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When “Contemporaries” Aren’t Contemporary

AmyWilkins | January 20th, 2011

By Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital and Carina Press Acquisition Team

This weekend I posed a question to the Twitterverse: “Does anyone under 40 actually use the word ‘blouse’?” I asked because I was in the midst of reading a contemporary submission in which the heroine, in her mid-20s, was described repeatedly as wearing blouses. I’m 25 and I never use that word, especially when describing my own clothes, and neither do my friends. The word “blouse” conjures up images of Working Girl-era office fashion with shoulder pads and frilly neck-ties.

The response from my Twitter followers was a bit mixed. Many said they used the word. A couple girls in who specified they were in their 20s agreed with me it that the term was old-fashioned. Some were undecided but gave links to stores and designers who used it on their websites. Strangely enough, I also heard Heidi Klum say blouse on Project Runway later than night.

So I had to concede that “blouse” wasn’t as out-of-date as it seemed to me (ah, the wisdom of crowdsourcing). But there was a bigger problem: “blouse” was just one of many outdated references in this manuscript. Even worse, this was the second contemporary submission in a row I passed on because it felt old-fashioned and stale.*

No one would deny that details matter. They make the difference between a wallpaper historical and a well researched novel, great world-building and a clichéd paranormal universe. And it’s just as important that contemporaries have the ring of authenticity and freshness.

Contemporaries are supposed to be set in this time, with heroines women can relate to. I can’t relate to a supposed modern woman who wears clothes that sound like they came off the Dynasty set (even worse than the dreaded blouse: “slacks”. Sorry Angela!), name-check TV shows that haven’t been on the air in a decade, and go to concerts from musicians even older than that (think Duran Duran…).

Out-of-date references tend to make the whole book feel stale. Do you want to give the impression that you pulled out a dusty old manuscript and sent it to a publisher without any self-editing or revising?

Other factors that can make a contemporary feel “old” to me include:

- Overlooking the necessity of safe sex (and characters who show zero concern about the consequences of not using any kind of protection).
- Lack of technology. That’s not to say your manuscript should be packed full of brand names and specific models of computers, cell phones, etc., that will likely be obsolete (and, er, outdated) in a couple years. But if your high-powered lawyer hero doesn’t have a computer in his office or a cell phone, that’s an issue.
- Being afraid to make characters swear. Has a stalker just trashed your heroine’s apartment? A gentle “Oh, dear!” won’t cut it.

So before you submit that contemporary, please take the time to make sure it suits your target reader and characters’ ages, jobs and lifestyle. Or take a crack at writing a 1980s-set “historical” romance. Who knows, it may be the next big thing!

*Note: to my knowledge these were original, unpublished manuscripts, not previously published books that the author had the rights reverted, which Carina Press also accepts as submissions. Dear Author has an interesting post on updating republished novels, including Carina’s reissues of Jennifer Greene’s backlist, from a couple days ago that’s an interesting read as well.

Posted in Writing/Submissions Advice | 17 Comments »

What does it mean when you’re asked to revise and resubmit?

Angela James | January 7th, 2011

Many months ago, when I did a post on our acquisitions process, I promised to do a more informative post on what we call revise and resubmits (aka R&Rs). Many authors may have heard the term, or they may have even received one, but just not been sure what to do with it. And I’ve heard of many authors who think of an R&R as a rejection.

So let’s talk about an R&R from the Carina Press editorial point of view. At Carina, I try to encourage the editors to think of submissions in terms of probability for acquisition first, pass to another editor second, revise and resubmit third and rejection last. We don’t reject unless we don’t believe the manuscript is a good fit for one of the other three possibilities.

Why do we do a revise and resubmit?

It can be a variety of reasons, really, but most often, there are several factors at work 1) the editor sees a lot to like about the manuscript 2) she likes the author’s voice and potential and 3) despite all of those, the manuscript needs significant revisions in one or more areas. Sometimes, if an author is someone we know well or have worked with before, we’ll acquire a book with the understanding that we’ll be doing (really) significant revisions. But for the most part, we don’t like to acquire a book if we’re going to be asking for some major changes. Why? Because it’s not fair to the author, for one thing. You don’t want to sign a contract, thinking the basic structure of your book is fine with the editor, and then suddenly find yourself ripping out major chunks or making changes like cutting a character or subplot.

And on our side of things, we have no way of knowing if an author is either willing or able to make those changes. Some authors believe a book should be accepted “as is” with only basic editing done after that. Some authors simply haven’t yet developed the skill necessary for making the revisions we’re asking for. And some authors just aren’t interested in doing the revisions. These are things it’s better to find out before the book goes to contract, so we utilize the revise and resubmit.

Did I just get a rejection?

The revise and resubmit letter should never (ever) be viewed as a rejection. Trust me, if the editor wanted to reject your book, it would be a lot less time consuming. The R&R letter can often take hours for the editor to craft, after they’ve made extensive notes while reading your book. We don’t just whip out an R&R letter in 15 minutes and send it out. It gets crafted by the editor and then read by me and we discuss. We want to make sure that the letter is clear, lays out the issues, but also tells you why we love the book and want to see it again.

