Saturday, March 15, 2008

Romance Fiction Igniting Electronic Publishing

Curled up in bed with a good romance book lately? Chances are in the future your "book" will be an electronic reader with a screen and your "romance" may have alternative endings -- or even full-color graphics and music as found in eBooks released by Maryland-based publisher http://www.myromancestory.com/.

With the advent of the Sony "Reader Digital Book" and Amazon's "Kindle," readers now have the option of carrying around hundreds of books on a device no larger than a pocket book. And with romance publishers such as Harlequin, Ellora's Cave, MyRomanceStory.com and Samhain committed to loading titles on these devices, romance readers will never want for access to stories.

In the case of some of the publishers, such as Samhain and MyRomanceStory.com, the transition to the online reader is not a difficult one -- both offer their books almost exclusively electronically. And in the case of MyRomanceStory, illustrated graphic novellas enhance the readers' experience.

"There's something appealing about love scenes presented graphically, yet tastefully," remarks MyRomanceStory.com publisher, Patricia White.

Electronic publishers have long suffered from a dearth of big-name romance authors. With the crossover of well-known hard-copy authors, electronic publishers are no longer the stepchildren of the industry. Giant romance- fiction publisher Harlequin recently released erotic short stories exclusively in the eBook format.

"I believe in the ePublishing venue and what many of the publishers in that market are trying to do in the industry," explains bestselling author Lucy Monroe now available in eBooks.

Combining the romance novel with the graphic novel format is the latest intriguing entry into the market. The most prominent publisher in this arena is MyRomanceStory.com, a publisher "pushing the boundaries," according to Publishers Weekly.

Harlequin also releases some of its top romance authors in Manga.

"The advent of new technology always comes with some skepticism," says Lori James, CEO of All Romance eBooks. "People say that they enjoy holding a book. But at one point my father couldn't imagine giving up vinyl records in favor of CDs."

According to Media Post, web users spend 47% of their time online on content sites. Forbes.com reported that although eBooks accounted for less than 1% of the $24 billion US book market a year ago, romance fiction publishers are now uploading nearly all their books as soon as they are released.

MyRomanceStory.com is the premier online romance graphic novel publisher.

1 comment:

Angela James said...

Hi Brian, thanks so much for mentioning Samhain Publishing. We're very proud of what we're doing and hope that others catch on to our love of ebooks!

In the case of some of the publishers, such as Samhain and MyRomanceStory.com, the transition to the online reader is not a difficult one -- both offer their books almost exclusively electronically.

Samhain actually has a very successful print program and many of our books can be found both online and in bookstores.