And...We're Still Closed to Submissions

Typically we open for subs in March and April, however we looked at our current workload and decided to re-open for a few months this summer instead. With staff members off sick (seriously, is the plague going around this winter?), me frequently on limited office hours due to a repetitive stress injury, and integrating our newly acquired imprint Hard Shell into the mix, it didn't make sense (and wasn't fair) to open for subs that may not get looked at for months. As well, my acquisitions department is quite busy finishing up with submissions from the last open period.

My apologies to those who had been planning to submit at this point, but we'll only be considering manuscripts from our in-house authors at this time, and will re-open to unsolicited manuscripts in June. Thank you very much for understanding.

Also, I'm aware that we're listed on various sites as being open at this time, however please remember that if any information out there contradicts the submissions page, please go with what the submissions page says. That is where you'll find up to date information (as well as on the blog). Unsolicited submissions sent at this time will not be read or replied to.

New Releases

Would you like to know when a new book is released? Our fantastic webmaster has a feed set up: click here to subscribe.

Now available, a great fantasy novel for YA/MG readers!

Talismen: The Knightmare Knife - Steven Philip Jones

Colin Sinclair, Reggie Sinclair, Ollie Steele, and Timmy Shannon have never had a dream in their lives, but on their twelfth birthday they share the same nightmare about a vicious dragon and a mysterious orange-haired girl.

The next day strange things begin happening to the boys. Monsters appear in school water fountains. A hellhound prowls city streets. And a green man dressed in gold stalks the boys. Danger is suddenly everywhere and it is closing in all around them. Fast.

With beautiful illustrations by co-creator and co-plotter Barb Jacobs, Talismen: The Knightmare Knife is a fantasy for people of all ages who are young in heart and ready for action!

Author Checklist

Our guidelines for submissions include a little checklist for your manuscripts. Useful stuff to ensure your book doesn't suck by looking at point of view, characters and dialogue, etc. You can find lots of those checklists all over.

But what about a checklist for authors? You can have the most brilliant book in the world, but that doesn't mean we'd be a good team.

So here's my "Don't submit IF..." list. This is compiled from the experiences of various editors I know and dealings we've all had.

1. Are you high maintenance? I am very happy to answer newbie questions. I value communication and I like my authors to be informed about the whole publication process. What I don't have time for is handholding. Remember my previous post about the inner wheels of publishing always turning and how we can't slow it down? That means I can't give a status update once a week. For example, if I say a book is in the queue for an editor, it's in the queue for an editor. Until the editor is available for an assignment, my answer of "it's in the queue" will not change. It didn't get "lost" if I was the one to contract it; I get a little possessive over the authors and books I contract out of slush and I always know where they are in the publication process. It's impossible for me to lose you guys because I adore you ever so much. It's also common for me to get a couple hundred emails a day; since I work normal business hours, this means it can take me at least three days to answer even higher priority messages. Six emails to me in twelve hours about something non-priority will not result in a faster answer from me. The more times I have to repeat myself, the more I twitch, and a twitchy senior editor is a cranky senior editor.
2. Do you think rules don't apply to you/you should get special treatment? When you sell five bazillion books, you can be afforded a little rule breaking. But you know what? The top selling authors I know are all the loveliest people to work with. If you think rules don't apply to you, you'll more than likely not get through slush as I'm militant about guidelines. But no one around here gets special treatment--I don't even get special treatment and I'm running most of the day to day operations. This means no cutting in line and no trying to bypass any step of the process.
   
3. Do you hate ebooks/want nothing to do with them? I didn't say you have to loooooove ebooks. But I won't lie: a huge part of our market is the ebook reading one. And our romance imprint, Awe-Struck, is mostly e (we consider print if e sales justify it). If you're submitting to one of the imprints I oversee, I have the expectation that a) you're going to do a bit to help promote your book, and b) you're going to have a web presence to help reach that e-reading audience. If you refuse to have even a simple website and have never read an ebook in your life, WHY would you submit to an e-publisher? It's a waste of time and money for both of us. You will help your own career immensely, even if you're with a major mass market publisher, by learning the basics about ebook formats, e-reading devices, and the changes in that market.
   
