Amber Quill outsells Samhain by that much? Wow. As a reader, I spend much more time on the Samhain site, buying. Both the Samhain site and covers look more professional, and I'm more impressed with the general quality of the excerpts.

And I'm not making any money from either of them, so my opinion is, at least, unbiased. Thanks for doing this Emily, and thanks to the people who submitted sales data for enquiring minds like mine.
 

This post has been removed by the author.
 

To be fair the Amber Quill books in the 'year plus' category may have been out a good deal longer as it is an older press. I would consider either press a good pick :)

Em.
 

I can speak only for myself, but my first release with Amber Quill has been out only since January, and I've sold more than double the "average" AQP sales that are listed, so yeah, their numbers are quite high. But you also have to know that I write gay fiction, and from what I understand, these days that genre typically outsells any hetero book, and certainly anything non-erotica. In other words, it really makes a difference what type of books the sales numbers represent. If Samhain has a lot of non-erotica romance titles, for instance, I suspect the numbers are quite low, while the numbers for their gay titles are likely bursting also, same as AQP and just about any other publisher based on the info I've gleaned through the months. So in many cases, it really depends on what genre an author writes or those numbers can be very misleading.

Anyway, I'm 100% happy with AQP and wouldn't trade them for the world. And the fact that all of their novel-length books are released simultaeously in paperback and I didn't have to wait for the PTB to decide whether my book was "worthy" to be put into paperback, that's added to my overall sales.

As far as the covers and excerpts go, I think they're quite comparable to Samhain or any of the upper-tier publishers, but again, that's just my opinion. I'm shocked that only one person does all of them for the company. The one thing I do really like is that AQP doesn't have that odd "Brand Name" posted at the top of each cover like everyone else. (Loose ID's logo is a bit different, though, popping up at less-obtrusive places on the cover). Nevertheless, EC started that trend, and since then, every pubbed seems to have copied doing it. Anyway, I'm glad I don't have one of those cluttering up my cover because they seem weird to me--unprofessional, in a lot of ways--but again, just my opinion.
 

Whiskey Creek Press Torrid does not put a logo across or on their ebooks, either. But when your book comes out in paperback, it does have WCP/T's name on the spine and back.

In addition, TPTB do not determine if your book goes to print. Given your book has the required min. word count, 50 ebook sales automatically will put it in paperback.
 

This is a bit sad... I am not 100% happy with my epub, but I would not feel comfortable submitting an answer to your Happy-ometer question with anything other than a 'yes' response.

It seems very unwise to me to express negativity over the net about a company I'm presently associated with, even with promised anonymity.

I am wondering if this is true of others as well, and it makes me distrustful of 100% yes results for any publisher.
 

I'm extremely happy with Samhain, and not afraid to say so. I do think it's sad if someone feels they can't, even in private, disclose dissatisfaction with their publisher. I know there are likely authors with books at Samhain who are not as happy as I am--everyone's experience will be different, because authors and editors and cover artists are all human. I wouldn't be upset if my publisher lost a 100% rating because of the negative experience of one author--that's just the nature of the business.

I will tell you that from what I know of Emily, any information she receives in confidence would be treated as carefully as she promises. She's an advocate for authors, first and foremost, and I have nothing but respect for her.
 

Wait a minute, AQP covers comparable to those done by Anne Cain, April Martinez, et cetera? AQP covers are some of the most laughable examples of bad photoshop efforts! I dare anyone to take a look at Caitlyn Willows' "man with skin disease where the rashes look like lips" cover and not burst out laughing.

Trace Edward Zaber may be a good webmaster and marketer, but his covers, often those with some famous star/model badly pasted on a porn star's body, are nowhere near the galaxy of "good".
 

As with the sales data the happy data are fully anonymous so the only one knowing it is me.
 

Yes, I believe the AQP covers ARE comparable. Some of those covers are 6 years old...take a look at the old EC covers from 6 years ago, etc., (or current Changling covers) and some of them are also "goofy" looking. People gain experience with years, and when an artist puts out 30 covers per month, there's definite growth as the years go by. The one thing I like about the AQP covers is the fact you can actually read the title and author names (I love Loose ID's covers for that reason also) unlike the majority of covers at some places where the font is thin and the colors blend into the background. Anyway, try doing hundreds of covers a year while also trying to find available stock photos to use when the author demands a certain cover...you wouldn't think it's so easy, I'm sure. I give cover artists (even those who do the hellish Poser covers) a hell of a lot of credit. And he must be doing osmething right considering he's won awards year after year. Personally, I'm happy with my cover and the majority I see every month over there. I'm sure people will both agree and disagree, but too bad...