Feedback from a reader survey prompted this change. As an author there, I think AQP's intentions were not to ghettoize GLB content but to create an identity for it. Links to the other two imprints are posted at the top left of the third imprint's homepage, no matter which imprint you're currently browsing. (it's late here... did that make sense? LOL)

One thing that people may not realize (even though the Allure graphics show same-sex couples kissing) is that this new imprint will also be releasing non-erotic GLB... which would not fit in the Amber Heat erotic category. Yes, one could argue that AQP should put the non-erotic work at "Quill" and the hot stuff at "Heat" but I think this will help people find what they want faster.
 

I wish my own publisher would do this. At this point, having my M/M work buried under a small little category among dozens of other categories is not doing me any favors. It looks like AQP is celebrating the popularity of the genre and trying to go head to head with Torquere by dedicating an entire website to GLBT, which is more than I can say for my publisher, who seems rather embarrassed to have the GLBT books on their website and tucks them away where no one can find them.
 

I just wish that Amber Quill can get some lesbian romance in. They only have one. I'm on a few lesbian fiction yahoo groups and I want to post about this, but with only one lesbian book (a short novella) in their catalog-- why bother?
 

I'll pass. Regardless of AQP's intentions, the segregation serves to increase, rather than decrease, the divide between het/conventional romance & same-sex work. Customers seeking such books will, I believe, be of a mindset to appreciate being included in the "general population" moreso than the convenience of isolation.
 

Arin, I'll pass along your comment. The good news is that AQP is defintely embracing lesbian content, which many epubs shy away from. If you haven't shared that feedback with AQP, feel free to do so as well. http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AA_contactus.html

Of course I'm biased ;) but I think AQP does a great job of letting its authors know what readers want. If enough people indicated their interest in a particular type of content, it would filter down to authors. In fact, we were recently informed that readers want Rubenesque heroines. Like any smart business, an epub will do its best to offer what customers want. It's just a matter of enough customers communicating this desire, and of course sales coming in soon afterwards to back this up.
 

Well, it might be segregation, but when a particular genre far outsells any other type of romance book, it makes sense to give it its own website and expand it into sub-genres. The same thing was said years ago when erotica sites starting popping up as off-shoots to "regular" romance sites (Liquid Silver vs. Atlantic Bridge, Extasy vs. Zumaya, Amber Heat vs. Amber Quill Press, Phaze vs. Mundania, etc.). It would be silly to have publishers provide only a simple link/page for "erotica" within the framework of a general fiction website after erotica took off like a blazing comet, and many of the established pubs created a special erotica imprint. The same applies these days to GLBT. I'm actually surprised most publishers haven't already separated and expanded their websites to accomodate these types of books as AQP has done. From a customer standpoint, it make complete sense.
 

As another author with Amber Quill, I like the GLBT segmentation only because I don't write hetero fiction. This helps my gay male readers find stories they'll enjoy without combing through het erotica, and allows more diversity of subgenres among books with GLBT content.

My 2¢. As a gay fiction writer, I'm more likely to favor publishers who distinguish their GLBT books in some way so I don't have to crawl through all the other books that don't interest me to find the few that do.
 

Overall I think it's a good idea.

I liken it to women's clothing. While the thought of having to go to the "Women's size section" in a department store irks me it's a relief not to have to wade through all the skimpy size 5 & 7 dresses I have no chance in hell of wearing when I'm wanting a new dress.
 

forgot---the only real downside to me is that it's still "invitation only" submissions.

While I can understand the need to control submissions to a manageable level it irks me.
 

There's always the annual contest AQP holds to add authors. http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/AH_submissions.html :)
 

Weird... part of that post didn't show. I linked it here.
 

Speaking as a reader who loves m/m erotic romance, I'm glad to see a place like Amber Quill expand their gay and lesbian line and give it its own website. I have no interest in straight erotic romance nor in menage stories, and there's nothing I find more frustrating than to have to wade through straight and menage at websites to find the stories that are focused on JUST two men. Lots of the pubs lump all these types of stories together, especially the m/m and the menages. Sorry, but wading through dozens of menages to find the handful of m/m is a waste of my time. I'd rather just not buy at that place than go to the trouble.

Instead I take my business to places where I can easily find what I want. I've read some of Amber Quill's m/m erotica and enjoyed it, so their move to open their Amber Allure line has only bumped them up near the top of my list of favorite places to shop.

Debz K.