HEART BEAT
ARCHIVE
SEPTEMBER 2005
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For writers interested in broadening their experience and exposure through electronic
or POD (print-on-demand) publishing, opportunities for publication abound. Especially
for writers of romance fiction, the prospects are enhanced within a genre that
dominates the industry. They are not, however, guaranteed. According to a survey
conducted by Mary Wolf of Hard Shell Word Factory, many e-publishers accept less
than 10 per cent of all submissions. With a 90 per cent rejection rate for many e-
publishers, it pays for a writer to understand what a publisher wants before submitting a
manuscript, and as a minimum, a writer should consult and adhere to a publisher’s
submission guidelines.
To understand the particular preferences and visions of an individual editor, if at all
possible, is even better. Tailoring a query to suit the tastes of a specific editor can
make the difference between a request for your manuscript or not. Even after a contract
is signed and delivered, the courtship is not over. Countless hours may be spent co-
editing and revising, and a pleasant experience can sway a busy editor into accepting
future manuscripts from the author.
To learn the proclivities of different romance editors in the electronic publishing
industry, I queried and received completed questionnaires from five, including Melissa
Alvarez of New Age Dimension Publishing, Mae Argilan of Double Dragon Publishing,
Leslie Hodges and Lorraine Stephens of Wings ePress and Dee Lloyd of LTD Books.
Their answers were both thoughtful and informative. To give each interview the attention
it deserves, I will divide them between this issue of Heart Beat and the next one in
October. They’ll be presented in alphabetical order, starting with Melissa Alvarez and
Mae Argilan in this issue. In the next issue, I’ll include the ones with Leslie Hodges, Dee
Lloyd and Lorraine Stephens. Please enjoy!
Interview with Melissa Alvarez
New Age Dimensions Publishing
• What is your editorial and publishing background, and what led you into becoming an
editor?
Well, I’m a little more than an editor because I’m actually the publisher. I am the CEO
and founder of New Age Dimensions, Inc. I started the company in December 2001
when I published The Phoenix’s Guide To Self Renewal as a sole proprietorship. I
wrote the book for myself but when my friends saw it and the success I had with my own
weight loss they wanted a copy. After having a lot of requests for copies of the book
from people I didn’t know – I decided that I would self publish it and New Age
Dimensions was born. The Phoenix’s Guide skyrocketed to the top 1000 on Amazon.
com and held there for quite a while. Because I was such a greenhorn (I actually
manufactured the book in my home – printing it, making the covers and spiral binding it)
I worked almost around the clock with only a few hours sleep to keep up with the
demand. I did all of this with three small children under the age of eight and my husband
was working in Florida. In March we all moved to Florida and I put the publishing
company on hold because I’d burnt out my equipment for the third time.
I’ve always been a writer. I’ve written a variety of material since I learned how to put
sentences together. In the past, I usually penned nonfiction and stories for my children.
Once we moved to Florida I decided that I’d like to try my hand at writing a romance
novel with psychic and paranormal elements. I researched online and discovered that
About.com had a Guide position in romance fiction available. I applied and was hired. I
ran that site for over a year and enjoyed it very much. But, I also heard from many
authors who had problems with their publishers. They would ask my advice or request
my help. Because of this I saw a niche that I might be able to fill. So I did a test to see if
there would be interest in the company. I incorporated New Age Dimensions and put up
a one page website on Dec. 15, 2003 and by Dec. 31 it had received 30,000 hits.
Okay – so I was shocked. In January 2004 it received 100,000 hits and we were
receiving submissions daily. I gave notice at About.com, set up the company structure
and designed the website. We launched on March 12, 2004. During our first fourteen
months we received about 10,000 submissions and we regularly receive between
250,000 up to 500,000 hits to the site in a month. When my book Night Visions, written
under my pen name Ariana Dupré, finalled in ForeWord Magazine’s Book Of The Year
Awards, I established a new holiday during the month of October, International
Paranormal Fiction Month, for anyone interested in the paranormal, psychic or
metaphysical in fiction. My senior editor, Mimi Riser, and I were brainstorming and we
decided to add Paranormal Book Week during the last week in October to include
nonfiction. You can visit the site at www.parafm.com.