4. Are you lazy and/or are your words "golden"? Some writers write their book and think the work is done. I don't care if you did seventeen drafts--the work isn't done. I run a rigorous editing department because quality is of utmost importance to me. This means even the best books need some revising and polishing. Our editors have a single goal, and that's to help the author tell their story in the clearest, most concise way possible. Nothing is changed without the author's approval and we always strive to work with authors and not against them, but my editors--while reasonable and happy to defer to your suggestions--are thorough. The books we contract deserve the best attention we can give them because our readers deserve the best books possible. But that requires work on your part as an author. Please do not submit to me if you aren't willing to work with an editor and/or you can't accept criticism.
5. Are you impatient? I book the MP schedule 15-18 months in advance. Yes, that seems like a long time, but I don't rush things and I like a cushion of time before release to ensure all the files are in order so that there aren't last minute delays. A-S is more like 9-12 months at this point, as the books are released electronically first and therefore skip the typesetting stage. I have, however, had writers complain that their book wouldn't be out within six months of acceptance. Folks, please see above where I mentioned quality. I don't rush edits and the art department doesn't rush covers. Sometimes a few rounds of edits can be done within a month or two. Other times, it ends up being three or four. If you want your book out as soon as you've written it, go ahead and self publish the damn thing--just don't bring it to me later wanting "greater distribution." Because that also makes me twitch.
6. Do you have a problem with a young woman running things? I'm twenty-seven, I have worked hard to get to where I am, and I do my job well. I don't own the company, but oversee general book production prior to publication. I do think I have a lovely sense of humor and I can be wonderful to work with...however, if you've followed my posts here, you should get the sense that I do not play games and I'm very rigid about how things operate. I don't appreciate people going over my head when it's my department and I don't appreciate being called names when I'm simply being clear and upfront about something. If you're the type of person who isn't comfortable working with someone of my age and gender (note, this is RARE, but it happens), we may not make a good team. We're all looking to get along with one another to make books successful.
   
7. Are you insane? We're all a little loony and that's cool. Mad pride and all. But it's important to be functionally loony. (Me? I'm bipolar, but can function daily without it interrupting my ability to do my job and interact with people.) Flakiness, flighty attitudes, and diva behaviour cannot be excused with, "Oh, but I'm an artist." I don't care that there are people in your brain that only you can hear whispering their stories, I don't care that you're battling crippling depression and cradling a bottle of absinthe while listening to emo music, and I don't care if the muse packed her bags and took off for Mexico without you. If you want to work as a professional writer, "suffering artist" isn't going to cut it. Suffer on your own time; be functional while you're working with us on your book.
   
8. Did you write one book with no plans for more? Maybe this isn't a huge turn off, but it's something to keep in mind. We're interested in working with writers in this for the long haul. If you're not working on other books while you're busy submitting the polished version of your first one, I have to wonder how serious you are about this job (and yes, writing for publication is a job). Flogging one book for the next ten years isn't going to build your readership. Writing and publishing half a dozen books in that time will. You will also become a better writer the more you write; you'll learn things with every book you complete. And I sincerely hope "become a better writer" is one of your goals as a novelist...
9. Do you think the publishing staff is there to work for you? Unless you did the hiring, the staff isn't your hired help. They shouldn't be ordered around as such. My editors work for me; they work with you. I work for the company; I work with you. There is a distinct difference there. If you're submitting to a commercial publishing house, you're not hiring them--you're seeking to form a business partnership. The phrase "See that it gets done" should never enter your correspondence with any of us.
   

If you fit any of the above, please think long and hard before submitting to us. If you're an insane, high maintenance diva, you could very well get a book picked up elsewhere. There are plenty of editors who have other priorities and see things differently from me. And that's okay. But for the year + before your contracted book is published, all of your dealings--from submissions to editing to scheduling, and everything but cover art--will be with yours truly. That publishing machine works best when we're all on the same page and if you're the type who would send me three emails a day complaining about edits and calling me names, that's going to mess up the machine and it's not fair to the other authors.

Publishing a book means you enter in a business agreement with someone for at least three or four years. It runs so much more smoothly if both parties are clear on their expectations for one another. In romantic relationships, it's better to remain single than be with someone you don't gel with; in publishing, it's better to remain unpublished and keep looking for the right fit than be in a legally binding relationship with people you don't gel with. And if we do gel? Magic happens, boys and girls, and you bet I want us to work together on making your book a success.

