Today we are chatting with Total-e-bound publishers. They are a new e-book publishing company that will be launching their site on July 2nd. Thank you for joining us at Fallen Angel Reviews and taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us.

Please tell our readers about you and how you got together to start your new e-publisher company?

It all started about two years ago, when we approached another publisher with a view to becoming a reseller of their books, having already had a relationship with them. When that never materialised, we were already half way there with a working model. We had all of the skills and experience between us, so we thought - why not take it those extra steps and develop our own publishing house. I have a true passion for erotic romance, (I've probably got about 2,000 on my PC, and I've spent plenty of pennies with some of the other ePubs over the years!! LOL)

What makes your publishing house different from the other e-publishers?

Well, for one, we're in the UK, where as the majority of other erotic romance ePubs are based in the USA. We know we will have to go that extra mile in order to establish a strong base for erotic romance in the UK and I believe that authors and readers will be reaping the benefits of our efforts.

For us it is all about making the internet buying experience an enjoyable one, where people can come to our site, and set up their account in the VIP section to either read a book online, or download a book. We don't put any restrictions on the time allowed for people to download their books - once they have bought it they can access it anytime through their bookshelf. The VIP area is also for authors to access their own monthly royalty reports. This will be real time 24/7 information. We've created a welcoming environment where authors can sell their books and monitor their sales, and readers can buy quality erotic romance at great prices.

We provide a full profile page where authors can not only have their bio's but can list additional news so that their fans are always kept up to date with what they have planned, and we've provided a section in there for them to list their books with other publishing houses and we'll even link directly to those sites. We also have a forum for authors and their fans to communicate with each other and with us.

All of this is aimed at making the buying and selling experience a pleasurable one. It is my ambition to bring a warm, friendly and fruitful experience to authors working with Total-e-bound, and readers buying their books. We're all about making it easy for our customers. Less restrictions, more quality and good customer service.

It is also our intention once set up in the UK and other English speaking countries to start translating into other European languages.

Will you be having a Grand Opening on July 2nd? Where/what list will it be on?

We're having an author chat day-funnily enough-entitled Total-e-bound Grand Opening Party at Coffee Time Romance on July 2nd, where all of the launch authors are getting together to talk about their books being released, holding cool competitions and giving away great prizes. We've also got another Opening Party chat arranged at Joyfully Reviewed on July 6th. Some wonderful authors like Jennah Sharpe, Samantha Winston, Carol Lynne, Bobbie Russell, Summer Jordan, Ashley Ladd, Suz deMello, Alexis Fleming, KS Augustin will be involved. All of the details are on our website news section at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

How can authors contact you about their submissions?

We have a page on the website dedicated to submissions, which can be found at http://www.total-e-bound.com/submissionguidelines.asp or people can get to it from the top of the home page of the website.

Is there any type of book you won't accept for publishing?

Now, there's a leading question! LOL It depends. We have three erotic ratings at TEB, and out of those our most explicit is Total-e-melting, which can be quite close to the line; but we are careful not to cross it. We are not interested in publishing pure erotica -that's not our bag-and at the other end of the scale, we are not interested in publishing your average Mills 'n' Swoon romance books. The mix between erotica and romance has to be right. All of our guidelines can be found on our submissions page.

Can you tell us how easy it will be for readers to buy and download your books?

Hopefully very easy. We designed the website and the shop with that in mind. As an avid reader of ER e-Books, I have been completely aware of what elements of sites work well and don't work well, so we took that into consideration when putting the shop together. At Total-e-bound a reader creates an account, and once they've chosen the book they want to buy, they choose which format to read it in, and add it to the basket. Then they follow the payment process, and pay either by card or PayPal. We send an email with download links and they can also access the books via their VIP account. Once a book has been downloaded, you will always have access to it - we don't impose any restrictions. At the end of the day, the way we see it - you have bought that book, so you should always have access to it. If you bought a paperback, no-one would say after seven days, "Oi, give it back, time's up!" would they?

Who are the authors and their titles that will be opening with you?

Oooooh well, this is the exciting part, isn't it? We've got some great authors working with us for launch. They include: Alexis Fleming Sink or Swim, Ashley Ladd Shipwrecked, Suz deMello Sherlock the Seducer, KS Augustin On Bliss, Samantha Winston Hotline, Carol Lynne Campus Cravings: Coach, Jennah Sharpe Her Handyman, Bobbie Russell Dreamcatcher, Aurora Rose Lynn Blue Dragon Challenge, Summer Jordan Let Me Entertain You, and Fletchina Archer Psychic Detective II. But we also have a whole host of other authors whose books are right behind them chomping at the bit for release. Authors like Portia Da Costa, Saskia Walker, Sierra Cartwright, Barbara Sheridan and Lisabet Sarai, and more getting involved all the time. All of the authors get involved in the TEB forum at http://forum.totalebound.com/ and they will also be involved in monthly author chats. You can also see more info on their profile pages at the TEB website.

