Author Topic: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions  (Read 9649 times)

Vidya

Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« on: October 08, 2018, 11:01:54 AM »
Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors as of the first of next year to new submissions. Yet another small publisher who can’t make a profit at a time when Amazon is soaking up all the profits and offering books so cheap through KU that no one could compete:

Dear Authors,

I am writing this with a heavy heart, but I can’t put it off any longer.

Excessica is closing to all submissions starting in 2019. This includes current authors. (Fido, our sister non-erotic site, will be closing to submissions as well).

Unfortunately, due to the market decline, Excessica has become less and less viable as a business model. So many small e-publishers have closed down over the past five years, and I’ve watched all of them fold with a sense of sadness and some dread.

I knew this day might be coming for us.

I’ve crunched the numbers again and again and I always come to the same place. Adding the burden of new books releasing every week, without enough of a return to continue to afford the accounting and clerical effort to process them, isn’t feasible anymore.

We will continue to maintain the books we do have, and payment will continue as usual. As always, we have non-exclusive rights, so the books are yours to do with as you like. If any of you want your rights reverted, you just have to ask.

I want to thank all of you for trusting me with your books over the years. I have been honored to know and work with all of you. While it saddens me to have to make this decision, I will still be here, keeping Excessica alive, in the hopes that at some point, the direction of the wind will change, and I may be able to open submissions once again.

With deepest regret,

Selena

***

I didn't put this in the Steam Room because it's not specifically about erotica. My comment is more about the viability of small e-publishers today.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2018, 06:46:26 AM by Paisleyskye »
 
The following users thanked this post: MelanieMRodriguez, LMareeApps

okey dokey

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2018, 11:14:40 AM »
Selena's writing talent and work ethic has been a guiding light in the indie world.
I wish her the best.
 

TimothyEllis

  • Forum Owner
  • Administrator
  • Series unlocked
  • ******
  • Posts: 6437
  • Thanked: 2509 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Earth Galaxy core, 2618
    • The Hunter Imperium Universe
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2018, 11:17:58 AM »
First, steam room is for romance. Fig Leaf is for erotica.

I really dont get this:

Quote
due to the market decline

There is no market decline. Ebooks are booming.

I know little about these small publishers, but I cant see it being much different to them than it is for us single authors.

Sad fact is, if you dont market aggressively these days, which means spending money, you get left behind. It means launching a book with an AMS ad in place the moment the url is live. It means growing an email list, so you launch to as many interested people as possible.

What people complaining about a decline really means is, they stopped paying attention to the 6 month change cycle and got left behind.

A business model in ebooks has to be flexible, and has to change every time Amazon makes a change.

The days of putting a book out there and it sinks or swims on its own merits are gone (at least for now). You have to launch a book. Get that wrong, and forget it.

The market isn't declining, the role of those who just do the work for an author putting books out, instead of the author doing it themselves, has fallen by the wayside. You cant just 'put a book out' anymore. Not and expect it to perform.

What is declining is the Trad model. If the small publishers continue with this model, they will all eventually fail. It's not a matter of work ethic, or even hard work put in. Its a matter of doing the right work to effectively launch books.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



Timothy Ellis Kindle Author page. | Join the Hunter Legacy mailing list | The Hunter Imperium Universe on Facebook. | Forum Promo Page.
 
The following users thanked this post: Eric Thomson

Vidya

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2018, 11:22:55 AM »
Good points, Tim. I don't write erotica but I’ve read authors say it’s very different from a few years ago. It’s now very difficult to make a living writing erotica. I still suspect most publishers cant compete with how cheap it is to get books through KU.
 

Simon Haynes

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2018, 11:47:36 AM »
Good points, Tim. I don't write erotica but I’ve read authors say it’s very different from a few years ago. It’s now very difficult to make a living writing erotica. I still suspect most publishers cant compete with how cheap it is to get books through KU.


I think your point about KU is valid. When I look at the top 100 in SF, along with most of the sub-genres, just about every title is in Select.

I prefer to be wide, since I write in a niche with not much in the way of competition. But facing that avalanche of 'almost-free' books in some categories is daunting.
 

guest116

  • Guest
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2018, 12:10:42 PM »
I think the decline in the market Selena was talking about was the market for erotica shorts, which is what Excessica publishes. When KU 2.0 reared its ugly head it became almost impossible for an erotica author to make a living on erotica shorts alone. A lot of authors switched gears and started writing romance, mystery, scifi, and several other genres instead.

