A new self-publishing platform is opening up specifically for romance authors with Totally Entwined Group launching First for Romance.
It claims to be a full turnkey publishing and marketing solution for the romance fiction community, including a new e-store for readers and a self-publishing platform for authors and independent publishers.
Totally Entwined is a romance publisher that was taken over by traditional publishing company Bonnier UK in 2015, so it looks like another case of a trad publisher moving into the self-publishing sector following Macmillan’s takeover of indie publishing platform Pronoun in May 2016.
The First for Romance self-publishing platform is for independent authors and publishers of romance fiction, with marketing and sales support services to help authors and publishers in reaching their core demographic and delivering their titles to market.
The platform is scheduled to launch in August. There aren’t any details yet about royalties but Totally Entwined imprints pay a royalty rate of 40% of the SRP for ebooks, 30% for audio, and 10% for print, based on a standard four-year contract for electronic, print and subsidiary rights covering worldwide territories.
First for Romance says the publishers’ portal makes it easy to upload titles and features real-time reporting and scheduled monthly payments.
Services include editing, creation of cover art, formatting, typesetting and professional conversion of manuscripts to the three main formats used in the industry, including the two main reflowable ebook formats (Mobi for Kindle and epub for Apple, Barnes & Noble Nook, Google Play) as well as standard PDF.
Totally Entwined was set up in 2006 by Claire and Marek Siemaszkiewicz. Its main imprint, Totally Bound Publishing, has over 350 authors and releases up to eight books a week.
Totally Entwined has three imprints which are all open for submissions — Totally Bound Publishing, Pride Publishing and Finch Books. You can find out more details on what they’re looking for at Totally Entwined.
The First for Romance e-store will offer readers of romance fiction thousands of books across audio, electronic and print formats. Regular promotions will include a Romance Rewards buy nine get the 10th free offer. The store offers gifting to friends and family and a Send to Kindle feature. It will also be launching Romantic Book Deals to alert readers to free and discounted ebooks that match their interests.
CEO Claire Siemaszkiewicz says, “Our background of having 10 years’ experience in publishing romance ebooks stands us in good stead for this exciting new venture. It is something we’ve wanted to develop for a number of years, so we’re thrilled that we can now bring First For Romance to the market for readers, independent authors and publishers of romance fiction. There is nothing else like it in the industry.
“First For Romance is a dynamic platform which provides self-publishing services and houses the biggest collection of romance fiction books in our retail store. It’s an exciting time for the publishing industry and we’re keen to stay at the forefront of technology and publishing initiatives.”