ARWA has 3 RT Reviewers’ Choice Award Nominees
Congratulations to Julia London, Robyn DeHart and Jan Hudson! All three are Romantic Times 2007 Reviewers’ Choice Award Nominees. [12/28/07]
Congratulations Deb Yates - a final and a request
Congratulations to our Deb Yates! She took 4th place in the Golden Gateway about a month ago for her Scottish manuscript Heaven Sent. Deb got a FULL manuscript request and it’s for a Berkley editor! What a wonderful early Christmas present! [12/6/07]
Update on Loose Id - from RWA National 2007
The Spotlight on Loose Id Books (http://www.loose-id.com) was presented by Chief Financial Officer Doreen DeSalvo, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer Allie McKnight and Editor-in-Chief Treva Harte. Loose Id was founded in February 2004 with its first books released in July of that year. They are primarily an e-book publisher, with select titles released in trade paperback format. They pay a 35% royalty on gross sales.
Loose Id publishes erotic romance and erotica - heterosexual, homosexual and polyamorous. They prefer cross-genre romance — romantic suspense, multi-cultural, and paranormal elements. All stories must be erotic. They love humor in stories. Stories should be 20,000 words and longer. They will consider previously published stories if the author has retained all rights, and if the author agrees to write an original work for Loose Id as well. Complete guidelines are available on the website.
*** This information is from Cindi Myers’ eNewsletter. Anyone can sign up by sending a blank email to cynthiasterling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ***
Update on Samhain - from RWA National 2007
The Spotlight on Samhain Publishing (http://www.samhainpublishing.com) was presented by
Executive Editor Angela James and Publisher Chris Brashear Samhain Publishing has been in business for a little over a year. They publish all genres of fiction and romance, primarily as ebooks. Many titles are also released in trade paper. Printed books are distributed by Ingram. Samhain also is partnering with Kensington books to create a line of Samhain titles published by Kensington.
Samhain publishes stories 12,000 words and up. Complete novels should be 60,000 words or more. They are interested in all genres of fiction. Right now they would especially like to expand their interracial, fantasy and inspirational romance offerings. Paranormal and erotic romance continue to do well for them. In paranormal, readers seem to be looking for ‘different’ paranormal — shape-shifters, angels, demons, etc. In erotica, multiple partners and male-male stories have been popular. Samhain pays a royalty of 40% of the cover price for ebooks. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically. Follow the directions on the website.
In addition to regular submissions, Samhain is currently seeking material for two upcoming anthologies: The Red Hot Summer Romance anthology will feature four erotic romance stories. Deadline to submit is January 10, 2008. The Psychic Powers Anthology will feature four stories of any genre that feature psychic powers. The deadline for those submissions is January 13, 2008. Stories for both these anthologies should be 20,000 - 30,000 words. All the submission information is on the website.
Samhain does some re-releases of books that were previously published by other electronic publishers, but they require that the author publish original material with Samhain first.
*** This information is from Cindi Myers’ eNewsletter. Anyone can sign up by sending a blank email to cynthiasterling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ***
April 2008 Meeting
DATE: April 8, 2008
TIME: 7 - 9 p.m.
LOCATION: Marie Callendar’s restaurant (Loop 360 & Hwy 183) - view map
SPEAKER: Frieda Knezek
TOPIC: Body Language - The Magic Beyond 7%
Roughly speaking, seven percent is:
A daily caloric intake of ten cashews.
A professional dress code of perfume.
The right to keep and bear.
As for romance…
Seven percent just doesn’t do the job, let alone satisfy. The same holds true for communication, the mission of a writer. If only seven percent of effective communication is verbal, then the other ninety-three nonverbal percent is an endless smorgasbord of possibilities. Come join us to:
- See what nonverbal communication can do in, and for, a story
- Explore types of nonverbal communication and their meanings
- Experiment with six ways to use body language in your story
- Decode unconscious messages
- Find out what we can learn from the Reid technique
- Learn how casinos make millions with carpet
BIO - Frieda Knezek:
My fascination with nonverbal communication began in fifth grade when my mother volunteered me at a family reunion to recite Poe’s “Annabel Lee.” Much to the consternation of my proper California grandparents, I decided to spice it up with plenty of action and an overly thick Texan accent. It worked. Without a doubt, I had everyone’s undivided attention, and I knew I was on to something good.
While attending Baylor University, I got my first formal training in nonverbal communication. Two summers spent working with a ministry in Tennessee put that initial training to use. Not long after that I headed off to Germany where I received more in-depth training in decoding and interpreting nonverbal cues. (Handy tool when you’re working with hormonal teenagers and drunk Neo Nazis.)
Working as a fitness instructor and personal trainer added different elements of nonverbal communication such as breathing patterns, skin coloration and signs of fatigue, not to mention growls and miscellaneous “Curse you, evil Trainer” facial expressions. These days I spare folks the “Annabel Lee” show, but I’m still a die hard, nonverbal ham. That’s OK. I’m in good company.