So that is what led me into becoming a publisher and an editor. Because of the input of
authors when I was at About.com I have tried to make New Age Dimensions very author
friendly. I am in contact with our authors and staff on a regular basis and am always
available to them when they need me. I also am very accessible to authors who are
interested in submitting to the company because I’ve been at the receiving end of a
publisher’s rejection and I know how it feels. It is not unusual for me to pick up the phone
and call an author with input on their work and a request for revisions if I see potential. I
will also do the same via email and have even offered critiques on sections of a
submitted work in order to help the author ‘see’ what I meant. Just as you should show
and not tell in fiction, sometimes it helps to show and not tell an author how a change
can improve their writing. At times a standard rejection letter is necessary, other times
there is a spark that I see glimmering underneath that I feel will someday blaze. If I can
help fuel that fire by giving input then that’s a good thing. I am extremely busy and even
though I don’t have the time to maintain ongoing correspondence about a writer’s work,
I will take the time to give an initial input when I can in the hopes that it will help that
author.
New Age Dimensions may seem a little different than a lot of publishers out there today.
This was intentional on my part when I set up the company. We’re moving at a slow and
steady pace (even though we’re getting bombarded with submissions) because we
plan to be around for quite a while. I look for quality books and have no intention of
releasing a large amount of titles that don’t meet our standards just to release them.
And I have set our standards quite high. Our books consistently receive 4 and 5 star
reviews and are award winners or finalists. Our website has won awards and our
authors regular receive recognition. Some people may disagree with my philosophy
and that’s fine. It works for my company and my plans for the future. If this philosophy
appeals to you then I hope you check us out.
• How does your role as writer enhance your role as editor?
I believe that when you’re a writer you have to also wear an editor’s hat for your own
work in order to polish it as much as possible prior to sending it out. Being a writer
makes you a better editor because you’re comfortable with putting the written words
together to create believable characters, the correct pacing for the story and a well
developed plot. For me the two roles go hand in hand.
• How many submissions a year do you receive? How many do you publish?
Prior to temporarily closing submissions we received approximately ten thousand. Our
first year we published 25 titles and we will publish between 50 and 75 titles per year
each subsequent year. Submissions will reopen in Spring 2006 and we’re expecting a
lot of submissions. Even with submissions closed we received between ten and fifteen
a day. We never anticipated that the company to grow this fast so now we’ve got to
catch up and reorganize before we get back into full swing again.
• What mindset drives you as an editor while reading a submission? Do you have a
tried and true process, or do you follow your “gut”?
No, I don’t have a tried and true process. I follow my instincts. When I’m reading a
submission it must grab me right away within the first three or four pages. I’m looking
for well written text, the introduction of the characters and plot or something unique to
the story that will keep me reading. We request the first three chapters for a partial
submission. If the author hasn’t grabbed me within the first few pages they have the first
three chapters to give me a reason to request the full. Sometimes authors start a book
in the wrong place, and that’s okay, but if the book doesn’t give me a clear idea of what
the story is about, the basis of the characters, and if it’s not well written, then I probably
will not ask to see more. If it does then I will request the full.
• Are there any guidelines an author should keep in mind, (or avoid), to improve their
chances for a successful review during the submission process? What qualities do you
look for in a manuscript, and can you prioritize them? What are the most common
reasons for rejecting a manuscript?
Let me start with the most disappointing thing for me because this happens quite often
and is something that I think authors should avoid. An author submits a great story that
grabbed my attention from page one. It’s polished, the characters are developed, the
plot is moving along nicely and the whole partial is well paced. I request the full and am
excited about the book. The full comes in and the remainder of the book isn’t polished,
there are character inconsistencies and they appear flat instead of the three
dimensional characters I saw in the partial, the pacing is off and quite honestly if I had
received the partial in this condition I would have never asked for the full manuscript.
Authors should make sure that they have put as much time and energy into the whole
book as they have in the first three chapters. Otherwise it looks very unprofessional to
the editor who is considering the book for publication and a waste of the editor’s time.
