Archive for June, 2010

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Shannon Stacey interviews Executive Editor Angela James

Shannon_Stacey | June 30th, 2010

Shannon Stacey is the author of eleven published works, nine of which were edited by the comma-killing, wandering body part-snagging, action tag-loving Angela James. Shannon’s current Carina Press release, Exclusively Yours, is their ninth book together and has a lot fewer commas now than it did when Shannon wrote it.

1. If I could go back in time and rewrite any one of the classics, I’d give Gone With The Wind a happily ever-after-ending. (And have Ashley Wilkes get murdered in the first act, causing Melanie to develop an opium addiction that would make her a great deal more interesting and…oh wait. Back to you.) If you could go back in time and edit any one of the classics, which would be it be and why?

Um, none of them, because I’m an editor not an author and me trying to rewrite anything would be tragic! And I’m afraid your follow-up question can’t be which books I’d go back and re-edit, because I’ll have to plead the Fifth. I’d like to hear more about your plan for Gone With the Wind, though. You could do for Gone With the Wind what that author did for Pride and Prejudice. Something having to do with zombies. And maybe some shifters and vampires thrown in. We could make millions! Let’s chat. I’ll have my people call your people.

2. How important is an author’s social media profile to you? If you’re on the fence about acquiring a manuscript, can an author who’s successfully using social media tip you toward buying? Conversely, if an author’s “behaving badly” in public via social media, will it tip you against buying? (No, that’s not three questions. The second two are subquestions.)

I should never have assigned this interview to you, cheater.

I do look at authors’ social media proficiency: blog, Twitter, Facebook, website and look to see what they’re doing to build their brand. A really strong, positive author brand can tip me in favor of an author because it says to me they’re willing to put in the time and effort to their business.

And I have rejected authors who have publicly behaved unprofessionally online via their social media profiles. Publishing is a business where authors, editors and publishers work (or should work) intimately with one another, and where we need to depend on each other for professional courtesy and patience. If an author has already shown publicly they don’t mind letting loose in an unprofessional way, rather than being smart about managing their brand, then that’s one sign that a comfortable working relationship may be difficult.

3. Have you ever harbored a secret desire to write a novel yourself?

I don’t think it’s a secret desire. I grew up reading and I think for many people, a natural extension of having a love of books is having a desire to be able to write one. People have often asked me if/when I’m going to write a book, but the truth is, I don’t seem to have been blessed with the fiction novel gene. It’s actually one of the things I love about books, the awe I feel at the worlds and characters other people have created, wondering how they DO that and do it so well. So I probably won’t be writing a fiction novel anytime soon.

Now, non-fiction, that’s another story…

4. What’s your secret for working from home? Does self-discipline come naturally to you, or do you have a routine that helps, such as work clothes on work days or a specific place in the house you work?

I’ve been working from home long enough that I’ve learned to be disciplined about my time. I wouldn’t be in the position I am today if I’d spent all my time working from home goofing off instead!  I have a job and I have duties, I have people who are depending on me to get that done. If I’m not disciplined, they don’t get done and people will notice and then I won’t have a job (motivation!) So I don’t have any choice but to be disciplined. Added to that, I think having discipline shows respect for what you do, and for the people who depend on you, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for my peers, my co-workers, my authors and my freelance contractors so I try not to let them down.

During the week, I work during the day (from about 8a-4:30p) while my daughter is at daycare and husband is at work. Because my brother has moved in with us and taken over the room that was my “office” I work either in the living room or dining room. I don’t turn on the TV during the day (because I’m at work) and I don’t feel as though I also need to be doing housework just because I’m at home. Because really, I’m at work (sense a trend in my mantra, here?) Like a normal office job, I allow myself a day every so often to do something out of the ordinary, like go out to lunch, but otherwise, I’m at work.

The hardest part for me is actually separating from work, because working from home, you never truly leave work. So even though my main workday is during the day/week, I also work in the evenings and on the weekends. I often have to force myself to stop.

I guess the main trick is not to think of it, or allow other people to think of it, as you being at home, but to keep reminding them you’re at work, and that they shouldn’t expect things of you that they wouldn’t expect of anyone else at work. If they can’t do the laundry at work, you shouldn’t be expected to either!

5. If you weren’t married and could date any Star Wars or Star Trek character, who would it be and why? (And no, you cannot cheat and substitute Firefly. Or Doctor Who. Or Battlestar Galactica.)

