Separation of Church and State

There's been a lot of concern about how I will juggle the roles of agent and editor in this new venture, so we've worked out a system where any potential conflict of interest and/or the appearance of impropriety is nipped in the bud.

So here are the rules:

I will not take a commission on any sale of work by one of my clients to Ravenous Romance. The sale will be handled and overseen by one of my two agent colleagues at L. Perkins Agency. Jenny Rappaport will handle those authors who fall more directly into the romance side of erotic romance (which is one of her specialties), as well as any of my horror/fantasy clients who have ventured into this arena. Marsha Philitas will represent my authors who lean more towards the erotic, which is her specialty. Jenny Rappaport can be reached at jrlperkinsagenct@yahoo.com and Marsha Philitas can be reached at mplperkinsagency@yahoo.com.

Both Jenny and Marsha will receive 100% of the 15% commission on these sales.

I will continue to represent my erotica clients on existing deals and their options. New material in this genre, whether it be for Ravenous Romance or another publisher, will be handled by either Jenny or Marsha. Although I will be available for consultation, these will be my colleague's deals.

I will continue to represent my clients on their non-erotica deals.

I my some day take on a new client, but I am pretty full at the moment, so new clients to the agency will be directed to either Jenny or Marsha for the immediate future. However, I'm reading everything that is sent to me.

I will not edit my own clients' work at Ravenous Romance, unless they ask me to.

No writer is required to sign with the L. Perkins Agency in order to sell to Ravenous Romance. They may remain unagented. They can sign with Jenny or Marsha. They can sign with another agent.

Jenny and Marsha are not required to take someone on just because they've signed with Ravenous Romance.

Ravenous Romance will gladly buy books from other agencies.


OK, so why am I doing this? Especially since I am losing a substantial amount of my income by transferring my writer's commissions to Jenny and Marsha.

I have put my money where my mouth is. I believe that the future of mass market is epublishing and that the market for well-written erotica for women is still largely untapped. I am lucky to have two publishing colleagues who agree with me and have put their experience and resources behind this belief.

I have always been an entrepreneur. I owned a neighborhood newspaper in Manhattan when I was 22. I started my own literary agency in 1987. It is my nature to start things when I feel there's a need.

I feel there is a need.

Some writers believe that being an agent is all about making money. That has never been the case with me, as I come from a journalism background. It's about getting published. Most of my writers are "working writers," which means they support themselves from the craft, so they write at least two, if not four books a year. Few publishers want four books by one author, so they use pseudonyms or write in two fields.

I have always thought of myself as a "writer's fairy godmother." When people unfamiliar with publishing ask me what an agent does, I tell them that I am a writer's manager. It is my job to keep writers writing, and published. In a market that is changing as radically as publishing today, that's not easy.

Ravenous Romance will keep writers writing, and eating. While they wait for the next big book to place and/or figure out what the new trend in the marketplace is, Ravenous writers will be building an audience and getting a royalty check that has no reserve against returns.

Ravenous Romance is for all writers who would like a more immediate return on their writing investment and who want readers a few months after the book is finished.

There's more than enough to go around, as we are buying over 400 books a year and at least 365 short stories.

Twitter and Facebook

Just to let you know, we've started Ravenous Romance reports at both Twitter and Facebook, so please follow us as we start this new company. I can't believe how many people are already following us.

Holly Schmidt is doing an almost day-to-day account of what we're buying on Twitter.

Ravenous Romance Press Release

OK. Here it is - the announcement about the new epublisher.

We are buying an incredible amount of fiction - and some nonfiction in the form of memoir - and an amazing number of short stories - one a day for both novels and stories. So there's plenty of room for writers to break in, and for established writers to try their hand at something they thought they might like to write.

We've already bought a number of books by non-erotica writers who had a "trunk novel" of erotica, meaning they had no idea where to send it and had written it for their own pleasure.

We've bought a ton of fiction from previously unpublished authors.

And there are a handful of authors we've groomed, who we think are really going to break out, but time will tell.

The other thing that's really exciting is that we're buying an amazing amount of cross genre material. This is such fertile ground.

I think the daily short story, with its combination of a small advance and a huge royalty, might prove to be the best market for erotic short stories out there, but, again, time will tell.

Of course, I am still agenting for my existing clients, whether they be erotica writers or true crime ones. It is amazing what you can get done in a 16 hour day! But I am loving every minute of it.

We've worked out a terrific system so there's no possible conflict of interest. Jenny Rappaport and Marsha Philitas, my two agent colleagues here at L. Perkins Agency, will be handling the day-to-day agent work with Ravenous, but I'll post more on that next week when all the details are worked out.

Of course, we're buying books from other agents too. We've already done a deal with the Harvey Klinger Agency for one of our launch books.

And we're finding gold in the unsoliciteds.

