# Selena Kitt Launches Erotica Distribution Channel



## Kiki Wellington (Mar 28, 2013)

Yay!

http://selenakitt.com/blog/index.php/2014/03/12/excitica-new-erotica-and-erotic-romance-distributor/


----------



## jeremy young (Feb 28, 2014)

That title brings all sort of images to mind.


----------



## MegSilver (Feb 26, 2012)

Yeah, couldn't sign up for that one fast enough...


----------



## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

Hot Damn! Let the non-consensual tentacle, step-daddy loving and shifter-woflie knotting party keep on rolling!

I think J.A.K. predicted something like this a few years back; If and when Zon or the other big sellers cut out certain works someone else would start their own e-store and cater to the voracious niche lovers. 

And they'd be swimming in dough.

All the best with it Ms. Kitt!


----------



## Annette_g (Nov 27, 2012)

It's about time someone did this  There is a market for it despite everyone else trying to hide it away in the adult dungeons.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Yay! Yay! *throws confetti*


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Nice looking site. Not cluttered like many are. But there is a problem with the drop downs. I cannot go to all of them, its not scrollable and so doesn't go beyond what can fit on the screen page. For example under fetishes I cannot go below chastity, no way to go to more options. I like that everything is listed and much easier to find. 

I also cant find any info on the site what formats these books are sold at. Anyone know?


----------



## Skye Hunter (Apr 30, 2013)

Anyone try uploading anything yet? Ease of use comments?
I can't look at the website just yet but wonder if they just take your epubs or if they have some sort of conversion software built in?


----------



## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

Cool beans!

Anybody know if it's like Amazon, where you create one account and can put any author name/publisher name on the book so that you can keep pen names separate? Or is it like Smashwords, where you have to create an account for each pen name/publisher name to keep them separate?

Thanks!


----------



## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Not even an erotica author, but HELL YEAH!


----------



## NothingToSeeHere... (Jul 26, 2013)

I do not consent to the new TOS, and do not give my consent by posting and maintaining my membership here.


----------



## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

It's great, but I doubt if it will come close to making up for the lost sales from the hysteria last year. People don't want to go to an erotica store as much as they want to just use Amazon/B&N/Nook/Whatever just like they always did with their branded device.


----------



## Claudia King (Oct 27, 2012)

Yay! I'd love for this to take off as the go-to spot for kinky erotica. I'll definitely be signing up in the coming days!


----------



## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

*deleted*


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

This is great. I hope the site is super-successful!


----------



## jsparks (May 18, 2013)

Very cool news!
Although, trying to sign up, I'm wondering what my company ID is, can I just pick one? lol


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

MariePinkerton said:


> 60% is nice, too.


It depends how you look at it: I admit my perspective is a little more along the lines of "How good have they proven themselves to be at providing the service for which they want 40% of my money?"

They're a brand new business, it seems, but they're setting out by charging more than Amazon.

I'm a little surprised people are quite so welcoming of that deal? It's only a distribution channel, isn't it, not a publisher?


----------



## justagirl (Aug 7, 2013)

*Squeals*

This is a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day - but this broke the upset and made me pretty darned happy.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

zoe tate said:


> It depends how you look at it: I admit my perspective is a little more along the lines of "How good have they proven themselves to be at providing the service for which they want 40% of my money?"
> 
> They're a brand new business, it seems, but they're setting out by charging more than Amazon.
> 
> I'm a little surprised people are quite so welcoming of that deal? It's only a distribution channel, isn't it, not a publisher?


As a small retailer, they do not have the economic efficiencies of Amazon and thus their costs are MUCH higher. PLUS they will have to take on any attacks b/c of content.

Having worked with her at the coop level via Excessica, she is NOT money hungry at all. She's always been fair.

ETA: I believe the royalties are the same as offered at ARe so very much in line with what small retailers offer.

ETA2: She's been in business for years, long before KDP running an author coop that gave authors access to sales platforms they would not have otherwise had access to and taking a minimal cut. Back in the day you had to be a publisher to sell on retail platforms like Fictionwise and she provided that for indies.


----------



## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

60% is what the other small retailers pay. No problem with that here.


----------



## Faye Hunter (Jun 5, 2013)

Yeah!! This is so exciting.  Now I need to find some time to play around setting up my books.


----------



## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

Very cool!


----------



## Guest (Mar 13, 2014)

What's a Company ID and why is it required?  Also, why are they requiring a tax ID when so many other vendors do not?  

To be clear, once I get these things figured out, I will be signing up.


----------



## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

> People don't want to go to an erotica store as much as they want to just use Amazon/B&N/Nook/Whatever just like they always did with their branded device.


