Your Complete Publisher Specializing in Unabridged Works

Bonnie thought it was time I let you in on what PHP is and what it’s becoming. Also, I wanted to let you see something about us and our books of course.

By now you know The Pyrateheart Press started in the living room of a one-bedroom apartment we shared in Lakewood, California. For those of you who don’t know, Lakewood is a suburb of Los Angeles. It rests on the northern edge of Long Beach.

I had been laid off. Was having a terrible time finding work. So Bonnie, my Wifesty and business partner, told me to write the book I so longed wanted to write. What happened next was simple. I wrote. Wrote up tons of stories. Stories I never finished. So, she put her foot down. Told me to pick one and publish it.

For some reason I chose the erotica one. An erotic piece based on Greek mythology. You know it as Penelope’s Melody. Only the eBook you have now isn’t the one I wrote. Which is the true beginning of how PHP came to be.

I needed some feedback. I sent the manuscript to a couple of people I had met online who were also writers. People who I’d come to feel an affinity towards. A trust if you will. A trust I discovered went all the way to the bone. Each of the ones I sent the piece to in return sent me the truth as they knew it. Called my work juvenile. Told me I didn’t have a clue. Spoke of wooden characters and poor plot lines? Well, it went on and on.

However, the woman who would take the pseudonym Miranda Cummings wrote me; she liked the concept behind the story. Asked if she could try her hand at fixing it. My one true feeling by this time was so bruised I no longer cared. I let Miranda have a poke at it. A poke I will forever be grateful for.

She reworked the entire story. Filled it with the supernatural images I wanted plus the sex I envisioned in the work. In the end, we found the need to collaborate on the work. A work we proudly published on Amazon in 2016.

Time passed. I took the idea of working with other writers to heart. We produce two more eBooks. The Trouble in Nunya and The Gigolo . We then began work on a dozen others.

More time passed. I grew dissatisfied with the policy’s on Amazon. I didn’t want to get only 30% of my work if I chose not to put the price tag at $2.99. They offered only 8% if you chose to publish hard covers. So, I shopped around. Got an education on publishing rather quickly. Got an even bigger one on publishing houses.

By the time I was done, I had no desire to use any of the current publishers, either mainstream or boutique. They didn’t match what I wanted. The answer became clear. We would start our own publishing company. One where we control the outcome and the money.

It took a lot for us to make the decision. Running a publishing house is a full-time commitment. Writing is such a small part of the book world. A very small part. One of those parts we learned about early on was the legal aspects of publishing. Which is why we started out as an uncensored publisher. We wanted everyone to know we didn’t censor our writers.

We had possessed three eBooks that were ready for publication. Each included content we knew would cause trouble. Penelope’s Melody was a hardcore erotica book. This meant sex. Loads of it. The Trouble in Nunya displays heavily supernatural topics and violence. Hard violence. Gigolo possessed graphic sex scenes but talked more about the process of becoming a gigolo. Something we termed a dark comedy. Which it is.

When you list yourself as uncensored, people automatically think porn. Something we weren’t interested in affiliating ourselves with. Especially since we were about to put out two supernatural thrillers and a love story with a twist. Fem’s Final Fix and The Librarian debuted as supernatural thrillers. Each one an exceptional read. Ebooks we were proud to place on our website. Prouder to put our name on them as the publisher. 

We were just as proud when we published The Lodge . The Lodge is a unique love story. A romance anyone can read with a smile on their face. These eBooks possessed adult themes. However, the stigma of porn still hovered over our heads. So, we changed our anthem to the unabridged publisher.

What is unabridged? It means we tell the story the author wanted in complete detail.  No censorship nor political correctness. Unfortunately, this led to additional problems. Authors who mistook such terms for meaning we would publish their work unedited. This is not us.  Unabridged does not mean unedited.  We edit all work we represent and that represents us.  Another hiccup in our strides. One leading to many authors leaving us.

However, we persevered. Continued on as we published The After Effects of a Good Time . A story about adultery collaborated on by three separate authors. An adult book filled with adult themes. A good read but a hard one. It holds back nothing.

Then we published Tank and Love Letters . Tank a Christian based supernatural story. A hard story with a different type of happy ending. And Love Letters was based on an old theme. Telling a story through the letters of those writing them. In this case, emails since the story is based in outer space.   Quincy’s Seductive Tune is the sequel to Penelope’s Melody , a supernatural erotica.

Which is leading us into the future. We must decide if we will continue as an unabridged publisher. See if being a complete publisher is a better mantra. We have over 22 stories in development. Have taken on new authors whose work we are getting ready for publication as we speak. Finding Her Voice by Sophia Grey a unique story. A story of a woman raised by multiple generations of feminists. A story bound to cause a reaction among women of the world.

Then there is C.S. Patra’s Heirs of the Blood Queen . A story of witches and warlocks, demons and evil. A story told through the eyes of the grown children of the murdered Blood Queen. A witch of the highest order. Only problem? Her children didn’t know. Nor did they know they too possessed powers. A great take on an old theme.

One of the books we have in development, Summer on Mars is based on an older, more G-rated theme. A child is forced to spend the summer with her grandfather. Only this one is a different. The grandfather lives on Mars. The themes are adult, but the book may not end up as an adult book. Possibly more of a young adult book.

Then we have Ronnie’s Revenge . One of the hardest books you will ever read. It is a Christian thriller. No, this is not a feel-good Christian book. It is quite the opposite. A great read but if the topics of rape and abuse and violence give you pause, this book might not be for you. A book about a woman hell bent on revenge from the man who raped her and left her for dead.

We have sequels coming out soon for The Trouble in Nunya and Gigolo . We also have begun work on a story about a gargoyle and another about a psychic detective. We have Christian short stories and a serial killer mystery coming out soon. 

We still haven’t quite found our niche even though I believe our niche is publishing works no one else wants. Publishing works on topics authors want to tell. Whether it be erotica or thrillers or science fiction and fantasy. The topics must be good and the stories better. We won’t publish a bad story. We will publish ones which draw controversy. As long as the story is good, we will consider publication.

I’m Ross, The Editor at The Pyrateheart Press, and I’m out.