So here's a task for you, gentle writer. What is your publisher checklist? Or your agent checklist? What are your expectations, and what are you looking for philosophy-wise when it comes to entering a business relationship? Sit down and make your list. Keep it next to your computer and see what publisher websites and blogs tell you about the people you'll potentially be working with. This will help ensure YOU find the right home for your work.

Patience, Trust, and the Publication Process

Happy Thursday, folks!

Today, rather than talk about the submissions/acquisitionsy stuff (YES, "acquisitionsy" is a word...because I say so), we're going to look at something important for contracted authors to remember during the publication process.

Patience is vital and you can't expect everyone to hold your hand or pat you reassuringly on the head.

Publishing a book is a long process that requires a lot of different people all working at the same time and juggling other books. It's a machine with lots of cogs and wheels and parts that you, as the author, never get to see.

And it's frustrating as hell sometimes as a writer because you can't see all the parts and inner workings. All there is for you is you and your book. I understand this because I was an author for this company long before I joined the staff. My first book came out two full years after I signed the contract for it, but it didn't bother me too much because I spent that time writing other books and building an online fanbase. But now that I can actually see all the inner workings of the machine? Folks, you'd be astonished at what's going on behind the scenes on any given day.

Here's the thing that you, gentle author, need to keep in mind about publishers: it's in their best interest to release your book in a timely manner. Even before that book is contracted, time and money went into having a panel of editors evaluate it. After a book is contracted, time and money is going into producing cover art, paying editors, paying proofreaders, paying typesetters... The publisher needs that book to be released to the book buying public so that they see a return on the investment.

But delays happen. Titles get shuffled on the schedule, a freelance editor is hired and flakes out, an artist's harddrive is fried and covers must be re-done, writers fight an editor constantly on a manuscript, a senior staff member suffers an illness or death in the family, people decide to take a few days off for Christmas (yes, folks, publishing peeps are allowed to have Christmas, and typically it DOESN'T actually affect our work), an author covers her galley in red pen and expects massive changes to be made last minute. Communication can be slow--at least half of the emails I receive require me to check in with another staff member (and they are all also quite busy), or review notes with my editorial boad when it comes to slush inquiries.

I firmly believe in keeping authors informed as much as possible, but a whole lot of the time we can't. We can't stop the machine to notify a hundred people about one little cog being off and we can't give you confidential information about what's going on behind the scenes with other authors and staff members.

But you, dear writer, need to have not only patience for this big machine called publishing, but also trust. You need to trust that we are doing everything in our power to ensure your book is the best it can be and ready for people to purchase it. You need to trust that we haven't forgotten about you, even if we're not checking in with you once a week with a status update. You need to trust that we want your book to be released, because then we all get paid more and money makes everyone happy.

This isn't to say there aren't shady, fly by night tiny e-pubs out there. There are, and an author has to pay attention. But 99% of the other editors I know at various small and epublishing houses are working damn hard, 40 - 50 hrs a week, on publishing good books.

If you can't trust that the publisher you're in business with is working hard on producing books...if you need constant reassurance that you're still in the queue...if you can't find anything better to do with your time than nag the staff...folks, I think you need to step back and question what you're doing. I wouldn't want to work with someone I didn't trust. Why would you?

On Synopses & Surprises

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author of great skill must be in want of a synopsis writing helper.

I've yet to meet a writer who doesn't hate writing a synopsis. (I just finished one myself, somehow without the benefit of alcohol, and now I'm ignoring it because I know I have to fix it.) They make us whine and moan. How do we condense our eighty thousand word masterpiece into a page or two?

We all have to do it because editors and agents NEED that full synopsis. They're busy and they need that snapshot of the story so they know if it's worth their time or not.

A lot of writers either leave the ending out of their synopsis to force us to read the manuscript (it doesn't work) or beg us not to in the cover letter because the effect of the book will be ruined if we know the ending. In fact, I've been flat out TOLD in cover letters before by the author that he is intentionally leaving out the synopsis because I have to read it to understand it, and he doesn't have time for those people who can't be bothered spending six hours reading his book to find out what it's about. (Guess who got rejected pretty quickly.) Writers often seem to have the sense that some of the magic will be gone if we know how the book ends.

That is categorically, unequivocally, untrue.

Good writing and a compelling story are not ruined by the editor knowing the ending.