I think it's a given to say that no other online book experience in the universe comes near Zon for ease and convenience. Especially with Kindle apps for any and every device that auto load and store whatever you buy without having to do a download shuffle.

That said, I would never underestimate the lengths kink lovers will go to find what scratches their itch. Especially now that Zon and other major sellers are cutting visibility or outright banning the really dark and taboo. Go visit the Erotic Authors Forum: LOTS of writers there were making big money off the really filthy stuff and sales have slowed to a dribble for many since the Zon/Kobo pornocalypse. My guess is there's a lot of E-pervs out there (myself included) not finding what they want or having to do heavy digging through the dungeon walls to find it. Or they're having to settle with mainstream erotica or are left "fishing" for hidden kink behind all the toned down covers and blurbs.

We'll have to wait and see but I think Selena's store could explode into something very big. Especially when hundreds (thousands?) of erotica writers start shouting about it to the smut reading world.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

genrehopper said:


> What's a Company ID and why is it required? Also, why are they requiring a tax ID when so many other vendors do not?
> 
> To be clear, once I get these things figured out, I will be signing up.


I think you should ask her directly but I have to fill out a W9 for tax purposes so I imagine the Tax ID thing is related to that. And I've had to supply it to all the vendors I've worked with, even the small ones.


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Someone throw me a prepaid Visa gift card or three and an easy sideload ereader.  I know I will at least look at her store.  
Seriously this does sound very appealing.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

jsparks said:


> Very cool news!
> Although, trying to sign up, I'm wondering what my company ID is, can I just pick one? lol


In the United States it's the federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) of a corporation/partnership or the Social Security number of the proprietor. Payments to non-employees by US companies are reported to the IRS using the payee's name and company ID.


----------



## Guest (Mar 13, 2014)

mrv01d said:


> I think you should ask her directly but I have to fill out a W9 for tax purposes so I imaged the Tax ID thing is related to that. And I've had to supply it to all the vendors I've worked with, even the small ones.


The Tax ID would be my Social Security number. I just don't know what a Company ID is. Same thing, maybe?


----------



## Guest (Mar 13, 2014)

I just signed up and used my SSN as the Tax ID and the Company ID.


----------



## Edward Naughty (Nov 11, 2012)

Awesome!!!


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Boyd said:


> Your kindle or any tab will sideload... The site accepts .mobi (amazon) .epub (a lot of stuff) and .pdf (everything) so I am doing the happy dance, screaming woot and my 3 year old is going...
> 
> momma, daddy is being weird again, woot isn't a word.


But I didn't want the erotica slumming with the other books.

Note everyone but Boyd, I am just being silly and think this site is a great idea.


----------



## ecg52 (Apr 29, 2013)

I signed up yesterday and today I received an email saying my account is active - I can log on and start loading my books. Yay!!!

But the website is giving me a 403 error.


----------



## DRMarvello (Dec 3, 2011)

I don't write erotica, but I'm happy to see this happen. Congratulations to all of you. I hope the site is wildly successful.

Ms Kitt is awesome.


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

ecg52 said:


> But the website is giving me a 403 error.


I'm getting the same error.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

I heard the site was slammed with traffic (a good sign!) and I believe they're increasing whatever it is you increase to manage hordes of traffic with the host company.

M


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

mrv01d said:


> Having worked with her at the coop level via Excessica, she is NOT money hungry at all.


Acknowledging that, I feel a little surprised that as a brand new start-up (as a distributor) they've decided to charge 10% more than a company as well-established and well-known as Amazon. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help thinking this wouldn't have been my own marketing approach.



mrv01d said:


> She's always been fair.


I'm certainly not trying to suggest otherwise. She's entirely entitled to charge whatever percentage she wishes to. I respect her right to do that, just as I hope and trust she respects mine to express my reaction that I feel a little surprised that as a brand new start-up (as a distributor) they've decided to charge 10% more than a company as well-established and well-known as Amazon. 



mrv01d said:


> I believe the royalties are the same as offered at ARe


Again, ARe is clearly _very_ much more well-known and well-established, so I find that a little surprising.



mrv01d said:


> She's been in business for years


I don't doubt it, but not as a distributor, I think?

I see that it's good to have an additional potential retail outlet available.

I can't help thinking, given that Amazon takes 30% (in the $2.99 to $9.99 price-range), that in her position I'd perhaps have wanted to _start_ by charging 20%, rather than 40%, in an attempt to look like "better value". I see that it's not exactly an either/or situation and that perhaps it's invidious to compare figures; but in business, it's the sort of thing that people instinctively do. Just how I look at it. 

I wish her well, of course.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

So the fact her costs are higher than Amazon's and her risk is higher than any other bookseller because no one else will allow this content on their platform doesn't rank?

Yikes.

Okay.