So, in my mind, I think a revise and resubmit letter should be viewed as the highest form of praise an editor can give you, short of actually contracting the book. That they took so much time to give you feedback means they saw a lot to like in the book. Don’t ignore that letter and think your chances with that publisher are done, read through it and see if you agree with their critique.

The author point of view

On that note, I know that there are authors who don’t care for the revise and resubmit, because it’s not a contract, and so you’re making the changes on faith. And there is no guarantee of a contract (we’re careful to note this in our letters) so you may make changes and still not find your book acquired. So once you get the letter, you do have some decision-making to do. Read the letter, evaluate the changes, walk away from it for a day (or two) and see if time and distance gives you objectivity to the letter (sometimes it can sting to get such a thorough critique) and then come back and evaluate: do you agree with the requests (at least some, if not all)? Are you able to do them? Are you willing to do them? Will making these changes result in a book you can sell elsewhere if they don’t end up working for the requesting publisher? Or will the changes result in a book that you feel isn’t true to your vision of the book? These are all things you should ask yourself before you either A) tackle the revisions or B) decline to make the revisions.

Revise and Resubmit etiquette

If there is such a thing. If not, I’m making it up now! There are also times when we’re in the situation of deciding whether or not to offer an R&R and we ultimately decide not to offer the revisions, but instead pass on the work. Why? Because, as I said earlier, R&Rs take a tremendous amount of editorial time and effort, and we know not every author is going to want to do the requested revisions. So we try to balance what we know of the author, their opportunity to publish the book elsewhere, and the likelihood that they’ll be receptive to revisions and go from there. I’m not sure there’s anything that stings more for an editor who’s put hours into a manuscript than to hear “Thanks for your revision suggestions. I sold the book to another publisher before I heard from you and I know you’re going to be happy to hear that I’m going to use your suggestions to make the book even stronger!”

Okay, well, that involves a whole other world of etiquette (the one in which you TELL a publisher if you’ve sold a book, and pull it from submission but…ahem…I digress) but it’s still happened where we’ve had people take the revisions, make the changes, strengthen the manuscript and then sell the manuscript elsewhere. And, yep, that’s certainly the author’s right. But it explains why we think carefully about whether we’re going to do a revise and resubmit.

So what should you do if you receive a revise and resubmit letter from a publisher/editor/agent?

1) Don’t feel you have to respond immediately. If you want to acknowledge receipt, that’s always nice, just send an email thanking them for the feedback and asking for time to think about it.

2) Take a few days to think about it. Once you’ve decided, let the publisher know that you’re going to either tackle the requested revisions, or that you appreciate the time they put in, but don’t feel the revisions are what’s best for the book at this time. It’s okay to say no. But letting the publisher/editor/agent know either way is very courteous.

3) If you decide to do the revisions, take your time. Don’t rush. This is probably your last chance for this manuscript with this publisher. And we’re going to raise an eyebrow if we get your revisions back in a day or two (no really, we don’t think this is possible). Do a thorough read or five of your manuscript. Carefully read and re-read the editor’s suggestions. Have a critique partner or beta reader give feedback. Do Not Rush.

4) If you decide not to do the revisions and think the suggestions are worse than that orange and green plaid sweater your Great Aunt Hilda gave you for your last birthday well, go ahead and vent about it. In private. To a few close friends. Not to your entire Twitter, Facebook and blog readers. That is not very courteous.

5) Last, above all, pat yourself on the back that, no matter what happens, someone thought your book had enough potential to take the time to send you that letter. That’s pretty flattering and you should be proud of the hard work that got you there!

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Writing/Submissions Advice, editorial, editors, submissions | 20 Comments »

Tired Openings

DeborahNemeth | January 6th, 2011

by Deborah Nemeth, Freelance Acquisitions and Developmental Editor for Carina Press. You can follow her on Twitter @DebNemeth.

When reviewing a manuscript submitted for publication, editors are looking for many things, just as readers do when browsing for a new book. Voice is important, and so is compelling action in the first scene. Whether I’m in a bookstore opening a novel or at my desk opening a manuscript submission, a tired opening may sway me to pass on to the next one.

A tired opening is one editors have seen so often, it makes us suspect the rest of the story will be predictable. As with any writing “rule” or “advice,” there are always exceptions, but it might be helpful for authors to be aware of some of the ones we’ve seen done to death.

Some slow openings suggest a lack of experience. Brand new authors often begin their novels with the life story of the protagonist, filling us in on his or her birth, childhood and education. Sometimes we get his complete ancestry, with maybe a geography lesson thrown in too. Are there published novels that open this way? Yes, but not many new authors are landing contracts for commercial fiction manuscripts that contain this type of first scene.

Less experienced authors often open their stories (and maybe every chapter) with the hero/heroine waking up. This is an opening I’m really sick of, even though I’ve seen it work well when given a twist. I’m drawn to stories that open in action, with something interesting happening, and I don’t want to see the heroine getting dressed and driving to work. Closely related to this is the dream/nightmare opening. I’m not fond of dream sequences in general, so I have to force myself to keep reading if you hit me with one in the first paragraph.

“It was a dark and stormy night” has been done before. Description can work but only if compellingly presented to convey mood, tension and character.

In romantic suspense and mysteries we often get a prologue in the villain’s viewpoint as he’s murdering someone, so it’s refreshing when we see something different.