I understand that her business has nothing to do with KU. I'm just stating that when that happened, many authors left erotica behind and stopped publishing it altogether. With fewer authors writing erotica and publishing through Excessica, revenues probably slowed down considerably.

I also realize anyone who published through her company was publishing wide - but that's another thing - as more and more wide retailers stopped accepting erotica or anything they deemed inappropriate, authors moved on to the next best thing - finding a genre they could excel in to bring their incomes back up. Excessica still published everything other retailers wouldn't take, but a decline in authors and ebooks means a decline in revenues.

Sure, you can still make money in erotica, but it isn't the market it used to be. What used to net you excessive amounts of money each month, now equates to a couple hundred dollars. There definitely aren't the sales there used to be. I'm not saying there's no market there now - I'm just saying it's not anything like it used to be and it's a lot harder to make money doing that alone.

I have nothing but love and respect for Selena, who is also a member here by the way. She might be closing the doors of her publishing company, but she's still a star and a huge seller. I think a movie was filmed about one of her books just last year. I wish her the best in all of her endeavors going forward and hope her sales continue to soar well into the future. All the best.
 
The following users thanked this post: feste

TimothyEllis

  • Forum Owner
  • Administrator
  • Series unlocked
  • ******
  • Posts: 6437
  • Thanked: 2509 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Earth Galaxy core, 2618
    • The Hunter Imperium Universe
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2018, 12:24:40 PM »
What I keep coming back to, is launching.

We dont have a decent launch marketing mechanism. All the promo sites are focused on free and cheap. My focus is on whats new, and nothing feeds me adequately.

I get the problems with erotica, and they are worse than for the rest of us, but still come down to the same problem. How do you get a new book in front of the people who would read it if they knew about it?

I have ideas, but no skills. I need a website builder with experience with bulk emails, and I need an app developer. Preferably both in the same person.

Problem is, authors I've talked to about this sort of thing just put the ideas down. But all I see is a narrow focus on free and cheap promotions, and I see this as counter productive.

Anyway, putting it out there.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



Timothy Ellis Kindle Author page. | Join the Hunter Legacy mailing list | The Hunter Imperium Universe on Facebook. | Forum Promo Page.
 

LMareeApps

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2018, 01:06:36 PM »
This appears to be about Excessica - the publishing house, not Excitica - the retail site.

I suspect the 'decline' is more in line with the fact that these days there are so many readily available resources for people to self-publish. The small independent publishers like Excessica are being squeezed out as there's very little they can offer that the individual author can't easily do themselves these days.  As the original message said, quite a lot of the independent publishers have already gone.  Some went with very little notice to authors, so it's very admirable that Excessica are taking such a transparent approach to closure.
Genres: Romance and Erotica
 
The following users thanked this post: MelanieMRodriguez

Vidya

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2018, 02:44:30 PM »
What I keep coming back to, is launching.

We dont have a decent launch marketing mechanism. All the promo sites are focused on free and cheap. My focus is on whats new, and nothing feeds me adequately.

I get the problems with erotica, and they are worse than for the rest of us, but still come down to the same problem. How do you get a new book in front of the people who would read it if they knew about it?

I have ideas, but no skills. I need a website builder with experience with bulk emails, and I need an app developer. Preferably both in the same person.

Problem is, authors I've talked to about this sort of thing just put the ideas down. But all I see is a narrow focus on free and cheap promotions, and I see this as counter productive.

Anyway, putting it out there.

Tim, why don't you tell us about these ideas. maybe start another thread if that's best. I'm interested in figuring out a way authors can combine and work together to get more visibility and perhaps bypass Zon.
 
The following users thanked this post: Ace Fletcher

Jo

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2018, 06:34:50 PM »
Hi,

is it certain that eXcitia won't fold alongside Excessica? From the website:

Quote
...eXcitica is a subsidiary of Excessica publishing LLC...

