editors

Q and A with Deb Werksman, editor at SourceBooks

Hi Everyone,

I have been checking out the blog tour on Romance Author Hotspot and it’s been so fun. If you’ve never been on a Blog Tour, this sis a great first experience, at least it has been for me. I’m not all the way through it yet, however I have been reading through Deb Werksman interview, which is great, but the REAL gold is found in the comments section, where Deb answers readers’ questions. I’ll repeat it at the end but go to www.romanceauthorhotspot.com and click on the header for Summer Bash 2011.

Here is just a snippet of what you’ll find in the comments section:

Q: What is your editorial criteria?

DW:

  • a heroine the reader can relate to
  • a hero she can fall in love with
  • a world gets created that she can escape into
  • a hook I can sell with in 2-3 sentences
  • the author has a clear career arc–i.e., if readers love the first book, what
    are we giving them next, and next and next?

Q: Would like to know what kind of stories would you like to see cross your desk (something that would really excite you)?

DW:

  • straight contemporaries that are fun to read (not issues-based, which I don’t think works in romance)
  • romantic suspense with law enforcement theme/characters
  • romantic comedy
  • commercial women’s fiction with a great hook and an unusual premise
  • Georgian and Victorian England historical romance

Q: Also, what kind of stories/genre do you think needs to be freshened up?
DW: paranormal romance and erotic romance

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Go check out the rest of the great blogs on the tour. There are many new-to-you authors to explore. www.romanceauthorhotspot.com

Happy Exploring!

Suzy Kue

 

Call for Submissions – July through September

Hi Everyone,

Submission Time!

Hopefully you have some material all polished and ready to go to fit these categories.

Good luck to you!

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The following information was first printed in the July 2011 Orange Blossom, newsletter for Orange County Romance Writers.

JULY CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

XoXo Publishing is seeking original, never published before short stories written by unpublished and published writers. 2,500 to 4,500 words. Romances of all genres, safe-sex couples, sensuous romances, sweet, historical etc. Celebrating
dance of all kinds be it the dance of courtship or actual physical dance. Manuscript must be sent in as MS Word doc, attachment.12 pt Times New Roman. Double spaced and fully edited.

Deadline July 31, 2011.

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Angels & Fairies

There are angels who are good and pure and perfect — and there are angels whose halos are a bit, well, crooked. And tarnished. They’re naughty angels, and they’ve got more fun things to do than play harps and float on clouds.

Ravenous Romance is looking for steamy, sexy short stories for an anthology that features angels — the naughtier, the better. M/F, M/M, F/F, and ménage stories welcome. Submit your stories to acquisitions editor Jennifer Safrey at jen@ravenousromance.com. Please include a short query letter in the body of the email and the story as an attachment.

Deadline August 1, 2011.

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Samhain Superheroes

It’s up, up and away we go, to a world of superheroes and supervillains, where  heroes and/or heroines with special abilities and crime-fighting prowess  protect the public…and fall in love.

I’m very happy to announce an open call for submissions for a new,  yet-to-be-titled spring 2012 superhero romance anthology. For more information  on what I’m looking for when I ask for superhero stories, check out these  entries on wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero_fiction

I’m open to M/F, M/M, F/F, or multiples thereof, any sexual heat level, and the romance must end happily ever after or happy for now.

The novellas must range between 25,000 to 30,000 words in length, no more, no less—please note, only manuscripts that fall in this word count will be  considered for this anthology—and will be released individually as ebooks in  spring 2012 and in print approximately one year later.

Submissions are open to all authors, published with Samhain or aspiring to be published with Samhain. All submissions must be new material—previously  published submissions will not be considered. Additionally, manuscripts  previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be  considered either. Be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot  be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

Please note: fanfiction of popular, trademarked and copyrighted superheroes  will not be considered. Only original works please.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please include:

The full manuscript (of 25,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter. Full  manuscripts are required for this as it is a special project.

As well, when you send your manuscript, be sure to use the naming convention  Superhero_Title_MS and Superhero_Title_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and
makes it easy for me to find in my e-reader.

Submissions are open until September 1, 2011. No submissions will be accepted after this date—no exceptions.

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/special-calls/

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Ellora’s Cave Love Letters

~ Story length 18K – 45K words.

~ Any genres, settings.