I noticed on your website you have a VIP lounge that I thought was interesting since you have a wish list for readers. What made you decide to have that option for readers?

We wanted to make the internet buying and reading experience as easy and pleasurable as we could, where people can come to our site, and set up their account in the VIP section to either read a book online, or download a book. Once they have bought it they can access it anytime through their bookshelf. Once an account has been created in the VIP area, you can create wish lists, stored baskets, bookshelves and can see any invoices relating to books bought. You can even send wish lists to other people. It's a very friendly site! *g*

The VIP section is also for authors to have their own dedicated area to view real-time reports on their sales and stats.

Marek did a great job on the web design making it easy to navigate and understand. Please tell us a little about him and where did he get the ideas for the web design.

*Marek bows from the other side of the office*. Yes, he did didn't he? He is a bit of a superstar though, and our resident IT guru. Marek is one of the most intelligent people that I know. He's always had fantastic 'mad scientist' kind of ideas; he's a real blue skies thinker. He actually came from an aircraft engineering background and moved into IT, networking and web development. But he also has a great artistic flair.

The ideas for the website were a joint effort. I gave him my visions and told him what I wanted to create (big whip in hand), and he then miraculously went and made it reality (wand in hand). Ingenious!

We really wanted to create a calm and welcoming environment, so the design and colouring was very important for that. Then once we'd sketched out what we wanted I handed it over and left him to it. It's been a labour of love (and frustration at times), but I think it was well worth all the hard work and effort. I just hope that people enjoy the platform we've created for them.

Do any of your executives write and if so, what types of books and will we be seeing them published soon?

Only the weekly shopping list! LOL No. None of us are authors. We are business people first and foremost, with a genuine love of good erotic romance.

I noticed you're looking for line/copy editors, proofreaders, and cover artists. What qualifications do they need and whom do they contact?

All of the positions that we are looking to fill are on the website on the about us page in 'Opportunities' - http://www.total-e-bound.com/about.asp. There's also an email address for each of the posts set up on the page too. We are looking for experienced editors more than anything right now-but they must know how to edit books in British English, we take authors from any English speaking country as long as their work is right for TEB. And so the Editor needs to be able to handle that. Proofreaders just need to have a good eye for correcting simple errors made in a manuscript after the final line editor is finished, and a total love for anything ER. And as we expand, we may need more artists too. We've been quite specific with the briefs given to the artists on what kind of 'look' we want. Quality and style is very important to us, so the illustrators have to be diverse and talented enough to go with our flow. Apart from that, we're looking for people who are dedicated, and love what they do - we spend so much time at work, it should be enjoyable, don't you think?

Your coming soon page is very impressive with the great titles and authors. Who did the cover art for the books and do the authors have any say in their personal covers?

Oh, our two wonderful cover artists are the amazing Lyn Taylor from Oz, and the exceptionally talented Anne Cain from the USA. You can see more of their work on their websites at: http://sunstone72.deviantart.com/ and http://annecain.deviantart.com/.

They are also members of our forum, so you can catch up with them there too.

All of the authors are sent a cover art request form after we contract their work, so that they can have a say in what they'd like or dislike on their cover. The illustrators then take that along with our style brief and go of to create. We always try to keep what the author has asked for in mind, but sometimes the artist may come up with a better idea. So, we go with what we feel works for the story and the company image. We haven't had any complaints so far! *g*

Since you're based in the UK, are there going to be different rules for your US authors/readers vs your UK authors/readers?

Nope. Same contracts for authors, same payment process & VIP for readers. The only difference will be in the payment method for authors. Obviously if they are in the UK we can pay direct into their bank or by cheque, and if they are overseas, we pay by PayPal, and we're currently looking into a few other payment options for overseas authors too.

Again, let me say thank you so much for sitting and chatting with us today. I know how incredibly busy you are getting ready for your launch date of July 2nd and we at Fallen Angel Reviews are very thankful for your time and energy doing this interview. I can't wait until you open your doors. May you have a long life and fantastic authors and books to come.

Thank you Donna, it was a pleasure and your support really is appreciated

Interviewed by: Donna