I’ve suspected this was coming for some time: yesterday, some of New York Times Bestselling Author Laurann Dohner’s titles are no longer available from Ellora’s Cave. The only plausible explanation for same is that the titles have reverted.
Because Laurann Dohner has been the only bestselling author for Ellora’s Cave (to hit the national lists in recent years), this really does signal that Laurann’s time there is coming to a close. The only question is how long it’ll take for her other titles—no doubt still earning significant money for both Ellora’s Cave and the author—to revert.
The reverted titles are, in alphabetical order:
- Claws and Fangs
- Lacey and Lethal
- Mine to Chase
- Propositioning Mr. Raine
- Raine on Me
- Something Wicked This Way Comes Volume 1 (an anthology with one of Laurann’s stories)
- Something Wicked This Way Comes Volume 2 (an anthology with one of Laurann’s stories)
I find the anthology reversions fascinating because of some of what Ellora’s Cave authors have been told in the past, e.g.:
@deirdresm @charmedozarks EC told me they don't return rights for anthologies
— reginacarlysle (@reginacarlysle) November 14, 2015
Update: Laurann has said that she will be reissuing these titles.
What Will Become of These Titles?
While Ms. Dohner’s site hasn’t been updated with new publishing information (or a blog post), if you’re interested in those titles, the best place to keep up with her new releases is to check her web site or her author page on Facebook.
In Other News….
Laurann’s first indie book, Drantos has been doing well. She’s just announced that it’s now available in paperback for those of you who prefer tree books.
The highest ranking I’ve seen for this book is #123, but I know it hovered in between 100 and 200 overall ranking for its first week, at least when I checked. Also interesting: many authors have reported that a new book bumped up sales of their Ellora’s Cave titles, too. That bump is reported to be the reason Lolita Lopez went dark for several months. In Ms. Dohner’s case, it looked like her EC book sales ranks held but neither increased nor decreased.
Also: Amber Quill Press & Samhain News
Amber Quill Press has announced that they are shutting down effective March 31, 2016. All rights will revert to authors by that date. Apparently, they too were struggling with the recent market changes. However, their web site hasn’t been updated to reflect their closing date. For a sense of the size of Amber Quill, they have almost 1600 books listed on All Romance Ebooks, making them smaller than Ellora’s Cave (3500 books) or Samhain (2700 books). They’re also smaller than Siren. I wish all Amber Quill staff and authors the best. If you’ve purchased titles directly from Amber Quill, now would be a good time to ensure you have backups of everything so you don’t lose your library.
Samhain, meanwhile, has announced that they’ll be becoming a virtual company in May as they won’t be renewing their office space. Submissions are currently closed except for current authors. I think it makes sense to reduce overhead costs in a competitive market like this, and hope that these changes really help Samhain to be stronger. I’ll have another post about Samhain (tomorrow or Monday) and it’ll invite people to discuss their favorite books and authors.
Good for Laurann. Hope you enjoys much continued success.
Sorry to see that Samhain is struggling and that Amber Quill has decided to bow out. In my opinion, there is a real place for small pubs for niche markets but rapid changes in publishing have created a very unstable overall book market. At least they are attempting to make changes while still honoring their obligations.
Samhain authors and I have had a long (albeit platonic love affair). My list of “favorite” Samhain titles probably stretches to the hundreds.
I love Samhain. While it sounds as politics ridden on the inside as the average company comprised of humans, their product quality is great.
Encouraging news for Dohner fans, especially new ones like me. I enjoyed Drantos—it was my first LD purchase—but was reluctant to pursue her backlist. If she reissues, it’ll be clear sailing.
I can’t wait for them all to come back out under her own brand.
I was also waiting for something like this to happen between Ellora’s Cave and Laurann Dohner. I hope they don’t give her any trouble.
I think she’ll be just fine. Her most recent title’s doing well, and she’ll have another out in a few weeks.
Plus, she’ll be reissuing the older books, too.
I’m glad to hear that. I read Drantos and enjoyed it. I look forward to more from that supernatural world. I’ve read all but 2 or 3 of Laurann’s books. I think I enjoy them because her characters are always kind even when they think badly of themselves. It makes me think the author must also be kind for that to show through.
She does strike me as a kind person.
Another day, another author not being paid…
http://thedecadentdivas.blogspot.com/
Here’s a more exact link for later when that post scrolls off the first page.
I saw EC assert that it wasn’t their responsibility to keep track of customer’s past orders, and that they shouldn’t be blamed for inability to back up libraries of their books. Geesh.
However, you’d think they’d at least be able to keep records of $50 gift cards…but apparently not. I saw this comment posted on Jennifer Kacey’s blog. http://tinyurl.com/hz9ztjn
t’irla Barbara KuhlJanuary 9, 2016 at 11:07 AM
I feel for you and other writers…this is a disgrace! I actually had an EC gift card….low and behold they changed their computer system and can’t find the 50.00 card any longer….gosh what a surprise. I wish you and all the other EC former authors luck…and hope you reign supreme in this fight for yours.
If it ever comes out definitively with supporting evidence in a case that the losing of customer libraries—and now gift cards—wasn’t deliberate, I’ll likely actually eat my hat.
http://hipiers.com/publishing.html#E1
January 2016 update: this time there’s a new wrinkle: EC changed an author’s email and street addresses to fictional ones, and sent the royalties there. When they weren’t claimed, unsurprisingly, they took them back, screwing the author out of them. It seems to be impossible to get hold of anyone at EC to resolve such issues, and those who try too hard to get what they are owed may suffer retaliation that prevents them from ever getting their rights back. I say yet again: beware. This publisher is going down ugly.
When Piers Anthony’s saying to avoid a company…well, let’s say he’s got quite an extensive publishing history. I’m sure he’s got stories.