Why Write for Many Publishers?

By Suzanne Rock (Guest Blogger)

Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for having me here today. When I put the call out on my facebook and twitter friends as to what I should write about in this blog post, one reader came back and said that she never understood why authors seem to write for more than one epublisher. If you sold a book to one epublisher, why don't you sell the second one there, and the third? Why do some authors seem to write for five or six different publishers?

I go into detail about this in my class "Ebook and Digital Publishing, Is it for me?" online class (http://suzannerock.com/?page_id=752), but since the class is geared toward writers, I thought that it might be nice to put together a little summary, geared toward readers, as to why many authors like to publish with more than one epublisher.

Now I should state up front that not every author writes for more than one publisher. In fact, some authors have made very good careers out of writing for one epublisher. Unfortunately, the reality for a writer is that writing exclusively for one epublisher (or print publisher for that matter) is risky. Here's why:

1) Unstable market. There is no denying tht publishing is in a state of change. Publishers can come and go, and this is especially true in the ebook market. If the epublisher an author is working for is no longer viable and files for bankruptcy, years and years of her work could be tied up in the courts. All of her books could be pulled from the shelves until the mess is straightened out, potentially leaving the author with no means of an income while all of the paperwork goes through. By writing for more than one publisher, the author guarantees that at least some of her books will be available to readers should something happen.

2) Increased exposure. Some authors start out writing for small epublishers with little or no marketing department, and a very lean staff. Once they hone their craft, they try to submit their work to larger publishers with a larger or different audiences in order to gain more fans. Even though their career path is moving forward, they still feel some loyalty to the smaller publisher and will continue to put out books through them periodically.

3) Submission guidelines. Every once in a while an author will write a sotry that doesn't fit the guidelines of their current publisher. The story will either be too long, too short, have too much sex or not enough. In these cases, if the author wants to see the story published, they will submit it to a different publisher.

4) Courting. Sometimes editors will court writers from other publishing houses to come write for them. This doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. It happened with me and Elloras Cave. My editor had read one of my Loose Id titles and wrote me a letter saying how much she loved the book and how she wanted me to come and write for them.

5) A chance to work with a new/more popular editor. As I mentioned previously, I was courted by a well-known editor at Elloras Cave and knew that she had worked with some big-named authors. Different editors have different strengths and weaknesses and having fresh eyes look at a story can help make an author’s writing stronger. Will I stop writing for Loose Id? Of course not. I love my editor there will continue to work with her.

6) More creative control. Sometimes working with a smaller publisher will give an author more creative control. For example, the author will be allowed to make their own cover art, or be more actively involved with the distribution process. More control over their book is a huge appeal to many writers, so they may reach out to smaller publishers that give them more freedom.

7) High turnover with colleagues. When things are going great with an epublisher, life is good. The epublishing industry has a high turn-over rate, however, and the people who you started working with may not be the people you keep on working with. If an author finds themselves with in a position where she is dealing with people that she doesn’t get along with, or who don’t share her vision, she might decide that it’s time to move on.

8) Different/better contract terms. When a publisher acquires a story, they form a contract with an author. This contract is negotiable. Many of these contracts are for defined periods of time. When the time frame is over, the contract is up for renewal. The publisher may try to change some things in the contract, such as royalty rates or option clauses. The author may not like the terms and decide to change publishers.

9) Their current publisher doesn’t want their story. The author may have tried to place a story with her current publisher, but it was rejected. This may have nothing to do with the writing, but rather that the publisher feels that they have too many ghost stories, or doesn’t like a particular boundary being pushed. The author’s choices at that point would be to either bury the story on their hard drive, or to submit it elsewhere.

10) Submission calls/lure of print. Certain publishers have certain submission calls centering on a theme, and some of them may offer to put those collections of stories together in a print book. A certain theme may inspire an author, or perhaps it is the thought of having their work in print. Regardless of the reason, an author may try to submit to a publisher’s submission call if they feel that they have the perfect story for an anthology.

So that’s it – my reasons of why some authors choose to work with different publishers. Do you agree, or do you think there are other reasons? Tell me about it in the comment section of this post. In the meantime, here’s some information about my newest release from Ellora’s Cave.

Buy from publisher.

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from All Romance Ebooks.

Buy from Barnes and Noble.

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0tVxVJmTuc

Blurb

Darien let his guard down once, and Arianne stole the demon stone from under his nose. Now he has to get it back, no matter what the cost. It doesn’t matter that the feisty redhead calms the voices in his head, or that her body tempts him beyond reason. Only the stone will ensure his survival. He decides to appeal to her feminine side and use gentle seduction to get it back. As he begins, something inside him changes, and the voices in his head compel him to use pain to heighten desire.