You cheated in question #2 so I have a free pass. Despite my love for the shows you mentioned, I would date Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

(Note from Shan: Angel? Ew. Spike, baby. It was all Spike.)

(Note from Angela: Yeah, you’re also the one who roots for Juan Pablo Montoya as your favorite Nascar driver. I rest my case.

(Note from Angela part 2: –though I do admit that Spike would be my second choice)

Bonus question: If a writer aspiring to be a Carina Press author wanted to make you wiggle in your chair, what would he or she send you?

Because I’m so busy with the administrative side of running Carina, I don’t have much time in my schedule any more for editing. I do read a lot of submissions, but I generally pass the ones I love/acquire to the freelance editors. I really love editing, though, so I continue to work with a few authors, though not much more than a book a month. The genres that are most going to catch my eye and convince me to edit a book from the slush pile are space opera (I’m still waiting for someone to write me a western-flavor space opera a la Firefly and Captain Tightpants!), futuristic romance, steampunk (I was asking for this 5 years ago, long before it was “in” so why stop now?) and erotic romance of any sub-genre, but I have a soft spot for good BDSM erotic romance because it’s so difficult to find.

Though I do find myself reading some longer submissions because of the genre, if you’re writing a novella in any genre, I’m most likely to grab it out of the slush pile and read it, and most likely to keep it for editing myself, because novellas fit much better into my schedule!

All that said, there are always books and authors who I’ll try to edit (Hi Nora, call me!) because I want to keep editing, as it’s something I love and don’t want to get too rusty at!

* * *

You can find Shannon at her website or running amok on Twitter and Facebook. Her next book, Undeniably Yours, releases from Carina in October. You can find Angela pretty much everywhere (the hard part’s getting her to sit still), but Twitter and the Carina Press Facebook page are good places to start.

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Posted in editors | 35 Comments »

Surprise!

Melissa_Johnson | June 29th, 2010

Working for Carina Press has been full of surprises. When I started receiving submissions last year, I didn’t realize I that each book I acquired would give birth to a unique relationship with a writer—men and women with different lives, communication styles and backgrounds.

Not much of a social butterfly, I have to admit I’m surprised at how much I love this aspect of editing.

A lot of careers subdivide people by interests and geography—you often end up working with people who are fairly similar to you. Not so fiction editing. Though bound by a love of stories, authors come from different parts of the world and have a fascinating array of backgrounds and interests. My authors are farmers, corporate professionals, video gamers, primary caregivers, academics and full-time writers. They have unique hobbies and life experiences that seep into their stories—even ones that take place hundreds of years ago or in an imagined future.

Aside from the poignant moments of love, pain and profound humor that I seek and savor in each manuscript–and those are a big deal, the most wonderful parts of each book for me are the kernels of real life that seem to sneak into the story. Guys ribbing each other in Her Heart’s Divide, the details of NYC opulence in Parker’s Price, the editing rooms and TV station personalities from In Plain View, Motor City Fae’s heroine singing Monty Python songs to herself, the glee with which Daphne goes boot shopping in Consent to the Cowboy, Overnight’s heroine’s peace with herself as she goes about everyday tasks, Krayne’s struggle to reinterpret the past in Betrayed, Anna and Will comparing their feet in The Sergeant’s Lady, Jane’s skillful classroom management while her life has spun out of control in I’ll Become the Sea, four-year-old Dina’s boundless faith in the Fae lord, Aidan, in Motor City Witch, Derek’s thoughtful chores for the heroine in Her Kind of Hero and his lack of awareness of his superb physique, Grace’s struggle with her body and her surroundings in the post-apocalyptic world of Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep.

Maybe the writers did not actually experience these situations–or maybe they did. Either way I am struck by the authenticity of these moments and I feel lucky to be working with the authors who created them.

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Posted in Authors, Books, editors | 10 Comments »

Care for a Drink?

Kaywhyem | June 24th, 2010

When I became a full-time freelance editor 2 years ago, I was more excited than I was nervous. Picking my own projects, working in my pajamas, setting my own hours—I was living the dream, right? At the time, I was confident I’d never look back, and for the most part, I didn’t. In fact, there was only one thing I missed about working in an office.

It wasn’t having to resist the temptation of baked goods in the kitchen every week (every office has at least one person whose goal it is to ruin your waistline). It certainly wasn’t the long commute via public transportation whose reliability has only been matched by Twitter’s during the World Cup. It wasn’t even having a tech department only a phone call away, though I almost caved when Microsoft Word started acting up.