~ Must use the theme as a primary story element.

Submission deadlines are firm. Earlier is preferred.

LOVE LETTERS

Theme is love letters, cards, diaries.

Stories will release in January/February 2012 (in time for Valentine’s Day).

Submission deadline is August 31, 2011.

Send a professional cover email, a detailed synopsis (2 to 5 pages describing  setting and main characters and outlining full plot, including resolution), the  first three chapters and the final chapter of your manuscript via email as an  attached file (doc or rtf format) to Submissions@ellorascave.com.  Note: We are an e-publisher and all our work is done electronically; we do not
accept paper submissions.

Compiled by Louisa Bacio. Bacio’s new erotic paranormal The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome is now available. Visit her at http://www.louisabacio.com.

Editor Leis Pederson – Notes on the Publishing Industry and Marketplace

Hi Folks,

This is my last round of notes from our May RWASD Chapter meeting with Leis Pederson. She gave us a lot of great information. This next section relates to the Publishing Industry and market information about it. Again, these were from my own handwritten notes and I did my best to take them accurately. Hope they are useful to you. 

Printing Machine

How important are titles to selling a book? Not hugely important. If a manuscript is submitted with a bad title, it wouldn’t deter Leis from acquiring it, nor selling it. It’s up to the marketing department to come up with something different.

 How much input does an author have on the title of a book? Leis said that she can only comment on how things are done at Berkley Books. But what she asks the author is, “How attached are you to this title? Can we change it?” If the author thinks that it’s very important, then they go back and forth on the exact element of the title that was proposed to see what they can keep and come up with options for Marketing to choose from. But all in all, she wants the author to be happy with the title and doesn’t want it to be forced on them.

Is there a type of book that you wish someone would send you right now? Nothing at the moment.

How much promotion is done for debut authors? It depends on a lot of factors, how many books are coming out that month, if there are back-to-back releases scheduled, etc. No set dollar amount. Berkley Books has a publicity department that handles the print ads (if any), blog posts and social media in general. But they appreciate it when an author does their own promotion as well. It helps everyone.

I have a friend whose book was only on the shelf for 1 week, is that the industry norm? Leis had never heard that. A book on the shelf for only one week wouldn’t be enough to obtain adequate sales. It could be on a kiosk, perhaps, for a week and then moved to a regular book shelf, but none of the books coming out of Berkley would be on the shelf for only one week.

How do you feel about series? She likes them

How is the market for Historical Romances? Leis publishes historical romances and likes them. There are also other editors at Berkley that also publish historicals. They are becoming more difficult to acquire or sell because the readers are becoming more picky about what they buy.

There’s no special time period that they are requesting more than another. If it’s an amazing book, time period doesn’t matter. World War II is the latest they’ll go and still consider it a historical. After that, it’s considered “Retro.”

How has the trend towards eBooks affected BerkleyBooks? Berkley Books’ new policy is to release the eBook at the same time as the traditionally published book. They have an entire legal department that searches out pirated copies of books regularly, but the piraters are pretty smart and change their websites all the time. Authors can also submit websites where their books are pirated and send them to the legal dept to shut down as well.

 What is a Scheduling Board? At Berkley, they have a giant board where they slot books. There is no Bell Curve saying that they can only buy 3 paranormals in a year. Once a book is acquired, it is usually published one year later. That date can move forward or backward depending on if others meet their deadlines or not. It’s a moving target that’s updated regularly.

Do you have any interest in Gothics? Yes – if it’s well written. A Gothic is one of the first books she’s ever edited. They are hard to do well, but a great book is a great book. They want great books.

Why is Chick Lit out of style? Because the market became over-saturated with them. They were so popular that everyone was doing it, and then supply suddenly overwhelmed demand. They are now referred to as Women’s Fiction.

With the economy as it is right now, are publishers steering clear of hard back books? The industry is definitely taking a hit, but it’s changing daily. It really depends on the author whether or not they’ll put it out in hard back.

 What are Sell-Throughs (Sell-Thrus)? They are the percentage of books sold, gross versus net on a book. So if 60,000 copies of a book were printed, and 30,000 copies were sold, that’s a 50% Sell-Thru rate. Publishers want at least 50%. These numbers are not in the contract. Remaindered books are also counted in the Sell-Thru.