What erotica, dark romance and erotic romance authors need is a dependable, neutral retailer. Someone readers of those genres will turn to like romance readers used to frequent ARe. Something like Smashwords, only with lesser restrictions, no ulterior distribution and accessible payment methods for both customers and authors including Paypal, CC and bank deposits. Someone who draws the line at what is actually forbidden to publish rather than dictated by some preemptive obedience.

I believe a lot of erotica and romance authors would pay a more substantial percentage for that than to Amazon and other retailers, if they could publish what their fans want. Fanfiction portals like Archiveofourown or sites like Nifty manage to post such stories for free, but that doesn't prevent the occasional legal hassle and they deal with it using donations only.
Jo
 

LMareeApps

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2018, 06:57:52 PM »
Hi,

is it certain that eXcitia won't fold alongside Excessica? From the website:

Quote
...eXcitica is a subsidiary of Excessica publishing LLC...

What erotica, dark romance and erotic romance authors need is a dependable, neutral retailer. Someone readers of those genres will turn to like romance readers used to frequent ARe. Something like Smashwords, only with lesser restrictions, no ulterior distribution and accessible payment methods for both customers and authors including Paypal, CC and bank deposits. Someone who draws the line at what is actually forbidden to publish rather than dictated by some preemptive obedience.

I believe a lot of erotica and romance authors would pay a more substantial percentage for that than to Amazon and other retailers, if they could publish what their fans want. Fanfiction portals like Archiveofourown or sites like Nifty manage to post such stories for free, but that doesn't prevent the occasional legal hassle and they deal with it using donations only.


I don't know how it will affect Excitica - or the advertising/newsletter platforms - Excite Spice an Excite Steam.  I just wanted to draw the distinction, as the email appeared to be referring to the Publisher arm.

I think the challenge any new sales platform for Romance/Erotica will have is overcoming the residual hesitency of those burned by All Romance ebooks.  That situation left a lot of authors out of a lot of money, and with a lot of distrust.  I don't mean to say a new sales platform has no chance, but I think there would need to be considerably more transparency to convince people to jump onboard.
Genres: Romance and Erotica
 

Jo

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2018, 07:10:15 PM »
Hi.

perhaps a community driven effort? Like Archiveofourown.org? I don't know, but at the moment being someone who writes erotic content of any sort is particularly tiresome. Income could and would be better without the typical restrictions and problems as well.
Jo
 
The following users thanked this post: HSh

LMareeApps

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2018, 07:12:46 PM »
Hi.

perhaps a community driven effort? Like Archiveofourown.org? I don't know, but at the moment being someone who writes erotic content of any sort is particularly tiresome. Income could and would be better without the typical restrictions and problems as well.

I guess if Excitica does go, Lot's Cave and Smashwords will pick up the slack.  I saw another one mentioned the other day in a forum but I haven't had a chance to look it up, and I can't remember the exact name now. Something like A1Adult???
Genres: Romance and Erotica
 

Jo

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2018, 07:29:28 PM »
I guess if Excitica does go, Lot's Cave and Smashwords will pick up the slack.  I saw another one mentioned the other day in a forum but I haven't had a chance to look it up, and I can't remember the exact name now. Something like A1Adult???

Yes, that's an adult ebooks retailer at https://www.a1adultebooks.com/. Unfortunately his ToS are no different than those of non-adult retailers:

Quote
Cited from https://www.a1adultebooks.com/publishing/idxnews.htm

LATEST NEWS

This page was updated September 2018

WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

Please note you must not include any links or make mention in your books or author profiles to any other site
including Amazon, Smashwords, Facebook, Twitter, Barnes & Noble etc
unless you are a registered publisher with us (not self-publishing author) when you are allowed to
include a link back to your own authenticated publishing site.
We have made this change as most sites now do not like authors linking to other sites in their books.

Our contact point for all authors and publishers has changed to: admin@a1adultebooks.com

For adult fiction stories the content rules are as follows:

YOU MAY NOT PUBLISH STORIES ON OUR SITE IF:
1) the story is mainly written in any language other than English (you may include the odd sentence in another language provided it is likely to be understood by the majority of readers.)
2) the story contains any sexual activity that mentions or involves minors (under 18s) even if they are simply "around"
3) the story contains any sexual activity involving animals, corpses, rape, snuff, smothering, scat, permanent injury or permanent modification
4) the story contains any illustrations (pictures, images, hentai etc) except for the cover image which must NOT depict any graphic sexual act or exposed genitals
5) the story is to do with incest - (pseudo incest is permitted if you avoid words that imply incest themes such as Family, Daddy, Mummy, Son, Daughter, in titles, blurbs, extracts or stories. Be careful to always mention these as step-daddy etc.)

