This blog was mainly why and how I came to write the book I did. I wasn’t trying to stress erotic romance over other types of epublishers, just stress how my first book came into being, and why and how I came to write for Loose-Id, and also, to some degree, give a brief indication as to why there are so many erotic publishers in the market. Saying that, I don’t truly feel that I write erotica or romance, although some would say I most definitely do. It’s simply that I call myself a storyteller for a specific reason. Whatever I’m writing, whether the story has a relationship centred around love, and whether it’s explicit or not, I write as the story dictates. I think to label myself with any genre is rather crippling mentally and therefore creatively — at least it would be for me — and that goes for whatever type of story I’m writing.

I also rather resent the way books are categorised into certain genres, because I love the type of books that break these categories down, and yet they are often precisely the books that a writer has had trouble publishing because the work can’t be readily identified as a specific genre.

The ebook market is definitely growing steadily in all genres and I truly do believe that the lack of a breakthrough in a great ebook reader is doing the epublishing industry the biggest disservice to date, particularly with mainstream titles (I would love to own a library of classic titles in eformat due to space). Second to that is the number of people who have never heard of an ebook. After all, if no one know your product exists, how can you sell it? The trouble I find is that when I enlighten people, many (though by no means all) are very resistant to read from a computer screen. When I talk about an ebook reader, probably half of those shaking their heads become more receptive to the idea but would want to see a good reader at a good price before they’d consider it. A good ebook reader hitting the main electronic stores in the high street would also make the public aware. We don’t even have the pricey Kindle over here yet and whatever it is in dollars it will cost in pounds, if not more (so that’s about double the equivalent of the price in the US). I would also add that the US market seems much more aware of the existence of epublishers than those I’ve spoken to here in the UK. I don’t know if that applies to the UK in general or just those I’ve talked to but to say that only three of my friends (and one of those being an American) knowing of the existence of ebooks more than surprised me.

You’re right and there are loads of other issues and problems the ebook market faces, which I think would be great for writers to bring to the public’s attention.

Incidentally, I pass any unwanted print books to a care home and if any aren’t suitable for that, I would give to charity or at worse recycle. I’d never send them to land-fill. I cringe at the very idea so to everyone out there, please don’t just throw books away.

While I agree that most e-publishers tend toward the erotic for most of the reasons you’ve mentioned, I think you’re doing the move toward more acceptance of digital formats a disservice by stressing erotica and e-publishers rather than electronic books in general.

I write for two e-publishers and a print publisher. I write romance short stories and romantic suspense, not erotica. I make a pittance compared with those who write erotic romance, again, for the reasons you mention.

But–I read e-books. I have a dedicated e-book reader (although not the pricey Kindle). However if I scan the books on my reader’s bookshelf, at least half, if not more, are digital versions of ‘mainstream’ print authors.

I have books by Karen Rose, Allison Brennan, Susan Wiggs, J.A. Jance, Jonathan Kellerman, Roxanne St. Claire, Brenda Novak, Suzanne Brockmann … the list goes on, and none of these books were produced by an e-publisher.

I think readers, especially those who are looking for alternatives to bookshelves crammed with paper, or purchasing books destined eventually for landfill, need to be aware that the e-book market does NOT lie solely with publishers whose bread and butter is the digital market. That e-books are just another way to read books. Any kind of books.

This doesn’t begin to address the formatting issues, or the limited choices of ways to read books digitally, but that’s another issue altogether.