Better-Than-Chocolate Press to offer condensed e-romance novels online

Colourful and controversial journalist Donna Laframboise is set to launch a new web venture selling romance novels online. On March 21, Laframboise, a former Toronto Star and National Post writer, filed a trademark application for the tagline, fewer pages, all the passion. The slogan, she tells Canadian NEW MEDIA, is for her new initiative, Better-Than-Chocolate Press, set to launch in June. Laframboise says Better-Than-Chocolate Press is acquiring rights to out-of-print romance novels, condensing them to about one-third their original size, and will be selling them in electronic format only via the company’s yet-to-be-launched web site better-than-chocolate.com. The business could help generate new revenues for the authors who own rights to their works after brief print runs. Romance novels, Laframboise says, have formulaic content and enjoy only a brief time on bookstore shelves, after which rights revert back to the authors who have little hope of making more money from their effort. "At that point it’s dead content," she says. "The readers can find it in used book stores, maybe, but the author doesn’t get any proceeds from a used book store sale. What we’re doing is approaching authors and acquiring rights to their out-of-print works… "We’ve looked at the e-publishing market pretty carefully and there seems to us to be compelling evidence that e-publishing works best when content is shorter. What we’re then doing is taking this full-length romance novel that we have now acquired the rights to and we’re doing a condensation much like what Reader’s Digest would do." The novels will still have about 35,000-40,000 words, she says. "That’s still a pretty good read. You’ve got your main plot. You’ve got your characters. It’s an entertaining read. We feel what we’re doing is entertainment. This is formula fiction. It’s not literature. But you can spend your two hours in front of the television or you can spend your two hours reading one of our short works." She says the condensed versions are being called Min-e Books. Attracting a client base will be largely a matter of word-of-mouth, though Laframboise has put an ad in the industry trade journal Romantic Times Book Club Magazine. She will also tap into communities devoted to romance novels on the web, possibly with a campaign of free samples and similar measures. The decision to get out of journalism – Laframboise briefly tried selling a web column on a subscription basis after departing the Post – and become a publisher was sparked, she says, by a long interest in the romance genre. She takes an academic interest in the field from her days as a women’s studies student. "That really is women’s culture. It’s women writers writing for women readers. It’s an industry that I’ve kept my eye on for a long time because I think it’s fascinating. This is a way, potentially, to develop a new revenue stream for the women who work in this industry…No one’s making any money, so we’re going to try to develop the new market. Maybe it’ll work, and maybe it won’t." The uncertain nature of the venture also means Laframboise isn’t putting the authors who strike deals with Better-Than-Chocolate Press under any illusions. "What we’re saying to our authors is, ‘look, we’re not going to mislead you. There’s no guarantees that this is going to work or how long it’s going to take to get a significant readership, but we’re going to try.’"

Better-Than-Chocolate Press to offer condensed e-romance novels online

News | 04/03/2003 5:00 am EST

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