No, what I missed about the daily grind was chatting over lunch with my coworkers and being able to call another editor over to help me figure out what was awkward about a sentence. I missed the watercooler discussions that you probably take for granted when you go into the office every day.

Well, when I started working with the Carina editorial freelancers last winter, my prayers were answered. The six months between when I started and the June launch were fast and furious with edits and covers and blurbs—oh my! But it was also such a relief. Because while a tremendous amount of work got done in a short amount of time (my hat’s off to the rest of the Carina staff for pulling it off so effortlessly), there was also a lot of fun had by all. And I definitely got my wish in terms of the watercooler discussions.

Between monthly editorial calls, the editors’ discussion group, and social networking, I’ve chatted with my editorial peers and picked their brains about everything from television to exercise to, of course, books. It’s easy to go word-blind when you read a story three times (or more), as is common during edits, but when I’m having a hard time figuring if a sentence is clear or if a passage is conveying what it’s intended to, I just shoot an e-mail to my fellow freelancers, and voilà, three or four informed opinions in the same amount of time it would have taken me to bend the Chicago Manual of Style’s rules to fit my purpose. When I’m sad about an R&R not coming back, I need only send a message before I have someone to commiserate with. And when I’m procrastinating, the CP staff’s Twitter feeds can always be counted on for a book review that adds to my TBR pile or an article that makes me want a Nook even though I already have a Kobo and a Sony.

And on the flip side, my authors and I have had some diverse and off-the wall conversations as well, and not just book edits and brainstorming projects. While one author and I had an involved discussion on the differences between urban fantasy and paranormal romance, I’d be e-mailing another about whether there’s a moral obligation for heroines in contemporary romances to use protection. Nothing is off-limits, and I love having such a great balance between work and play.

These days, my virtual office watercooler is busier than ever, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, feel free to join the discussion by shooting @kaywhyem a message on Twitter or leaving a comment on this post. Whether you want to talk favorite genres (GLBT and medical romance? Yes, please), television (Bones and Top Chef), or punctuation (I’m a fan of the series comma), I’m always at the watercooler and ready for a drink.

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Posted in Carina Press, editors | 14 Comments »

“Where no great story goes untold” Yes, really…

GinaBernal | June 22nd, 2010

Wait. It’s June already? Back when I started editing for Carina, in December 2009, the 2010 June launch seemed so far away. We had months after all, right? (At this point, I can practically see the tireless, hardworking Carina staff recoiling.)

Oh, my. Time does fly when you’re having fun—or are on a tight deadline.

My background is in traditional print publishing, having spent three years in editorial at a major NYC house followed by almost four years in acquisitions for commercial book clubs. Working for Carina Press marks my first foray into digital-first publishing and, let me tell you, I’m impressed by the range of opportunity it allows for authors and readers alike. One of the hardest things for an editor to say about a book is “I love it, but… (rock stars don’t sell, no one is buying Vikings right now, it crosses too many genres, fill in the blank). Because, yes, the traditional model and marketplace sometimes do impose these kinds of restrictions. Yet, a lesson I learned from my experience selling direct to consumers at the clubs is that there’s a buyer for every book. Cue the Field of Dreams voiceover: If you offer it, they will come…

As an editor, I love Carina’s “no great story goes untold” promise because I feel as if I’ve been let loose. Currently my authors have written such different projects as a Victorian historical, fun women’s fiction, romantic suspense with paranormal elements, an erotic shifter menage, first-person romantic suspense, and a novella I can only describe as having a traditional Regency sensibility with a threesome twist. And that’s just my list. The editorial staff has a wide range of interests and it’s reflected in the books they’re drawn to. I’m constantly surprised by the diversity of stories than come into our submissions inbox and out of our acquisitions meetings. As a reader, I’ve already started a greedy little (or, rather long) list of Carina books I want. As both, I’m hoping the sheer enthusiasm behind this new venture is contagious, and I’m excited to see where Carina books and authors will take us next. Here’s to variety as the next big trend in genre publishing.

You can follow Gina on Twitter

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Meet me in Birmingham

Angela James | June 21st, 2010

Come to Southern Magic’s June 26 meeting at the Homewood Publc Library to hear Angela James, Executive Editor of Carina Press, talk about e-publishing.

It doesn’t matter if you’re published or not, or if you ever plan to be e-published, you need to listen to what she has to say. This is the future and you need to be informed and aware of what’s happening around you.

