Contact by "publishers"

[sophia jane]

I've heard people's stories about being contacted by "publishers" interested in their work. But I can't remember who the legit ones are and who the ones to avoid are.
(we really should compile a list and sticky it or sumthing).
So...
who's who? Do any of these contacts turn up anything good?


I ask cuz I just got my first "publisher" email, and while I'm super super skeptical that he's legit, it'd be really cool if he were.

 

[impressive]

Jack Winters, by chance?

 

[sophia jane]

Jack Winters, by chance?

Yep.
Prolly not a good sign that he was your first guess.

 

[kendo1]

I was just about to say 'Ask Imp'.

 

[impressive]

Yep.
Prolly not a good sign that he was your first guess.

See "Cold Contacts" thread.

Bel got one, too.

 

[sophia jane]

See "Cold Contacts" thread.

Bel got one, too.

Interesting. Hear back from him yet?
And btw, the message I got was a little different than yours, so he might not be sending form letters after all.

 

[impressive]

Interesting. Hear back from him yet?
And btw, the message I got was a little different than yours, so he might not be sending form letters after all.

Nothing yet. Bel's was identical to mine.

 

[sophia jane]

Nothing yet. Bel's was identical to mine.

Mine was pretty close. I think a bit different, tho. I'd have to double check tho.
edited- never mind, it is identical.

The funny part to me is asking about "services" in the genre.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Generally, legitimate publishers don't contact you. You contact them. That's my understanding, anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[CharleyH]

I've heard people's stories about being contacted by "publishers" interested in their work. But I can't remember who the legit ones are and who the ones to avoid are.
(we really should compile a list and sticky it or sumthing).
So...
who's who? Do any of these contacts turn up anything good?


I ask cuz I just got my first "publisher" email, and while I'm super super skeptical that he's legit, it'd be really cool if he were.

Be kind and never lose an opportunity before you investigate it. .

 

[Alessia Brio]

The funny part to me is asking about "services" in the genre.

I liked him calling it my "literature."

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Generally, legitimate publishers don't contact you. You contact them. That's my understanding, anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I was contacted by an editor working for a subsidiary of Ellora's Cave after he saw a novel on mine right here on Lit and he was legitimate. The subsidiary never got off the ground, but EC picked up the contract and that's how I got my first book published.

A guy advertised on this board looking for writers for an illustrated BDSM site. He said he couldn't pay at first, but once the site got off the ground he'd give the writers royalties based on how many hits their stories got. Everyone dismissed it but I bit. I figured I'm already posting stories here for free, so why not give him a try? I wrote a couple stories for him, and then a few more, and pretty soon I started getting money in my paypal account. It was up to like $100/month for a while, and then I was writing video and photo scripts for him. It lasted for about year or so until the site folded. I still miss that check.

I look at it this way--if they want to just rip off your stories, they can do that already without contacting you. And what else can they do to screw you? If you don't like the deal, you can always walk. Meanwhile, if they start talking business, I'll listen. I can always say no.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I was contacted by an editor working for a subsidiary of Ellora's Cave after he saw a novel on mine right here on Lit and he was legitimate. The subsidiary never got off the ground, but EC picked up the contract and that's how I got my first book published.

A guy advertised on this board looking for writers for an illustrated BDSM site. He said he couldn't pay at first, but once the site got off the ground he'd give the writers royalties based on how many hits their stories got. Everyone dismissed it but I bit. I figured I'm already posting stories here for free, so why not give him a try? I wrote a couple stories for him, and then a few more, and pretty soon I started getting money in my paypal account. It was up to like $100/month for a while, and then I was writing video and photo scripts for him. It lasted for about year or so until the site folded. I still miss that check.

I look at it this way--if they want to just rip off your stories, they can do that already without contacting you. And what else can they do to screw you? If you don't like the deal, you can always walk. Meanwhile, if they start talking business, I'll listen. I can always say no.

Yeah, and you told me that before.... you're very right. The place I asked you about that time? I emailed back asking about payment and never heard back. Oh well. I would probably have done it for free, except it was a fetish site for a fetish that would have required a lot of research for me to write convincingly. If I didn't have a full time day job and working on 2 novels I might've gone ahead with it, but I just didn't feel like I had the energy.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Yeah, and you told me that before.... you're very right. The place I asked you about that time? I emailed back asking about payment and never heard back. Oh well. I would probably have done it for free, except it was a fetish site for a fetish that would have required a lot of research for me to write convincingly. If I didn't have a full time day job and working on 2 novels I might've gone ahead with it, but I just didn't feel like I had the energy.

I think the truth is, it's pretty hard to get paid for writing short-story porn on the web, simply because there's so much free stuff already. The only way you'll get paid for short fiction is by writing custom stuff--writing to someone's specifications, like that Cockroach publisher wants. The BDSM guy I wrote for needed stories to accompany photos, so that was custom writing too. I guess it's possible that someone would see one of your stories here and think it was just so much better than anything else in the world that he'd offer to pay you for using it, but really, are any of us really that good?

Your best chance to publish short fiction--probably your only chance--is to send it off yourself. Check out the link below for where to send it.

With longer works like novels and novellas it's a different story. If you've got a 30,000-50,000 word piece up that's doing pretty well, you should really send it off to a publisher. It's not doing you any good sitting on your disk drive, and if it's got a 4.5 rating or better it's almost certainly good enough to publish.

You can start here

http://www.erotica-readers.com/ERA/G/BestAmerican.htm

and see just who's looking for what, and start submitting. Doesn't cost anything, and who knows what'll happen?

--Zoot

 

[sincerely_helene]

How come even the fake publishers don't want my stuff?

That's like the ultimate diss.

 

[impressive]

Got a reply from Jack. Anyone else?

 

[sophia jane]

Got a reply from Jack. Anyone else?

Yep. Interesting to see if anything comes of it.

 

[impressive]

Yes. I have more questions now than I did before.

 

[Belegon]

Yep. Interesting to see if anything comes of it.

...and I as well...a point was made that anything paid is more then I am getting now for things placed on Lit, so those at least are open to consideration...I'll be willing to at least give it a shot...

 

[sophia jane]

...and I as well...a point was made that anything paid is more then I am getting now for things placed on Lit, so those at least are open to consideration...I'll be willing to at least give it a shot...

Exactly what I was thinking.