In romances and women’s fiction, I’m tired of the BFF telling the heroine or hero she/he needs to get laid. And the heroine catching her husband/lover in bed with another woman (or man). A few others include the heroine getting a makeover to win the hero’s heart and the jaded Regency hero making love to his mistress before dumping her.

We won’t always pass on a ms that contains one of these openings, but they may give the project a handicap that will take an awesome voice to overcome, and there’s a chance the author will be asked to revise the first scene during edits.

What should an author do instead? Begin your ms when the story does. Open with action and/or tension, showing your hero or heroine passionately pursuing a goal, worrying about a problem, or thrown into a sticky situation. Don’t overload us with the characters’ pasts, but show us their present and future—where they’re trying to go, what they’re trying to accomplish or avoid.

Here are a few Carina Press novel openings that hook me. On the first page of Storm Warning by Toni Anderson, a Columbian drug lord asks an undercover DEA agent what should be done with the DEA agent spying on him. In the next scene, we meet the heroine as she sees the ghost of her father, then pulls a dead body out of the surf. Kim Knox’s Gambit opens as truth crawlers burrow into the heroine’s flesh prior to an interrogation. As Silver Bound by Ella Drake opens, a woman is fleeing her crime lord husband. The hero of Amy Atwell’s Lying Eyes is hunting for missing jewels. If your story doesn’t contain a lot of suspense/SF action, you can still hook us at the outset with other kinds of tension and interesting situations. In the first scene of Inez Kelley’s contemporary romance Sweet as Sin, the hero is returning lingerie that blew off the heroine’s clothesline.

Readers, how about you? Are there opening scenes that you’ve seen too often? What are some of your favorite openings?

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Posted in Writing/Submissions Advice, editorial, editors, submissions | 17 Comments »

Hoarding and Fiction

Penny_Drake | October 19th, 2010

From chapter three of Trash Course:

I tried the door, and it opened easily on silent hinges.  The basement beyond exhaled damp, musty air that smelled of old stone.  I pointed my flashlight inside.  The area just inside the door was clear, but beyond that was a wall of . . . well, a wall of junk.  A whole bunch of shoe boxes jumbled up with a rusty rake, three shovels, and an ancient roto tiller.  A stack of old-style oil cans were piled near a mass of broken lawn chairs that looked like shattered skeletons in the bad light.  Flowerpots, half-bags of peat moss, more chairs.  Stuff that any normal person would have tossed on the trash heap years ago, and all of it piled to the ceiling beams.

“This is something else,” I said, stepping inside.  “Maybe we should–”

And then everything happened very, very fast.  Something caught my ankle at the exact moment Ms. Hawk grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me backward.  My flashlight went flying.  I heard an explosive crash, and a cloud of dust billowed up.  I landed hard against Ms. Hawk, and we both went down.  The ground vibrated, then everything went still.  Dust clogged my mouth and nose.  I lay there, a little dazed, until I realized I was still on top of Ms. Hawk.  I rolled free, coughing, and helped her up.

“What the hell–?” I said.

Ms. Hawk, also coughing, pointed at the door.  The dust cloud cleared a bit, and beneath the haze, I could see a shin-high pile of cinder blocks occupying the space I had been standing in a moment before.

***

Hoarding is a serious problem for some people.  The natural human instinct to collect stuff (food, clothing, other resources) goes haywire, and the victims discover they can’t throw anything away because they might need it some day.  It’s not laziness or stupidity.  It’s a psychological illness that’s very difficult to treat.

Several years ago, I shared a neighborhood with a perfectly ordinary, two-story house shaded by lovely trees.  I passed the place regularly it on my daily run.  One day, I saw a hatchback parked near the sidewalk.  It was filled with trash.  Literal trash: fast food bags, old newspapers, ragged shoes, and more.  There was only a tiny space for the driver, and most of the windows were blocked.  No way that thing was safe to drive.  A few days after that, a big padlock had been affixed to the outside of the front door along with an official-looking sticker.  Nosiness overcame me–I dashed up to look.  The sticker came from the Health Department, and it declared the house unfit for human habitation.  Now that I was on the front porch, I could see through the windows that the place was filled, floor to ceiling, with Stuff.  Clothes and books and old magazines and junk I couldn’t identify.

A few days after that, an industrial-grade dumpster appeared in the driveway.  Workers were hauling stuff out of the house and just tossing it in.  Over the course of a week, they filled and hauled away at least three dumpsters that I counted.  I learned that the old woman who owned the house had been relocated to an assisted-living apartment, and her children were renovating and selling the house.  She had been filling it over the course of forty years, unable to throw anything away in case it turned out to be valuable.

My writer brain went to work.  What if something in there really were valuable?  What would it be?  Who would go looking for it?  And, more important, how the heck would you find it?

Ultimately, this lead me to create Hawk Enterprises, the coolest organization in the history of fiction, if I say so myself, and that allowed me to write Trash Course, in which Terry Faye goes hunting for one treasure and finds quite another.

It was an amazing ride.

***

Penny Drake is a retired nurse living in Michigan.  She spends her time traveling and writing the kind of novels she likes to read.  So far, she’s the author of Trash Course, available now from Carina Press.