As Darien’s touch turns dark, Arianne’s lust escalates, and a connection forms between them. Yet despite her need, she can’t let the sexy FBI agent have what he wants. If placed in the wrong hands, the stone would release an unholy force intent on destroying everything she loves—including him.

Excerpt

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.” Arianne ran her fingers over Darien’s chest. “Don’t think or over-analyze, just feel.” She bent down over his body. Her warm breath fanned out over his skin and her clean, floral scent filled his nose. He relaxed his muscles as her tongue and lips danced over his skin. She started at his collarbone and worked her way down, setting his chest on fire wherever she touched.

Then she flicked her tongue over his nipple. Darien sucked in his breath as pleasure tingled over his body and numbed his mind. Ari, his sweet Ari. There was no one like her. She could be both strong and gentle, both kind and hard. Her tongue felt like the finest silk against his skin. Nothing ever felt better.

She did it again, this time drawing lazy circles around his nipple before giving the tip a final flick. Pleasure rose up from a deep, dark place inside of him, threatening to burst out from his core.

He arched his back, pressing his hard, swollen cock closer to her wet heat. He could hear her breathing quicken, smell the scent of her arousal. Desire surged through his veins. He wanted to bury himself inside of her, to feel her muscles contract around his shaft. He moistened his lips and rolled his hips, moving himself up, back and forth through her slick folds.

“Mount me,” he ordered. “I want to feel inside of you.”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not done with you yet.”

“Are you sure?” He hooked his feet into the mattress and arched his hips up off the bed, taking her with him. Fuck, she felt so wet and hot. He needed to feel more, to have her inner walls grip his shaft as she shivered with ecstasy. He wanted to bury himself deep inside her and blank his mind in pleasure. If only he could remove those damn handcuffs.

Arianne groaned and slid her tongue once more over his sensitive nipple. He gasped and fell back onto the bed, his mission forgotten in a haze of pleasure. She then took his taut tip in her mouth, rolling the hard nub between her lips. The pressure felt fantastic and tingles of pleasure sparked out over his skin.

He groaned and wiggled beneath her, eager for more. She continued to lave and tease, creating a swirl of sensations running through his body. First she’d move in circles, coming close but never quite reaching his tip. Around and around she’d go, creating a madness inside him.

“Please.” He arched his back, pressing his sensitive nipple toward her mouth. She nipped it, creating a flash of pain that made his inner darkness hum with approval. He moistened his lips as his body heated and the air became charged with sexual energy.

She moved to the other nipple and continued the same, sweet torture. The circles were maddening. He both loved and hated the attention. He moved his hips beneath her as she worked, and was satisfied when she had to stop and groan her pleasure. She slid her wet pussy over his shaft, creating an urgency deep inside his core. He tightened his muscles and focused his mind on one single thought.

Mine.

He had to take her, had to consume her. Darien wanted to drag her body down next to his and join them in a fast and furious coupling. Yet she continued to circle his nipple with slow, steady movements, making him dizzy with anticipation. With each rotation she inched closer and closer and yet refused to place her tongue where he needed it.

The blindfold had slipped and he could peek out around the edges. Darien raised his head from the mattress and watched her. He could only see the top of her head and he watched it move from side to side as she first nipped, then licked his chest.

“Please,” he said again, his voice a mere whimper of emotion.

She chuckled and bit his sensitive tip, sending a blast of pain through his body. He bucked beneath her as his mind numbed and focused on the pain. His inner darkness sighed with satisfaction.

Then she moved back to his other nipple.

He closed his eyes and groaned, focusing on the sensations she was creating inside of him rather than his eyesight. Her hair felt so soft and smooth against his skin. He wanted to touch it, to let the strands flow through his fingers. He contented himself on the sliding of those silken strands over his chest, the feel of her tongue against her nipple. She was so focused on his pleasure, his comfort. The knowledge increased his desire and made him hot all over.

Mine. The voice in Darien’s head was captivated by her. It wanted to give her pain and pleasure, it wanted her to give those things to him. Only in her presence could Darien managed to keep the voice under control. There was significance in that, but at the moment, all rational thought seemed to be slipping from his mind.

He continued moving his hips back and forth until his shaft slipped deeper in between her folds. He groaned as her heat surrounded him and her wetness spread over his cock. He moistened his lips as she continued to tease and stroke his nipple. This woman was going to cause him to come apart at the seams.