What: E-FACTS ABOUT E-PUBLISHING

When: June 26, 2010, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Where: Round Auditorium at the Homewood Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama

Southern Magic will provide a dessert table and coffee.

Registration is mandatory by contacting Callie James at calliejamesbooks@bham.rr.com. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee you a seat.

Attendance is free for Southern Magic members, $5 for other RWA chapter members, and $10 for the public. Pay at the door.

PROGRAM: Angela James discusses the ins and outs of e-publishing, including what to expect from an epublisher, how to distinguish between unfunded or under-funded epubs, the real sales figures, what constitutes good distribution, covers, promotion, and more. We will have Q&A time available throughout the program.

More about Angela James:
Executive editor of Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first press, and veteran of the digital publishing industry, Angela James is a well-known advocate for digital publishing. James has enjoyed a long and varied publishing career that has included ownership of an independent editorial services business, work as a copy editor for electronic book and small press publisher, Ellora’s Cave, and executive editor for Samhain Publishing. James frequently travels to regional, national and international writing conferences to meet with authors and readers, and present workshops on digital publishing for both authors and readers of all genres of fiction.

Carina Press is a new digital-first publisher that combines editorial and marketing expertise with the freedom of digital publishing. With a long history of digital marketing and editorial experience, the Carina Press team is committed to bringing readers fresh voices and new, unique editorial.

Our philosophy is: no great story should go untold!

Carina Press will publish a broad range of fiction with an emphasis on romance and its subgenres. We will also acquire voices in mystery, suspense and thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, erotica, gay/lesbian, and more!

************************************************
Southern Magic is the Birmingham, Alabama, chapter of the Romance Writers of America.
Meetings held at Homewood Public Library
1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209

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Breaking the Mold

DeborahNemeth | June 21st, 2010

It’s been an intense and wonderful half year getting ready for launch. I love working with the CP team. I’m thrilled with the quality of our book covers and the attention to detail that goes into every aspect of the process. But what I like best are our great stories, and the rich variety of genres, tone and content.

I joined Angie James’s editorial staff in late 2009. I’d worked for Angie before, so I went into this venture with a good idea of the high standards she’d set and the type of rigorous editing processes she’d require. What I wasn’t prepared for was the avalanche of submissions Carina Press would receive. For months it felt as though I did nothing but read ms submissions and prepare reader reports.

I love having the freedom to acquire in any genre and, apparently, so do authors. Carina Press is looking for good stories for adult readers, period. Any genre of commercial fiction, genre mix, heat level or length, from short story to epic novel. We’re not acquiring only the hottest-selling genres, and we’re not boxing our authors into predictable storylines or structures. This freedom has attracted a wide variety of talented authors to send us their mss from the day we opened for submissions.

The backgrounds of the authors we’ve contracted run the gamut. Some have successful print careers but wrote a book of their heart which couldn’t find a home elsewhere. Megan Hart’s Exit Light is paranormal women’s fiction, not romance. It isn’t like any other story I’ve read before, but I love the heroine of this powerful, inventive, emotional story. Carrie Lofty’s historical romance Song of Seduction is set during the Napoleonic Wars—the same time period as Regency England, but in Salzburg, not London. And the hero is a Dutch composer… If you read this novel, you won’t find familiar Almack’s scenes, but instead you’ll get a unique romance filled with music and passion. Reviewers love it and we trust that our readers will too.

It’s been a delight to work with such experienced, professional authors. At the other end of the spectrum has been the fun of working with shiny-new debut authors such as Ginny Glass and Jenny Schwartz. Their enthusiasm alone has made the long hours leading up to launch worth it. Jenny’s paranormal romance about a djinni, The Price of Freedom, breaks the “rules” in another way by opening in the viewpoint of a supporting character. Ginny’s erotic story Coin Operated is BDSM-themed but you won’t find a club scene, leather whip or handcuff inside.

Even when writing in more popular genres, Carina’s authors put a twist on them. In Dee Tenorio’s super-sexy Tempting the Enemy, the werewolves are losing a battle against the combined might of humans and psychic mercenaries. The shifter in Inez Kelley’s lush fantasy romance Salome at Sunrise is a hawk. Bonnie Dee re-imagines Tarzan as gay in her steamy m/m historical Jungle Heat. Clare London’s passionate m/m mystery Blinded by Our Eyes (coming in July) isn’t structured like a traditional whodunit, focusing instead on the psychological aspects of love and murder. The PI hero of Shirley Wells’s clever mystery Presumed Dead (July) is a terrible husband and a chauvinist, but I’ve never rooted harder for a hero.

