Some people are gloating.
I’m not. It’s sad, really.
For those who haven’t heard, news is going around on twitter and facebook and blogs that Ellora’s Cave will shut down effective…well, pretty damn quick.
EC gave me my start. For quite a while, I was very happy there. I got paid on time, I was able to tell whatever stories I wanted and I had no complaints.
That changed, yes.
But I got my start at EC, as did a number of authors I know.
EBOOKS, in general, got a huge boost from EC. I think Kindle, as we know it, exists because of Jeff Bezos saw what a powerhouse books like EC could become and he took action to monetize that. Erotic romance and the boom of the indie market, I believe, can be traced back to that huge surge that EC brought to the market in 2004-2006.
EC, I believe, helped change the market. But they didn’t change with the market. They didn’t adapt. They couldn’t keep up and that sucks (IMO). They didn’t treat their authors well (IMO, allegedly and all that jazz).
And now they are going to be just another bygone epublisher that didn’t change and keep up with the times.
Yeah…that’s sad.
The people in charge could have done a lot of things differently and that’s on them. I have little pity in me but I do remember what it is was like when I had all of those books and we were all hanging out on the yahoo groups and things were…so shiny and new.
For it to go from that to this in the span of a decade?
It sucks. I wish all the luck in the world to the editors, to the cover artists, Raelene, etc.
And authors…get your fricking rights back.
**FYI… just a reminder… I’m a snot about my blog. Comments are open, but if you can’t be courteous and respectful…don’t comment here. It will just get deleted. I don’t care if you agree with my opinion or anybody else’s, but do so with courtesy.
Otherwise, I will delete. With pleasure. Happiness. Even some giddiness, depending on my mood. Or it might get edited to reflect whatever in the mood I feel like making it say.
I remember finding EC and how excited I was to finally find a place that sold romance books that I wanted to read. I feel bad the way things have turned out but I owe EC for finding some of my best friends from those early days. I have met a lot of wonderful authors that I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for EC. I wish things would have ended differently.
Ditto, Renee. To all of that
This is so sad. I remember the fun times on the blog, when we were waiting for new releases. I wish everyone the best.
I am so sad. They introduced me to a lot of authors and their books. I was thrilled when Boarders carried them because they were so racy. The end of an era. Sad.
I’m not gloating.
I’m skeptical.
With the re-branding a few months ago to the EC for Books thing, and the constant tweaking of the ‘no more cyber abuse’ domain, I’m highly skeptical that the publisher will close its doors.
I purchased my first E book from Ellora’s Cave and was so excited when it downloaded on my laptop. This was especially exciting because I was in the UK and buying a book from an American site in $. I was worried but excited. The book was called Sins of the Father, and I believe it was written by an author call Shiloh Walker, but I could be wrong. I just went to my dropbox to check and it’s listed under your name but I can’t open it because I don’t have the software anymore! EC lead me to many new authors, some I still read today, and some are treasured re-reads, so I’m sorry to see it end.
I’m not at all skeptical. A business requires money to function. They aren’t making any, AL.
😉 No…that wasn’t mine, Fran.
I may be wrong, Miss Shiloh, but I believe they could easily hold rights hostage, and continue to sell the books–however few copies per year–, and continue to pocket the full cover price, pretty much for eternity.
Since they are not sending statements, authors have no way to prove they are selling less copies than whatever the threshold for whatever the time period to trigger the reversion of rights clause.
Of course that would be petty and pretty pointless, because, as you say, they are not really making enough money off Ellora’s Cave to make it truly worth their while, but EC’s principals have shown themselves to be plenty petty over the years.
Further, I don’t believe there’s a formal announcement anywhere–not even in the famous email letter–that categorically states that EC is closing, nor one giving a definite date when this closing would take place. The email only talks about when rights would revert to those authors willing to sign away any monies owed them, by November 1st.
AL, sure they could… but I’m not entirely sure what your point is.
My theory on how little money I believe they have based off their pointless lawsuits (a need for money would explain them) and then looking at amazon rankings for various authors. With the self-pubbing I do, I’ve got an idea of what those numbers mean and the money that goes along with them…it’s not much. I do have…well, let’s call it something a step or two up from an educated guess that plays into my opinion, and no, I’m not discussing it. But I’m just surprised this didn’t happen before this.
To be blunt, the main reason I was so determined to get my rights back when I did was because I could tell this was coming.
If I was one of those authors who still had books over there? I’d definitely be signing that letter.
I don’t meant to be difficult, Ms Shiloh.
On #notchilled, some authors have speculated that they can wait EC out–in other words, not sign the letter waiving their rights to monies owed, because they presume that EC will close, and that the closure means all rights will be reverted. I presume that those authors hope, eventually, to sue EC’s principals for those monies owed.,
And to that, my point is that EC could easily continue to sell whatever books they still have,, that they are already selling, no matter how little money they make, just out of spite.
There’s also the fact that, if I understand correctly, EC for Books, the ‘new’ branding for the company, was still accepting subscriptions just a few weeks ago.
I don’t know. Samhain was supposedly also going to close, because revenue was down, and yet, here we are.
I guess we’ll see what happens, if and when.
Waiting them out is foolhardly and pointless. You can’t get water from a stone. If people would pay attention, there have been signs of money issues for a while. And waiting them out is a dangerous gamble, because if they do declare bankruptcy, those authors’ rights could be considered assets and they’ll be tied up as the bankruptcy is dealt with…and if another publisher buys them out?
No. Just…no.