/24-7PressRelease/ - February 22, 2008 - Curled up in bed with a good romance book lately? Chances are in the future your "book" will be an electronic reader with a screen and your "romance" may have alternative endings—or even full-color graphics and music as found in eBooks released by Maryland-based publisher MyRomanceStory.com!
With the advent of the Sony "Reader Digital Book" and Amazon's "Kindle," readers now have the option to carry around hundreds of books on a device no larger than a pocket book. And with romance publishers such as Harlequin, Ellora's Cave, MyRomanceStory.com and Samhain committed to loading titles on these devices, romance readers will never want for access to stories that appeal to their desire for romance fiction.
In the case of some of the publishers, such as Samhain and MyRomanceStory, the transition to the online reader is not a difficult one—both offer their books almost exclusively electronically. The genres range from inspirational to erotica. And in the case of MyRomanceStory, beautifully illustrated graphic novellas backed by original music enhance the readers' experience while they visually and audibly enjoy simmering love scenes.
"There's something appealing about love scenes that still leave something to the imagination, yet present sexual scenarios that movies have difficulty achieving tastefully," remarks MyRomanceStory.com publisher Patricia White. "It's probably the 'romance' factor that's so hard to capture."
For a long time electronic publishers suffered from a dearth of big-name romance authors. With the crossover of well-known hard-copy authors, electronic publishers are no longer the stepchildren of the industry. Giant romance-fiction publisher Harlequin recently released erotic short stories exclusively in the eBook format. Hard-copy writers are increasingly making the transition to electronic publishing. Bestselling author Lucy Monroe released two books recently: one with Kensington Brava and the other in Harlequin Presents.
"I believe in the ePublishing venue and what many of the publishers in that market are trying to do in the industry," Monroe explains. "I'm also pleased that two of my big publishers are releasing all of my print books as eBooks as well!"
Combining the romance novel with the graphic novel format is the latest intriguing entry into the market. Harlequin has committed to release some of its well-known romance authors in the Manga format.
The most prominent publisher and reviewer of graphic romance novels is MyRomanceStory.com, a publisher "pushing the boundaries," according to a recent Publishers Weekly article.
"We are one of the few companies that decided to focus on this area, and we welcome others who present this product. So we review their work as often as we can," says MyRomanceStory's White.
Other well-known fiction writers who now write graphic novels include Christine Feehan (whose Dark Hunger has some 85,000 copies in print, according to Publisher's Weekly), while Marvel is publishing Stephen King's Dark Tower and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake.
The electronic bookstore phenomenon is also driving the need for romance fiction eBooks. The latest bookstore on the scene is All Romance eBooks, recently voted the "Best Book Store of 2007" via the Preditors and Editors readers poll hosted by Anotherealm magazine.
"The advent of new technology always comes with some skepticism," says Lori James, Chief Operating Officer of All Romance eBooks. "I still hear people say that they enjoy holding a book and that they can't imagine not feeling the pages. But at one point my father couldn't imagine giving up the sound of vinyl records in favor of CDs and my mother couldn't imagine pumping her own gas. Now at the age of seventy my mom not only pumps her own gas, she's a fan of eBooks!"
According to Media Post, web users spend 47% of their time online on content sites, which include fiction, and news sites. Forbes.com reported that although eBooks accounted for less than 1% of the $24 billion US book market (American Association of Publishers) a year ago, most mainstream publishers of romance fiction are now uploading nearly all their books as soon as they are released in print.
With the advent of the handheld electronic reader, there can only be more room for growth.
About MyRomanceStory.com
MyRomanceStory.com is the premier online romance graphic novel publisher whose stories are read in more than 120 countries worldwide. The site offers different novels in English and Spanish each day, lifestyle columns, reviews, blogs and online shopping of interest to women.
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