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Posted in Authors, Excerpt, Writing/Submissions Advice | 5 Comments »

The Wrong Zodiac

Penny_Drake | October 19th, 2010

My Zodiac personality is totally wrong.  I was born a Capricorn but everyone thinks I’m an Aquarius.  I read horoscopes from several different cultures and find aspects of my personality in all the different types, really.  They’re all vague enough to fit nearly anyone.

However, the Zodiac and personality tests can be a fun twist on fiddling with fictional characters.

Read through the Zodiac personality types.  Which one fits your character best?  Is he a stubborn Taurus?  A down-to-earth Capricorn?  An energetic Gemini?  Figure it out, and then, just to be consistent with the real world, slip in some traits that don’t fit the type.

Another bit of fun is the Keirsey Personality Test.  It’s one of those things that divides all of humanity into four types (with four sub-categories in each), and is more of a party game than anything else, but it’s an interesting tool writers.  You can answer the questions as if you were one of your characters, which forces you to climb more deeply inside the person’s head.  Then you can see how closely the personality type matches.

The site wants you to fork out $20 for an in-depth analysis, but the free surface analysis is plenty interesting.  And it can give you ideas for further character development.

For the record, I took the test for Terry, the main character in Trash Course.  She turned up as a Guardian.  But of course.

Are your characters where you thought they’d be? Do you know your characters well enough to take the test?

***

Penny Drake is a retired nurse living in Michigan.  She spends her time traveling and writing the kind of novels she likes to read.  So far, she’s the author of Trash Course, available now from Carina Press.

Posted in Authors, Books, Writing/Submissions Advice | 1 Comment »

Ask an editor: Voice or Grammar?

Angela James | August 27th, 2010

This week on Twitter, I put out a call on my personal Twitter account and asked people if they had a burning question for an editor, because I needed blog topics for my personal blog. The response was so enthusiastic, that I decided to use a few of the topics for the Carina blog as well, so I could get to more of them faster. If you want to see what I’ve covered so far, you can visit here for those posts.  On Monday, Jenny is going to be covering one on the production side of things, but today I tackle an editorial question. @stacey_kennedy asked: What is more important the voice or the grammar?

I’m sure there are other editors out there with different opinions, but I believe, at least initially, the grammar is most important? Why? Because without good grammar, your voice is going to appear unpolished and more…remedial. Quite often, one of my initial issues with a manuscript, after it not starting in the right place, is poor writing. Poor writing that comes not from the inability to plot or tell a story, but comes from poorly constructed sentences, extreme misspellings, dialogue that doesn’t fit with the stature/background/vocation of the character, and heinous abuse of punctuation. These are things that actually both add to voice in a negative way, as well as detract from the voice, and thus, the story.

Now, it needs to be said that when I refer to grammar, I mean a good basic grasp of grammar and how to polish your own grammar quirks out of your writing so you have your character’s voice, instead of yours. I’m not suggesting that you feel you need to be a grammar expert, or have a manuscript so polished, you barely seem to need a copy editor. I’m just talking an attention to crafting sentences, narrative and dialogue.

Is voice important? Heck yeah! Voice is that undefinable *thing* that makes editors keep reading, that makes readers pick up the book, that makes the word of mouth grow and gathers fans by the droves. Voice is incredibly important. It’s why authors like JR Ward, Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown and others are NY TImes bestsellers. Readers love the voice of their stories. But because I believe grammar is one of the building blocks of voice, that’s why I say it’s more important to start. It’s one of those things that, once you’ve got it down, isn’t really an issue at all!

Are there exceptions? Sure. I can think of a particular author who’s gotten a number of multi-book deals and has a nice fan following, despite her seeming inability to grasp grammar (and what I consider unpolished writing, but who am I to argue with her sales?) So bad grammar won’t always affect your chances, but I’ll refer back to this post, where I suggest you not believe you’ll be the Cinderella story. We call them exceptions for a reason!

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Posted in Writing/Submissions Advice | 4 Comments »

Things to consider when choosing a pen name

Angela James | August 23rd, 2010

This past spring, I was asked about pen names by someone writing an article for the RWR (the magazine all RWA–Romance Writers of America–members get monthly). The question was whether it was okay for authors to choose their own pen names, or if publishers and agents were going to want to have a say in the name. Then, a few months ago, I was writing a quick email to someone and realized their pen name was, I’m sorry to say, so ridiculous I could not ever imagine addressing them by it. So I thought we should talk a little about pen names. For some of you, it may be too late, but for the rest, read on and let’s discuss things to consider when choosing a pen name.

Does it sound like a porn star?

You want people to take your writing seriously, start by giving them a name that says you take your writing seriously.

Would you be comfortable sharing the name with your family and friends?

If you think you might be embarrassed to have your mom, dad, old high school acquaintance, or how about your current boss, find out your name, it might not be the right one.

Can you answer to that name for years to come and feel comfortable with it?

Your plan is to grow your writing career, I assume. Will you still want to be called by that pen name twenty years from now? Is that the pen name one they can share in the history books without blushing?

Will people feel foolish or awkward calling you by name in person?

Remember, it’s different to have someone speak the name than to write it. Try having people close to you call you by that name.

How difficult is it to sign?

Think positive. Someday, 500 fans are going to be waiting in a line for your autograph, will you be able to sign that name smoothly 500 times?

Does anyone else have a name so similar you may be mistaken for them?

