Attn: Authors - Why your books cannot be deleted

[Melanie]

Many authors have requested I delete certain titles from their listings due to various things, mainly that they have either switched publishers or the book is no longer available.  I cannot do this and here's why...

Once your book is published, someone, somewhere has that book on their shelf or computer.  If I delete it, they will notify me that I'm "missing" a book that should be listed.

The Essence of Romance is not a retail outlet, we do not sell books (yet! Stay tuned!).  We sell information.  It's easier to think of us as an encyclopedia or "bible" (hence our tagline) of Romance novels.  We document actual facts, i.e. a book has been published.  The EOR contains listings going back to the early 1900's, many of which are no longer available, but because we list them, interested readers can still find out about these books and authors and then buy the books used if they are not available new. 

Okay, I hear you groaning...    we know you don't make any money off used books.  But many authors don't realize what used bookstores can do for them.  Many people are not willing to pay full price (i.e. new book) for an author they have never read, but they ARE willing to pay half price (i.e. used book) to try a new author out.  If they like the author, it leads to the customer ordering new books by that same author, causing $$ sales for both the author and the bookstore.  I've seen this happen a million times over the years in our own bookstores.

So please, if you have a book published, do not ask us to delete it for any reason.  You can let us know it's out of print as we hope to add this info in future so our users know immediately if they can purchase a book new or have no choice but to buy it used.  But that is the only update we can make to a novel that is out of print or no longer available for whatever reason, we cannot delete the listing.

We appreciate your understanding!
Melanie