesn’t–I genuinely wish them success, and try not to let my personal feelings for certain people make me wish ill on an entire business, most of whom have behaved professionally. As I’ve said numerous times, I think it would be great to have another strong ebook market.
So I hope it doesn’t, but there’s a darned good chance it will, yes.
I know, right?
Hey, though, just a suggestion. If you move your little arrow thingy (the cursor?) over the symbols lower left, it gives you actual categories. I know it’s a pain and I HATE that they’ve given the categories stupid cutesy names, I really do. It’s pointless and makes things harder and I’m really, really upset about it.
But just a tip. It does make it easier. There’s also a new Search function.
In regards to authors being qualified to edit, please note that I worked professionally as an editor for several years before becoming a novelist. And also please note that it is very common for noted authors in certain genres to edit short story collections (ever heard of something called “Best American Short Stories”, which comes out every year and is always edited by a different noted short story author?) Having authors of a certain genre be hired to edit anthologies in their genre is not considered an unusual thing in the industry whatsoever.
In late August I extended an invitation to the members of this board, as well as several others, for you to reach out to me with questions about Ravenous Romance and our marketing and PR strategies. As I read through this discussion string, I feel compelled to issue a similar invitation. I will respond to every email I receive and will answer all questions about Ravenous Romance or my agency to the best of my ability. My email address again is dalyn@dalynmillerpr.com, my phone number is 617-504-6869, my office is in Boston and I’m happy to meet you for coffee or lunch if you prefer to meet in person.
The announcements and releases we sent were sent to those we consider “media”. Therefore, if you received an email in the past week directly from me you are either a member of a more traditional outlet such as a newspaper (USA Today, NY Times, etc.) or a blogger – which we consider “media” as you maintain and post content to a public forum. We do not send emails of members to list groups or “steal” names from the internet. We are diligent about disseminating information to those who maintain forums which serve our community and even more diligent about removing the names of those who request we do so. If you do not maintain a blog or do not write for a traditional news medium, but received a press release or contest announcement from me, then please let me know, we will compare it to lists and figure out where the mistake was made. We are not spammers, we will never spam any of you.
Finally, we are not nameless, faceless corporate bigwigs at Ravenous Romance, we hard working women and men who put in long hours and are passionate about the work we do and the communities we serve. We are passionate about quality fiction, we are passionate about writers, we are passionate about being a part of the erotic romance community. We launch on December 1 and look forward to your feedback then.
Dalyn A. Miller
617-504-6869
dalyn@dalynmillerpr.com
Dalyn, how are you not getting that people who post on NaNoWriMo boards are not doing so as members of the media, and thus not appropriate targets for press releases?
Dalyn, I’m afraid you’re incorrect. Your intern is indeed spamming authors. Not press releases, not promo, but asking people to submit to RR. I don’t know anything about the press releases, I haven’t gotten one of those.
The spam I received came through the NaNoWriMo message boards:
“Hi gang,
I don’t know what Ellora’s Cave pays for novels or short stories, but there is a new erotic ebook publisher that goes live on Dec. 1 - just after WriMo! Here’s their info:
Ravenous Romance, a new online ebook and audiobook publisher of erotic romance, is acquiring 365 novels and 365 short stories per year, in all categories. We are looking for great writing and compelling stories from both previously-published and new writers. We’ve signed novels from many award-winning writers and their protegees, and have aggressive plans to market their work online as well as sell print and translation rights. Our novels are 50,000-60,000 words, and our short stories are 1,500-5,000 words. Visit http://www.ravenousromance.com to download our submission guidelines.
So…check it out and let me know if you think you may submit to them. They are buying stories and novels now!
Thanks,
Brattyhack”
The same person identified themselves elsewhere as an intern with RR. When I emailed them back asking why they would send me a solicitation to submit when I’d never spoken to them before and was perfectly content with the publishers I’m with, I got no response back. Drive-by spamming, by definition. I know of now numerous other authors who have received that same spam mass email from RR’s intern.
I’m just saying, you shouldn’t claim RR isn’t spamming when indeed they/you are. Because that’d be me you’re calling a liar, and I don’t appreciate it.
