How many baskets should you put your eggs in?

Recently I did a chat for a local romance writer's group which ended up being attended by more people than I'd envisaged. It was fun, and I was able to answer lots of questions which were e-mailed to me in advance. However, on the night several people wanted to know whether it's better to publish with only one or two publishers, or to spread those 'eggs' into as many baskets as possible. This, because I mentioned that e-publishers spring up all the time and many, sadly, do not make it past a year or two. Or they self-combust leaving writers in a very bad place (e.g.Noble Romance). I wasn't able to answer this eggs and baskets question very well, being newly published (two different pubs but it's early days). In March I'm doing another, bigger talk about e-publishing in general and this question might arise again. I'd greatly appreciate any perspective about pros and cons of sticking with one/two houses or spreading books to five/six...more? Seems like it would be awfully complicated, what with different author loops, expectations to write more for each house to build the brand, etc. But maybe I'm wrong?
Thanks for the help!

Yeah, I lean toward that feeling myself, but I want to give a rounded view. Also, I've seen a few author names I recognise published with, for example: Carina, Samhain, Loose Id AND Liquid Silver, plus one (I think) is also published with Siren. Makes me wonder if people shop books around that way bc their main' publisher didn't accept the new ms, or it was a genre change...or something. Happened to me (main pub didn't want my science fiction romance), so I sold my book elsewhere--and I guess I'd do the same if my next novel gets rejected. Maybe certain publishers are better at selling certain types of book and that's why people spread the love? If I wrote menage under a different pen name, for example, I'd submit to Siren bc they have an excellent record (apparently) with that genre. But I'm not sure what to tell people about spreading themselves around different publishers. I get the feeeling nothing is 'safe' in publishing, with even houses like EC steeped in problems and e-imprints of Big Five not doing so well. So maybe there's a good argument for writing for five or six publishers?

Becky Black said:

I've got stories with three different ones. I'd think once you get up to five or six it's going to be a bit of a pain just with the admin!

While there is a little bit of not putting all the eggs in one basket and just waiting to see what it was like to work with different publishers, for me the main reason has been due to writing some things that don't fit what my main novel publisher requires - maybe too short, not erotic, and one that's due out in a few months that's not a romance because of no HEA. With that one the number of markets for it was limited, so I had to be open minded about where I would send it.

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That makes sense and I would--and am--doing the same. My pub doesn't take word counts under 35K so I'll find another one when I'm ready to publish a novella I wrote recently. (I'm on a submission break at the mo') But I wonder if deliberately placing books with similar houses is something I should warn people away from for a good reason, or just comment that yes, do what you want, but be aware of the admin/time-management/expectations.

Thanks you, lovely responders! And thanks for the Scalzi 2010 link (good insight into other revenue streams, eye-opening). Your responses have given me great insight into possibilities and pitfalls or writing for many houses. Personal choice, circumstances, pairing,sub-genre,word count--and unfortunately on whether a publishing house stays in business! I hadn't thought much about the eggs-in-basket question until it was asked at my chat, though I probably should have done a Cathy C. and weighed/balanced/planned a while back. At the moment I'm not even a fish, more like a tadpole. LOL. When I wrote something my publisher didn't want I was thinking more of selling my new book than whether I'd be spreading myself thin (or even whether the house that offered was a good 'fit'.) In my case, dealing with the editing/promo at a different house whilst also editing/promoing something for my other publisher was very stressful, but after the books were out it was fine. TBH

Hmm, other than the juggling of admin/author loops at different houses, and not building author brand at one house it doesn't seem as though there's a fundamental disadvantage or warning to give people regarding placing their stories at different houses.

Thanks for you insights and experiences. Romance forum rocks!