 What is Remaindering? It is when the printed books are overstocked in a warehouse and they want to clear it out. They’ll sell them at a discount to stores like Dollar General.

How do you feel about multi-book pitches, and do all the books have to be completed at pitching time? It depends on the book proposal. If it’s a series or a trilogy that’s fine, but the concept needs to grab her. The rest of the books do not need to be completed, but there would need to be a synopsis on them.

How do you feel about Social Media for unpublished authors? It’s a good thing to social network so that you know the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Get tips and hints for submissions and queries. It’s not a good idea to post samples of your work. Create a fan base that will want to buy your book as soon as it’s published.

What books are hard to publish right now? Romantic Suspense – it’s harder to sell because the readers are very picky.

What are your thoughts on Light Romance or Humorous Romance? It’s very hard to tell someone that you’re funny and have them believe it. What you find funny may not appeal to a wide audience.

 What is the difference between BerkleyHeat and Sensation? Heat contains graphic sex and lots of it throughout the story. They tend to push the envelope in terms of bondage, multiple partners, etc.

Sensation has a small element of the same thing, but considered more “normal” sex. When submissions come in, editors will shuffle between the two lines depending on the story.

I’ve never written a synopsis, do you have any tips for how to write a good one? Find a good chapter contest and read through their score sheet. If you can answer every one of those questions well, then you’ll have a good synopsis.

Leis Pederson, Berkley Heat Editor – The Editor Life

This is a continuation of my notes from our recent RWASD chapter meeting. As you can probably see, I am a copious note-taker.

Editor

THE EDITOR LIFE

These questions were related more to Leis as an editor than to submission/query questions.

When reading a book, who would you rather be the heroine or her best friend?

Greatly depends on the book. Haven’t you ever read a book where you thought, “Wow, her best friend is really more fun than she is?”

What are your favorite and least favorite things about being an editor?

Her favorite part is the fact that she gets paid to read.

Her least favorite thing is when she likes a book and wants to buy it and isn’t able to for a number of reasons, such as a) someone
else bought it b) the rest of the committee doesn’t agree c) someone else just bought something similar, etc. It makes her very cranky.

What’s your opinion of romances written in the first or third person?

Depends on the book and the writer. If a book is done well, either works. It depends on the Voice and POV changes.

Someone from the crowd said: I heard that readers like to see the development of the romance from both the hero’s and the
heroine’s perspective. Leis agreed, but again, it all depends on the book and if it’s done well.

Which do you read first, the sample chapters or the synopsis?

The sample first. If what she reads intrigues her enough, then she’ll read through the synopsis. And she’ll usually read the entire
thing, unless it’s awful.

What’s a typical day for you?

She works in an office, so considers it a normal office job. She doesn’t do her reading or editing at the office; that happens at home.
A typical office day for Leis consists of filing, emailing, calls, meetings, etc. She sits at her computer all day long.

What was your path to where you are now at Berkley?

She was enrolled in the NYU Publishing program where she had to intern at a publishing house as part of her graduation requirement. She ended up interning under Cindy Hwang and the “rest is history.”

Who is your favorite among all your authors?

She adores all her authors with equal love and affection and could not choose one over the other.

With your psychology background, how much does it come into play while you’re reading a manuscript?

Not that much, unless it has some sort of psychological element to it. She has been known to call out a couple of inconsistencies or red flags in a couple of novels, but not much.

What is the ratio of what you review to what you actually acquire?

Off the top of her head, she supposes that if she sees 100 manuscripts, she will acquire only 2 of them.

Do you acquire Inspirationals?

No – she does not personally acquire Inspirational romance novels, however there are some books that Penguin has put out that fall into that category. It depends on the acquiring editor. There is no line at Penguin that’s slated for Inspirationals at this time.

Next time – I’ll have my notes from her on the Publishing Industry. IMHO, those were really interesting. Stay tuned . . .

Publishing

Submission Notes from Leis Pederson – Berkley Heat Editor

I was lucky enough to attend the morning session of my RWASD’s monthly meeting. Our speaker was editor Leis Pederson of Berkley Books – a division of Penguin.

Her topic was “What Not to Do in a Book Proposal,” however much to our delight, instead of speaking to us lecture-style, she gave a brief introduction of herself and of Berkley Books and then opened the floor up to questions. Later that afternoon, she also took a few pitches.