Unless, of course, you don’t mind being mistaken for Jenna Jameson. Many of us wouldn’t, just as long as it was someone saying they thought we looked like her ;)

Will readers be able to read or spell–or most important remember–your name?

Things that can make this more difficult include long, complicated names, names with apostrophes (those can also mess up coding in html/metadata) and names that are so unique/unusual, most people haven’t seen them before.

Can you purchase the domain for the name you’re considering?

Not only the domain, but the Twitter and Facebook names? If you haven’t settled on a pen name, lack of availability of any of this may be a reason to choose a different name.

*Word of caution: if you search for a domain name and it’s available, be prepared to buy it, even if you haven’t settled on that name. It’s worth the $7 to $10 investment per domain to reserve a few options. There are people who watch sites like GoDaddy, to see what people search for, and then buy it, hoping you’ll come back and decide you want it and pay a higher price for it.

Other things I’ve heard should possibly be considered: where will you be shelved (in a digital world, this probably won’t matter),  how common is the last name and who will you sit near at booksignings (I often joke I’m going to write a book so I can sit next to Julie James at a booksigning, but I’d probably have to change my first name to Jenny because there are other James between us. Jenny James. And now I’m probably getting dangerously close to Jenna Jameson).

At the end of the day, a pen name may be one you use for years. Yes, you may have the opportunity to use more than one (not always a good thing) but it’s still important to be careful in your selection. As your career grows, in addition to the name on the cover of your book, it’s a name you’ll use on the internet, on forums, on social media, in interviews, at conferences, at dinners and drinks and casual meetings with readers. It’s the name that may become as much *you* as your real name, so make it one you can wear proudly.

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Posted in Authors, Marketing, Writing/Submissions Advice | 32 Comments »

Chasing a CAPTIVE SPIRIT

Liz_Fichera | May 30th, 2010

So there I was, minding my own business this past January when a tweet flashed across my laptop from a seemingly nice editor lady named Angela James. “Send your historical novels to Carina Press!” she tweeted. “Our editors are hungry for historicals!” CAPTIVE SPIRIT

Historicals? I thought. I’ve written one that I love.  Maybe this Angela lady will love it, too? What the heck? I’ll give it a shot.

And off flew my manuscript into cyberspace and so began my hopped-up-on-steroids but memorable publishing journey with the very cool and hip Carina Press.

Hey, book lovers!  My name is Liz Fichera and I am thrilled to be one of the Carina Press launch authors.  Formerly from Chicago, I now call the American Southwest my home.  And the historical novel that I sent to Angela earlier this year is CAPTIVE SPIRIT, although it was originally called VANISHED.   More on that in a bit.

CAPTIVE SPIRIT takes place in the Sonoran desert at the dawn of the sixteenth century.  It’s about a young Hohokam Indian woman named Aiyana who isn’t like the other girls of her White Ant Clan. Instead of keeping house, she longs to compete on the Ball Court with her best friend Honovi and the other boys. Instead of marriage, she daydreams of traveling beyond the mountains that surround her small village. Only Honovi knows and shares her forbidden wish, though Aiyana doesn’t realize her friend has a secret wish of his own.  When Aiyana’s father arranges her marriage to a man she hardly knows, she takes the advice of a tribal elder: Run! In fleeing, she falls into the hands of Spanish raiders and finds herself being taken over the mountains against her will, putting Aiyana on a quest to return to the very place she once dreamed of escaping. And she’ll do whatever it takes to survive and find her way back to the people she loves.

I’ll share more details with you later today about the story and what inspired me to write it.  And, no, it did not come to me in a dream.

But first I wanted to share my Carina Press experience because it’s been the kind of experience you hope for as a debut author.  Not only have I had the chance to work with the fab Elizabeth Bass, Kimberly the copyeditor extraordinaire, and Aideen O’Leary-Chung and her uber-talented book cover artists, but I’ve been able to connect with so many great writers who share a passion for rich storytelling. Thanks to them, my TBR pile has not only grown it’s exploded.  Also, thanks to the support of my fellow Carina Press authors, it’s  become very Sisterhood of The Writer Traveling Pants, although no one has suggested that we share a pair of faded bluejeans. Yet.  

Like most authors, my full-fledged publishing journey has been neither quick nor easy but it’s never been dull.  There have even been moments when I wanted to throw my laptop out the nearest window, burn all my rejection letters, and take up basket-weaving. But I’ll always be grateful to Carina Press as well as their readers for taking a chance on this writer hidden amongst the saguaros and coyotes in the wild, wild West who likes to tell tall tales.

Before the next post, I invite you to check out my web site for the first chapter and book trailer for CAPTIVE SPIRIT.  I’ve left a few clues in the book trailer that will help me to explain the inspiration behind CAPTIVE SPIRIT later today in my next post.  Can you guess which ones?  :-)

And if you tweet, friend, blog, or are just plain obsessed with social media like me, I’d love to connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, and My Blog.

Be back later! Rock on, Carina Press!

Remember that you can win a free copy of CAPTIVE SPIRIT, just for making a comment on this blog, Twitter, or Facebook.  Commenting on any of the Countdown entries will also enter you into the big giveaway for a Carina Press promo prize pack. How cool is that?