Our card processors can now scan the actual stories so PLEASE for all our sakes take care! P.I. Stories must make it clear that all sexual scenes are between non-blood-relations i.e. step-relations.


With the exception of one of these points all the rest are not illegal at all.

I'm not sure whether this discussion wouldn't belong into the Fig Leaf subforum?
Jo
 

guest215

  • Guest
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2018, 08:35:24 PM »
What I keep coming back to, is launching.

We dont have a decent launch marketing mechanism. All the promo sites are focused on free and cheap. My focus is on whats new, and nothing feeds me adequately.


Agree. I don't like the permafree .99 first-in-series strategy, or the launching at .99 strategy, or the entire-series-megasale strategy. They're all a race to the bottom, and they best suit book mills that don't have that much invested (relatively) on any single title.

I think there's an opportunity to service prolific readers of hot genres by showing them what's new (and full price). Particularly people who use KU. They tend to go through so much reading material that they sometimes forget what they have or haven't read.
 

ragdoll

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2018, 12:23:37 AM »
Where is Selena's announcement publicly posted? The excessica site only mentions being closed to submissions.
 
The following users thanked this post: VLCooke

TimothyEllis

  • Forum Owner
  • Administrator
  • Series unlocked
  • ******
  • Posts: 6437
  • Thanked: 2509 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Earth Galaxy core, 2618
    • The Hunter Imperium Universe
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2018, 12:36:04 AM »
Where is Selena's announcement publicly posted? The excessica site only mentions being closed to submissions.

This is public.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



Timothy Ellis Kindle Author page. | Join the Hunter Legacy mailing list | The Hunter Imperium Universe on Facebook. | Forum Promo Page.
 

ragdoll

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2018, 04:01:47 AM »
Where is Selena's announcement publicly posted? The excessica site only mentions being closed to submissions.

This is public.

I mean where did Selena publicly post?
 

WriteOn

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2018, 05:32:53 AM »
Is this the same Selena Kitt who was on kboards. If she is who I'm thinking she is, she is often giving great advice. And isn't she super successful?
 

guest116

  • Guest
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2018, 05:51:24 AM »
Is this the same Selena Kitt who was on kboards. If she is who I'm thinking she is, she is often giving great advice. And isn't she super successful?

Yes, it's the same Selena. She's awesome.
 

She-la-te-da

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2018, 06:18:52 AM »
Sorry to hear it, but not really surprised. Selena is a great person, and I wish the best for her and her family.
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

Max

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2018, 06:25:41 AM »
The title of the thread is a bit misleading. They are NOT closing doors. They're closing to new submissions.
The last of the email even states that it will be kept alive in the hopes of opening to submissions again.




Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors as of the first of next year to new submissions. Yet another small publisher who can’t make a profit at a time when Amazon is soaking up all the profits and offering books so cheap through KU that no one could compete:

Dear Authors,

I am writing this with a heavy heart, but I can’t put it off any longer.

Excessica is closing to all submissions starting in 2019. This includes current authors. (Fido, our sister non-erotic site, will be closing to submissions as well).

Unfortunately, due to the market decline, Excessica has become less and less viable as a business model. So many small e-publishers have closed down over the past five years, and I’ve watched all of them fold with a sense of sadness and some dread.

I knew this day might be coming for us.

I’ve crunched the numbers again and again and I always come to the same place. Adding the burden of new books releasing every week, without enough of a return to continue to afford the accounting and clerical effort to process them, isn’t feasible anymore.

We will continue to maintain the books we do have, and payment will continue as usual. As always, we have non-exclusive rights, so the books are yours to do with as you like. If any of you want your rights reverted, you just have to ask.

I want to thank all of you for trusting me with your books over the years. I have been honored to know and work with all of you. While it saddens me to have to make this decision, I will still be here, keeping Excessica alive, in the hopes that at some point, the direction of the wind will change, and I may be able to open submissions once again.