I just finished the round of edits on a book I contracted out of slush last year--Thief by Sarah-Jane Lehoux. When the book came to me back then, I read the synopsis. Complete with the ending. And I loved it. So I read the book. I still loved it. I completed the edits last night, at four o'clock in the morning, and balled my eyes out because the ending was so beautiful and bittersweet (Ms. Lehoux wins the Joss Whedon Award for making you love it when she tears your heart out).

Similarly, a few months ago I was editing Sacrament of Night by Louise Cooper for re-release. I'd read the book before, so I knew how it would end. But, still, midway through I was in tears and my heart was breaking for the characters. Her writing had real power.

With both novels, it didn't matter that I knew how they would end. It didn't even matter that I'd already read the books. It also didn't matter that I was looking at them as an editor, not a reader. When you're a gifted writer who can pen a compelling story, your work will have the same emotional impact on the editor. You don't need surprise as a gimmick.

So, as always, the lesson is: Write well. Um, besides "follow the guidelines and send a complete synopsis." So that and: Write well.

And also, the lesson is buy Thief when it comes out in May and Sacrament of Night later this year.

We're Closed to Submissions

Just a note that we're closed to unsolicited submissions once again. I had hoped to stay open a little longer, but we've decided to close again until March for two reasons.

1) Someone on Twitter pointed out how December is essentially "National Query Rejection Month", as it follows National Novel Writing Month and many of the NaNo-ers think it would be a zomg awesome idea to submit their newly completed first draft masterpiece. It hadn't occurred to me before, but that makes a scary amount of sense.

So no. Just...no. I have to wade through enough slush--I don't want to be inundated in December with even more, and neither do my readers. That isn't to say that NaNo-ers can't write great books--they can, and it's a great thing to do--but no one's first draft is ready for submission. Ever. So I'm hoping to avoid that whole nightmare by staying closed.

2) I've received a lovely promotion, and with great power comes great responsibility. Time consuming responsibility. And considering I'm a week behind on all non-urgent email (don't even ask about personal email at this point), it made the most sense to close to subs until we get the existing stuff caught up. Rest assured, that we do issue a response for each submission, and I keep the box on the right hand corner of this blog updated.

If I can give a slice of advice once given me: When you're waiting to hear back from a publisher or agent about a submission, the best thing you can do for yourself is to work on other books. It can take months and months of querying and submitting to possibly find your work a home, so it's good to keep yourself busy and work on something new.

Thank you for your patience.

In other news: our first audio book has been released. Check it out here.

New Releases

Bad-Ass Faeries - Edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeffrey Lyman, L. Jaji Lamplighter, and Lee C. Hillman

Various authors.

Clap Your Hands...NOW! Because you better believe the world is full of Bad-Ass Faeries!

Toss out your childhood notions of faeries that are all goodness and light. No golden pixies clothed in gossamer, dancing on the wind, here to make the rainbows shine and the birds sing. These tales are of faeries on the raw edge, battle-worn and in black leather, with a glimmer of darkness in their eyes, if not their very hearts.

From the meanest city streets to one dusty, disturbing saloon, on the wing or the back of a Harley, no matter where you look, they are headed your way, trailing attitude, bodies, and a dust devil of magic in their wake.

Good or bad or just plain rotten, you’ll never look at faeries the same way again.

http://www.mundania.com/book.php?title=Bad-Ass+Faeries



Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad - Edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeffrey Lyman, L. Jaji Lamplighter, and Lee C. Hillman

Various authors.

Do you like to Dance with Danger? Well now's your chance!

Don't worry about things that go bump in the night; count yourself lucky if these fae give you that much warning. In the finest tradition of the original Bad-Ass Faeries, the twenty tales in this collection delve into the darkest corners, exploring every tough and terrifying aspect the legends of faeries ever claimed...and then some.

Lose yourself in twisted tales of homicidal faerie clowns, one man's gladiatorial stand against Earth's overlords, and a desperate mother's confrontation with the fiercest pirates above the Seven Seas...not to mention dry land. Read on in fascinated horror as a faerwolf is born, and unwise parties-of-the-second-part come to rue deals made with a different kind of devil. Here is where you discover just how many faerie tales never even get a glimpse of Happily Ever After...

Forget about misunderstood; these faeries are Just Plain Bad!

http://www.mundania.com/book.php?title=Bad-Ass+Faeries+2:+Just+Plain+Bad