We accept submissions by email so authors should make their query and partial
submission as professional as possible. Neon backgrounds, hard to read fonts,
bragging or telling us that we must publish their book are not putting your best foot
forward and can be annoying when you’ve got hundreds of other submissions waiting to
be read. So try to avoid doing these things.
Here is a list of what we look for in a manuscript in order of priority:
1. A unique voice. (The author’s storytelling ability.)
2. A well-written manuscript that is a page-turner. Grab our attention and don’t let us
go until the last page of the book.
3. Believable characters that are fleshed out and have emotional depth.
4. A well paced and developed plot.
For non-fiction we look for accuracy on the subject matter, a unique voice from the
author and we want the material to be presented in a reader friendly manner so that the
reader isn’t bored.
Some things for the author to keep in mind when submitting to improve their chances
are:
1. Follow our guidelines as listed on the website. We notice if you don’t follow them. If
you’re not sure – email us and ask prior to submitting.
2. Be professional in the presentation of your query letter and partial. Use a standard
font on a white background.
3. Only send us a .DOC or .RTF file attachment.
4. When giving us your credentials simply list them. We want to know what you’ve
accomplished with your writing but we don’t need to know how much Aunt Betty or
Uncle Louie loved your book. Let your work stand on its own merit – if it does then we’ll
love it too.
5. Don’t tell us what you’ll do to us if we don’t sign you in your query letter. That’s a
definite rejection before we even get to your partial. And yes, this has happened. LOL.
Believe me – when you’re submitting to any publishing house the publisher wants to
sign authors that are easy to work with and not problematic. If red flags fly in the editor’s
eyes at the query stage then that manuscript has less of a chance than one that is
professional and doesn’t suggest that problems could occur with this author in the
future. If you show your professionalism, put your best foot forward from the beginning,
andsubmit a well-written manuscript then you will increase your chances of being
offered a contract.
The most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript are:
The manuscript is full of inconsistencies, the grammar is poor, the plot isn’t developed,
the characters are flat instead of being three-dimensional and they lack the emotional
depth that we look for. While we consider how the author submitted, and if they followed
our guidelines, the majority of our decision is based upon the manuscript itself and if we
think it will sell well in the marketplace.
• After accepting a manuscript for publication, what can an author expect from you
during the editing process? What range of editing do you perform (e.g., substantive or
copy editing)?
Once a manuscript is accepted we assign an editor to the work. We do not do
substantive rewrites on a work nor do we change the characters, plot, or anything else
about the book. We will request that an author do slight revisions if needed. However,
we usually talk to them about these revisions prior to offering a contract. Our editing
staff is wonderful and they get into the nuts and bolts of grammar and story
development. Mimi Riser, our Senior Editor, will often do a conference call with an
author to make sure the book is the best book it can be. Our editors work with you to
fine tune your book, making it stronger. I have to say that I’m very proud of each of our
editors. Once the editing process is complete, the author proofs the work by going
through the final edited version and making any additional comments. Once this
process is finished the work is sent back to the home office for formatting.
• What can an author do to help make the editing experience as smooth as possible?
What do some authors do during this process that turns you off?
The main thing they can do is to read the final edited version and make notes about
anything they think should be changed. They should also be open-minded as to why the
editor made changes because they’re only done to improve the manuscript.
There are two things that turn me off during the editing process. One is to find out that
the author revised their book (after I read it and offered the contract) then sent the
revised version to the editor. Eventually, I find out that the revised version has problems
that the submitted manuscript didn’t have. This has sometimes delayed the release of a
book because I will not publish a title unless it meets our in-house standards. To
prevent this I now forward the version that I accepted to the editors. The second thing is
to find out, once the editing is complete, cover designed and the book is ready for
release, that a portion of the work has been recently published elsewhere. Yes, this has
happened and I will cancel a contract immediately in this situation because the author
has breeched their contract at this point and lost my trust.
• How can an author best increase his or her chances for a successful marketing
campaign? What do you or your publisher do to assist the author in their efforts?