With deepest regret,

Selena

***

I didn't put this in the Steam Room because it's not specifically about erotica. My comment is more about the viability of small e-publishers today.

 
The following users thanked this post: RPatton

RPatton

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors to new submissions
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2018, 07:17:50 AM »
The title of the thread is a bit misleading. They are NOT closing doors. They're closing to new submissions.
The last of the email even states that it will be kept alive in the hopes of opening to submissions again.




Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors as of the first of next year to new submissions. Yet another small publisher who can’t make a profit at a time when Amazon is soaking up all the profits and offering books so cheap through KU that no one could compete:

Dear Authors,

I am writing this with a heavy heart, but I can’t put it off any longer.

Excessica is closing to all submissions starting in 2019. This includes current authors. (Fido, our sister non-erotic site, will be closing to submissions as well).

Unfortunately, due to the market decline, Excessica has become less and less viable as a business model. So many small e-publishers have closed down over the past five years, and I’ve watched all of them fold with a sense of sadness and some dread.

I knew this day might be coming for us.

I’ve crunched the numbers again and again and I always come to the same place. Adding the burden of new books releasing every week, without enough of a return to continue to afford the accounting and clerical effort to process them, isn’t feasible anymore.

We will continue to maintain the books we do have, and payment will continue as usual. As always, we have non-exclusive rights, so the books are yours to do with as you like. If any of you want your rights reverted, you just have to ask.

I want to thank all of you for trusting me with your books over the years. I have been honored to know and work with all of you. While it saddens me to have to make this decision, I will still be here, keeping Excessica alive, in the hopes that at some point, the direction of the wind will change, and I may be able to open submissions once again.

With deepest regret,

Selena

***

I didn't put this in the Steam Room because it's not specifically about erotica. My comment is more about the viability of small e-publishers today.

Thanks Max. I added the bolding for emphasis. In this climate, it's so important to make sure the message we are sending out is the message intended to be sent out.
 

Max

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2018, 07:24:23 AM »
Thanks for looking out. Often, I don't think of these things.
 

She-la-te-da

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #24 on: October 09, 2018, 09:39:57 PM »
Ah, thanks Max. I guess I'm not alone in having crappy skimming skills when reading the message.

Good news that the site will stay open and that new submissions could be in the future!
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

RPatton

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #25 on: October 10, 2018, 03:28:28 AM »
Ah, thanks Max. I guess I'm not alone in having crappy skimming skills when reading the message.

Good news that the site will stay open and that new submissions could be in the future!

Oh, Selena completely buried the lede, but I think the original subject line didn't help either. :)
 

KinkyCat

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #26 on: February 12, 2019, 05:13:13 AM »
Looks like Selena's closing the doors on Excitica.  This message is on the home page:

Quote
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Excitica will be closing our doors, effective immediately.
Unfortunately, we are unable to continue providing you with the stories and books you love in the current climate due to strict payment processing standards holding us hostage. We have attempted to fight this form of censorship to no avail. We will be paying all publishers and authors royalties owed to them. We apologize for this lost opportunity and regret that we won’t be able to continue our relationship.
Readers, please download your purchases before Friday, February 8, 2019. Thank you all for your support through the years.
 

bardsandsages

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #27 on: February 13, 2019, 06:05:35 AM »
Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors as of the first of next year to new submissions. Yet another small publisher who can’t make a profit at a time when Amazon is soaking up all the profits and offering books so cheap through KU that no one could compete:

To be clear, authors did this to themselves. I've been arguing FOR YEARS about the race to the bottom. And when everyone was making boatloads of money on volume, I got shouted down. I've never been an "Amazon best seller" (and people LOVE to mention sales rank on Amazon to dismiss my warnings) but you know, I've been profitable for a friggin decade, and while writing is not my full time job, it helps pay a lot of bills. Any publisher that built its business plan on giving away tens of thousands of copies hoping for reviews, "free first book, series series series" or KU is destined to fail because the business model is unsustainable. A lot of people made a lot of money for a few years, but eventually critical mass hits and the entire house of cards comes crashing down. :icon_cry:

Writer. Editor. Publisher. Game Designer. Resident Sith.
 
