Romance - state of the industry 2016

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So with the shocking news from Samhain today, and the not-as-shocking-but-way-messier news that I anticipate from EC as soon as they stop being pigheaded and admit what's happening...

Does it still make sense for romance authors to publish with small houses? Is it just a question of spreading your eggs out into a lot of baskets? Do the Big 5 start to look more stable and therefore appealing, or is self-publishing the way of the future? Is self-publishing just a way of setting ourselves up for another issue down the road, when Amazon stops being so "generous" with its authors and we turn around to find there are no other options?

What are you guys thinking/planning?

For myself? I'm definitely trying to get my eggs into different baskets. Diversifying as much as I can. I got my first Big 5 deals last year (Berkley/Penguin), but sales haven't been good, so I'm not sure if that opportunity is going to come again anytime soon. I'm self-publishing, but not finding that my sales are as good as they are with good small publishers (like Dreamspinner, Riptide, and, sigh, Samhain). And I really don't want to be a publisher--I just want to be a writer. But who can I write for?

Anyone else got plans?
 

BenPanced

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I'm going to keep on keepin' on. I'm going to keep doing the standard "write and submit" routine because I've been published before and I'd certainly like to be published again. The two titles I had with houses that sank are self pubbed right now, but I think I've reached post-plateau sink and I can't keep it up too much longer. I've barely had any experience and I want to achieve some sort of viable career.
 

Viridian

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I don't know. I wish the market would just stabilize.

Right now, it seems like the e-romance market is over-saturated. There are a ton of publishers and only a very small few I would consider publishing with. Meanwhile, the Big Five publishers seem to have less clout in the e-market as they do in the print market.

I'm hoping that erotic romance (and same-sex romance) will become more acceptable in the mainstream print market. Until then, I guess there's no choice but to keep plugging away. Write good books. Seek an agent when I can. Go for the most stable publishers available.

Even if every publisher in the world exploded tomorrow, I'd keep writing. :Shrug:
 
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LJD

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I don't know, I'm too depressed to think about it. I was hoping that Samhain would be my chance to finally sell more than 100 copies. *sigh* I haven't self-published and I don't want to self-publish. And today I've just been sitting around, wondering why the hell I even bother. Writing just feels like a bad habit I can't quit.
 

morrighan

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I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing (writing and self-pub) though I'm also querying. Dodged a bullet when I said no to small press last year and am grateful for AW for helping me make the decision. While writing is really the easiest part, the business and marketing side of things are definitely a challenge. Currently, three of my books are in Kindle Select and I'm not renewing for another 90 days. I may regret it or I may not, but I don't like the idea of putting all my eggs in one basket especially since I'm pretty new and after a 180-days for one book and 90 for 2 of them, I need to diversify.
 

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I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, more or less. I do think it's important not to have all your eggs in one basket. I wasn't affected by Samhain's announcement, but man, so many people I know where. They're a larger small publisher. There will be a vacuum for sure.

I've been...lucky?...fortunate?...hit the market at the right time?...with my InterMix m/m romances. They've sold really well. I have other things in the works, as well.

I am pulling some titles from another publisher, but that's more me looking at the market and thinking I can do better elsewhere.

I'm also still working on non-romance things, too. I may branch into self-publishing, but I really don't want that to be my only option.
 

Viridian

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I don't know, I'm too depressed to think about it. I was hoping that Samhain would be my chance to finally sell more than 100 copies. *sigh* I haven't self-published and I don't want to self-publish. And today I've just been sitting around, wondering why the hell I even bother. Writing just feels like a bad habit I can't quit.
I'm not sure if this is the place, but I'm really sorry that happened to you, LJD. It must suck that your first Samhain book was returned to you right before edits.

I've been wanting to publish with them for ages, but never got the chance to submit anything. Actually getting a contract -- then never going through with it -- must sting quite a bit. But it isn't your fault they went under. You were good enough to get an acceptance, and you should still be pleased with yourself. It just so happens you caught a good publisher just as they began to go under.

It's bad luck, nothing else. And I hope things go well for you in the future. :e2drunk:
 

kristin724

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I'm very upset by all this. I've had some health issues so my fiction has taken a backseat to my non fiction writing jobs, but my to submit to list is getting smaller and smaller and it is looking pretty daunty. I don't expect to be a big press author. I like small press. I like knowing what's going on at my publisher. I like e publishing which has far more sub genres and ratings possibilities. I don't like to self publish on my own because I am not a money and numbers person and I like the validation of a quality manuscript that has had several pairs of eyes say this is good and we believe in this story as opposed to calculating how much money I would make without a middle man. Where are authors like us supposed to go?

