Nancy Nivling's first published story appeared in Byzarium's January 2008 issue. Her first novel (written under the pen name Cat Grant), an erotic romance entitled THE ARRANGEMENT, was published in e-book format this past May by Lyrical Press, with a print edition scheduled for July.

I've been trying to crack the pro writing markets off and on for about five years now. This past March, I sold my first novel. When I announced the sale at my local Romance Writers of America chapter (which I'd joined only a couple of months earlier), one person (a multi-published author with Harlequin and Mills and Boon) remarked, "Wow, that was fast!"

Not really. It took me two years to write the novel, and two years to get it published. But when I mentioned that to this particular author, she looked amazed and said, "But I thought getting e-published was easy!"

Yes and no. Even after being around for over a decade, there's still a strange stigma attached to e-publishing. Relatively new formats don't usually get much respect but, like paperback books a century ago, e-publishing gains more ground with each passing year -- and at this point, I think it's safe to say it ain't going nowhere. For writers, it can be simpler to get your foot in the door with an e-publisher rather than going the traditional print route. You don't need an agent to submit to e-publishers, but most first-time authors submitting to print publishers don't have agents either. You can send in your manuscripts by email and save yourself another schlep to the post office. Chances are you'll hear back within a few weeks, but not always. Ellora's Cave, the top e-publisher in the romance field, says to allow up to a year for a reply on a full manuscript. On the other hand, EC's books generally sell in the thousands of copies, so for many authors, it's worth the wait.

Being an impatient sort, I decided to try some of the smaller houses first. My manuscript was rejected by no fewer than five of them -- including two publishers who requested rewrites and resubmits -- before landing at my current publisher. So despite what's widely believed in the print-published world, it's not necessarily easier to get published electronically.

It's not even necessarily easier once you clear the first-publication hurdle. About half a dozen e-publishers rolled up their sidewalks last year, some with little to no advance notice, leaving their authors in the lurch, with unpaid royalties and the rights to their books hanging in limbo.

To be fair, the same thing often happens in the print-published world, but it's a bit more difficult to shut down a brick-and-mortar operation without the news leaking out beforehand. Sadly, in the e-world, publishers have been known to deal the smackdown to authors who complain publicly about late payment of royalties or lack of communication (both huge red flags signaling that Something Bad Is In the Offing) -- and, because many of these authors are relative newbies, they clam up pretty damn quick.

So how does a brand-new author avoid landing in the middle of a literary shark tank? First, don't assume that a publisher's on the up and up just because you see them listed on Ralan's or Duotrope. Those sites do their best to vet their listings, but obviously they can't catch everything -- so it's up to you to do your own due diligence. Make a list of targeted publishers, and buy one or two of their offerings. Scrutinize their cover art. Yes, I know it sounds shallow, but I turned down a contract with one e-publisher because their covers looked like they were photoshopped by a blind five-year-old. A first-time author won't have any name recognition with readers, so an attention-catching cover is essential. Read the books with a critical eye -- is the text littered with typos? Is it well-formatted? What about the editing? New Concepts Publishing, a fairly well-known e-publisher, recently announced that they're so busy with other things (!!!) they no longer have time to do substantive editing -- another flaming red flag!

I've heard a few battle-scarred e-publishing veterans caution new authors against submitting to newer publishers, but that's not something I necessarily agree with. Older publishers go down the tubes all the time; the afore-mentioned New Concepts has been in business for a number of years. Ellora's Cave was considered a huge crapshoot when it opened its doors nearly a decade ago, but the authors who got in on the ground floor with them are superstars of the industry now. However, if you do decide to try out the new kid on the block, put your Google-fu to work for you first. My own publisher is a startup, and thus far I've been quite pleased with them. But before I sent them anything, I ran a search on every single person listed on their website's staff page. When I saw that their editor-in-chief's had books published by Silhouette and Samhain (one of the top three e-publishers), I knew I wanted to work with her. Check out the authors who've already signed with them as well. I was pleasantly surprised to discover two or three fairly well-known authors in their stable.

When you finally receive that long-awaited contract, do the usual running-around-in-circles-screaming bit, then sit down, calm down and read the damn thing. If you can afford it, I'd even suggest having an attorney look it over. If there are parts you don't understand, ask questions. Ask lots of questions, and don't be afraid to negotiate. Make sure you're happy with all the provisions of the contract before you sign, because you're going to be living with it for the next two to five years. If the publisher gets snippy or doesn't seem to understand the provisions of the contract themselves, I'd consider that another red flag.

It's also a good idea to find out what your publisher plans to do in the way of promotion. Some publishers are ready and eager to give their new authors a push, while others do next to nothing. My publisher offers a fairly impressive promotional package, including a full-color cover (the slick, professional look of their cover art was one of the prime reasons I signed with them), bookmarks, banner ads, a review coordinator responsible for sending out advance reading copies to various review websites, and an impressive lineup of group chats every month. They even went the extra mile and provided me with artwork for postcards. This, I think, is one of the prime arguments for going with a newer publisher -- by promoting you, they promote themselves.

View your choice of a publisher the same way you would any other type of investment, because that's precisely what it is -- an investment of your time and work. Make sure what you get back balances the bargain.

When you're starting out, there's a strong temptation to take the first offer that comes along, especially if you've been plugging away at it for years with little to no results. My advice is, don't give in. If your Google-fu turns up something fishy, if you don't like the contract or the publisher is resistant to negotiation, there's no shame in walking away. Hold out for a publisher that believes in your work and is willing to put forth the effort to give it the showcase it deserves.

Thus far I'm pleased with the deal I made. I got a gorgeous cover, my editor did an absolutely flawless job, and favorable reviews are starting to trickle in. My book came out the first week of May, and as of this writing, it's #6 on the All Romance e-books Best Seller list.

As for the rest… I'll let you know once I get my first royalty statement.