Have a story that breaks the mold? Submit it to Carina Press. Like reading something beyond the norm? Browse our store…

You can follow Deborah on Twitter

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Posted in editorial, editors, submissions | 5 Comments »

The Birth of Carina Press

JennyBullough | June 16th, 2010

By Jenny Bullough, member of the Carina Acquisitions team and Manager of Digital Content for Harlequin and Carina Press

Did you know that maternity leave in Canada is 12 months? Yeah, it’s a pretty sweet deal – until you realize that your year is up and it’s time to transition back into career mode! It can be very daunting to try to pick up where you left off after a year of spending your days counting dirty diapers and washing spitup-stained shirts. After so long in Mommy mode, you wonder if you’ve lost the brainpower to deal with deadlines.

 That’s where I found myself last fall, when I decided to return to work “early” after 9 blissful months at home with my infant daughter and preschooler. Luckily for me, I work in Digital & Internet, so during my time off I was still very connected through email, Twitter, and Facebook! Also luckily, I work with a great team and a fabulous boss (Hello, Malle!) who instinctively knew I would need a little time to adjust back to being a working mom.

I think Malle gave me a good couple of weeks to relax back into my working routine (the first day, I did remember how to turn on my computer, but forgot my voicemail password – d’oh!). Then one day, she strolled over to my desk and said, “So, you know about the new digital-first press we’re launching next year. Guess what – you’re on the Acquisitions Team!”

 And thus I was flung into an exciting whirlwind of meetings, manuscripts, and more! I was a little nervous – I’d been working in Digital Production for 5 years (since my first mat leave ended) and it had been ages since I read and evaluated a manuscript; but happily, the editorial muscles came back to life much faster than my abs have!

 It’s been such a thrill to flex those muscles again – reading submissions, writing copy – and so exciting to be a part of the birth of Carina Press! It’s had its ups and downs – I’ve fallen in love with books, pitched them to the team, then been saddened to see them go to another publisher or rejected – but the whole 9-month process from conception to launch has been full of anticipation and excitement (ooh, I think there’s a metaphor in there somewhere… )! Now that the day is finally here, it’s fun to look back and see how far we’ve come and how much has changed – and imagine how much will change as we go forward into a brave new digital world!

~Jenny

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Carina Press | 7 Comments »

Amy’s Top Five Most Exciting Moments in Launching Carina Press

AmyWilkins | June 15th, 2010

By Amy Wilkins, Carina Press Acquisition Team and Harlequin’s Assistant Manager, Digital Content and Social Media

As part of both the Carina acquisition team and Harlequin’s digital content department (we—Jenny, Malle, our newbie Emma, and I—are responsible for things like scheduling ebooks and ushering them through production and delivery to retailers), I’ve gotten to see the Carina books go from submissions to final ebooks. Launching a new business is full of challenges, hard work and excitement. I’m sure you don’t want to know about boring stuff like file delivery, and hey—we’re celebrating our launch! So let’s stick to the fun stuff, shall we?

Without further ado, here are my top 5 most exciting moments while launching Carina Press:

5) We start acquiring a variety of genres.

The first acquisitions for Carina were certainly exciting, but what made some acquisitions stand out for me was the variety of genres we were seeing submitted and that we loved. For example, one of my all-time favorite Harlequin books is Moonstruck by Susan Grant, which is a sci-fi romance, a genre Harlequin isn’t exactly known for. So I was particularly happy to see the sci-fi books start coming in, including one of the first books I read as part of the acquisition team: Hunters by Lindsey Bayer and Michelle Marquis.

4) Categories: you name it, we’re ready for it.

This goes hand-in-hand with #5 above. When we were setting up our metadata (that’s the info all our ebooks that retailers will need—genres, book description, author names, etc.), we prepared a list of any conceivable category of book that we could put on our website. We didn’t have any post-apocalyptic or steampunk books, but we’re ready for them (and a whole lot of others) when we do! There are even categories that I’ve never heard of before (Henlit? Huh?). Looking over the list of possible genres we have prepared, it’s incredible to imagine that one day Carina may publish books in all those niches.

(Consider that a challenge—if anyone out there can submit a title that doesn’t fit one of our categories, I’ll eat my non-existent hat!)

3) The first Carina Press ebook is converted.