Roll the dice with as many young presses and fringe publishers as we can in hopes one book will be a success and we have somewhere else to go when another publisher closes?

I disagree with solely blaming Amazon, but self pub and the technological ease of it in addition to anyone thinking they can publish a book is the problem. Perhaps something like 50 Shades is to blame. The idea that anyone can fanfic copy and self pub and go on to bigger massive glory. It brought whole new audiences to romance and erotica when the core readers were already here. Now you have fast and cheap authors flooding the market for much less discerning readers.

I'm really amazed this all happened so fast really within the last five years when it took three times as long for e publishing to gain the respect it deserved. Mid press and small e pubs were decent respect business that kept publishing afloat while the big box book stores were killing mom and pop sales. So why is this quality being pushed out now? Has the industry sold out on itself? Are we supposed to wait for the next turn to happen? This sucks.
 

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Does it seem that a lot of the romance publishers who've closed their doors in the last 2-3 years have blamed all or in part the steady rise of self-publishing? I know Samhain does not "blame" it, but having Amazon stated in their closure letter does spark some concern.

I'm also in the same boat as the previous poster. I cannot afford to properly self-publish, i.e. pay for cover design, proper editing, formatting, and market. I can however self-publish without those things, which I think A LOT of people are doing now. And unfortunately, it does over-saturate the market.

In any case, I will continue to write and publish, either self-publish or submitting to publishers. I'll also continue to watch the market change and steer through the forks as necessary.
 

StoryofWoe

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Where are authors like us supposed to go?

Roll the dice with as many young presses and fringe publishers as we can in hopes one book will be a success and we have somewhere else to go when another publisher closes?

I disagree with solely blaming Amazon, but self pub and the technological ease of it in addition to anyone thinking they can publish a book is the problem. Perhaps something like 50 Shades is to blame. The idea that anyone can fanfic copy and self pub and go on to bigger massive glory. It brought whole new audiences to romance and erotica when the core readers were already here. Now you have fast and cheap authors flooding the market for much less discerning readers.
(Bold = mine)

Fifty Shades was never self-published. It was fanfic that was then edited and published by the small Australian publisher, The Writer’s Coffee Shop, where it was released in POD and ebook, and then sold to Vintage, which happens to fit neatly into the scenario you've described above (starting small and moving elsewhere, in this case, up). However, I would bet the wide misconception that it was self-published has fueled the assumption that anyone could self-pub and become big. Some certainly have. Many more haven't. Personally, I'm with you on wanting to trade pub. I'm not a money and numbers person either and have little up-front capital for covers, editing, formatting, etc.

Unfortunately, it appears that starting small with the hopes of breaking out is becoming less and less viable than Go Big 5 or Go Home and Do It Yourself.
 
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gingerwoman

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I disagree with solely blaming Amazon, but self pub and the technological ease of it in addition to anyone thinking they can publish a book is the problem. Perhaps something like 50 Shades is to blame. The idea that anyone can fanfic copy and self pub and go on to bigger massive glory. .
That's right it's not just Amazon.

50shades of Grey wasn't even self published. It was put out by a small epublisher who couldn't keep up with demand and sold it to Penguin Random House. But the myth that it was self published continues on.
 
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Filigree

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Not to be a downer, but the myth of 'start small and work your way up' hasn't been viable for most authors for years. Small-press folks have generally stayed in the small press fields...even if some of them have done very well at it. The folks who can get agent or Big Five notice go on to fight in that sandbox. The folks who have the knowledge and money to self-publish, do. I know lots of authors who are doing a mix of all three routes...and they're scared.
 

akaria

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As a self published author, I'm at a loss. I always thought Samhain would be there. The idea that a quality mid-size publisher can't make it in this new environment is scary. The publishing field is littered with the corpses of micro presses that couldn't make it. Now the middle guys are floundering and the Big Five will probably keep merging. In five years will it be Random Harper Penguin Schuster vs Amazon?

I'm happy with the results of SP so far, but the rules in that game are changing just as fast as trade publishing. It's hard to keep up.
 

kristin724

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Sorry for my flub on 50 Shades publication history. I meant that the fanfic to best seller or blog your way to a book and movie deal visions of grandeur on top of the anybody can self publish is a misguidance that may be doing a lot more harm then good.

Small to big I agree hasn't worked in perhaps decades. When I started, you could write in magazines and newspapers or short story journals as a break in but that has been a thing of the past for a long time.