Okay, done now. Back to work on my NaNo, which will *not* be being submitted to RR, by the way. :)
Kay, I got most of the play on words in trademark names (though “green love”, really? How many of those could there be unless people start getting creative? Solar powered vibrators? Hey, no one steal that. My next romance will feature a solar powered vibrator and a ball gag made of post consumer recycled fibers. And a vegan.)
But what does this mean:
* Panamour™ (gay, lesbian, bisexual)
Panamour? I feel like I am out of the loop. Why do I not know what that means???
By the by, also recieved the nano spam. I winced at the “I don’t know what Ellora’s Cave pays…” Well, you should. Royalties are fairly standard across most e-pubs.
Ms. Miller, I don’t doubt that you’re real. But since you are the PR person for this company, and you claim to have no knowledge of the above spam, perhaps tell RR to leave the PR, well, to you.
Alisha Rai:
Re: Panamour (TM) - I saw that too. After a moment’s reflection, I assumed it came from “pansexual.” Which is kind of.. hm. But that’s my guess and I’m sticking to it!
(Caveat: I’m not affiliated with RR, so this is not an official explanation.)
But those “Best American (whatever)” anthologies always have a “series editor” from the publisher who works with whatever author-editor is invited to guest edit for each year’s anthology. So the volume is always edited in the more traditional publisher-based way, even as a guest author (who is, as you point out, already a noted figure) puts his/her stamp on the volume by, say, choosing among stories the series editor has selected, contacting authors h/she knows and inviting them to submit, writing the introduction, etc.
—which is exactly what I am doing.
*sigh* I had trouble tracking down my own books. I’m GUESSING that EC is mimicking Harlequin (Blaze, Presents, Desire, Nocturne, etc.).
Brattyhack doesn’t appear too bright as EC publishes their book prices and royalty rate on their web site.
So why are you editing it again?
It seems to me this should be very simple:
If you’re apprehensive about a start-up, hold back until the numbers come in and you have more information. If you really don’t like an author, don’t buy her book. If you don’t like a publisher or an agent, don’t submit to them. If you’re uncertain about things like royalties and advances and rights, ask for clarification, or have a literary attorney look over the contract before you sign it. If someone sends you an unsolicited email that annoys you, delete it, or respond back with “thanks, but no thanks, and I’d prefer it if you took me off your contact list”. No insults or mud-slinging necessary. But we’ve all got hobbies, I guess, and with so many publishers going belly up, it really won’t matter if we throw one more onto the pile.
As for environmental erotica, I haven’t seen this yet, but I’m open to the idea. Carl Hiaasen has done a fine job with the concept in mystery, and some of my favorite movies (Chain Reaction, The Day After Tomorrow, Erin Brokovich) have a strong environmental angle, as well. It doesn’t seem so far-fetched to me that someone could, I dunno, save a ferret and fall in love at the same time…
Actually, aed, the only person who’s slung mud consistently is Ms Hughes/Layne, who was vehement in decrying other presses in her attempts to demonstrate why RR is so special and superior. Forgive people for being just a little irritated or ironically amused when this ’special’ press has to hawk for authors, spams authors and lists, and has the hide to deny it’s going on. Reputable, successful businesses don’t spam. They don’t need to. So what’s RR’s excuse?
You seem to imply that any criticism of this press might cause it to fail. Not much of an enterprise, is it, if that’s the case.
I honestly don’t see how pointing out the TRUE fact that pretty much all other epresses in this genre were started by people with no prior publishing experience is “mudslinging”. That’s all I said. Granted a couple of those epresses are successful, but most failed due to the lack of publishing knowledge of the founders.
If you have a personal vendetta against me or RR, then don’t read my books or don’t buy books from the publisher. But continuing to turn this board into your own personal version of Lord of the Flies does nothing for the flamers’ reputations. I have received many supportive emails from very, very reputable authors and editors asking me “what the deal” is with some of you people on here, and all I can do is throw up my hands and say “I have no idea.”
Online behavior can and does come back to bite people in the career.
Ann, you are certainly welcome to contact RR’s editor-in-chief and ask her this question yourself. She’s the one who hired me.