The following users thanked this post: She-la-te-da, RPatton, notthatamanda

David VanDyke

  • Long Novel unlocked
  • ***
  • Posts: 799
  • Thanked: 805 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Full-time hybrid author and curmudgeon
    • David VanDyke's Author Website
Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #28 on: February 13, 2019, 08:25:25 AM »
What is the deal with "payment processing standards" though?

Is some processor like Payhip unwilling to handle their erotica material?

Does it have something to do with a crowdfunder like Kickstarter refusing to do business with controversial companies--which has already been an issue with others?

Or is it something else entirely--such as insufficient volume of sales to sustain the fees?

I'm puzzled.
Never listen to people with no skin in the game.

I'm a lucky guy. I find the harder I work, the luckier I am.

Those who prefer their English sloppy have only themselves to thank if the advertisement writer uses his mastery of the vocabulary and syntax to mislead their weak minds.

~ Dorothy L. Sayers
 

lyndabelle

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #29 on: February 13, 2019, 04:56:54 PM »
This is so sad. I did a book bundle with her and had one of my vampire erotica in it. It got me a lot of exposure. So sorry to see this shut down for her. I've noticed the crack down of Amazon on things "erotic" including the romances. It's like they think they are cleaning it all up or something, or suppressing it on their website. I got a lot of titles that I used to advertise banned when Createspace combined into my regular account. And thank god I was already going wide with my list. But really, the Zon becoming a gatekeeper is pretty ridiculous. I've just been happier having my titles wide now, and Apple and B&N are gladly giving me money for my titles.

So, maybe this will be the Zon's downfall, because it will open a window for competitors to pick up the slack. Because I only care about selling books and getting my royalties. If Apple and B&N sell my books better than Amazon, all power to them. But hey, just looking after my prawnie self, because we know what giant online retailer won't.

So sorry to see this happen to Salena. She is a leader among the genre. But hopefully, she can adapt like the rest of us. Romance will always be a seller. We all know that. Hope she is moving her titles and catalog wide as we speak. But she might already have them there.

*Shakes head* Always just got to be on your toes as an Indie.


 

She-la-te-da

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #30 on: February 13, 2019, 11:35:34 PM »
What is the deal with "payment processing standards" though?

Is some processor like Payhip unwilling to handle their erotica material?

Does it have something to do with a crowdfunder like Kickstarter refusing to do business with controversial companies--which has already been an issue with others?

Or is it something else entirely--such as insufficient volume of sales to sustain the fees?

I'm puzzled.


This has been an issue for years. Paypal, credit card companies, other payment companies don't want erotica to dirty their programs. Customers complain, or so they say, and thus everyone gets the freedom to buy what they want--stuff that is legal to sell--taken away from them.
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

Edward M. Grant

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closed to new submissions
« Reply #31 on: March 02, 2019, 05:49:10 AM »
This has been an issue for years. Paypal, credit card companies, other payment companies don't want erotica to dirty their programs. Customers complain, or so they say, and thus everyone gets the freedom to buy what they want--stuff that is legal to sell--taken away from them.

It's not just erotica. An increasingly-large number of people lately have been seeing their payment processor refuse them service for political reasons.

Just wait until we reach the glorious Cash-Free Future and you can be denied the right to buy and sell anything at any time. Or have all your money frozen by the bank which closes your account because it doesn't like you.
 

LD

Re: Selena Kitt’s Excessica is closing its doors
« Reply #32 on: March 06, 2019, 12:52:10 AM »
Hi,

is it certain that eXcitia won't fold alongside Excessica? From the website:

Quote
...eXcitica is a subsidiary of Excessica publishing LLC...

What erotica, dark romance and erotic romance authors need is a dependable, neutral retailer. Someone readers of those genres will turn to like romance readers used to frequent ARe. Something like Smashwords, only with lesser restrictions, no ulterior distribution and accessible payment methods for both customers and authors including Paypal, CC and bank deposits. Someone who draws the line at what is actually forbidden to publish rather than dictated by some preemptive obedience.

I believe a lot of erotica and romance authors would pay a more substantial percentage for that than to Amazon and other retailers, if they could publish what their fans want. Fanfiction portals like Archiveofourown or sites like Nifty manage to post such stories for free, but that doesn't prevent the occasional legal hassle and they deal with it using donations only.
There is one now. Eden Books.