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[Publisher] Ravenous Romance

DreamWeaver

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"Jovinius Markus Artinuous should have died at Thermopoly . . . "

Since the character is supposedly a Spartan wandering through time, I would have thought him to be a surrvivor of Thermopylae . . .

Am I being overly critical or is there some explanation of this that I have missed?

CXR
You're not being overly critical. It'd be nice if he had a Greek name instead of a Roman one, too. And a properly spelled one, at that.

But, hey, maybe *I'm* being too critical. Perhaps it was a reference to a cut-throat board game at a frat house toga party?
 

Irysangel

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I'd chalk up the Roman-name-for-a-Greek-guy as just an author 'miss'. Happens all the time. But misspelling Thermopylae? That's not only the author, but the editor (or excuse me, all THREE editors) missing the boat. And that is where it gets to be problematic, IMO. You want your editor to make you look good. If they're not going to, what's the point of going with them? You'd be better off self-pubbing through Amazon.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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You're not being overly critical. It'd be nice if he had a Greek name instead of a Roman one, too. And a properly spelled one, at that.

Or even a properly formed one.

Why do people write historicals set in eras and cultures about which they're bone-ignorant?
 

jennontheisland

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Or even a properly formed one.

Why do people write historicals set in eras and cultures about which they're bone-ignorant?

Especially when there's this thing called the internet that can be used for research.

That said, I can see a writer/editor purposefully mis-spelling names and places to make them a little easier on readers. That is a bit of a double edged sword though because not all readers want things dumbed down for them.
 

circlexranch

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Perhaps it was a reference to a cut-throat board game at a frat house toga party?

Now that would be some board game! Three hundred could play and nobody would win . . .

I agree, not only should that have never made it past an editor, my crit group would have skewered me for it before it even got that far.

As I said earlier, I like the website, I think it is naughty-cute and I am sure they have some fun stuff that is certainly reasonably priced. However, while I will cut a fun cheesy trinket like a souvenir a lot of slack regarding quality, I still expect the name of the place it is from to be spelled correctly.

CXR
 

IceCreamEmpress

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That said, I can see a writer/editor purposefully mis-spelling names and places to make them a little easier on readers.

I can see choosing "Marcus" over "Markos" for that reason. "Markus" is just plain wrong, though, as is "Artinuous".

Looking at the selection posted on the site, I will suggest that at best this was a very hastily written and edited effort.
 
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Unimportant

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Has anyone else experienced payment delays with RR?
 

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I sent in my invoice for a short story payment two months ago. As I didn't receive payment within the contractually specified 45 days, I queried and was told the person who processes payments has been out sick so they've not yet got to my invoice yet. I was wondering if this was a rare glitch, or is it something that's bound to happen regularly in small presses where there are limited staff who can cover for each other.
 

CaoPaux

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That sort of thing can happen with small presses, especially of the semi-volunteer variety, but ... is RR calling itself a small press now?
 

Irysangel

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Someone is out sick for more than 45 days and no one is covering for them? Or am I misunderstanding?
 

Selah March

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I write for Amber Quill -- most definitely a "small press." In the three years I've been with them, never once has a royalty report or check arrived late, nor have I heard tell of it happening to any other AQP author.

Then again, AQP doesn't ask its authors to invoice their work. I can only imagine that system adding another layer of complexity to the process.
 

mlhernandez

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Unimportant, I'd have to look through my records but I'm fairly certain my advance check arrived outside the forty-five days. I could be wrong. I'd go through my files but I'm too tired to drag my 38 week preggo bottom upstairs to dig through the cabinet.

For what it's worth, my short story earned me a $10 advance--and still hasn't earned out despite being released two quarters ago.
 

Fae Sutherland

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Unimportant, I'd have to look through my records but I'm fairly certain my advance check arrived outside the forty-five days. I could be wrong. I'd go through my files but I'm too tired to drag my 38 week preggo bottom upstairs to dig through the cabinet.

For what it's worth, my short story earned me a $10 advance--and still hasn't earned out despite being released two quarters ago.

*boggles* Holy...wow. Wow. :(
 

Selah March

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*boggles* Holy...wow. Wow. :(

My thoughts exactly.

I've had two or three short works that have sold poorly at a couple different small epublishers, but even after four years they sell better than that in any given quarter.

I'm sorry to hear it, ml. Live and learn, eh?
 

BarbaraSheridan

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For what it's worth, my short story earned me a $10 advance--and still hasn't earned out despite being released two quarters ago.

Is that a single title short or part of an anthology? Mine is in an anthology so the proceeds are divided 6 or 7 ways. I get a nickel or less per sale. I'm about 30 cents away from earning out that $10 advance. -_-

I don't know how single title work is faring.

My biggest gripe is that they still aren't indicating number of copies sold. They said their software doesn't calculate that way via the RR site sales but I know FW and ARe suppliy the exact figures. Those should have been on this recent statement.
 

CaoPaux

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My biggest gripe is that they still aren't indicating number of copies sold. They said their software doesn't calculate that way via the RR site sales but I know FW and ARe suppliy the exact figures. Those should have been on this recent statement.
Double *boggle*. That's all kinds of wrong.
 

victoriastrauss

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My biggest gripe is that they still aren't indicating number of copies sold. They said their software doesn't calculate that way via the RR site sales

How can that be? If they can't calculate the exact number of copies sold, how can they calculate royalties due?

I'm still boggled that authors must invoice for their payments.

- Victoria
 

nkkingston

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If one's negotiating the "full term of contract" part of the contract, what's a good length to go for? It's a short story in an anthology, so I'm not really expecting to earn out the $10 advance (though with the $:£ exchange rate I'm not going to see much more than pennies on an anthology story either way!). ETA: never mind, apparently the full term is non-negotiable for an anthology, because they want to keep it together in case of print sales and so on.
 
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BarbaraSheridan

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How can that be? If they can't calculate the exact number of copies sold, how can they calculate royalties due?

I'm still boggled that authors must invoice for their payments.

- Victoria

My thoughts exactly. They give you a total amount of sales figure. It works as long as you can go by x copies sold from website at whatever the selling price is. But thrid party site really gum up the calculation works.

The whole invoice thing was a pita.
 

mlhernandez

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Barbara, it was a short in an anthology; however, I've heard from authors who have single titles there who have sold the same number of copies, roughly 15-20. I'm not overly bummed about it since it was just a short story but from now I'll just continue to sell my shorts to Cleis where I get a nice check and copies of the books.

Ooh, and the royalty statements are a mess. I got two or three different statements after the first quarter before the figures were correct. This quarter I received one. I earned a total of $1.33. LOL. That's, like, a thousand times less than what I typically earn from EC on a new release.
 

Maryn

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Yeah. I never say 'never,' but I doubt I'll submit to them again, the hoops they make you leap through for your ten bucks. My husband is an attorney for a legal publisher, and their publishing contract--this is between lawyers writing articles for the use of other lawyers, remember--is about 20% the length of RR's. Having to invoice to get paid makes me question their general business acumen.

Maryn, thinking this probably wasn't the way to go
 

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Maryn, thinking this probably wasn't the way to go

Ditto. I did it because I greatly admire the editor of the anthology I subbed to, and because I wanted to see the RR contract and how they work. I got what I wanted: I sold a story to that editor I admire, and I've seen their contract and how they work.

I still greatly admire the editor.