Ah, nothing like the smell of a desperate threat of blacklisting in the morning. Classy, very very classy. Who’s impressed? Anyone?
@Jamaica Layne - There is no vendetta here and I am glad that you have your supporters. But this isn’t a blog devoted to the elevation of new epresses. We’ve seen too many authors and readers burned by epresses and have, I think, earned the right to be skeptical.
In regards to my supposed “blacklisting” comment, there is no such thing as a publishing “blacklist.”
There IS such a thing as certain editors and agents choosing of their own accord not to work with certain authors based on flame wars in public forums.
Always something to keep in mind.
please note: no actual ferrets were harmed or molested in any of the stories- with the noted exception of black footed ferrets, who are suffering PTSD after being plagiarized into a savage bodice ripper.
If I understand correctly, post here, RR will never ever work with you, which would mean they stop spamming you… Cuz spam is oh so professional yes?
I think
maybe
All I can do is throw my hands up and say ‘I don’t know why people act like asshats’. I have never heard of RR or Jamaica Layne but do amuse easy. Are there bets already going for how long they will last? Anyone read a book from them yet?
I’m confused (not an unusual state). Did we not recently have a rather lengthy and heated discussion about whether someone could claim ownership of common phrases? (see the Desert Isle/Island Keeper discussion)
So my question is, how can phrases like Once Upon a Time, Wicked Pleasures, etc. be trademarked? Jane, can you ’splain it to me?
Also, I’d like to add that, as a big fan of audio books, I might have tried one from this publisher. But the impression I’ve received of this business, particularly the solicitations on NaNoWriMo message boards, leads me to believe that I will probably not be happy with the quality.
What BevQB said… I meant to ask that cuz really Shannon Stacey should be pissed cuz don’t you have a book called Forever Again? Will they have to recall them all now and reprint since RR has TM’ed the phrase :)
I don’t think I could ever even read something called ‘green love’.
You could mix Green Love with Red Carpet and do a story about sexxing Shrek…
HEY!
Yes, my second-chance-at-love story was titled FOREVER AGAIN, dammit. (How sad that I can’t remember the release date off the top of my head, but it was a launch title for Samhain, so it’s been a couple of years.) Now I’m annoyed and will be freshly annoyed every time I see their name.
On a more possibly relevant to other people note, the TMing thing—would this fall under the same legal workings as Kensington and NCP battling over NCP’s use of “Bad Boys” in a title? Like Modern Love—well, Mills and Boon Modern kinda did that. I’ve never heard if there was a decision in the K vs NCP thing.
So does Maureen Child.
There’s a NY Times column (and a book) called “Modern Love”. And a David Bowie song. And….
Oh my goodness. Forever…Again, SSE April 2004. I don’t know how I missed that. I usually run titles through Amazon before submitting. (Although this one was changed in a hurry because it was subbed as The Second Time Around, but Katherine Allred released Second Time Around with Cerridwen while I was in edits.)
I guess Ms. Child can be annoyed with me while I’m annoyed with them. :(
This endeavor could succeed and it could fail. Since I don’t have a personal interest in it, it doesn’t really matter to me all that much.
But what I do have a personal interest in is the romance community as a whole, and I’ve been uncomfortable and disappointed with the back-and-forth on both sides. Doesn’t really matter who started it.
No one here or anywhere else needs my forgiveness for being irritated or annoyed by these goings on. But as someone who loves to read, I find it very disheartening that so many would be gung-ho to see a publisher fail because one of its authors or interns may have acted foolishly or without forethought. Stick in the mud that I am, I don’t see anything amusing about mocking something just because you want to and can get away with it.
This whole thing has devolved to the point where few people are actually interested in addressing legitimate concerns of a start-up whose future is uncertain, and instead are lashing out based on the fact that they don’t like an author, a business practice, or, aw hell, a title or a name or the fact that the offending thing even exists. In my opinion, that’s akin to not liking a person because she has stupid hair or breathes oxygen. It’s unhealthy, not on a personal level, but for the romance community as a whole.