----------



## Elizabeth Jones (Feb 6, 2014)

Signed up, account approved and loaded my books yesterday. Was easy to do; love the interface. I'm very happy to be part of eXcitica.


----------



## Shelley K (Sep 19, 2011)

zoe tate said:


> I can't help thinking, given that Amazon takes 30% (in the $2.99 to $9.99 price-range), that in her position I'd perhaps have wanted to _start_ by charging 20%, rather than 40%, in an attempt to look like "better value". I see that it's not exactly an either/or situation and that perhaps it's invidious to compare figures; but in business, it's the sort of thing that people instinctively do.


That would make sense if the site was meant to compete with Amazon for publishers, but it's not. People are still going to publish with Amazon, but this is another outlet and a place for the stuff Amazon often says no to. And customers won't know about the different percentage, so it's also irrelevant there. I also think it's a fair assumption that this site is going to have some heavy-duty ongoing operating costs--it's clearly going to need bigger hosting, for instance. The little guy doesn't have Amazon's deep pockets, hence the higher take per sale, just like ARe. I wasn't surprised or particularly bothered by that.


----------



## K.T. Parks (Dec 30, 2012)

Site seems to be down for now. I am getting a 403 Error message. Possibly getting overloaded with lots of traffic.


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

mrv01d said:


> So the fact her costs are higher than Amazon's and her risk is higher than any other bookseller because no one else will allow this content on their platform doesn't rank?


I didn't say that at all. Nor did I say anything like that. Nor did I say anything that _implied_ that. Nor do I think that.



shelleyo1 said:


> That would make sense if the site was meant to compete with Amazon for publishers, but it's not. People are still going to publish with Amazon


Yes; that was why I acknowledged so expressly in my post that this isn't an either/or situation.



Drew Smith said:


> Selena is offering is a specialty service.


Yes; a good point, and that's why I stressed that I wish her well with it.

Again, I repeat that I respect her right to charge however she sees fit, just as I'm sure that she respects mine to comment that I can't help thinking, instinctively, what I said above and am still saying now. Again, I wish her nothing but success with this venture. Do you want me to say it a few times more? I'm happy to, if you wish.


----------



## DRMarvello (Dec 3, 2011)

Although Selena herself uses the term "distributor" on her blog post, it doesn't look like that is the service she's offering. In fact, it doesn't make sense that she would be offering distribution, because most retail sites won't accept the kind of content she *is* accepting (which is the entire point of this new venture.) What she's really offering is a new retail outlet, comparable in function to KDP, rather than something like Smashwords or D2D. I predict that readers will be more than happy to buy their reading material from her site, even if they are avid Amazon or B&N fans. I also predict that if this venture is successful, she will have competitors very soon. 

The fact that she is offering a 60% royalty is surprisingly generous, IMO. It is a competitive rate, in spite of the fact that her site will have many more battles to fight than most retail sites. She is leading the charge. She deserves kudos and a profit.

I do find it ironic that we are getting a "forbidden" error when we go to her site.


----------



## Paranormal Piper (Sep 24, 2012)

I'm not sure there's enough bandwidth in the whole world to handle the kind of traffic that site will apparently get. I uploaded a few of my titles, but the site was down when I went back to add more. That was yesterday afternoon and the site is still down.  

I'm looking forward to erotica niche readers having a place to go to get their kink scratched.


----------



## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

This looks interesting. 

However, is there any pressure to have one's data displayed a) among the "publishers" and b) if displayed, as per country flag?


----------



## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Just to weigh in.

Selena has been a long time heroine to me. I also understand why some people are questioning Excitica's %60 royalty.

I can't speak for her, but I can make an educated guess based on past experience writing erotica and selling it.

Credit card and payment processors give erotica writers and distributors a very hard time. In fact, this has caused complete shutdowns in the Erotica writing community more than once. Selena has often put herself on the line and battled those bullies head-to-head: 
(see this old blog post: http://selenakitt.com/blog/index.php/2012/03/20/corporate-bullies/)

Chances are she found a payment processor to work with. I'll also bet my hat that processor is charging a pretty high-fee per transaction. This is because erotica purchases are viewed as "high-risk" transactions by the credit card companies. She also will more than likely have to face a few legal/censorship battles. Considering that she's firing a volley shot at censorship and some of the biggest payment processors in the world... I don't mind giving her 40%.. as those are costly battles I certainly can't afford to fight.

Also this is a specialty "boutique" web site that's offering a very focused sales experience for readers. As someone who writes erotica and romance for the transgender community, I'm looking forward to working with Selena.

