Hey Look, A Book From Elloras Cave That Didn’t Suck Great Big Hairy Donkey Balls…
Wednesday, December 12, 2007Posted in: not all Elloras Cave Books suck, One Of The Guys
I read One Of The Guys by Shiloh Walker last night, and I have to say, I totally loved it. (Thanks Shi) Great story (friends to lovers does it for me every time), fabulous hero, great heroine, and an ex-who gets his just deserts at the end. If I could be arsed, I’d have written a glowing review about One Of The Guys, but as Dee Tenorio and Bam can attest to, I’m lazy as a mother f*cker when it comes to reviewing. *g*
Here’s the blurb:
Jaynie knew that her fiancΓ©e had some serious mΓ©nage fantasies going on, but she never expected to catch him acting them out. As if that pain isn’t enough, he tells her she couldn’t be a real woman if she tried.
Reeling from the double blow, confidence shattered, Jaynie turns to Brian, her sexy partner at work. One night, she tells him. She wants one night with him, no strings attached.
But Brian feels plenty of strings and it’s as if all of them are pulling him toward Jaynie. She’s sexy, she’s funny and she haunts his dreams. Memories of that one night keep him awake and he’s dying for another taste of her.
But Jaynie doesn’t seem at all interested. What’s a man to do?
Sounds yummy, yes? Anyway, go and buy, it’s a short sweet read, and I promise you wont be sorry! (And if you are, go complain to somebody else about it. *g*)
chandy
December 12
3:59 pm
Karen
I like some Elloras cave books, apart from Loose ID, their quality of editing is not bad at all.
Nonetheless thanks for the reco and you can bet if it sucks, I’ll ignore you next two recommendations, just because……
Teddy Pig
December 12
5:09 pm
El Lora’s Cave has had a couple of good reads come out recently. I really chocked this morning though. I went to go get the Samantha Kane ~ At Loves Command and they wanted 7.99 for it.
That’s getting to be a bit much. I will not be taking many chances on new authors anymore with them. Their editing sucks next to say Liquid Silver or Samhain both of which want no where near that much money.
The quality of Loose-Id’s editing is just sliding bad.
Anne
December 12
5:13 pm
This one is on my ebookwise right now. Wheeee!
Teddy Pig
December 12
5:14 pm
I also noticed Samhain announced they will be supporting Sony eReader with the BBeB format and they are getting their eBooks into Kindle’s format.
I do not see El Lora’s Cave or Loose-Id really doing anything. You can only go so far with the whole publishing in isolation deal.
Sarah McCarty
December 12
6:40 pm
You really are annoyed with EC, aren’t you Karen? *G* You had to know the books so wasn’t going to suck just from Shiloh’s name on the cover. She’s a very strong writer.
Teddy, I’ve wondered if EC is going to provide for the Kindle and Sony Ereader format. No word from in house yet that I’ve heard.
Teddy Pig
December 12
7:03 pm
I don’t know Sarah there are some decisions I just do not get.
Loose-Id barely participates with Fictionwise and El Lora’s Cave does not at all.
Seems to me if you expect to remain strong you get your eBooks and your writers names front and center not hide on your own site pinching every penny like it’s the last one.
Publishing is a gamble with a lot of things I do not understand but I still wonder.
Anonymous
December 12
9:11 pm
Teddy P I agree with you about Elloras Cave prices being a bit too steep for me to be buying new unknown authors especially when I see C.L is still writting for them,
I’ve been burnt way to many times buying from a new author from Ellora’s Cave, there standards have fallen below the bar, I think I buy more from SamhainP and I used to buy loads from ECave back in the day, not now
Dee Tenorio
December 12
11:25 pm
I would never call you lazy, Karen. Hell, you read more than I do and you manage to blog most days. You’re my fricken hero, lol.
Dee
(who’s only read half a book this week.)
Emily Veinglory
December 13
12:22 am
Loose Id is catching up with their fictionwising now. But it was lagging.
Sarah McCarty
December 13
1:14 am
Teddy-
Fictionwise has a pricing structure and alternate pricing restrictions that might make it not worth a houses participation. Especially if authors contracts don’t allow for the accommodation. And seriously, Fictionwise is a small market comparatively and not necessarily a market outside the market the house already inhabits. Amazon and the Sony ereader are MUCH broader opportunities that showcase a market that is likely outside the houses normal market so I would think they would bear looking into even there was some financial accommodation. But I don’t know. It would depend on the contract terms I imagine.
Eve Powers
December 13
3:16 am
I just finished this book and loved it. Shiloh writes beautifully. Thanks for the recommend, Karen. π
Shiloh Walker
December 13
3:30 am
Awww. *blush*
π Didn’t suck hairy donkey balls~who ever would thought that would be such high praise… *G*
I had one of those days from beyond hell, but I feel better now.
Maybe I can go attack the Christmas presents hiding and waiting to be put up without literally attacking them.
π
thank you, guys!
Shi (BTW, have I mentioned I really hate blogger’s new sign in deal?)
http://shilohwalker.wordpress.com
Teddy Pig
December 13
4:25 am
Fictionwise has a pricing structure and alternate pricing restrictions that might make it not worth a houses participation.