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Posted in Authors, Behind the Scenes, Books, Carina Press, Contest/Giveaway, Countdown, Cover Art, Writing/Submissions Advice | 46 Comments »

Donna Lea Simpson interviews editor Gina Bernal

DonnaLea | April 22nd, 2010

I’m Donna Lea Simpson, and I’ve been an author for quite a while, publishing Regency romances with Kensington, paranormal historical romances with Berkley, and now a Victorian romance with Carina. Love & Scandal is a sexy historical that delves into the literary world of Victorian England. I’m thrilled to be a part of the launch of Carina Press, and the editorial process has been an exciting one.

Gina Bernal has made Love & Scandal a million times better with her edits, suggestions, questions, and the absolute attention to detail she brings to the project. She has also called me on some bad habits (starting sentences with ‘and’… thanks for pointing it out, Gina!) with unfailing good humor. I’m thrilled with the finished product; L&S would not have been nearly as good without Gina’s enthusiastic TLC.

Donna – Do you have any pet peeves, as an editor? Any authorial habit that drives you nuts? C’mon… all editors have ‘em, so tell us.

Gina – On the most basic level, it irks me when authors (particularly newbies) don’t take the time to really study their genre of choice. For example, don’t pitch your project as steampunk in a query letter when the closest the book comes to steampunk is a Victorian setting and some vague references to technological advancements.

It also drives me crazy when characters describe themselves in a way that feels forced–and that includes the old standing in front of a mirror trick. Heroines are particularly prone to this. When you’re putting your hair in a pony tail, do you ever think about your luxurious chestnut curls? Neither should your characters, unless they are particularly vain.Girl in Mirror

Something that will immediately pull me out of a story is a lack of dialogue. Sometimes an author gets so caught up in a character’s internal monologue or in paragraph after paragraph of description that the novel goes on for pages without anyone speaking. Once, at the ballet, I sat behind a mother and her young son. About halfway through the first act, the kid turned to her and said (quite loudly), “Why aren’t they talking?!” That’s how I feel when there’s not enough dialogue in a story. Trust me, authors, dialogue is your friend. Dialogue can progress the action, reveal information and express emotion. This is especially important in romance, where dialogue can be fun and flirtatious or seriously sexy–either way, it helps build intimacy. It’s like the line from “Lost in Austen,” when the modern-day heroine advises Elizabeth Bennett to get to know Darcy: “Just keep talking. From the talking comes the love.”

Donna – This next is a ‘choose your own question’ question… choose a) or b) to answer.

Gina – I’m going to pull another of my own pet peeves–not following directions–by quickly answering both.

2a – Do you write? If so, what do you write?

Gina – In college, I started to write. Recently, I uncovered a bunch of random chapters from projects I started but never finished. The longest chunk I wrote was for a time travel romance (these were much more popular back then). Maybe one day it will see the light of day again.

2b – Why do you enjoy editing?

Gina – I love the creative collaborative process between editor and author. Finding a submission that excites you is a great thing, but it’s the actual hands-on work with the author to make it the best book possible that’s most rewarding. I’m constantly awed by the incredible imagination that writers possess. Brainstorming ideas or working the kinks out of a troublesome scene can be a lot of fun. But even when edits get a bit frustrating or when you’re forced to crack the editorial whip now and again,  it’s completely worth it when both of us are proud of the finished product.

Donna – What is the farthest you have ever traveled from home? (Why? Did you enjoy it?)

Gina – Miles-wise, the farthest I’ve ever traveled is Greece. Two summers ago, my boyfriend and I spontaneously booked tickets to Athens. We went the first week of September, so the temperatures were intenSantorinise and I spent much of the trip with heat rash up and down my arms. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat! The ancient ruins of the Acropolis were truly awe-inspiring. Plus, we spent the longest part of our holiday on the island of Santorini, which is quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth. I wish I could vacation there every year!

Donna – What did you hope to be when you grew up, when you were twelve? Would you be happy now, if it had come true? (Or did it?)

Gina – At twelve, my dream was to be an actress. How happy I’d be today would totally depend on how successful an actress I’d become. J

Donna – If you were a tree… naw, I won’t ask that. But… if you had to choose an animal to become, what animal would it be? And why?

Gina – I’d be a tiny ball of fur named Nemo Bernal. My parents’ adopted the Pomeranian mix from a shelter a few months after the passing of our 15+ year-old family dog. Because he’s the new baby, Nemo is a spoiled brat who gets to do anything he wants. Oh, to have that dog’s pampered life!

A note from Gina Bernal about reading and what she’d like to see from writers:

To say I’m a big reader is an understatement. I’m usually reading more than one book at a time for pleasure–currently, a historical novel for my book group, a young adult dystopian fantasy as a read-along with my guy, a Silhouette Special Edition on my Blackberry, and a history of the founding of Australia whenever I can sneak in a chapter or two.

As for acquisitions, I’m looking for romance of all subgenres and heat levels. I love historicals set in unusual eras, sexy shapeshifters, and fun contemporaries. I’m a Texas girl, so cowboys–historical or contemporary–always have a spot in my heart. Outside of romance, I’m interested in women’s fiction (especially family dramas), historical fiction, and suspense with strong female characters,

You can find Gina on FaceBook, and also:

Twitter: @GinaBernal

Blog: http://www.readinginexile.blogspot.com/

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Posted in Writing/Submissions Advice, editorial, editors | 10 Comments »

Thinking about Query Letters. Part II: Query Do’s

Angela James | March 17th, 2010

Following up on yesterday’s post about Query Don’ts, here’s some Query Do’s. I think these are probably common sense for most of you, but just in case!