Around and around her tongue moved in teasing motions, with each flick, each rotation, his inner darkness growled and his desire rose. In all of the times he had sex, he was the aggressor, but with Arianne… He loved the fact that she liked to switch roles, be both dominant and submissive, depending on the situation and need. Life with someone like her would never be dull, that was for sure.

With the blindfold on, his sensations heightened and the feel of her hot, wet tongue on him was magnified ten-fold. Every nerve ending tingled and a deep, dark need rumbled in his core. She felt good, so damn good, but he needed more. He wanted to give her pleasure, wanted to make her lose herself in pleasure.

His mind drifted back to the tree and how he had buried himself deep inside her core. She had been so tight, so wet. Never before had he felt anything so wonderful. It was as if he was finally arriving home after a long journey.

The next time she raked her teeth over his sensitive tip, she bit harder than before. Pain stabbed his chest, and the darkness within him purred with pleasure.

“Mother Earth—that feels incredible,” he said after he recovered.

“Good, because there’s more where that came from.” She did it again to the other side. She circled his nipple, the sweet torture making him come apart. Then pain lanced through his body and beat his deamhan into submission. He cried out with both pain and surprise, as she had bit harder than before. His inner darkness sighed with happiness, allowing him to relax deeper and to focus fully on her.

Then she ran her velvet tongue over the bite, soothing away his pain and increasing his need. Soon his mind blanked to everything but how her delectable mouth teased and her hot, wet pussy slid along his shaft. He groaned as his body bathed in the sensations she created, how good she made him feel.

If only it could be like this forever.

His heart beat quickened, thudding in his ears and causing his cock to jerk beneath her. He wanted to touch her, to hold her head to his skin. He pulled against his bindings, but they didn’t budge.

“I want to touch you,” he said.

“Soon.”

"Now.”

“Soon.” She bit him again, hard. Pain shot through his body as she sat down on his lap and pressed all of that sweet, wet heat against his shaft.

His deamhan roared in frustration. It stomped and paced through his mind and body, demanding release. Mine, take her.

Then he felt something cold, hard and metallic pinch his nipple.

What the—he cried out as pain blasted through his body. His deamhan roared with him, the noise almost deafening in his head. Then it fell silent.

When the pain finally passed, he found himself panting like an animal. His quick intake of breath echoed off the walls and filled the room.

“What was that?”

“Something I had in my bedroom.”

“In your bedroom? You use this?”

“Sometimes.” She flicked the metal object, sending a ripple of pain through his torso. “When I’m lonely.”

Fuck, she used this? The beautiful woman must love pain as much as he did. What did she do after she clamped her nipples? Did she flick the metal or did she play with her clit? Perhaps she’d be impatient and slide her fingers into her core.

Yes, that’s what she’d do. The thought of her alone in her room, clamping her nipple and sliding those long, delicate fingers into her pussy, was almost too much to bear.

Fuck.

“The queen assigned me to look after you and sometimes, after a long day of watching you from afar, I needed to find some release, to relax.” She ran her soft fingers down the middle of his chest. “I thought you might enjoy them as much as I did.”

“I do.” His throat felt dry and rough. When Ari pleasured herself, did she use one finger or two? Perhaps she’d use three or four. An image flashed through his mind of Ari sprawled out on her back, clamps on her nipples and fingers in her pussy as she strained for release, a release she couldn’t find on her own, a release only he could give her.

She flicked the metal once more, causing him to hiss. “Is the pain too much?” she asked.

“No, it’s perfect.” More than perfect. The pain appeased his deamhan, cleared his head and made him able to feel more like himself. Now that the initial shock had worn off, he felt better than he had in months, since before he entered the portal into hell.

“What are you planning to do to me?” he asked. God, he needed her, needed her bad.

“You’ll see.” She leaned over his body and ran her velvet tongue over his other nipple.

Again? He gasped and pressed his head back onto the pillow, the movement causing the clamp on his nipple to move and a burst of pain to slice through his body. The deamhan purred with delight as a mixture of pleasure and agony rolled through him. Sweat beaded on his brow, and dampened the blindfold. Sweet Mother Earth, he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive this.

Bio: After over a decade in the scientific world, Suzanne needed a creative outlet. She tried scrap booking, cooking, crocheting, painting, and piano, none of which held her interest for very long. Then one of her friends suggested writing. Thrilled with the idea of creating her own worlds, she opened up her lap top and never looked back.

When Suzanne’s not writing, she can be found playing with her two daughters, testing her husband’s latest kitchen creations, or curled up with her favorite romance novel in her central Massachusetts home.

Website: www.SuzanneRock.com

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Online Workshops: http://suzannerock.com/?page_id=64