_* Also just think of it.. what if more writers set up their own sales networks? Imagine, a Sci-Fi sales website or a Steam-punk only sales site? I really do see this as the wave of the future! Writers in total control of their product from the get-go. Let's hope we see more of this!_


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

mjshaw said:


> I'm not sure there's enough bandwidth in the whole world to handle the kind of traffic that site will apparently get. I uploaded a few of my titles, but the site was down when I went back to add more. That was yesterday afternoon and the site is still down.
> 
> I'm looking forward to erotica niche readers having a place to go to get their kink scratched.


I emailed her last night and she's working on it. The site is getting slammed (which is a good sign!).


----------



## Paranormal Piper (Sep 24, 2012)

Vicky Foxx said:


> As someone who writes erotica and romance for the transgender community, I'm looking forward to working with Selena.


What name do you write under? I didn't see anything listed for Vicky Foxx. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to publicize the name.



Vicky Foxx said:


> _* Also just think of it.. what if more writers set up their own sales networks? Imagine, a Sci-Fi sales website or a Steam-punk only sales site? I really do see this as the wave of the future! Writers in total control of their product from the get-go. Let's hope we see more of this!_


I've been expecting something like this for a while, although not as something set up by writers. Instead, I've been waiting for someone like Amazon to borrow a page from the playbook of someone like Samhain Publishing, who has a few different outlets for different niches.

As ease of use continues to be a major draw for online retailers, I envision a future with extremely focused sites like Amazon - Steampunk, Amazon - SciFi, and Amazon - Erotica.


----------



## SofiaM (Feb 12, 2014)

I added three books to eXciticia last night.  I had 2 sales.  Now I just tried looking at the site and it seems to be down.  Even Selena's blog site is down.  Anyone know what's happening?

I have to say this was the easiest site to put books on.  I got emails when there were sales, which was an added bonus I didn't expect.


----------



## BlairErotica (Mar 1, 2014)

I've been trying to get to the site since I read this thread. I was getting the 403 errors but now, like you said, I get a database error, even for her blog--I was hoping she would have some kind of comment about what was going on.


----------



## Kiki Wellington (Mar 28, 2013)

SofiaM said:


> I added three books to eXciticia last night. I had 2 sales. Now I just tried looking at the site and it seems to be down. Even Selena's blog site is down. Anyone know what's happening?
> 
> I have to say this was the easiest site to put books on. I got emails when there were sales, which was an added bonus I didn't expect.


Good for you! I saw that some folks had sales on there, but I assumed people were downloading their own ebooks to test the system.

I read on her blog over the weekend that so many people were going on the site and the server kept crashing. Now, her blog is down too. I guess in a way that's a good thing...we know there is a lot of interest even though she hasn't started advertising the store yet


----------



## deedawning (Aug 31, 2013)

I too haven't been able to get excitica or her blog, starting at 7 a.m. I doubt if the site would have been flooded that early.

"I'm certainly not trying to suggest otherwise. She's entirely entitled to charge whatever percentage she wishes to. I respect her right to do that, just as I hope and trust she respects mine to express my surprise that I feel a little surprised that as a brand new start-up (as a distributor) they've decided to charge 10% more than a company as well-established and well-known as Amazon. " 

Zoe. You are forgetting several things that make Excitica a better deal @ 60% than Amazon offers. First, most erotica is short, usually under 15k and thus likely to be priced under $2.99. The 60% is across the board including 99 cents to $2.98 thus lower priced books would make a cool 25% more. Second, there will be no refunds, which eats up a good 10% of erotica/E.R. titles. And third, Excitica books, will not face Amazon Adult scrutiny and will never be hidden from most reading public.


----------



## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

I just accessed her site, selenakitt.com. It appears to be working fine. The blog section is working okay too.

However, when I clicked on her link to excitica.com, I got "page cannot be displayed."


----------



## deedawning (Aug 31, 2013)

Bluebonnet said:


> I just accessed her site, selenakitt.com. It appears to be working fine. The blog section is working okay too.
> 
> However, when I clicked on her link to excitica.com, I got "page cannot be displayed."


Did you get on with com or net? I got on the home page with net, but couldn't go anywhere else.


----------



## MegSilver (Feb 26, 2012)

I love kboards. I came here to find out what was going on with excitica and sure enough...

I was afraid this would happen; the night I uploaded (I think it was Thursday last) things were moving... very... slowly. Can you even imagine how many authors must be trying to upload?


----------



## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

deedawning said:


> Did you get on with com or net? I got on the home page with net, but couldn't go anywhere else.


With com. I Googled "Selena Kitt" and the first result was her .com site. I clicked on it and went right to it.

Just went back to the site and clicked all the navigation buttons ("About," "Books," etc.) and everythng worked fine.