Do

1. Read the submission guidelines

Just like I said as the last one of the query don’ts: friends don’t let friends send queries without first reading the submission guidelines. You wouldn’t go to a business interview without looking up the address, don’t query without looking up the guidelines. The person you’re querying has tried to give you the tools to do your job with those guidelines! Think of writing as your business (even if it’s just your hobby, it’s OUR business so treat it as yours too) and querying as your job interview.

2. Spell check

Let’s talk about spell check. I know it doesn’t catch every typo or misused word, but that’s no reason NOT to use it at all. In fact, most email programs have a setting that automatically spell checks your email before it goes out. You should use this setting, not just for query letters, but for all correspondence. Think of it as an “appearance” thing. We can’t see if you’ve got on your best business suit so instead, our first impression comes from the query letter and even more immediate? The subject line. You would be utterly shocked, I think, at how many queries come through with typos in the subject line. Yeah, we notice.

3. Include the important information

Make sure you tell us what we need to know: Your name (pen name and real name), title, genre, word count, is it complete and a short bit of info about the book. Then consider your published writing credits, major contest wins, major bestseller lists, membership to writer’s organizations or, if you’re writing non-fiction, your platform and relationship to the material.If you’ve been building an audience pre-publication with a website, blog, Twitter, Facebook or other social media site, you can mention that as well (though MySpace is considered old news now, so you might not want to hang that out as your only means of social media platform!)

Include whether the query has been previously published (or available for free giveaway even) and if it is a simultaneous submission (have you submitted it to other agents and publishers in the meantime), keeping in mind that some submissions guidelines at some publishers prohibit simultaneous submissions.

And hey! Don’t forget to include your phone number and address so we can get back to you. Kind of important and people DO miss this step!

4. Let the recipient know you’re paying attention

It’s one thing to say: I read your submission guidelines and here’s my submission. That’s good, we’re glad you’re paying attention. But what’s one of the rules of writing? Show, don’t tell. If you read our submission guidelines, show us by actually following them now that you’ve told us. You can also let the recipient know you’re paying attention by mentioning you read their blog, Twitter, etc.

As an example: we’ve had some queries come into the submissions box in the past few weeks addressed to a specific editor and mentioning that they saw that particular editor was interested in XYZ genre, after this post we did. Now we know that author has been paying attention!

5. Let the recipient know they’re special

This goes with #4, but it’s a little different. Yesterday I talked about not just copying and pasting your query letter, and this is one way in which you can let the editor/agent know it’s being written just for them. Not only do you let them know you’re paying attention, as in #4, but you can take it a step further. You can mention that you saw the editor/agent talk at a particular conference. If you met, maybe you can reference something unique about your conversation (we meet a lot of people, so help jog our memory!) But you can also reference that you’ve read one of the books they publish/represent and why it attracted you to that publisher/agent, or what you particularly enjoy about their blog or Twitter. Of course, there can be a fine line between sucking up and making the recipient feel special, so don’t go overboard.

Example: I occasionally get query letters that reference the author reads my personal blog or personal Twitter stream, and they go on to say what particularly they like about it (for instance, they like that I share recipes, talk about my daughter–and they’ll name her by name–or that they’re also interested in sewing).

6. Be gracious

This is twofold. First, be gracious in your query letter. Don’t talk about all the “crap that’s being published” or even worse, target books or authors specifically saying, “I know I can write better than them.” While we don’t expect you think everything that’s published is a special snowflake, we also don’t really expect you to introduce yourself and your book to us by putting down and insulting others. And, you know, since we’re part of the publishing industry, you’re basically telling us we’re responsible for putting out crap. That’s not the best way to start a potential working relationship!

The second part of this is if you get a rejection. Be gracious. Send a thank you or don’t (that’s a whole other debate) but don’t send a response telling the editor/agent that they obviously have terrible taste, a terrible eye for talent and don’t know how to do their job. Oh rly? In that case, why did you submit to us? I mean, you DID do research before submitting to us, right, so you know what our list looks like and how we operate?Anyway, why is this a bad idea? Because one rejection doesn’t mean you’ll never work with that person, there are a lot of authors who get rejected on one, two or even five projects from one editor/agent but end up hitting it just right with the sixth. And even if you decide you don’t want to work with us now, publishing is an ever changing business, six months from now that editor you insulted in a response and told you’d never write for them or their company? Might be the lead editor at your dream publisher. It’s a cliche but it’s true: don’t burn any bridges.

7. Respect the editor’s or agent’s time

We know that you’re special and your book is special, but please remember that while we recognize that, we deal with thousands of special authors and books via queries each year. So despite your specialness, we can only allot so much time to each query in order to be fair to other thousands of queries we get. So this is a bit repetitive of some of the earlier ones but in order to respect their time, make sure you follow the submissions guidelines, include what’s requested in those guidelines (and nothing extra), and write the best query letter you can in no more than 4 or 5 short paragraphs (if you even need that much).

