[Publisher] Black Velvet Seductions

DarkDesireX said:

...So, does anyone have anything on this?

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They sound familiar, but I can't remember why. It's possible they were mentioned on a list I belong to -- but I can't remember the context. They're certainly not the best known publisher of e-books. When I searched the blogs for them, I found very few reviews of their books and very few mentions of the company.

If you want to know which are the better known publishers, check out the ERECsite blog. Why not start at the top (with companies such as Elloras Cave, Samhain, etc.)?

Edited to Add:
Anyway, from what I understand, 20 rejections from agents is quite common when you're starting out. So don't give up on print publishers yet. You might be better served by sending out more query letters, or even asking people to check over your query letter and make sure it's really really great. I think there's a forum for that here.

Also, I have to ask, did Black Velvet respond to a query you sent them, or did they e-mail you out of the blue? It's often a sign of something a little off if a publisher contacts you instead of the other way around.

DarkDesireX said:

Also, what about these e-books things? Is it actually a good market? I've never bought one and when I went to try at B&Ns I got stared at like I was insane. I'm kind of wary about the whole process (the e-books) but I guess everyone has to start somewhere, yes?

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They may have given you those looks because Barnes & Noble doesn't have ebook readers in their stores -- and many people haven't heard of them. Borders does have the Sony ebook readers on display. Except for the Sony, most ebook readers are purchased on-line.

I've been using an ebook reader for some years now, but I'm weird. You definitely shouldn't publish an ebook until you know more about the field. Otherwise, you might get stuck with a publisher no one has heard of. Even if you don't own a reader, you can buy books from different publishers and see what's out there. There are some publishers where you can sell a decent number of books (still nothing compared with print), and there are some where you might sell just a few books. (I've heard of people who made sales in the double digits. And even less. ) A lot of it depends on the field, but also the choice of publisher.

There's an interveiw with Laurie here

There's a blog here too ( I haven't read that much of it myself)

I haven't read anything bad about them as such, but it probably depends on what sort of sales you are expecting. I can't seem to find any figures. But e-books seem to be a growing market.

Good Luck!

If I'd never bought an e-book, I don't think I'd be too inclined to publish one.

And AnneMarble is absolutely right--20 rejections isn't much.

There are many decent print publishers who don't require agents to submit, ranging from very literary (Graywolf) to mixed (Soho) to frankly commercial (Medallion, Midnight Ink, Poisoned Pen...). So the fact you have no agent doesn't mean you must go e-book.

Let me caution you about one item. In normal book contracts, the rights revert to the author when the book is no longer in print. But with e-books and POD books, what does "in print" mean? So look carefully at the rights reversion clauses; responsible e-book and POD publishers usually specify that rights will revert after a certain period of time, or when sales fall below a certain threshold. Make sure you aren't handing over your rights forever.

Whatever you decide, best of luck!

I remember when this company started out four years or so ago. They had one title then, the "domestic discipline" story, and it doesn't look like they have a whole lot more even after all this time. The website isn't great; not terrible, but not great, and I couldn't find any info on who runs the company. I read a few excerpts. They were okay.

Did you do a straight Google search? Technorati? Did you check Piers Anthony's site?


Bottom line? There are much bigger, better epubs out there, if you decide epub is the way to go.

Ebook contracts are typically only 2 years long so 'out pf print' or not you are not tied in.

I run ERECsite and spend some time every day looking at epublishers, but all I know about BVS is that they exist. I would guess that, even for an epublisher, they are small.

As for ebooks, they are about 2% of book sales. The do best on a few genres like erotic romance and you can see what 'best' looks like here: http://www.ERECsite.com/SALES.html