E-Publishing: What's in it for Me? 

By Cheryl Bolen
(Published in Happily Ever After in 1999)

I have to say I was most skeptical about relinquishing my novel to an e-publisher. I couldn't bear to think of the book I had researched for three long years dying in cyberspace.  But I bit the bullet and signed the contract last spring, and now my first e-book, Nisei, will be published in February by StarlightWriters Publications.

What persuaded me? First, I only gave up my e-rights. I was able to retain all other rights.  Second, my contract gave them the rights to my book for only one year. Third, no romance houses--many of whom praised Nisei--are currently publishing World War II romances.

For these reasons, it was a win-win situation.

Though e-publishers do not pay advances, they pay generous royalties. Starlight will pay 35 percent royalties to authors.  (Harlequin paid me 6 percent.) Of course, I realize the number of people downloading my book will be miniscule compared to the 90,000 who bought my Harlequin.

Which brings up the question How do I read an e-book?

How to read an e-book.

1. You can download the book to your computer for a charge averaging $4.Then you can read it off your screen or print and read. I had to edit my book via the computer (with no pages, which was kind of weird) and protested wildly at first. But I have to admit it wasn't bad at all.In fact, as far as editing goes, it's really great.

2. You can buy the book on disc or CD, which to my way of thinking, is just like number 1.

3. You can read it on a hand-held e-book reader. There's the Millenium Reader, the Palm pilot and the Rocket E-Book Reader, which is the most popular.

Hand-held readers

Last year the Rocket cost $500.Now it's available on the internet for about $280. Other manufacturers' e-readers are available cheaper but don't have as many features as the Rocket.I realize this is a lot of money and few of us will rush out to buy one. But this is really the way to go. You can load up to 10 books on one of these babies.

One of the biggest advantages of a hand-held reader is for the sight-challenged individual. Font size can be increased, and the backlight allows reading in total darkness--with no pages to turn!

An entire book downloads in two minutes. Once you've read it, Rocket will store the book until you desire it for future use.

The publishers

Among the reputable e-houses which publish romance are Hard Shell Word Factory, New Concepts, Awe Struck and Starlight.These are NOT vanity presses and pay royalties. At Starlight, books have editors and copy editors, cover artists and a computer guru guy. Believe me, those who say e-pubs have no expenses don't realize all the work that goes into the production of an e-book.

Is it "As good as"?

Many of the e-books are as well written as print books. One has only to pick up an issue of Romantic Times to see and compare the ratings. There are many e-books garnering 4-star reviews.

Texas author Kristi Goldberg, a two-time Golden Heart finalist, published one of her GH books (A Time to Heal) with Starlight because it didn't find a home in romance publishing. Like my e-book, it didn't slot in one of the existing niches.

This year's Golden Heart winner Grace Ann Kone is also publishing her book Tarleton't Wife with Starlight.

By the same token, go to the e-publishers' sites and read excerpts from some of the e-books and you'll see a disparity in quality. You'll see some pretty amateurish stuff with incorrect punctuation.

Though the publishers hire editors, these editors are not necessarily well qualified. Positions at these houses are sort of incestuous.

Which brings up another subject. Most of the e-publishing houses were founded by writers creating a home for their work which couldn't be published elsewhere.

This detracts from the credibility, yet it isn't all bad. In a market as brutal as today's romance market, any new outlet is welcome.