[Publisher] Loose Id

With LI, I've found that if I take my usual understated idea of 'erotic' and ramp it up, I'll be in their ballpark. They taught me a lot about going beyond my bad habits and writing comfort zones.

I've learned to end my stories with a bang, if you know what I mean.

Congrats on the R&R!

I've struggled with having enough heat in my LI books. The only one I haven't been told to increase the erotic content in was one that I'd originally written for Ellora's Cave, which has similar heat requirements. But if you got an R&R, you must be in their ballpark!

One thing I've done in a couple of books that my editor accepted as increasing the heat was using fantasy/masturbation scenes when the characters aren't together. I don't know if that's something you could use, but LI does seem okay with that type of thing.

genericnamehere said:

Got an R&R--as I had suspected, their idea of erotic and mine aren't QUITE meshing yet. They said if I made some changes, they'd like to see it again. Good sign, all around.

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Good luck. I've had two R&Rs with Loose Id, both accepted after the changes.

KimJo said:

Congrats on the R&R!

I've struggled with having enough heat in my LI books. The only one I haven't been told to increase the erotic content in was one that I'd originally written for Ellora's Cave, which has similar heat requirements. But if you got an R&R, you must be in their ballpark!

One thing I've done in a couple of books that my editor accepted as increasing the heat was using fantasy/masturbation scenes when the characters aren't together. I don't know if that's something you could use, but LI does seem okay with that type of thing.

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I didn't think about that! I'll definitely add that in once I get down to making these changes. I've got the MS out at a few other places, so I'm going to hang onto it a bit before sending it back out--not to mention it's not been very long so it might look bad if I just spit out the additions in only a few weeks.

I just got an acceptance from Loose Id for my contemporary M/M romance.

This will be my first published book, so I'm a bit scared but very excited. Just wanted to say all the information I got from this thread helped me SO much. So thank you everyone who's posted!

Way to go, Laura!

Thanks!

And now the trials of trying to get the dreaded ITIN begin. :/

Yay, Laura! Welcome.

Good luck with the ITIN. I personally recommend going to the embassy if you can manage it. The staff will check the form and make sure it's right, so you have a much better chance of getting the ITIN first time.

Ask Loose Id now for the letter confirming they are the witholding agent who will be paying you. Take that and your contract and the ID required along with the form. If you are going to the embassy check their website for the current rules of what you can take in - no electronics at all, not even ereaders is one of the key ones. And for the opening hours of the IRS office specifically. Good luck again!

Thanks for the tips. I'll ask for the letter.

One of those times I wish I still lived in London. It's not too huge a distance away though, so it's a possibility.

On the KDP forums several UK authors said they were able to get their number with one phone call.

This was posted today.

Good grief. As authors should not respond to less-than-stellar reviews, publishers should respond LESS FREQUENTLY. Less. I hope this reviewer sticks to her guns and, if it's her pleasure, expose this for the batcrap crazy practice it looks to be.

Wow. That's... a peculiar decision by the publisher.

I can see how they might think that any one of the points they raised was legitimate and worth pursuing (well, I can kind of see it), but lumping them all together just... wow. Seems like a misstep, for sure.

Goddammit, LI, you know I love you...but stop this. *Right now*. Responding to reviews can only lead to dark, embarrasing Jaid Black-ish places. Rein in your review coordinator quickly, please.

The only part of that email I could agree with was the correction of the author's name. It should have been left at that - thanks for the review, just want to mention that the author is X rather than Y.

Filigree said:

Rein in your review coordinator quickly, please.

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Or more to the point: rein in the person who sent the SECOND e-mail. That one appears to have come from the CIO.

That is... an embarrassment.

Definite facepalm. Do y'all know how many authors and readers (many from AW!) I have steered toward LI over the years? Because the folks running LI have for the most part have been sane and reasonable.

I can't get to the LI author loop from this phone, but I know the Quad looks into AW often enough.

Along with ceaseless 'Buy My Book!' author tweets, business reaction against bad reviews is one of the worst habits to come from so-called 'reputation management' classes and marketing gurus. In these days of instantly viral social media, such responses need to be brief and limited to factual corrections like the name mistake. Anything else leads away from a company's good reputation.

Oh, Lord. That was very surprising.

Remember back a few years... wow, more years than I would have said! But Scarletpeaches was having trouble getting paid and was apparently contacted by LooseId about her posts here:

"I also came to know that Loose Id were, shall we say, 'disappointed' in my posts in this thread, and asked me to come back and post here, saying it had all been a misunderstanding. I refused, saying the troubles going back months could hardly be described as a mere 'misunderstanding'. I made it clear I would be happy to post only after the matter had been resolved, i.e. after I'd been paid." - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?52187-Publisher-Loose-Id/page7

Now, it's a pretty big step from contacting an author you're currently working with to ask something like this and contacting an independent book blogger, but still, it's maybe a sign of the same misguided effort to control the uncontrollable?

Captcha said:

Now, it's a pretty big step from contacting an author you're currently working with to ask something like this and contacting an independent book blogger, but still, it's maybe a sign of the same misguided effort to control the uncontrollable?

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Which really makes me wonder if there has been other such correspondence, and people just haven't come forward.

Well, as I said back when Scarlett was sorting through all her stuff, I had my own frustrating communications with Loose Id. Nothing where they were trying to control what I said on the internet, but a lot of times when there were communication issues at their end that they tried to blame on me. Issues with cover design (the artist didn't read my sheet properly and designed a lovely cover that had nothing to do with the book, and I was scolded for not having been clear enough - later, they apologized, after I pointed out how clear I'd been); repeated issues with the release date, almost all of which came with a denial that any other date had ever been suggested - until I sent the e-mails in which the other dates were given, and then got an apology); etc.

Again, none of the issues I experienced were related to them trying to control what I said on the internet. But I definitely came away with a sense that things weren't running too smoothly in their internal operations, which could mean that this sort of ham-handed effort is either a misinterpretation of some sort of vague directive, or a personal initiative from the CIO that no one else knew about. It's strange to hope for incompetence in a company, but I'd rather believe that than believe that this was a decision supported by LooseId as a whole.

It surprises me because I have been writing for Loose Id for many, many years and I am an outspoken loudmouth on the subject of erotic romance stuff -- and I have always felt they would never dream of interfering with that. I am very biased, I admit, but I hope this is a wobble rather than a trend.

Just wading in after trying to read through this entire thread (whew! We AWers are thorough - ) so forgive me if I've missed an answer to my question. I have an NA pararom (and sequel and third, so I'm series-ing), and Loose Id is having a look at my submission. I'm thinking my interpretation of NA will be too tame for them, though. Anyone here writing NA romance with thoughts on this publisher? Would you recommend another? My characters have sex but the story is not erotica. Thanks in advance for your advice!