Again, this isn’t directed at those opposed to this new venture, but is a blanket statement across the board. I think it’s great that so many involved in Ravenous Romance are passionate about it, but there are ways to express that passion, excitement, and loyalty without tearing down established authors and publishers in the process. I also think it’s great that so many industry professionals care enough about writers and the genre as a whole that they go out of their way to caution against businesses they feel may burn readers and authors alike, but again, there are ways to express those concerns without the conversation deteriorating into an 8th grade catfight of “You’re stupid” / “No, YOU’RE stupid” / “No, YOU’RE stupid” or “She started it”.
My main concern isn’t that the naysayers will destroy a startup. I don’t think any of that matters. But the attitudes? They can do a lot of damage. When I look at this thread, I see romance readers/writers having a big ol’ hate on romance. I see a community that was once welcoming and open to new ideas now eating itself because many find it amusing to do so. I imagine anyone coming into this thread would walk away with the idea that even those who love the romance genre think it’s a big joke. And in my opinion, the romance community is better than this.
Rubbish. What you’re seeing is “a big ol’ hate” for dodgy business practices, dishonest and patronising spokespersons who like to threaten blacklists and reputations when they’re criticised, and for a press who from its very beginning, pushed itself as superior and different and was therefore going to grind its competitors into the dust, despite being woefully ignorant of the business and its customer base. None of that is anything to do with the genre, and what you are saying at length is nothing more than the same old ‘mean girl’ rant that comes out every time things get blunt or heated.
I’m sorry, but I simply don’t respect your opinion, because it’s based on the same bashing as you claim to be upset about.
Actually, no, I’m not sorry. I’m irritated beyond measure. This kind of response to any kind of debate within the romance community does far more harm than what you claim as negativity. A healthy genre and business can discuss and debate and criticise without people throwing their hands up in the air and claimed ‘we’ll all be rooned!’.
Tick. No vendetta, Ms Layne, but you are the no.1 reason I wouldn’t even visit RR’s website to check out the books. If you’re their chief spokesperson, and supposedly the best editor they can come up with, then that means there will be a fundamental mismatch between what I find appealing, and anything they offer.
As for the not too subtle threat of not being edited by you or anyone else at RR…. I’m sobbing into my Weetabix as I type. Truly. I’m planning a triple dose of Effexor just to help me through the day. I really don’t know how I’ll struggle on. I…well, I can’t continue. I’m just too heartbroken and dismayed to keep writing this. Later, if I find the strength, I’ll take down my website, cancel my contracts with my publishers, and destroy my hard disks, out of the pure agony of disappointment.
Or…
Maybe I’ll have a cup of tea and plot world domination.
How will this drama end? YOU be the judge!
“When I look at this thread, I see romance readers/writers having a big ol’ hate on romance. I see a community that was once welcoming and open to new ideas now eating itself because many find it amusing to do so.”
Aed, I kind of see where you’re coming from, but I really can’t agree with your statement. It’s just too close to the, why can’t we all just get along??? argument. Should we not discuss industry news? Many of us here are authors who have a vested interest in the image of the houses we could potentially sub to.
I don’t think we’re eating ourselves (ew.). This was an e-press who essentially had their spokespeople toot that they were, in effect, the best, the coolest, the most experienced e-pub in the whole world of e-publishing since no other company had their level of expertise. Though the attitude was snotty, I was willing to reserve judgement.
However, when said experienced e-pub startup sends out frankly unprofessional spam, as an author, I would be pissed if people shut up about it and just sent them a little polite note to take them off their spam list, which you advise. The community of authors and readers deserves to know about this contradictory behavior.
If the PR company for RR is not aware of this horrible PR they are getting, as someone who used to be in marketing, I can tell you, if they’re smart cookies, they want to know about it, so they can take steps to right their image. If we all just shushed up about everything, how could they possibly know what their market is thinking about their product?