Create a brand for their name and their work. As the publisher I promote all of our
authors along with the company in a multitude of ways. I am very supportive of our
authors and will do just about anything I can to help in their success. I could sit here and
talk all day about the many, many opportunities available to authors. I’ll just give you a
couple of examples of things we do: chats, promote them in our newsletter, interviews,
print ads, online ads, memberships in professional organizations, provide authors with
promotional flyers, put together packages for our authors who are pitching bookstores,
pitch large chain stores, talk to booksellers, promote online, and much, much more. I
also read what my authors are doing, participate in their marketing campaigns by
showing up for their chats, author days, and anything else they’re doing.
• What genres of romance writing do you see too much? Are you looking for any
genres in particular?
We get a lot of submissions in all the sub-genres of romance but it’s pretty evenly
balanced. I would like to see more submissions in our paranormal series Bloodlust, in
our Endowed Series (Big Beautiful Women) and in Vitalcore (Science Fiction and
Fantasy). I’m always looking for unique non-fiction on a variety of topics.
I’m in the process of revamping the company. We are redirecting our focus and will be
offering a few surprises along the way. One area that we will be developing is Psychic
Fiction. I have written an article for the November issue of Romantic Times BOOKclub
Magazine, which will define this emerging genre. We plan to be one of the industry
leaders for Psychic Fiction – I mean, we already have the name, I’m a practicing
clairvoyant, and many of our authors have their own unique abilities. It’s funny, when I
first expanded this company I asked that if this was my path then I needed for all of the
money required to expand to come from my psychic readings. Within a week I had it
after experiencing a three-month dry spell without any readings (which was fine
because I was working myself to death reviewing books for About.com). Of course
once that happened my husband and I invested into the company but the answer to that
request made up my mind about publishing for others. Now, it seems that I’m being
steered in another direction, which looks to be very exciting and interesting. So stay
tuned to see what unfolds!
• Do you have any other words of advice for a writer trying to get published? Anything
else you’d like to add?
I’m speaking as both a publisher and an author to answer this question. Never give up
your dream. Be professional, determined, and know your craft. Write books that you
believe in and that are marketable. Know that regardless of the house that publishes
you (including the NY houses) the ability to create a name brand for yourself and your
work will be primarily your responsibility and you have to be willing to do whatever it
takes to ensure your success. Some publishers will help you build a career, others will
not, so ultimately you will have to really want the success of being a published author.
Don’t believe that just because you’ve written a book and been offered a contract that
fame and fortune will be waiting for you – you have to work for it. Those who wait for
fame and fortune will not be as successful as those who go out and create it through
hard work and diligence. It’s your passion – make it happen.
Interview with Mae Argilan
Double Dragon Publishing
What is your editorial and publishing background, and what led you into becoming an
editor?
I have been editing for my writer friends since the 1980s, and they for me. There was an
opening for an editor at the house where my first book was published and they gave me
a chance. My first experience was editing a large novel written by an Egyptian woman,
although since she was taught in English schools her structure was impecaably British.
As difficult as it was, I quickly realized it was what I was born to do.
How does your role as writer enhance your role as editor?
One of the hardest things as a writer is finding your own authentic voice. Realizing how
precious that is I will not mess with that when editing someone. Being a writer myself, I
recognize what is a product of that process and leave it alone. It also makes me
sensitive to what a brave and frustrating labor of love writing a novel is, and I never
minimize what an incredible accomplishment it is.
How many submissions a year do you receive? How many do you publish?
Our Dragon’s Heart Romance line is only 6 months old, so I’ll have to ballpark this one. I’
m receiving about 4 submissions a month, and publishing about 2 a month…so, that
gives authors about a 50/50 shot at impressing my acquisitions editors.
What mindset drives you as an editor while reading a submission? Do you have a tried
and true process, or do you follow your “gut”?
I throw open wide all my instincts and absorb the ‘gift’ that the author has entrusted to
me. The writer is saying, “Here is what I’ve created…judge me.” There are going to be
flaws in grammar and structure and some stilted dialogue; that’s a given. I flip through
the pages and let my eye fall on a this and that, trusting that the diamond in the rough
will shine through. And, so far, it always has. It’s along the line of: don’t sweat the small
stuff. I read with 2 trains of thought: my inner ear listens for pacing, my inner writer
follows plot and character. Then the end has to be satisfying…whether happy or sad.
