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[Publisher] Loose Id

RedandGold

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Ok I will jump in and ask

I am sure that they are a legitimate e-publisher ( I have done some research) but I just wanted to ask in here if they are any good?

Has anyone got any tales to tell?

Thanks
 

KimJo

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I know some members of this board have published with them; if you check out the Erotic forum under Genres, you might find more information. And hopefully one or more of those members will stop by here to answer your question.
 

RedandGold

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Sorry the URL is:

http://www.loose-id.com/

My goal is to get my submission read in a timely manener, get published with no more headaches than is normal, and then get paid well and on time.

Beyond that I would love to hear about what other people have to say
 

JulesJones

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I've been with them since before they opened for business two and a half years ago. Note that the following is only my personal experience, but I have been very happy with them.

Payment is typically monthly and happens on time, for values of "on time" that include it slipping by a few days when the staff are all at Romance Times, etc. Sales through distributors are not paid until LI receives the money from the distributors, so for example Fictionwise payments are quarterly and a couple of months in arrears.

The editing is not as intensive as I would expect from a big NY publisher, but it happens, and it's good. (If my editor moved publisher I might well follow her...)

Cover art is generally good to excellent (this matters), you get some input, and they are responsive if you hate it. There's the occasional absolutely dire cover, but it's occasional, not routine.

My sales figures (all m/m books, mostly sf/fantasy) vary from a few hundred to several hundred copies. My last book came out nearly a year ago, and the general trend of sales has been up since then, so I would expect my book coming out next month to do significantly better than the previous one. There are people selling a lot more, and some selling less, but the house is popular with romance ebook readers. The editing and proof-reading have been mentioned by readers on mailing lists as reasons to favour the house when buying books. My backlist books all continue to sell several copies each month, even the ones that have been out for over two years now. These are small press numbers -- you will sell a lot more copies through one of the big New York houses. But they are good numbers for epublishing.

The current contract is initially two years, after which it automatically renews annually unless either party gives notice. There is a one year option for print rights (which if taken up also extends the ebook term), but they explicitly exclude anything not to do with book rights. They have first refusal on translation rights and further books in the series/universe.

It is primarily an ebook publisher. There is a print programme, but they do not intend to take all books to print. Do not assume your book will be available in print. There are no fees, and the last time I checked the contract they were responsible for copyright registration on print editions.

There are a couple of the EPIC red flags in the contract (including the automatic renewal unless you explicitly give notice), but not ones I personally have an issue with. I don't like the reversion clause for getting your right back during the term of the contract (it's restrictive and it involves a fee), but at least there is one, and you can always give notice that you won't be renewing the contract come annual renewal time.

I don't know what the current response time is for the slushpile, although I believe they're still managing within a month or so. Time from turning in a complete draft manuscript to publication varies (my novella and novel length ones have been anywhere from six weeks to six months), but is about to get longer to allow more flexibility in editing and proof-reading. It will still be significantly shorter than your typical print publisher. It's not first in, first out -- for example, my next two books will come out in reverse order, because the second one finished is a) themed to a specific date Real Soon Now, b) a lot shorter and thus a lot quicker to get through editing. So my editor's working on that one first.

You can see my books here:
http://www.loose-id.net/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=30

If you want to email me, feel free: [email protected]
 
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JulesJones

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Addendum: the url may be "loose-id.com", but the publisher name is Loose Id, not Loose-Id. Any chance of a mod changing the thread title?
 

veinglory

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Other similar publishers may publish quicker and insist on less editing, but in terms of quality or product, ease of process and sales they are clearly a market leader for erotic romance epublishing. I say that as a women sitting in a cyber cafe after just having banked her monthly royalty check. I particularly appreciate my editor there who has been with me from the beginning and has been a great resource to me. I have, to date, written 9 novellas and one short story for Loose Id and have no complaints. I will continue to write for them for as long as they will have me.
 

BarbaraSheridan

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My friend Anne and I have contracted three books to Loose ID, two novels and one short which they term a "Fling" . That short came out the beginning of the month so I can't answer anything sales wise, but Anne and I have been quite happy with the editing and the everything in general so far.
 

JulesJones

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One minor negative point -- the author discount on print editions is only a short discount, and to be honest probably not worth having.
 

Dragon-lady

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Won't load for me. Could be server problems on their end, of course.
 

Chumplet

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One of the girls in my critique group has published two books with them, and if her quality of writing is an indication, I think it's a great publisher to go with for e-books (my stuff is a little too tame).
 

BarbaraSheridan

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Loose-ID is a most excellent publisher. Very professional and on the ball and I love my editor to pieces. She always points out the little things that make me go "why didn't I think of that?"
 

madmumbler

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I've read several of their books and the quality is good. I subbed "Love & Brimstone" to them, they requested the full but then passed because it wasn't hot enough. *LOL* HOWEVER, they were VERY professional and sent me a nice personal note when they passed and invited me to sub other mss to them because they liked the quality of my writing.

They also have a very nice print ad in the July Romantic Times Book Reviews mag, two-page full color spread (which means they're doing some sales because those are exPENsive).

Because I'm calendrically (haha) challenged, I didn't realize Friday was the holiday last week (I know, I know) and I subbed a new query to them. I won't expect to hear back on that for a little while because of the holiday. (I had it fixed in my mind it was today for some stupid reason.)

I emailed with one of their authors and she indicated she's happy with them, so we'll see. The reports on Piers Anthony's site are overall positive. I'll update if/when I have more.
 

madmumbler

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Update - I actually DID receive a reply today on my sub, acknowledging receipt of it (a real person reply, not an auto-responder, because I was invited to sub directly to the person I'd dealt with before instead of the generic sub address).

So now the hard part - waiting. *LOL*
 

JulesJones

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For some sales numbers -- of my 15 titles to date at Loose Id, I have one title with over 1500 copies sold, and four more with over 1000 copies sold, one of which will probably hit 1500 this month. (OTOH, I also have one that failed miserably, with only 150 copies in its first six months. Even at a successful epub, titles occasionally sink without trace.)
 

davidhburton

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Loose Id, LLC

Hi all,

anyone know anything about this publisher? Couldn't find anything about them here, so hope I didn't miss it. They appear to do ebooks and trade paperback. I can see that their books are carried at Indigo up here in Canada, but none that are too recent.

P&E states: "a new, royalty paying e-publisher."

Anyone with experience with them?

Thanks!
David