Grateful for E-Books

I’ve always wanted to be an author, and some time back I took a serious shot at it by submitting a manuscript to Harlequin/Silhouette. I fancied a future as a Special Edition author, like my favorite, Christine Rimmer. Long story short, that manuscript was rejected. But while I was waiting to hear back about it, a friend brought to my attention something called “a call for submissions” by an electronic publisher. They were looking for erotic short stories for a ménage anthology.

Well, I knew what an anthology was, but I’d never even read anything erotic, and ménage was a new term for me. A brief check of the internet quickly educated me. Two guys and a girl? Really? People are writing about this? Okay, I bet I could write one of those stories too. After a few false starts – and double checking to make sure no one in my family was reading over my shoulder – I finished my story and submitted it.

Much to my delight, that first short story was accepted for publication. I was off and running. I learned about editing and cover art and release dates. I learned about schmoozing with fellow e-book authors. I learned about twitter and Facebook and blogging and all the other marketing venues that authors are using these days. I rolled with the punches when reviews were less than perfect, and I celebrated when people had nice things to say.

I experienced all of that without waiting years in line to be a Harlequin author.

In the last ten months, I’ve had two other anthology shorts and two novellas published. I’ve experienced the thrill of my first fan mail and having a book on the Amazon best seller list (erotica).

So when the topic of gratitude came up, it was easy for me to get right to the heart of it: I’m so grateful for e-books. Because of the e-book industry, I’m living my dream without having to wait for one of those rare, rare author spots at Harlequin. The electronic publishing industry has not only opened the door for me and thousands of other deserving new authors, but has expanded the marketable genres and formats as well. Now there are publishers of all types of stories that never would have made it to print books, in story lengths starting at just a few hundred words. And that is cause for gratitude, both as a writer and as a reader.

Do you read or write a genre that wouldn’t be around today if it weren’t for e-books? I’d love to hear from you.

- Pepper
"Let's read something spicy!"