I just think it is foolhardy for the industry to go from three viable choices - self, small press and e pub, Big house - to only two, self pub or big and loose the bar for quality in the process by making it a pyramid of mass free for all at the bottom and extremely selective at the top.

Here's a theory. I wonder what part the big writing associations had in this as well. Remember when RWA wouldn't acknowledge the early e pubs? HWA has changed some rules to be more restricted, and I know several mystery authors who are unable with their association. They are probably going to be glad to be able to divide members up between the big house elite and the money maker self pubs. Ew I also hate that I used the word elite, as in, big house published books are going to be by fancy authors for fancy readers while the self published mass weeding is going to be for the casual, cheap reader and quick author chase. Shudder.
 

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Did that small publisher sell E.L. James' contract without her permission? Or was she in on it and negotiating for big bucks for herself?

I think what might be happening in the fiction is that there will be singular book "blockbusters" -- like the Michael Bay movies, ones that somehow get decided to get the publicity and market space.
 

Filigree

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Whenever someone tells me doom and gloom stories about 'all the horrible self-published stuff out there and it's too hard to find great writing online', I shrug. I've read fanfiction for 26 years, I know from bad. I do what every agent and editor does: read the blurb and skim the first couple of pages. The sooner I find bad writing, the less I'm inclined to continue. If the book doesn't have sample text easily available online, I don't consider it at all.
 

c.m.n.

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Someone mentioned on Facebook that there was a survey done recently asking how bothered readers are by bad writing. Supposedly the results were "shocking", but I've never seen the survey.

I wonder if some readers really aren't that bothered?

Anyone seen that survey?
 

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Did that small publisher sell E.L. James' contract without her permission? Or was she in on it and negotiating for big bucks for herself?

Oh, she was in on it, I believe. There was an issue between the women running the press that resulted in a lawsuit, but not with EL James.
 

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It does seem that a great many readers in lots of genres are not only not bothered by bad writing...they can't even recognize it.

Very true.

This news is devastating, and my heart breaks for everyone who was personally hit with it. I don't have any books with Samhain, but my first novel (and hopefully another before long) is with Swoon, another indie publisher. They seem to be doing well, but things change so fast in this industry, I guess you never know.

My goal is to try self-publishing within the next year or two. I'll continue with trade publishing as long as they will have me, but I don't think I'm going to be querying any other agents/publishers aside from Swoon. I might change my mind on that. This is just how I feel lately.

I have no idea how to sell books. I just want to write for the enjoyment of it. If a few people want to buy it, great. If I ever get an audience, even better. But attempting to be successful at this is literally killing me. I've had so much stress since my book has been out that some of my health conditions are flaring up and destroying my quality of life. :( I've spent so much money that I DON'T have on ads that do nothing. I'm able to get tons of clicks to my Amazon page, but none of them ever seem to buy the book. I just can't do it anymore, at least not with the mindset of "failure is not an option." Life is too short.
 

Beachgirl

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I currently have all my eggs in one basket. I know, I know... risky. Every time a publishing house closes, I question my decision to keep everything in one place.

But still, I have no plans to self publish or submit to other houses. I barely have time to write, much less do all the other work that goes into publishing. If my publisher were to close, I would likely stop writing E-Rom altogether. It would probably just give me the shove I need to concentrate on my other writing love, satirical fiction, which has been languishing on my hard drive for far too long.

If I didn't have a good income apart from writing, I would certainly be spreading my eggs around. The changes in the industry over the last few years - good and bad - have been both exciting and unnerving. I have a hard time imagining what the publishing world will look like ten or twenty years from now.
 

Filigree

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I'm a lackluster artist with low motivation...and art still pays me ten to fifteen times what writing does. (My fiction sales are all to small press erotic romance houses.) My writing skills got me into my current day job...but those are my tech writing chops, not my fiction. More and more, I'm realizing that I need a much wider mix of projects in order to thrive. I will always write, because I love doing it. That's going to be the case whether I try for greater commercial projects, self-publish on Amazon and other sales platforms, or just post for free on display sites.
 

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I sold my first few novellas to EC, then my debut novel was published by Samhain in December, with the second book coming in May. I was just about to sign a third contract with them when this happened. I've pretty much been reeling all weekend.

I have another novel in a different series that's should be complete next month. I'm strongly considering trying the agent route. Then at least I'd have a shoulder to cry on when/if things fall apart, LOL. I think the saving grace of all this is that I genuinely love writing. If I can't sell this next book, I have two more ideas begging to be written. If *those* don't work, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
 
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