Siren Publishing / Rapture Publishing / BookStrand

I write M/M or M/M/M for Siren. So far I have had two books out, both part of a wolf shifter series. It's hard to say how well my books are doing because I don't know how well anyone else's books are doing so I have nothing to compare them to.

My first book came out in July and through Siren it has sold around 550 copies so far, it still gets sales every now and then. Through Amazon, I have sold another couple of hundred. I have no way of knowing how the book has sold through any of the other 10 or so distributors though until the end of January when I get my next royalty payment.

I hope this helps. As I said I don't know if that's considered good or bad.

Wow, Jane.

That's fantastic sales numbers IMO. Congrats and thanks for chiming in!

Anna_Hedley said:

"Ménage romance: Third person only. No first person or one-person POV in a ménage romance. Readers don't like it, and neither do we."

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Just FYI: taking another look at their guidelines, this specific line is now gone. Or am I missing it somewhere?

I assume it's still a requirement that they accept third person only, but wow that's a quick change.

Jane, those are great initial sales numbers. You should be proud--I'm impressed.

tri

c.m.n. said:

Just FYI: taking another look at their guidelines, this specific line is now gone. Or am I missing it somewhere?

I assume it's still a requirement that they accept third person only, but wow that's a quick change.

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Interesting. I've posted a message on the Siren Author loop, so hopefully someone will chime in over there and I'll be able to provide an update here.

Thanks, that's good to know

I think the key is to write a series. The third book in the series is about to come out and I've seen a big spike in sales of the first two books lately.

As for the third person thing. I originally wrote my first book all in 1st person, from the pov of the main character. Siren asked me to change it to third person and to include at least two scenes each from the pov of the other two main characters.

c.m.n. said:

Just FYI: taking another look at their guidelines, this specific line is now gone. Or am I missing it somewhere?

I assume it's still a requirement that they accept third person only, but wow that's a quick change.

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I read on the author's loop that they will only take first person from new authors if the story and writing is "exceptional," but that their readers have not been very receptive of that POV. Best advice, apparently, is still to email directly.

Jane Wallace-Knight said:

Thanks, that's good to know

I think the key is to write a series. The third book in the series is about to come out and I've seen a big spike in sales of the first two books lately.

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Siren readers definitely seem to like series books. I've seen the same spike on my previous books in a series when a new release comes out.

My first book just came out with Siren, and I couldn't be happier. The whole process was so positive.
I loved working with them. Now I just gotta get to work on the next book. <3

p.s. The tracker on the BookStrand website is amazing.. I have to resist checking all the time. Ahh, ocd.

AuroClair said:

My first book just came out with Siren, and I couldn't be happier. The whole process was so positive.
I loved working with them. Now I just gotta get to work on the next book. <3

p.s. The tracker on the BookStrand website is amazing.. I have to resist checking all the time. Ahh, ocd.

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Welcome to the Siren family, AuroClair! And yeah, the tracker is addictive. I still obsessively check it every 30 seconds or so during the first few weeks after a release.

Hey, and you're from Texas! I'm originally from the Dallas area (Plano), but moved to Florida six years ago. Will be going back for a visit this summer, even though it means giving up a week of my prime beach time.

Thank you Beachgirl! I am loving it so far.
How long have you been with Siren?

AND YES! Go Texas. <3
Just wish the weather wasn't so random.
I have woken up and it was snowing, the roofs and cars covered. By 1 pm everyone was in short shorts and sandals.

The official release is the 6th. It is just pre-order atm. It is also my first book so I am excited people are randomly finding it at the bottom of a coming soon page and purchasing even though I am an unknown.

I keep wondering if people are going to notice what I did with my interview questions on my author page.

AuroClair, My first book was published with Siren in July 2012 and I have seven out now. My experience with them has been fantastic.

I hope you have great success!

Thread resurrection!

I submitted my novel to them for considering July 1...

I received a reply today, July 12.

They work like clockwork!

Congrats! I thought they might be the best publisher for it.

Congrats, FCChen! Welcome to the Siren family!

FCChen said:

Thread resurrection!

I submitted my novel to them for considering July 1...

I received a reply today, July 12.

They work like clockwork!

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Congrats and welcome to Siren! I've been published with them since 2008, and I have no regrets signing with them.

madmumbler said:

Congrats and welcome to Siren! I've been published with them since 2008, and I have no regrets signing with them.

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Beachgirl said:

Congrats, FCChen! Welcome to the Siren family!

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Filigree said:

Congrats! I thought they might be the best publisher for it.

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Thank you so, so much and I feel the welcome! I'm just so happy to know my work hasn't all been for nothing.

Now, to continue writing! *puts on the plotting hat!*

Keep writing, FCChen, because that will help give you the all-important backlist. But the next step with Rude Awakening is going to be equally important. Since you'll be working with Siren for this series, you'll need to pay close attention to your Siren editors. They know the readership's interests and dislikes. They can help refine your work and teach you Siren's house style, which will aid you as you write the sequels.

Anyone know their method of paying authors outside the USA? Cheque, paypal only etc...?

gingerwoman said:

Anyone know their method of paying authors outside the USA? Cheque, paypal only etc...?

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I'm outside of the USA and I get paid through Paypal. They always pay on time too with detailed royalty statements.

Help! Question!

I am considering submitting a manuscript with Siren/Bookstrand. It's a M/F contemporary romance. How are my chances since it isn't ménage?

SueBee said:

I am considering submitting a manuscript with Siren/Bookstrand. It's a M/F contemporary romance. How are my chances since it isn't ménage?

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While Siren certainly accepts M/F, it's not the pairing that's preferred by most of their readers. I have two M/F books with them and the are the lowest sellers of all my books.

For ménage, there's not another publisher I would go with over Siren. They're a great house and I've been incredibly happy with them. But for straight M/F, I'd probably look to other houses unless it had heavy BDSM elements.

Do the books get distributed to Kindle or B & N?

SueBee said:

Do the books get distributed to Kindle or B & N?

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Yes. In addition to BookStrand (Siren's online store), they are uploaded to Amazon, B&N, Kobo and the other major players.

Beachgirl said:

Yes. In addition to BookStrand (Siren's online store), they are uploaded to Amazon, B&N, Kobo and the other major players.

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Thanks for the help! I was just rejected by Entangled so I was trying to regroup.

SueBee said:

Thanks for the help! I was just rejected by Entangled so I was trying to regroup.

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Good luck in whatever you decide!