----------



## Desmond X. Torres (Mar 16, 2013)

Tried all day clicking on the large logo on the page w/ no luck. Then I clicked on the title as a link in the body of the text. Bang, went right there.
FWIW, here's the link itself (I haven't read any of the posts, my bad, but in case anyone's experiencing the same frustration I did):
http://www.excitica.com/
Lotsa luck- site looks good too!


----------



## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

Awesome! I was waiting until things calmed down so I might just have to take a look tonight.


----------



## Ella Blythe (Oct 25, 2013)

Boyd said:


> Got a PM back on facebook. The site's are back up. Hostgator wasn't enough for her traffic. Am I the only one doing the happy dance at the moment?!


I put five titles up there last night. Everything operating smoothly now. I'm dancing with you, Boyd.


----------



## No longer seen (Aug 17, 2013)

I tried to sign up. 

But the field for state is just a button that does nothing,
yet of course the state is a required field.


----------



## K.T. Parks (Dec 30, 2012)

I'm live on Selena's new site!

Was able to publish both of my books without any hiccups.

I love the size/resolution she gives to your book covers, AND the many category options. I never knew so many avenues of erotica existed!

Here is the link to my books. Not sure if it will lead you directly to them because anytime you visit her site you have to click the age verification button saying that you are over 18yrs of age:

https://excitica.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=wayward%20self


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

To those who are live on her site-
I tried uploading my cover, got a 'file upload error,' I made it smaller thinking maybe it was just to large, got another 'file upload error.' Its a png, which she says she allows. Any ideas? I looked on the FAQ's but didn't see a size requirement. 

But when I was looking at the FAQ's I did see, "we ask that you make your books available in MOBI, EPUB, and PDF."  Is there an in-house conversion like on smash where you click allow PDF, EPUB ect or do I need to upload a PDF and an Epub etc?

ETA Just tried to upload a .doc- 'file upload error'. I guess Ill try again later when I'm not so frustrated. Wish it had a save draft button or something, now I get to start all over when I go back. Couldn't copy/paste description or sample so had to type it all out. I guess I'll get to do that again, too. So close, yet so far away. Oh well, I'm still so very grateful she's doing this.


----------



## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Richard Stooker said:


> I tried to sign up.
> 
> But the field for state is just a button that does nothing,
> yet of course the state is a required field.


Try typing the first few letters of your state. I didn't have an issue but that might get you past the glitch you're having.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

Jamie Klaire said:


> To those who are live on her site-
> I tried uploading my cover, got a 'file upload error,' I made it smaller thinking maybe it was just to large, got another 'file upload error.' Its a png, which she says she allows. Any ideas? I looked on the FAQ's but didn't see a size requirement.
> 
> But when I was looking at the FAQ's I did see, "we ask that you make your books available in MOBI, EPUB, and PDF." Is there an in-house conversion like on smash where you click allow PDF, EPUB ect or do I need to upload a PDF and an Epub etc?
> ...


You have to upload a MOBI, EPUB, and PDF. And they need a disclaimer in them that states all characters are above the age of 18.

My covers are made at 1800x2700 pixels, and after several tries I figured out that if I shrunk them down to 180x270, they were accepted just fine.

Good luck.


----------



## K.T. Parks (Dec 30, 2012)

Jamie Klaire said:


> To those who are live on her site-
> I tried uploading my cover, got a 'file upload error,' I made it smaller thinking maybe it was just to large, got another 'file upload error.' Its a png, which she says she allows. Any ideas? I looked on the FAQ's but didn't see a size requirement.


I tried uploading my cover size of 1800 x 2700 and got the same "file upload error" message. I reduced the image size to 200 x 300 and it went through just fine!



Jamie Klaire said:


> But when I was looking at the FAQ's I did see, "we ask that you make your books available in MOBI, EPUB, and PDF." Is there an in-house conversion like on smash where you click allow PDF, EPUB ect or do I need to upload a PDF and an Epub etc?


No "in-house conversion". I have both my books at Draft2Digital and Smashwords. If you have your books at either site you can grab your MOBI, EPUB, and PDF files from either one, then go back to eXitica and upload them. Shouldn't run into any problems going that route.

If you need someone to convert your doc files to eformat, check the Author Yellow Pages for people who offer these services. You can also send me a PM and I can recommend someone.

Hope this helps!


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

For the three posts right above me- thank you so much. Ive got a full stomach from dinner, a glass of wine, and now I'm off to conquer her site.


----------



## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

*deleted*


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

K.T. Parks said:


> I tried uploading my cover size of 1800 x 2700 and got the same "file upload error" message. I reduced the image size to 200 x 300 and it went through just fine!
> 
> No "in-house conversion". I have both my books at Draft2Digital and Smashwords. If you have your books at either site you can grab your MOBI, EPUB, and PDF files from either one, then go back to eXitica and upload them. Shouldn't run into any problems going that route.
> 
> ...


