They’re probably one of the best success stories in the world of e-book publishing. Ellora’s Cave publishes romantica, mainstream fiction such as sci fi and mysteries under their Cerridwen Press, and under their Cerriden Cotillion line, traditional Regency Romances. Their Web site receives 50,000 hits a day and they sell 65,000 books a month. They’re the publishing home to 400 writers, many of who are award winning and/or bestselling authors. Plus, the Akron, Ohio based publisher is a recognized member of the Romance Writer’s of America. Here Raelene Gorlinsky, publisher with Ellora’s Cave offers us a glimpse of what sets them apart, what they look for in a writer and a glimpse of upcoming titles and anthologies.

Susan Palmquist (SP)-Why should a writer consider publishing their book with you? What do you think sets you apart from other publishers?

Raelene Gorlinsky (RG)-Because we’re the biggest and best, of course! J Our longevity and experience put us a step above in areas where publishers improve by doing. For example, our editorial staff is excellent, far above the norm in so many small or new publishers, which means author manuscripts get polished to be the best they can.

We actively pursue expanded publication opportunities for our authors. We work with publishers and agents in other countries to sell foreign translation rights—you can find EC books in French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Russian, and soon more countries and languages.

We work with Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) and other large print publishers to provide expanded visibility for our authors through NY distribution of reprints of their EC books.

SP-What type of reader will enjoy an Ellora's Cave book?

RG-Almost any reader who likes the sexual relationship to be integral to the romantic relationship, and wants that sex to be graphic and exciting. Our stories have various levels of sex (although all are explicit and graphic), and are in all genres—whatever a reader’s taste, they can find EC books they love.

The most successful genres have consistently been paranormal, vampire/shapeshifter and BDSM. Menage stories have been wildly popular for several years, and male/male has been the hottest fad for the last year.

SP-Your founder, Jaid Black, was one of the first writers to start the trend of the more sexually explicit romance novel. Why do you think readers are looking for more steamy content in romances now?

RG-As contradictory as it may sound, women want stories that are more realistic in their presentation of the sexual aspect of relationships AND that represent women’s sexual fantasies rather than reality. Our mothers’ generation had to hide both their real sexual interest and their sexual fantasies—that was just the expectation of women back then. Now women are a lot more open about what they like, what they want to try, plus what they enjoy fantasizing about even if they wouldn’t want it in reality. [Honestly, could any of us live with those obnoxiously uber-alpha heroes that are so popular in romances? And how many of us have bodies that are toned and flexible enough to get into some of those more esoteric sex positions?  ]

Jaid Black/Tina Keen was instrumental in saying ‘women will indeed read romances with explicit sex in them, women want those stories’. And she proved it with the success of her own books and Ellora’s Cave.

SP-If a writer wants to get an idea of what type of manuscript you're currently looking for, are there any particular authors or books you'd recommend they read to get a real feel of what makes an Ellora's Cave novel?

RG-That’s so dependent on genre and style. I’d suggest that aspiring authors read a number of our books, but especially of the genre in which they write. They’ll not only get a feel for what we publish, but also what “already done”. We want fresh, new stories, not clones of existing books—and unfortunately we do see too many submissions that are too closely patterned on published stories.

SP-Are there any instructional writing books you'd recommend authors read before submitting?

RG-GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Plot by Ansen Dibell

Rejection, Romance & Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer by Laura Resnick

If you write historicals, then you should have shelves and shelves (or e-readers full) of research books for your time period.

SP-Are you looking for any particular themes right now? Any anthologies coming up?

RG-We’re doing ‘food’ special theme series this year. This month (February) is Sweet – eight short stories or novellas about the sexy uses of candy. May is Succulent (fruits), August is Creamy (ice-cream type desserts), and November is Wet (beverages). Submissions are still open for the November series. We haven’t announced the 2010 special theme series, but will do so soon.

And of course we have our well-known Ellora’s Cavemen anthologies—four books of six stories each, released simultaneously in digital and print. Submissions are always open for this.

We’d like to beef up our list of erotic Regencies and erotic historicals.

Really good erotic urban fantasies would thrill me to death! The urban fantasies we see in submissions rarely qualify as “erotic”—the sex is not integrated into the story, is not a definitive element of a developing emotional/romantic relationship. A couple of explicit sex scenes tossed in do not qualify a book as “erotic romance”.

Our Author Information Packet, containing submission guidelines and call for submissions, can be downloaded from our website: http://www.jasminejade.com/.

SP-What are some the pet peeves of your editors? Anything that will get an instant rejection? Anything that will get an instant acceptance?

RG-A submission should be absolutely the writer’s very best work, polished to perfection, proofed and critiqued and self-editing dozens of times.

Poorly proofed submissions are instant rejects. Who wants an author who is too lazy or uncaring to make sure that there are no misspellings, typos, or grammar errors in her/his submitted manuscript? Proofing is the author’s job, not the editor’s.

Bad historical or factual accuracy is a killer. And for historicals, that includes inappropriate words/language for the time period.

There’s no such thing as “instant acceptance”—every submission will be scrutinized and evaluated. But we are favorably inclined toward authors who have obviously read and followed our submission guidelines, and who know how to write a clear, concise and appropriate cover letter.

Make sure your first sentence and first few paragraphs are so incredible that we can’t stop reading! Editors at all publishing houses agree that most submissions are rejected within a page or two.

SP-Any books or series readers should be looking forward to?

RG-We have several fun multiple-author series going on. Sexplorations by popular authors Sahara Kelly and Ciana Stone is a contemporary story a month this January through June. There are already several Hunters for Hire futuristic stories out, and more coming by a variety of authors. (That series is open for submissions.) The shapeshifter Altered States series is by four authors.

SP-E-books have experienced a bumpy ride, but seem to be gaining popularity? Where do you think publishing is headed, will e-books soon be the preferred format?

RE-I think it will be a while longer—probably a generation—before e-books are the preferred format for most readers. And print will never go away—the two formats will coexist, along with audio books and other new formats that may come along. But the tidal wave of e-reading is building. The Sony and Kindle e-readers were big boosts, but the availability of books for reading on cell phones is even more effective in getting people to read on a screen.

SP-Anything else you think both readers and writers would like to know about the company and your books.

RG-Our editors have a very informative and helpful blog, the blog archives contain a lot of articles about writing in general, writing romances, and good editorial advice.

Redlinesanddeadlines.blogspot.com 

ECPI has an open email address for comments or questions from readers or authors: Comments@ellorascave.com (But please don’t send submissions or queries there—those should go to Submissions@ellorascave.com after you’ve read our submission instructions.