Finally, we just learned that ebook sales for the month of June (the most recent month for statistics) increased by 87% since the same period last year, so even though printed books will never disappear, digital publishing is undeniably the wave of the future. And we are ready to ride that wave...hop on board!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dalyn A. Miller
Dalyn Miller Public Relations
617-504-6869
Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com

Literary Partners Group, Inc. Forms to Launch RAVENOUS ROMANCE™

Erotic romance publisher to provide high-quality, affordable content online

[Boston, MA, September 2, 2008] – Hollan Publishing, Inc. principals Holly Schmidt and Allan Penn have joined forces with literary agent Lori Perkins to form Literary Partners Group, Inc., which has announced the launch of Ravenous Romance™, an online publishing company. Ravenous Romance™ will publish daily novel-length erotic romances, as well as lunchtime “Hot Fling™” short stories in e-book and downloadable MP3 format. The company will offer content online at www.RavenousRomance.com beginning December 1, 2008.

Recognizing the shrinking margins and increasing obsolescence of print publishing in today’s market, LPG has leveraged their combined expertise and experience in the growing erotica and romance categories, and is taking them to the rapidly-expanding digital market. E-books and audiobooks are two of the strongest growth areas in publishing, as readers have begun to embrace the convenience of downloading material to smart phones, iPods, PDAs, personal computers, and various new-to-market electronic readers such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

Ravenous Romance™ will offer erotic romance – stories with strong plots and character development, but with steamy sex scenes and explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. The stories will feature strong, passionate heroines and plots that express a broad range of fantasies. Ravenous Romance™ will be a destination site for women, with erotica that celebrates female sexuality, and strong Web 2.0 community-building features.

“We’re not the first in this arena, but we have a competitive advantage due to our unique experience and our ability to price and market our product aggressively, without the channel conflict that characterizes the large trade publishers’ forays into e-books,” says publisher and co-founder Holly Schmidt, who also points out that none of their competitors offer both audiobooks and e-books, nor do they offer new material with the frequency that Ravenous Romance™ will. “We will succeed by producing exceptionally high-quality erotic fiction by award-winning writers and their protégées, and offering it to our readers at an extremely competitive price point. In today’s market, consumers want quality content at an affordable price, with a visually-appealing and user-friendly retail interface. That is what Ravenous Romance™ will deliver.”

Romance is the most popular genre in modern literature, generating $1.37 billion in net sales annually and accounting for 26.4% of all books sold. Demographically, 56% of romance readers are under age 44, and 74% have college degrees. Overall, these women are computer-literate and comfortable with new technologies. They are also voracious consumers, having read an average of nine romance novels each in 2006. Digital content offers a way for women to keep their interest in erotic romance discreet, portable, and affordable. Schmidt points out that e-publishing is also an eco-friendly alternative to the environmentally damaging nature of traditional mass market publishing. With thousands of new romance titles printed, warehoused, and shipped each year in the U.S. alone, the environmental impact is significant.

Visit Ravenous Romance™ online at www.RavenousRomance.com, where you can download a free Hot Fling™ and register to win an iPod Touch.

For more information or to request an interview with Literary Partners Group, please contact Dalyn A. Miller at 617-504-6869 or via email at Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com.

About Literary Partners Group, Inc.

Holly Schmidt is a publishing executive with 15 years of experience in editorial, marketing, and sales. She joined forces with award-winning photographer Allan Penn to launch book packager Hollan Publishing, Inc. in 2006. Hollan creates innovative, visual non-fiction books, including those in the love and relationships category. Lori Perkins is an agent with over 20 years of experience selling erotica and an impressive stable of authors.

Readers and Anthologies

I bought an Ereader.

You guys were incredibly helpful, but I ultimately decided I didn't want another computer (no matter how small), so this is just for subway, metro north and plane rides.

And I love it so far.

(By the way, I bought it at the Woodbury Commons outlet center, where I was able to use a $50 coupon, so I feel real good about that too!)

Submissions for SEX AND SHOES will close September 2nd.

MEN IN SHORTS will close September 15th.

Also looking for Xmas, Hanuka, and New Years' erotica stories (not in the same anthology).

EReader vs. the Kindle

I spent an hour and a half in the doctor's office waiting for my son to get seven stitches removed (broken glass) and read a few issues of what I call house porn (Good Housekeeping, Better Homes, etc.), but really wished I had one of the manuscripts I should have been reading with me. I didn't want to print something out, wasting paper and time, or drag my laptop around. I decided then and there, I'd get one of these reading devices.

So I went to the mall and asked to see the Sony eReader, because all the editors I know have one. I certainly like its light weight and page-like readability, but I was under the impression that you could track changes on a Word document, and I was told that's just not doable.

Is there any light-weight device I can do this on?

What's been your reading experience of the Kindle vs. the eReader, if any?

I really want to get one of these reading devices a.s.a.p., but it's really for manuscripts, not published books.