Smashwords editions are supposed to say that they're Smashwords editions in the front of the book.


----------



## No longer seen (Aug 17, 2013)

mrv01d said:


> Try typing the first few letters of your state. I didn't have an issue but that might get you past the glitch you're having.


Thanks for the suggestion.

I could not get my cursor into the field to type anything. However, it's the next day, and 
the problem has cleared up. I just got my application sent off, now awaiting moderation.


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

Thank you all again. Let me also add- make sure you don't take so long altering the size of your cover and converting everything to the various files that the system logs you out. I still kept getting 'file upload error' even when my cover was under the specs, and I had all the conversions. In a last ditch effort I refreshed the page and had to log back in again. Darn thing logged me out but didn't tell me. Hallelujah no issues. 
Got one up. Now that I know what I'm doing (thanks to your help) I'll get the rest up in the morning.


----------



## David Adams (Jan 2, 2012)

Great site, uploaded all my stuff. Seems like it's not doing much to push it though, although it's early days yet. Thoughts as follows:

Uploading was annoying and labourious for my various series -- they REALLY need to make that categories box much bigger -- until I discovered the 'clone' button. Uploading a series became a lot easier now. And it means when the next part is released, I just clone, update cover, title, blurb and contents, and I'm good to go. Awesome.

Odd that there's no "Series" box. I have no way of knowing how people who stumble onto the three freebies I have up there are going to find my other work. Still, again, it's early days, but I would have thought that something like that would be something Selena's webmonkeys would have been all over.

The "recently added" box is vanishingly small (only the top five titles are promoted, which means they only stay there for minutes at a time). Granted the upload rate is quite high at the moment, but still.

Worryingly, there's bugs in the sales reporting. My current dashboard reads:

Current balance: $0.00
Total sales: 1
Total earnings: $0.00
Sales this month: 20
Earnings this month: $0.00

No idea how I have 20 sales this month with only 1 sale so far. Bit of a concern that I can't even push free books there -- I uploaded three freebies, and one was downloaded almost instantly, but the others have just sat there. Not sure it's going to be worth the effort in the long run to be honest, but then again, my stuff is quite tame and not really a big seller anywhere.

It was an interesting way to spend a few hours, but I'm not sure it'll amount to much for me in the long run (cue eating my words six months later; if you're reading Selena, I'm happy to be wrong!).


----------



## Guest (Mar 19, 2014)

Drew Smith said:


> Selena is offering is a specialty service. Many of the books that will happily find a home on her site aren't welcome elsewhere so in a real way she's not in competition with Amazon or ARe because she's the only game in town.
> 
> Also, she's working with the same dynamics that say that you can charge $2.99 for a 20 page niche erotica product but would never get away with that in a different genre.
> 
> 60% of sales at her site is a much better deal than 98% of sales when your works aren't welcome at other sites.


Selena has been vocal about the way Amazon has treated some erotica writers. So bravo to her for giving those writers an option. I don't write erotica anymore, but I congratulate Selena for using her resources to help disadvantaged erotica writers.


----------



## Elizabeth Jones (Feb 6, 2014)

David Adams said:


> Not sure it's going to be worth the effort in the long run to be honest, but then again, my stuff is quite tame and not really a big seller anywhere.


I am so happy to be part of the site, but this is my concern, too. My books aren't taboo. In regards to the service Selena's offering for authors of spicy books, I'm afraid that my tame erotica won't be a big draw. I'm willing to see what happens, however. If people like their sex straight up, they will enjoy what I write. I guess there's a market for that, too. Haha!

Added - I haven't been able to get into the site for hours.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

@David  The site is only in beta, so the only people who really know about it are the authors who are uploading their books.

@Elizabeth  The site is down until it gets fixed.


----------



## Elizabeth Jones (Feb 6, 2014)

Greer said:


> @Elizabeth The site is down until it gets fixed.


Thanks - I've been emailing back and forth with Selena about this; the site finally came back up for me but then went back down this afternoon. (I was having additional problems while others were able to get in.) Servers were overloaded last time so I hope she's able to fix whatever made the wheels fall off this time around. I believe in what she's doing for erotica authors and am eager to see how this goes.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

Elizabeth Jones said:


> Thanks - I've been emailing back and forth with Selena about this; the site finally came back up for me but then went back down this afternoon. (I was having additional problems while others were able to get in.) Servers were overloaded last time so I hope she's able to fix whatever made the wheels fall off this time around. I believe in what she's doing for erotica authors and am eager to see how this goes.


Me, too. I think the opportunity to be part of something like this, created by an author and with an author's concerns in mind, is amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when it opens up for real.