What follows is a hodge podge of questions that the membership asked and I did my best to take notes on the answers. I was able to lump them into different groups, but my first blog on this will mostly be what people find the most interesting . . .QUERIES & SUBMISSIONS.

NOTE: I was handwriting notes, and did the best that I could to take them accurately. Please do your own research before submitting to her or to any editor or agent.

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 Berkley Books

  • They print around 700 titles a year
  • Leis personally edits 20 authors currently in romance (all genres) and womens’ fiction.

Overall Submission Mistakes

  • Sloppy proposals – the manuscript needs to be clean. Have it edited for punctuation, grammar
  • “Spell check is your friend”
  • Know the gender of the person you are submitting to, no “Dear Sir or Madam.”
  • Do your research on the editor that your submitting to, “Know the line.” Don’t submit mystery to a womens’ fiction only editor

 NOTE: all cases are individual, “It depends,” was a common response from Leis.

 Question: What happens after a book is acquired?

When she finds a book that she wants to publish, she sends it through to others for a second or multiple reads. Basically they buy by committee, the board (not sure who it consists of) makes a decision on if they want to publish the book or not. Once they receive the green light . . .

  1. Offer for acquisition
  2. Schedule when the book will come out (usually within a year or sooner) – This date can move forward or backward depending on other authors deadlines (if they are met or not).
  3. Edits – sometimes there are many, sometimes not. But there is a back and forth process where the editor redlines things and sends it to the author, etc.
  4. Copy Editor – who checks for grammar, punctuation, word choices, etc.
  5. Type setter – checks for typos and sets how the book will look in print.
  6. Production, Cover, Copy – These typically happen simultaneously

 QUERIES

 Question: When querying you, how long do you want the synopsis to be?

2 to 7 pages. If she wants more, she will request it.

Question: What do you want in the synopsis?

  • A general sense of where the story is going
  • What are the major plot points
  • Where does the romance go – how does it develop
  • You can give away the ending
  • Give enough detail but don’t give too much. She has received a synopsis where it said something like, “On page 2 the hero takes a bath.”

 Question: Which do you prefer Electronic or Hard Copy?

  • Electronic, definitely. Save the baby trees. Hard copy goes in the slush pile to be read at a later date.
  • Send the requested synopsis and sample chapters as an attachment, NOT embedded in the email.

 Question: On books you pass on, do you provide feedback? And do you accept resubmissions?

If she reads a book and thinks that it can be fixed, then she’ll make some revision recommendations and will ask for it to be returned. Sometimes she’ll make notes as to why it didn’t work for her, but that’s NOT the same thing as asking to see it back. Always ask before resubmitting.

Question: Do you ever buy on less than a full manuscript from a debut author? What about established authors?

For debut authors, she never buys on less than a full manuscript because she needs to know that the author can finish the entire book and that it’s as strong as the first 3 chapters.

For established authors, especially from her own line, then sometimes all that’s needed is a proposal/synopsis.

More to come on Leis Pederson and her thoughts on the industry, her life as an editor, etc. Stay tuned.

Pitching Notes from editor Debs Werksman of Sourcebooks

NOTE: I have a chaptermate – Linda Wisdom who publishes with Sourcebooks. They are phenomenal, a house that really works for the authors that they bring on and the largest independent women-owned publishing company.

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Deb Werksman

From Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks (Sourcebooks.com)

Here’s what I’d like to see in the [in-person] pitches:

1)       First, tell me what the book is (example: single title light paranormal romance OR historical fiction set in Civil War Texas OR commercial women’s fiction)

2)    Give me a hook that I can sell the book with in 2-3 sentences  (example: A light paranormal romance series; each one has a witch sister as a heroine, and a preternatural hero who’s the perfect foil for her witchy powers. Fun, funny, sexy and a refreshingly entertaining cast of secondary characters.)

3) Give me a very short plot summary (Example: Our feisty witch heroine and hunky shapeshifter hero can’t seem to
get it together, in spite of their red hot mutual attraction. Then his pack leader does something terrible, and expects him to pay the price. No way is our witch going to let anyone mess with her soon-to-be boyfriend, even if he does shed on the furniture!)

4) Tell me about any previous publishing history and your future career arc.

5) Ask me questions!