ManLoveRomance Press / MLR Press, LLC

[nkkingston]

I checked the index, and I was really surprised not to find these guys on there, especially since they've been around since 2007 (I even tried the ever-wobbly search at the bottom of the page!).

They're a name I definitely recognise and associate with the first wave of mm epubs, but I've never had an impression of them as big players (though maybe that's because they don't make as many waves as someone like Ellora's Cave). The site looks a bit dated, but I recognise several of the authors, and seven years in business is nothing to be sniffed at.

On the other hand, I'm trying to buy a couple of books to have a look at, and some of the cart links are broken. The majority of the covers aren't exactly calling to me either. Line editors are paid based on a percentage of sales - I don't know about content editors - which helps keeps costs down even if books aren't selling well.

The contract looks fairly standard for an epub - 50% royalties on net where net is defined as total dollar amount received from retailers, three year contract - but I'm actually considering one of the proofreading positions currently up for offer rather than submitting as an author (I don't have any MSs ready to go right now), but I was interested in people's experiences with the press in general.

sorry, link is www.mlrpress.com

 

[C.M. Hart]

I wonder why nobody answered this post and decided to give a little update.

My novella was accepted earlier this year by MLR, after a pretty quick return time (two and a half weeks).
I got an offer together with a few things the editor thought should be changed. I agreed on most of it, since it made sense, and discussed the rest of it with her.
In the end I got a much better book, thanks to her.

We had three rounds of editing, which included quite a bit of content editing.
I'm a newbie, so I can't compare to other publishers, but I always had the feeling my editor took me serious, considered my opinion and then told me what she thought about it.

After the content editing, my book went into line edits, and now it's in proofreading.
Overall, I had the feeling to be in very good hands, I really like how my editor made my story much better, and now I'm looking forward to the release.

My second story is with my editor now. I get to submit directly to her, and will work with her on future projects as well. That's something I like very much, because we already know each other.

I know a lot of MLR's books, and knew the editing was good, and, what brought me to submitting to them, too, is that you get a reason why it was rejected if they don't want it.

I can't say anything about sales yet, but I hope the things I could tell you about the editing progress are helpful.

 

[KimJo]

I have books with all three imprints of this publisher.

Editing is good, and the major players are known and respected in the M/M romance world...which helps with the MLR imprint, but not as much with the Passion in Print (hetero romance) and Featherweight (children's/young adult) imprints.

If anyone has questions about my specific experiences, feel free to PM.

 

[Alcasgra]

Hi, is there any update on this publisher?

 

[Maryn]

I'd be interested in hearing sales figures. Even if those with MLR books don't care to announce how well or poorly those books sold across all platforms, the information can often be shared with a moderator who can then post it for you under their own name, so the person who provided the information remains anonymous, his or her secrets still unknown.

It's odd, considering how long they've been in business, how little information is available on their sales.

 

[Alcasgra]

I'd be interested in hearing sales figures. Even if those with MLR books don't care to announce how well or poorly those books sold across all platforms, the information can often be shared with a moderator who can then post it for you under their own name, so the person who provided the information remains anonymous, his or her secrets still unknown.

It's odd, considering how long they've been in business, how little information is available on their sales.

Yes, Maryn. I thought so too.

 

[smlgr8]

I only have one Christmas short with them so keep that in mind, but my sales have been dismal (including the first year my short was released). They are nice to work with but I haven't submitted anything else.

 

[Maryn]

Thank you for your candor. (I can't believe how long it took my brain to retrieve that word!) It's much appreciated.

Maryn, hoping others chime in

 

[Captcha]

SalesRankExpress isn't super-reliable, in my experience, but it can often be useful to get a general idea... and based on that, I'd say sales aren't too good. (This only covers Amazon, of course, but if your sales aren't good on Amazon, are they likely to be good anywhere else?)

The highest Amazon sales rank I'm seeing for one of their books is 33 000. I was three pages into Dreamspinner's SalesRank numbers before their ranking went that low. I'd say Riptide's rankings are a little lower than DSP's, but still well above MLR's. Samhain, even in it's currently WTF state, has a full page of books with better ranks than MLR's highest.

So, again, not a super-reliable source of data, but interesting, maybe?