----------



## MegSilver (Feb 26, 2012)

I keep getting empty e-mail messages from the site.

The curiosity over what they're supposed to contain is beginning to sting a bit.


----------



## Faye Hunter (Jun 5, 2013)

I have been getting empty emails each time someone downloads my freebie.


----------



## Spinneyhead (Nov 4, 2010)

When this was announced, I was in a different part of the country to the computer that has all my book files on it. Annoyingly, the few times since I got back that I have had a chance to look at the site it's been down for maintenance or showing the bugs that required the maintenance. But I'm going to keep on going back until I can register and upload my books.

My stuff's vanilla compared to the kind of material excitica has been set up to support, but still niche in its own way- tongue in cheek adventures with lots of (often bisexual) sex- so who knows, maybe I'll find a market there.


----------



## jenminkman (Mar 2, 2013)

Any news on when the site will be live again? It keeps being in maintenance or giving plain error messages.


----------



## RaeC (Aug 20, 2013)

that's awesome news! Congrats!


----------



## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

I don't even write erotica and I want this site to make so much money it makes the executives of all the channels that jerked erotica authors around feel bad in the wallet area.


----------



## 58907 (Apr 3, 2012)

I guess All Romance Ebooks (which also sells erotica and offers 60% royalty to authors) will have some competition...


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

KVictoriaChase said:


> I guess All Romance Ebooks (which also sells erotica and offers 60% royalty to authors) will have some competition...





Selena_Kitt said:


> No, not really. They don't take the naughty stuff.


Plus I heard they are asshats. 
Yay! Can't wait. As soon as I age out of KU. Congrats Selena.


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Wellll... I wouldn't say that. I *would* say that they overreacted during the PP debacle.


I agree. I would never go with them after that.

Congrats, Selena.


----------



## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

Unclicking my Select boxes in 3...2...1


----------



## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Wellll... I wouldn't say that. I *would* say that they overreacted during the PP debacle.


What was the PP debacle? I must have missed out on that one.


----------



## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

I just read the ToS and help files. How does this work for non-US-based authors? Do we need to file a W8BEN? Does the local TIN suffice? Can we email it in, or does it have to be faxed or snailmailed?


----------



## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

Selena_Kitt said:


> ETA: Paypal debacle of 2012


Oooooh, that. Yes. Uck. There have been so many debacles and 'pocalypses the last couple of years that they're all starting to run together.


----------



## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> You need an EIN (not the local TIN). However, you can get one pretty easily. Here are some great instructions. http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/
> 
> We do have a fax, email also works. We'll send out a call near the end of the year for filled out W9s and W8BENs. For now your entered Tax ID into the system is sufficient. If the number isn't valid, we have the right to withhold 30% (per the evil IRS rules!)
> 
> ETA: Paypal debacle of 2012


Are you aware of the fact that all the IRS requires is our national TIN? This IRS policy change apparently occurred early this year.


----------



## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> I can only go by what my accountant wants.  Sorry! I'll ask him though!


Amazon have changed to local tax IDs for anyone in a country which has them. It's a recent change, but it means one pain less, especially as IRS changed it apparently so people ceased phoning and mailing in to them for EINs and ITINs who don't need them in the first place.


----------



## Rae Scott Studio (Jan 26, 2014)

applied for an account and waiting an email. this should be interesting.


----------



## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

Hi Selena!

Hope this helps your accountant. I bolded the relevant parts: 


ClaireChilton said:


> Here's the response from Amazon on this.
> 
> _Hello Claire,
> 
> ...


_

That was from page 2 of 30% Tax Adventures

And here's something from the Amazon KDP site:




Applying for a U.S. TIN (Taxpayer ID Number)

Non-U.S. publishers are not required to have a U.S. TIN in order to sell on Amazon, unless their income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.

*Non-U.S. publishers resident in a country that maintains an income tax treaty with the U.S. and that issues tax identification numbers used for income tax reporting purposes may enter their foreign (non-U.S.) income tax identification number in KDP's tax interview to claim treaty benefits (i.e., a reduced rate of U.S. tax withholding on their royalty income). For a list of countries that have an income tax treaty with the United States, check the IRS website.*

If, however, a publisher is resident in a country that maintains an income tax treaty with the U.S. but the country does not issue a tax identification number used for income tax reporting purposes, they must provide a U.S. TIN to claim treaty benefits.

You can apply for a U.S. TIN by following the instructions below to obtain either an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for individuals or an Employer Identification Number (EIN) for non-individuals. If you are in process of applying for a U.S. TIN, you may complete the Tax Interview without the TIN. Once you receive your TIN from the IRS, take the interview again.

Source: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=201274700

Click to expand...

_


----------



## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

got my account approved and posted a book, but how long does the review process take?