“Look, I don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you’re not alive.” — Mel Brooks
March 2008 Meeting
DATE: March 11, 2008
TIME: 7 - 9 p.m.
LOCATION: Marie Callendar’s restaurant (Loop 360 & Hwy 183) - view map
SPEAKER: Julie Kenner, National Bestselling Author
TOPIC: DECONSTRUCTING CONTRACTS (AND OTHER LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO AUTHORS NEED TO KNOW!)
Join former attorney and bestselling author Julie Kenner for an evening of option clauses, warranty provisions, pay-outs, royalties. In other words, we’ll be discussing what authors can expect to see in a publishing contract, what all those terms mean, non-contract related legal issues, and much more. It’s Legalese 101!
February 2008 Meeting
DATE: February 12, 2008
TIME: 7 - 9 p.m.
LOCATION: Marie Callendar’s restaurant (Loop 360 & Hwy 183) - view map
SPEAKER: Tracy Wolff
TOPIC: Know the Market, Know Yourself
So you want to write a romance … ST or category? Suspense or paranormal? Chick Lit, hen lit or young adult lit? These are only a few of the many sub-genres available in today’s romance market. So how do you find the one that’s right for you? Join Tracy Wolff, multi-genre romance author, as she guides you through the many exciting — and confusing — layers of today’s romance market and helps you find the genre that best suits you.
January 2008 Meeting
DATE: January 8, 2008
TIME: 7 - 9 p.m.
LOCATION: Marie Callendar’s restaurant (Loop 360 & Hwy 183) - view map
SPEAKER: none
TOPIC: New Year Kick Off!
Join us as we spend some time getting to know each other a little better. We’ll kick the year off with some fun (and possibly wacky) activities guaranteed to help you meet those around you.
UPDATE on Kensington - from RWA National 2007
*** From Cindi Myers’ eNewsletter ***
The summary of the Spotlight on Kensington Books from RWA’s National Convention in Dallas.
The Spotlight on Kensington was presented by Editor in Chief John Scognamiglio, Editorial Director Kate Duffy, and Editorial Director Audrey LaFehr. Kensington is one of the last of the independent publishing houses. It was founded in the mid-1970s. They started as a mass market publisher and now publish all types of books including hardcover and trade. A good portion of their list is women’s fiction. They publish all kinds of romance, including historical and contemporary, paranormal, romantic suspense and erotic romance. They also publish erotica in their Aphrodisia line and thrillers under their Pinnacle imprint.
Kate Duffy is primarily responsible for Brava, Kensington’s erotic romance line. The three romance imprints of Kensington are Zebra, Brava and Dafina, which publishes African-American romances. She described Kensington as “opportunistic” as in always looking for areas in publishing that other people aren’t doing that Kensington believes they can do well. She cited Arabesque, the first line of African-American romances, as an example. The editors are willing to look at “anything we feel will be commercial.” Because Kensington is a small company, editors acquire independently of large acquisition committees. Each editor is free to acquire his or her own list.
Audrey LeFehr spoke next. She acquires romance for Zebra, erotica for Aphrodisia and thrillers for Pinnacle. She says she’s always looking and is open to a broad range of ideas. Zebra is open to western historicals, and really pretty much any historical time period for historical romance.
Kate said that in 2008 she is particularly looking for more varied books for Brava. The line will be doing fewer anthologies. They will continue to release three Brava titles a month. Most Brava titles are released in trade paperback. They have started releasing one mass market title each month.
John spoke about Kensington’s Debut Program. Every month they publish a new author with a book priced at $3.99. They have focused on historical romance, since these seem most successful for them. They have cut back on contemporary romance overall, though they continue to enjoy success with romantic suspense and paranormal. They have also successfully published women’s fiction in trade paperback. John personally likes books that are different and ‘outside the box.’ He’s very interested in urban fantasy. But Kensington does not publish science fiction or fantasy.
Audrey is very interested in historical fiction ‘ala Phillipa Gregory’ and ‘international’ fiction. She’s recently bought books set in China and India by authors who were born in those countries. She’s also actively looking for erotica for Aphrodisia, which publishes four titles a month. Audrey is also the editor who handles most of the women’s fiction for Kensington.
Kensington is open to non-agented and agented submissions. The word count for most of their imprints is approximately 90,000 - 100,000 words. The word count for Aphrodisia is 75,000 words. Query by mail or send the synopsis and sample chapters, or the complete manuscript.
*** This information is from Cindi Myers’s eNewsletter. Subscribe by sending a blank email to cynthiasterling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ***
Amy Pierpont now at Grand Central Publishing
Amy Pierpont is the new editorial director for Grand Central Publishing’s mass market romance imprint, Forever. Ms. Pierpont was with Pocket Books for more than ten years. While at Pocket, she edited romance and helped found Downtown Press.