Loose Change

I was asked to send a guest post in for Loose Change, and not given
any specific topic. So keep that in mind when you read the following:

I am a "talker"--there is no doubt about that. Last week I thought I
might just manage to talk myself out giving the same 90 minute lecture
three times on the same day. But I still was nattering way on every
topic and dominating the conversation as a colleague drove me home.
The same effect is apparent online on my six blogs and three websites.
I like to gather information, I like to look for patterns and new
ways to use and benefit from information, and I try to do this in the
way that is helpful to others. After all, if you talk a lot there is
an obligation to have something worth saying.

One expression of this side of my personality is ERECsite.com where,
with the help of volunteers, I gather sales figures for erotic romance
e-publishers. My motivation was an awareness of how little
information I used in choosing to send my first novella to Loose
Id—and how outright lucky I was to have chosen Loose Id. Since then I
have also worked with other e-publishers, with mixed results. But I
have sent most of my work, twelve stories including several full
length novels, to Loose Id.

I am not the cheerleading sort, in fact I am compulsively interested
in the dark cloud attached to any silver lining. But I have a
tendency to speak positively about Loose Id because they have made me
money, my editor has stuck with me for three years now with never a
bad experience, and overall the press offers me opportunities that are
worthwhile without be arduous or restrictive. And this is where my
confession comes in.

I am an average writer.

My friends would now being rolling their eyes and assuring me that I
am an excellent writer and need to get over the New Zealand culture's
obsession with being modest and humble. But I am speaking
statistically. One side effect of collecting sales data is that I
know the performance of my books at Loose Id hovers slightly but
clearly below the average for Loose Id.

This doesn't surprise me greatly. Loose Id authors are damn good, and
being in the middle of the pack is no bad thing. Also my editor gives
me a reasonable indication of what sells best, and I sometimes write
things that are somewhat less appealing to readers (but more fun for
me). A little give and take in these issues is one of the great
advantages of working with a good small press. And finally, I am not
one of those driven and dedicated writers with a muse burning a hole
in their brain. I like to write and I like to profit from that
effort, and e-publishing is a win/win that allows me to do this
without dedicating a large amount of time to the endeavor because my
main priority is my "day job" career. Finally, being average still
includes have sold over 1000 copies of two of my novellas with others
quickly closing in on that number—and I am more than happy with that.

In my book there is such a thing as praising with faint praise, even
when it comes to myself. I am an average writer. But depending
purely on sales figures rather than my own experiences, Loose Id is an
above average erotic romance e-publisher. In fact they are one of the
best.

Emily Veinglory
veinglory.com
cliterature.today.com
erecsite.com