----------



## Dimmplzz (Mar 27, 2014)

Re-applied from original launch looking foward to it Selena!


----------



## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

Same here. Very exciting!


----------



## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Hopefully no time at all - they SHOULD be posting instantly but they're not. The guys are working on it.


My book published after about 12 hours 

Now I have another question. On my book's page there's a link to "View all titles by this author," but the link takes me to a very unhelpful search results page. I'd like to have a link at the back of my books to my author page with all my books, so is there an actual page that shows my profile/books/etc? If there is, can the link on the product pages be changed to that page?


----------



## Spinneyhead (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm trying to register, but it keeps failing, saying "Incomplete form data"

I've filled in all the required fields, including uploading a placeholder image for the logo, but I keep getting that message.

[Thanks for the heads up on the tax, everyone. I just retook my Tax Interview and now it says I qualify for 0% tax withholding (pending review, of course)  ]


----------



## DRMarvello (Dec 3, 2011)

Congratulations, Selena, and best wishes on the new site.


----------



## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


----------



## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

Question that I hope is a good idea to ask here.  If we find errors in the author dashboard or have suggestions for the site, should we stay mum until the 'real' launch?


----------



## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

I already have three stories listed for release with Excessica in the next two months. Now your going to get tons more PI from me in the next year. Thank you.


----------



## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Kat S said:


> It's great, but I doubt if it will come close to making up for the lost sales from the hysteria last year. People don't want to go to an erotica store as much as they want to just use Amazon/B&N/Nook/Whatever just like they always did with their branded device.


I can see your point, but since erotica readers have distinct taste in what they are looking for, I believe a lot would go to where it's available. Hopefully anyway.


----------



## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

mrv01d said:


> As a small retailer, they do not have the economic efficiencies of Amazon and thus their costs are MUCH higher. PLUS they will have to take on any attacks b/c of content.
> 
> Having worked with her at the coop level via Excessica, she is NOT money hungry at all. She's always been fair.
> 
> ...


She only takes 10% from her authors at Excessica and offers a lot of advice, great formatting, and some promotion for that little bit. She's more than fair. You also have to figure she put a lot of money into creating this site and is offering authors a place to sell now that Amazon pulled the plug on their titles. For those authors, Amazon's rate is irrelevant, as 70% of nothing equals nothing.


----------



## Huldra (Nov 7, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Yes, we're working on this error. It seems to be happening (so far) only to International authors.


Will you post when this is fixed, please? Super excited to sign up!


----------



## Huldra (Nov 7, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Yes, I will, I promise!  I nudged them again today. Silly developers, don't seem to want to work Thanksgiving week!


Oh right yes, you guys and your extra holidays! 

BTW the link you posted earlier with the guide on how to get an EIN says it's no longer needed.
I hope your tax guy can confirm this so we can just use our local TINs.


----------



## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Yes, tax guys just confirmed today - ITINs are a go!


You mean foreign (non-US) a.k.a. tax identification number issued in the author's country of residence, right? 

(Just asking for clarification because ITIN is an IRS term)


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Selena, 
Glad to see you are up and running again.


----------



## Huldra (Nov 7, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Yep!


Hurray!


----------



## Navigator (Jul 9, 2014)

I know where my paranormal and fantasy erotica is going as soon as they're done.


----------



## Edward Naughty (Nov 11, 2012)

Congratulations, Selena.


----------



## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

Selena_Kitt said:


> Yep!


Glad to hear it!


----------



## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Selena, the ebook submission form is broken. I have filled it out multiple times, but the *SAVE* and *SAVE AND CONTINUE EDITS* buttons are non-functional. This means I lost my form entries and uploads. Let me know when you have this fixed so I can continue to upload my ebooks. I have only uploaded one so far and that was about a week ago. The broken button thing is a new bug. Also, I submitted tags for my first book as a customer because there was no form entry for submitting tags when I uploaded my first book. When you fix the submission form, I'll add the tags there. Also, why are our paragraph breaks not preserved in our form entries, such as blurb, etc... ? Also you have kindle incorrectly listed in the instructions on how to submit as epub, it's mobi. Thanks in advance. I await your post letting us know the form is functioning again.


----------



## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

can someone pm me the link please, the op link is a 404 page

thanks!


----------



## MaraLeigh (Nov 18, 2014)

I'm getting a 404 error page, too.


----------



## iheartwords (Jun 12, 2013)

The site is Excitica 'dot' com. (Am I allowed to say that if it's not a link?)


----------



## Michelle Lowery (Nov 22, 2014)

Try this: http://selenakitt.com/blog/excitica-new-eroticaromance-storefront-selena-kitt/


----------



## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Was able to upload again.


----------