The other way you can respect the editor/agent’s time is by following up only after they’ve had the submission for their allotted amount of time. For example, Carina’s auto response and website say response in 8-10 weeks (this is going to be increasing to 10-12 by the way) so please wait until after 10 weeks have elapsed before following up. Please don’t follow up after four weeks or six. Give them the entire amount of time. And during that time, don’t send a bunch of emails with updates about your career, your book or your cat (kidding! I don’t think anyone has ever done that) because you need to trust in your query to sell the book, frequent emails will probably only serve to make the editor/agent believe you don’t respect their time now and wouldn’t respect it if they decided to work with you.

8. Keep the editor/agent updated

Now you’re confused after my last point, right? Don’t be! This is a bit different. Earlier I stated you should mention if your submission is a simultaneous submission. If that submission should happen to be offered a contract or representation, you need to let the people you’ve queried know immediately. So that means do keep track of who you’ve queried and when (spreadsheets are good for this!) and whether you’ve received a response. If you are going to place the book elsewhere, please respect the agent/editor’s time (see how these all tie together?) and send an email pulling the submission. Remember how I said there’s thousands of queries? It’s helpful if we don’t read queries (and manuscripts) that aren’t actually available because we can’t make any money doing that and this is, after all, a business.

However, one caveat to this is if you have a query with multiple editors/agents and you’ve been offered a contract/representation, but you’d like to see if another editor/agent is still interested. It’s permissible to let us know you’ve been offered elsewhere but you’re still interested in working with us, would we be able to or interested in reviewing your query within x number of days/weeks? As one editor said: this can result in a bidding war for your book. Or it can help you land your dream agent. Hey, think positively!

9. Make sure you’re ready to query
But here’s something that might seem to conflict with what I just said (it really doesn’t, though); Please make sure you’re both serious about the person/place you’re querying to, and that you (and your book) are ready to query. Reading each query (and submission) takes both time and money. Each submission to Carina Press costs a minimum of $7.50 (yes, I know the exact minimum cost amount) and that’s just a minimum, the closer it gets to acquisition, the more it costs. Every agency and publisher has their own time and money costs associated with reading submissions and queries, so please make sure you’re serious about wanting to work with whoever you’re querying and not just using it as a lark, to get experience or to throw it out there and see what sticks. Also, don’t send queries for books that aren’t ready. For instance, we’re only interested in complete, fully polished manuscripts. If you’re only 2/3 done writing or haven’t thoroughly edited, don’t send it to an editor or agent unless you know they’re willing to work with new authors on proposal.

10. Use a legible font type and size (and black only please).

For the love of all things holy, please don’t get fancy with your fonts in query letters (and don’t write them in ALL CAPS). First off, realize how much time most editors and agents spend in front of a computer and/or reading manuscripts. 12 hours a day is not an overestimate, more like an underestimate. So please, please, please don’t send us queries done in blue Curlz MT font (my most recent example) because they’re killer on our already strained eyes. And if you’re querying someone who has a page count limit, don’t use 8 pt font to cram as much as possible in. Please (do you see how much I’m pleading here, this is serious stuff, folks!) choose a nice, plain font, in black, with a legible size. Sure, if it’s a digital submission we can change the font/color/size but that means going through extra work and adds time to each query. Even adding an extra two minutes for that type of thing means adding an extra hour of time spent on submissions for every 30 queries. Yeah, funny how quickly it adds up, no? And that means less queries responded to in that hour and the longer you have to wait, especially if we only have an hour per day to look at queries. And realistically, if you make the query hard to read? The editor or agent is going to pass because it’s easier.

11. Realize we want to say yes. But saying no is easier.

I wish I could attribute this to the agent I heard say this at a conference we attended together, but I can’t remember who it was. Essentially, she said that saying “yes” means a lot more work for the editor or agent. If you say yes to the query, you’re then committing to read a partial or a full. And those take a lot of time. So while we hope that every query is amazing, if it’s not amazing in the first few pages, it’s much easier to say no, because your commitment is at an end and it’s one more marked off your list. I think this could be discouraging for authors except for the fact that we really want to say “yes” and if your query is solid, you have a good hook, a unique twist, fantastic writing then you’ve made it impossible for us to say “no” and we’re going to keep going. It’s your job to make it impossible for us to say “no” by sending us the best possible package you can. Easy, right?

12. Do keep in mind that everyone is different (so do do your research!)

So now that I’ve given you this list of do’s and don’ts, which I tried to keep mostly universal and not specific to me, to Carina, or to editors/publishers but to publishing as a whole, I should remind you that each editor and agent are different, we all have different quirks (boy howdy, do we ever) and we realize that can make navigating the submissions process tricky and sometimes frustrating. So do your research, know who you’re submitting to and what they’re looking for, and once you’ve submitted the very best package possible, give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve got a leg up on 90% of the authors out there because you’re researching, learning and worrying about these things.

Good luck!

Tomorrow, a wrap-up on queries, I’ll answer some of the questions you’ve been posing in the comments (if you haven’t asked and still have a question, please do ask!), and I’ll link to some of the other posts on queries that have been written in the past few weeks. I’ll also provide a query letter checklist that you can use as a tool when you’re ready to start querying.

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Posted in Writing/Submissions Advice, submissions | 9 Comments »

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