I wouldn’t worry. Most people realize that
Yeah, I wasn’t totally serious about her being very annoyed with me. A little while back a Harlequin Intrigue was released with the same title as one of my books and it didn’t bother me beyond a “well, that kinda sucks” moment. Titles can’t be copyrighted, and I think if they couldn’t be recycled we’d have to start numbering them. :)
I think it’s RR’s use of the “TM” with Forever Again representing second chance at love romances that irks me a little. That “this is MINE and nobody else can use it” thing. Sorry. Already did. :)
There are clearly several misconceptions and issues which need to addressed, as this has spiraled out of control:
The first and most important is this: I am the only official spokesperson for Ravenous Romance, with the exception of its three founders. We were not aware that “Brattyhack” was soliciting materials for us in what we agree was an inappropriate fashion. We are working with an enthusiastic, but slightly overzealous, editorial associate who is helping us identify both established and new writers who might want to submit to our publishing program. She was well-intentioned, but took it a bit too far. We take full responsibility for this turn of events, and we regret any inconvenience it caused you. You will no longer receive email from anybody who does not identify themselves by name, nor will you receive a communication that has not been approved by Ravenous Romance. Finally, we will always respond to your emails. This is our commitment to this community.
For press releases and promotions: We did not, and will not, harvest names of responders from list serves and discussion boards. We will continue to send announcements to the press, which includes blog moderators – unless we are specifically asked by that blog moderator to remove his/her name from the list. Every single person who received one of the two emails sent directly from me last week can be cross-referenced to a specific blog/website which that person moderates. If there was a mistake, please send me an email and I’ll fix the list.
Call for Entries: Although I disagree with “Brattyhack’s” misguided approach, I don’t define the offering to a self-described writer an opportunity to submit work to a publishing company “drive-by spamming”, and you’d be pretty hard-pressed to convince me that it is. I’ve worked in publishing for a long time, and had my own fiction and non-fiction published for even longer. My experience continues to be that authors in every category welcome new opportunities – from novices to best-selling authors alike (and we’re publishing both at Ravenous Romance). It is our business to identify and promote quality fiction, and we will continue to seek out those authors who may fit into our publishing program. If you prefer not to be contacted by us again, tell us.
We’ve had tremendous success attracting and signing extraordinary authors to our program. Our objective is to bring the highest quality content to our readers, and we are impressed with the talent and creativity of our authors. We read every submission, and usually respond within two weeks. When we launch, you all (along with the rest of the publishing community) can decide whether or not we have sound editorial judgment. As for the audiobooks, they are being produced by the leading audiobook production company, the one the large NY houses and Audible.com use, with top narrators/actors, and I promise you will not be disappointed by their quality. If you are, tell us. The reason we’re doing audiobooks is so we and our authors can make more money; the audio market is ten times the size of the ebook market (near $1 billion, last time I checked), and is only getting bigger.
“Blowing the Competition Out of the Water”: We at Ravenous Romance have never asserted anything of the sort. In fact, we have nothing but admiration and respect for our online competitors, who proved there is a vibrant market for ebooks back when they were in infancy. We believe that there is enough room in this market for everybody. The romance category makes up 26% of the revenue generated annually in the publishing industry, and erotic romance is a large, growing sub-category. Simply look at the number of traditional print publishers operating side-by-side in the marketplace. We all want to increase the profile and credibility of digital publishing, and we will need to work together toward that end, not tear each other down. Publishing has long been considered a collegial industry, and frankly, we are disappointed by the vitriol we have witnessed on this site and others in the epublishing world.
We would love to work side-by-side with our competitors to grow the visibility and size of this industry—a rising tide lifts all boats. This is why industry organizations like the AAP and the IDPF exist.
“Blacklisting”: We do not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation—or whether you’ve flamed us in this blog thread :) We have open submissions; we accept non-agented and agented submissions. We’ve bought both. Everybody is welcome to submit, and we judge material solely on quality.
Our Categories: You don’t like the names, let us know. We don’t promise to change them, but we welcome all community feedback. And your suggestions, if you have a great idea.
Finally, once again, call me or email me with any questions or concerns. I am real (and I’m also a man, by the way—you can visit my website at http://www.dalynmillerpr.com), and Ravenous Romance has not only retained my services to manage PR, but I also strongly believe in this company and its mission. My phone number: 617-504-6869, my email: dalyn@dalynmillerpr.com. I will be in Chicago from Nov 12-18 in case anybody wants to have a cup of coffee and talk about the business of promoting erotic romance. Or catch me in Boston…or New York…or anywhere! I get around a lot. Online, I plan to be a frequent contributor to this discussion board and others. See you here.