As authors will know, there is no feeling quite like seeing your book for the first time. It’s the same for the people here at Carina. When the first title was sent back from production, Carina became a lot more real! For the first time, all the pieces came together: the manuscript, the fabulous cover, the story blurb…it was pretty exciting.

Here’s a bit of Carina Press trivia for you: that first title was Jungle Heat by Bonnie Dee.

2) A new Harlequin ebook record is made.

We had a busy month at Harlequin in June. Between our usual frontlist ebooks, ebook backlist program, and the 37 Carina launch titles in June, Harlequin/Carina is releasing 380 ebooks this month! Needless to say, May was quite the month getting all those titles squared away….but I’ll take the bragging rights :)

1) The site launches!

Confession: this post is actually being written before June 7. So the time of me writing this, we haven’t actually launched BUT I got a sneak-peek of the redesigned Carina site that includes our ebook store. I love it. I adore our colours (always have—the turquoise and burgundy are a great combo), the covers look fabulous on screen, and I think the whole thing is easy to navigate. I love how you can search by categories and niches. I love how our store is integrated with the rest of site and blog. I just…love our site! And I hope you do, too!

~Amy

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Posted in Behind the Scenes | 3 Comments »

Carina Press confessions…

Eleanor Elliott | June 14th, 2010

I have two confessions to make in this blog post.

Confession #1 – I promised Angela I would write this post by Friday of last week. It’s clearly not Friday anymore.

Confession #2 – I cry at the drop of a hat. Sad book? Cry. Think about my son’s impending 2nd birthday? Cry. Chuck season finale that I just watched last night? Cry. Seriously, it’s a problem.

Confession #2 is why I keep putting off writing this post – I know it’s going to make me cry (hence, Confession #1).

Before the launch of the website, I didn’t think too much about Angela’s request: “write a post about your experience launching Carina Press”. You see – I was still in the process of launching! Right up to the last minute when the site was being tweeted, I was still trying to iron out bugs (and there are still features and issues that we’re working on). It’s hard to reflect on an experience while you’re still in it.

But the truth is, with a website, you are never ‘done’. There are always bugs to be fixed, features to be added, promotions to be created… so, before launch day becomes a distant memory, I’m committing some words to paper about my experience…

Our lives are made up of big events. First job, wedding, birth of a child….they are the route markers along the path of our memories. The launch of Carina Press on June 7th was one of those ‘big events’ for me.
But when I look back on the launch – it’s not the big event of June 7th that is sticking with me – it’s all the little moments…

Going over to Malle’s desk and dancing when I found out the project was approved.

Seeing the Carina Press logo (on my Blackberry on a Friday night) and knowing it was perfect.

Getting Aideen’s first “cover review” email. I still get excited when these emails arrive…especially when it’s for a book I recommended for acquisition!

Sending the design mock-ups for the site to the team, hoping & praying that they would like it as much as I did (they did. Phew!)

Seeing our Carina Press ads in magazines and on websites.

Watching our boss, Brent, chair-dance when he saw the promo video for the first time.

So many moments of anticipation, excitement, pride.

Quite simply, launching Carina Press was one of the most rewarding experiences in my entire career.

Now….back to working on those excerpts, and gift-certificates, and wishlists, and…

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Behind the Scenes: 5 Surprises

Malle Vallik | June 10th, 2010

As we developed Carina Press, a few things surprised me — in a good way — along the road to launch. I thought I would share. 

1)      I have to admit to being a little surprised at how quickly the Leadership Team approved our plan to launch a digital publishing house. I have to give them credit for understanding that digital is an important part of the future of publishing and that innovation is needed in every company.

2)      I was surprised at how many fantastic submissions we received. This may sound weird, because I am the person who always insists there are lots of wonderful manuscripts “out there” that have not found a home – and I do believe this – but I was  overwhelmed by how many we found.

3)      There were many times when a huge deadline or obstacle could have stopped us; when I might have heard the word “no,” but it never happened. Everyone involved just figured out solutions and soldiered on.

4)      You can find great digital cover artists on the web. We said we were looking for talent at our blog and we found talent from all over the world. Moreover the timelines they deliver to are insane!

5)      You can create team spirit across borders and time zones by ensuring you communicate and are transparent. We hold virtual monthly meetings with our authors, editors and Carina Press staff. The goal is to  keep everyone updated on what is going on, share ideas and digital tools. I think this is part of the reason why #3 happened. It also means that authors in Australia, Malyasia, France and throughout NA feel part of the Carina Press team.

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