Especially true of a romance. Don’t think it[‘s cute and clever to make the reader guess
what happens next. We have enough of that in real life.
Are there any guideline and author should keep in mind (or avoid) to improve their
chances for a successful review during the submission process? What qualities do you
look for in a manuscript, and can you prioritize them? What are the most common
reasons for rejecting a manuscript?
I can almost see the wheels turning. I’ve been there; the workshops, creative writing
classes, etc. Most of what you learn is from an educator’s perspective. It’s like how
book-learning differs from street-smarts, if you follow. Let me give you the straight
skinny. This editor is NOT going to accept or reject you novel based on those first 3
pages. Ever read any Dickens…pretty hard slogging on those first 3 pages. The bad
thing about this is that the writer spends an inordinate amount of time slaving away on
the opening. It IS true that a good story has a beginning, middle, and end. Don’t worry
so much about ‘hooking’ me. A novel is a place I want to stretch out in, roll around, get
comfortable. Make it a pleasant visit. Be hospitable when you invite me into your space.
I’m a sucker for clever dialogue and an interesting environment. I like to meet a
character and recognize him as someone I’ve known most of my life (which is why, like
a vampire, I cannibalize the lives of everyone I know in one way or another). I also am
intrigued by a setting that teaches me something. Why is Tom Clancy a best seller? It’s
because of the technical insider-view, not the horrible clunky dialogue.
After accepting a manuscript for publication, what can an author expect from you during
the editing process? What range of editing do you perform (e.g., substantive or copy
editing?)
Dragon’s Heart Romance does a thorough edit. We dig into your novel, polish
dialogue, tighten up descriptive passages, make suggestions. That’s a personal
preference of mine, so I can’t speak for anyone else. The entire effort is to improve the
ease of reading so nothing hinders the enjoyment of the story. Whatever that takes. It’s
more work, but makes you so much prouder of the results.
What can an author do to help make the editing experience as smooth as possible?
What do some authors do during this process that turns you off?
Thank you for asking. Email makes everybody in the world very accessible. I’m not
about a lot of back-and-forth with authors because it inhibits my creative process and
objectivity. There is a certain amount of professional detachment that is needed for the
process to be successful. I have a friendly demeanor and sometimes that gets
misinterpreted as me wanting to be your pen-pal. Just think of it this way: every minute I’
m spending on emails is one less minute I’m spending on your manuscript. So, quit
bugging me so much. I’m not your mom, or your therapist. But I do like feeling like we’re
a team in this collaborative effort, as long as you let me set the tone. I find myself
thinking twice about accepting a second novel from a difficult author. It’s just human to
avoid the pain.
How can an author best increase his or her chances for a successful marketing
campaign? What do you or your publisher do to assist the author in their efforts?
Just like Stephen King, your first line of contact is your family and friends. Every author
has connections in the ‘industry’ whether you realize it or not. Your local library has
events you can plug into. Your local bookstore enjoys hosting authors. E-books are a
different animal, so you have to be more creative. However, it also opens up a
thousand electronic venues for you. And here’s something you may not have thought
about. Once you are one of those rare writers—the published variety—you are
automatically a specialist in the field. Contact those community college workshops,
conferences, and conventions and suddenly you’re on the other side of the panel giving
advice on ‘how to get published’. The publisher has a marketing strategy, too, but this
involvement in your own marketing is valium for your soul. The hurrieder you are, the
less worrieder you be.
What genres of romance writing do you see too much? Are you looking for any genres
in particular?
There’s no such animal. Every approach is as unique as human fingerprints. Surprise
me.
Do you have any other words of advice for a writer trying to get published? Anything
else you’d like to add?
This is probably not news to you, but some people are jerks. Yes, even in publishing. I’
ve run into my fair share of them. Don’t let them crush your spirit. A real writer writes.
Can’t help it; it’s like a disease. It’s even more important to keep writing after you have
a publishing contract. That way lies sanity. You know what I’m talking about.