We value your input, and we hope we can create a constructive discourse with you. There’s no need for speculation—just ask.
Dalyn A. Miller
617-504-6869
dalyn@dalynmillerpr.com
Just a note on the trademarking thing. The phrase or phrases in and of themeselves are not trademarked. The name of the imprint is trademarked. Meaning, anyone can still title a book “Forever Again” but no other publisher can start an imprint entitled “Forever Again.”
And in my opinion… the mass spammings? Tacky.
Um…Ms. Miller, you really need to ask Ms. Layne to stop speaking for you. I do not think I have ever seen a comment of hers anywhere online that was not totally unprofessional, including this one where she tells a public message board that her agent–one of Ravenous’s owners, may I remind you–thinks RWA members are bitches:
“My literary agent has also commented how bitchy so much of the membership is when she has attended RWA conferences, so I know it’s not just me.”
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2677241&postcount=44
The woman cannot open her mouth without shoving an ego-shaped shoe into it. She is rude and condescending. She does not make Ravenous look good; frankly, I know quite a few people, including myself, who might have given Ravenous a try if not for the fervent desire to not be associated in any way with her.
I sincerely wish Ravenous luck. As I’ve said before–Ms. Layne seems incapable of understanding the written word, but I have said it despite her insistence that we’re all jelus haterz–I think it would be great to have another strong ebook market.
But Perkins’s involvement is disturbing. It is a conflict of interest, despite the minor shuftying of her clients.
I do not want to get involved with a company who thinks so highly of itself it feels comfortable letting its authors speak to others in such a way.
An unsolicited approach from a complete stranger via email is spam, sorry. But more than that, it stinks of desperation. I don’t know any other start up press who’s had to trawl for authors, and I’d like to know why you do. That’s a serious question, by the way. The only times I’ve received such a solicitation were from the now defunct and much derided Fanlib.com, and from Kira Takenouchi. Not such great antecedents. All other presses, large or small, rely on less intrusive advertising, and word of mouth from customers and authors. There are a lot of unpublished authors around, and too few slots for them. There should be no need to send emails directly to writers. And you say you respect your competitors, but, Ms Miller, you allowed Jill Elaine Hughes’ derogatory remarks about them to stand unchallenged and uncorrected for a very long time. You might be fitting her for concrete overshoes now, but it’s really rather late for you to attempt damage control.
Apart from the self-labelled ‘noted author’, Jamaica Layne, would you like to name some? Finally, your adoption of the term ‘flame’ to describe criticism, doesn’t impress me with your clearheadedness. One cannot ‘flame’ a company. If you don’t like people questioning your business methods, then you frankly shouldn’t be in a business where trust in your methods is so core to your success. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if RR is a huge success. But I will be surprised. I’m afraid you only have yourself, your staff, and those speaking for you, to blame for that.
Mr. Miller:
I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that I am skeptical of any new publishing enterprise, and with Ravenous Romance, my initial introduction to the publisher was a statement by one of your authors that you were “selling porn” and that you intended to “blow the competition right out of the water from very early on.” That combination — porn for profit — really rubbed me the wrong way, and I say that as someone who has no objection to either.
Now I realize that authors are independent contractors, and it actually makes me happy to know that publishers are not stifling the public speech of authors (something I really disdain, frankly). But because my initial introduction to RR has been of a house peddling porn as Romance in order to take us readers for all we’re worth (yes, I’m embellishing and hyperbolizing here), I’m skeptical and wary. I’ve tried not to comment too much, because I don’t yet have access to your publishing offerings, and cannot yet make my own determination of the quality there. But in terms of straight public presence, I’ve felt a bit alienated as a reader who has absolutely no problem with explicitly sexual books or successful publishing enterprises.