As I said Sarah, I don’t know the dirty details but it sure seems to me Samhain ain’t making those excuses to their writers now are they.
Just sayin.
Sarah McCarty
December 13
11:38 am
“As I said Sarah, I don’t know the dirty details but it sure seems to me Samhain ain’t making those excuses to their writers now are they.”
Well, there is always the possibility that not all authors want their books sold on Fictionwise and have contracts that are structured so their books are not likely to be.
Again, not everything that looks good on the surface is. IOW, excuse is not the best word to choose in this circumstance without an understanding of the details and how they fit into the broader picture.
Sarah McCarty
December 13
11:59 am
Before anyone gets up in arms and misinterprets, I’m not knocking Fictionwise. I shop there all the time. I’m just saying not every outlet is the right one for every house. When it comes to small presses, they really have to analyze how much of the market they already have and whether discounting for a particular outlet is likely to expose them to a larger market or if it’s redundant. That decision will be individual to the house and will change as the market changes and or terms change. In the ebook market, the impact of third party vendors is something that many authors look at when they negotiate their contracts also. So, there are many factors that go into any house deciding to sell anywhere, and you will often see houses going in and out of distribution locations as terms and the market changes. Nothing is ever static.
Teddy Pig
December 13
1:50 pm
In the ebook market, the impact of third party vendors is something that many authors look at when they negotiate their contracts also.
This is exactly how I do think Sarah. Who would I do business with? Who shows they are making an effort like a Harlequin with their line of eBooks?
Not so much paperbacks because of course the big traditional publishers have that down already but I have been surprised lately even there.
When I see a ePub not making an effort outside of their own website to market their eBooks and have a presence in as many outside markets as they can then I do not see that as doing much to promote their writers.
All of this I add together with the quality of the product so it is not just about looks but also editing and packaging.
It amazes me though how it all inter relates.
Danielle
December 13
2:28 pm
Shiloh is a good writer. I just read one of her books yesterday. There are a few other authors at EC that dont suck donkey balls as well. LOL! I like Shelby Reed and Lora Leigh.
Sarah McCarty
December 13
4:02 pm
“This is exactly how I do think Sarah. Who would I do business with? Who shows they are making an effort like a Harlequin with their line of eBooks?”
Teddy, in this instance, I’m not sure I understand what your point is. Maybe because I’m looking at the picture from the perspective of an author wit all the layers and angles laid out.
Teddy Pig
December 13
6:38 pm
Like a customer who buys a ton of eBooks sometimes 20 or more a month and watches all the different ePubs for what they are selling and how.
J.C. Wilder
December 14
1:13 am
Teddy Pig – If I remember correctly, EC’s contracts weren’t structured to sell ebooks at a discount outlet such as Fictionwise. FW takes something like 55% of the cover price and with the authors receiving 40% – that would leave EC with 5%.
Earlier in the year TPTB at EC left it up to the authors to decide if we wanted to cut our royalties in order to be listed at FW. The answer was no.
Teddy Pig
December 14
6:28 am
Well, I guess that’s too bad then, sounds like bad business to me, I mean people like Lora Leigh that won’t effect but others it leaves them unseen.
But hey, if they keep raising their prices it won’t matter much to me.
Dionne Galace
December 14
7:05 am
If I could be arsed, I’d have written a glowing review about One Of The Guys, but as Dee Tenorio and Bam can attest to, I’m lazy as a mother f*cker when it comes to reviewing.
uh-huh. *grin*
shilohwalker
December 14
4:49 pm
woo hoo! blogger changed the comment thingy around~ I have a name again!
not that i’m adding anything to the conversation, but I saw on a blog somewhere Blogger had realized their stupidity…(okay, well it didn’t say that…) and changed things around again. So I just came here to check it out. π
Shi
sybil
December 16
3:54 pm
I would say you are looking at it completely different ways.
As a reader Teddy shouldn’t have to give a fig about the author. The author shouldn’t even enter his mind when buying a book. Not their contract, their royalties, their sales figures, their anything other than if the book sounds good to Teddy General Reader.
TGR isn’t going to pay 8 bucks for an ebook. And if TGR does pay 8 bucks for an ebook is it because he has yet to learn he shouldn’t have to… and if and when he does learn said ebook company screwed him without his consent, ten to one he will be angry and not buy again from said publisher.
Sad thing is the author will suffer too but as it has been stated author agree to their contracts.
So it comes down to what is important to the author, who should worry about his/her sales, profit and next contract. If 8 bucks for a nonreturnable & nonresellable ebook makes sense to the author, Teddy Pig teh blogger really shouldn’t worry about newbieauthorx’s sales cuz newbieauthorx isn’t worrying about Teddy the General Reader.
And I am not saying either should care about the other, even though we often do. As much as we often bitch about things we see as wrong. Of course one can always be a reader but can one always be a published author? If nothing else there is always the library.
Teddy Pig
December 16
5:15 pm
You know I do care Sybil.
I want to be able to recommend Coyote Rain by Sienna Black or Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty or The Courage To Love by Samantha Kane and know that anyone with an eBookwise or a Sony eReader or even an Amazon Kindle can buy and enjoy those great books.
I know that Sarah is probably telling me the good reason that will not happen but to the eBook fanatic reader that I am that seems so Penny-wise Pound-foolish.