B&N’s Upscale Erotica Suppliers

By Ron Hogan on August 2, 2007 9:00 AM

Late last year, Sterling Publishing cut a deal with Hollan Publishing for a series of what they called “illustrated romantic lifestyle” books, all of which would feature “high-end photography” and several of which would be about “sexuality and lovemaking.” Boston magazine’s Blythe Copeland recently met the creative minds behind Hollan for a sneak peek at the first books they’ll be packaging for Sterling (the publishing wing of Barnes & Noble) to be sold under the Ravenous imprint, including the forthcoming Sex Drive.

Hollan publisher Holly Schmidt views her collaborative venture with Allan Penn as “an opportunity to approach the subject visually in a way that is better, or different, than has been done in the past,” by producing “the kind of books that an open-minded, kind-of-hip, passionate person would put on their coffee table.” Translation: Sure, the couples in Sex Drive are throwing their clothes off and fooling around with each other, but they’re doing it in totally sweet rides: classy! Meanwhile, Three: The Art of the Menage à Trois isn’t just loaded with photos of “two women and a man coupling in a dazzling variety of positions,” as the catalog copy puts it, it’s also got practical advice for straight couples trying to score their own sex kitten (but not, apparently, a shareable stud). Copeland also picks up a bit of tension in the air concerning the way that Schmidt and Penn left Quayside Publishing Group to launch Hollan—specifically, folks at Quayside say the pair are not only taking way too much credit for creating Quiver, that house’s line of sex books, they also took some book ideas when they left. Schmidt says her former employers are just “bitter,” which must make things awkward when they run into each other in the office complex where both firms are based.