You may or may not be aware of the fact that the porn = Romance equivalency has been a sort spot for Romance readers, because some folks do not have the interest or the information to discern the structural, generic differences. That those of us who read Romance may argue over certain texts in terms of where to classify them does not, IMO, translate into permission to insist that we’re all reading porn and we should just get over ourselves (more embellishment, but that’s basically what I felt we were being told).
As someone trained extensively in literary forms, I am extremely conscientious about preserving generic distinctions, not only for the sake of readers, but authors, too (not to mention students, scholars, and historians 50 years from now). And as a Romance reader, I am sensitive to people using the Romance label to sell books that aren’t really Romance, precisely because the profit margin and market share is so large. And believe me, Romance readers are extremely loyal to the genre, which is why, ironically, you see so much vehemence in these threads. We do not want to feel taken advantage of in any way, because we already feel exploited enough by a general cultural mindset that we’re reading trash and by a marketing machine that assists in that persistent prejudice.
By and large, we abide by the premise that if we are treated with respect, we will act respectfully. There is, I believe, a bit of smarting from what some have interpreted as a lack of respect towards us as readers and authors of Romance.
I agree with you, however, that we will have ample time to determine for ourselves whether the books of Ravenous Romance will speak to us in a way that resonates with our wallets. I hope that the offerings of RR will show respect for the Romance reading population, as we are a dynamic, intelligent, well-read, and often demanding bunch. And there is nothing we relish more than books that make us proud to love the genre and singularly happy as readers.
Ah, well — that explains it. If you have a blog, you are putting yourself out there to receive press releases, even though you haven’t signed up for them or any sort of newsletter and are not in the business of promoting new publishers. But you blog, so you’re fair game to be added to a list.
And it’s your responsibility to take yourself off someone’s list once that someone has sent you an unsolicited e-mail.
Awesome! Now I know that the next time I promote a book, I can e-mail every blog owner and ask them to enter my contests/feature my book, even if I’ve never had contact with them. And I’ll say, all you have to do is contact me and tell me to stop
spamming yousending you unsolicited e-mails!I’ll be the most lurved, most popular author EVAH! I bet Nora will wish she had thought of this when I’m #1.
Oh,and by the way:
While I appreciate your open-mindedness, it is not “flaming” to ask legitimate questions and express doubt that a startup epublisher will sell thousands of copies right out of the gate. You are a publisher who wants submissions; you have to expect that authors are going to have questions. It’s not “flaming” to ask how you expect to sell those millions of copies, or to make other writers aware of the fact that in the existing market this has not yet happened, nor does it seem likely to. I would expect professional publishers to be aware of the difference.
Speaking of questions, I have one. Ms. Layne has mentioned several times that some Ravenous titles have already had print rights sold to NY houses; can you please give us the authors, titles, and which house(s)? If you are going to claim deals with major houses as a selling point, you should be willing to back that up.
Yes, I know this, which is why my reaction was not to threaten to sic my lawyers on them, but rather to be mildly annoyed. :)
Meljean, don’t forget when you’re the greatest author EVAH to remind everyone that those who don’t like your books are just jelush haters. That’s essential to being truly loved.
(And I owe Mr Miller an apology for changing his sex. Romance is such a female dominated industry, my eyes just skipped over the declaration of masculinity as an unfortunate typo.)
Some people just have WAAAYYYYY too much time on their hands.
I think it’s pretty clear that Ms. Somerville doesn’t respect anyone’s opinions but her own.
Please, Ms. Somerville, do the rest of the world a favor and get a life. Seriously. Surely you have something better to do with your time than spin venom on a board for your own entertainment.
I second aed’s comments—this has just gotten to the point of being childish and inane.
That is all.
No, calling someone a “ninny ninny dumb dumb poopy-head” is childish and inane. Whether you do it with those exact words or not.
I won’t make any claims to agree with 100% of what’s been said but I’d hardly call this discussion childish and inane. What’s that phrase again? “Methinks the lady doth protest too much”…
Someone needs to remind Mr Miller that it’s not enough to muzzle the pitbulls. You need to tape down their hands too, in case they find their way inside some nice cosy woollen socks.
Ms. Stacey,
I’d just like to clarify, my comment wasn’t aimed at you. It was just meant to be an explanation for those who were confused.