Hello all! I’m an Assistant Editor at Brava, and welcome to my first blog post. I’ve decided to do my posts a little bit differently. I figured, I *could* try to come up with something insightful, or I could give you want you really want: a chance to ask me anything. So every month I’ll hop on the blog with a starter question, and then it’s up to you!
Almost any topic is fair game: my job, books, benign personal questions, etc. Note: I’m not going to compromise anyone else’s privacy. If you ask me for a specific author’s address or their sales numbers, obviously I’m not going to answer that. So let’s kick things off with the first question!
Which Brava authors do you edit?
I brought you Cynthia Eden, Mary Wine, Maggie Robinson, and Bianca D’Arc. Next year, be on the lookout for a few more of my girls: Rebecca Zanetti, Bronwen Evans, Elizabeth Essex, and Lexi George.
Now, what do you want to know?
Hi Megan,
You’ve already answered the question I was going to ask–clarification of the line a Brava author walks regarding sexual explicitness–but I just wanted to say thanks for giving us the opportunity to ask questions here. It’s always nice to get an insider look at the business.
Regards,
Gracie
When an author queries Kensington and reports the word count for their novel, how do you prefer that word count to be calculated (Microsoft Word’s “word count” feature or # of pages X 250)?
If I want my book to be published in print and not just put out as a ebook, is there a minimum word count? If so, does that word count vary for the different lines?
I want to add my thanks to the others. It is so amazing to be able to ask these questions of a professional of your stature. You are very kind to donate this kind of time and effort.
Jenny
Jenny–please use the word count feature in Word. It’s much more reliable for our purposes.
None of our books are published as just e-books; everything comes out in print. All our lines target 80k-100k. Over 100k is fine…as long as you aren’t getting into the 150k area (in which case, the pacing is probably too slow). Under 80k is much more difficult. Shorter books have a tendency to lack the depth we require for a single-title line.
Megan,
I didn’t know about your blog until today. How exciting to see my name mentioned by a real live editor . . . and in a good way, too!
What’s the first thing you look for in a submission and what’s a sure turn-off?
Thanks again for all you do, especially for newbies like me.
Lexi
My novel, Clouded Desire, won the paranormal category of the SARA Merritt Contest. Selena James was the final judge and she requested a full manuscript. Unfortunately, my e-mail telling me this was eaten by cyberspace and I just got it today (not April 4th when I should have gotten it). Cyberspace still has not coughed up the file with Selena’s comments so I am still waiting for that. The contest coordinator recommended I send teh manuscript in quickly while the request is still fresh in Selena’s mind. I have a few desperate questions:
1. At the time I submitted it, my manuscript was only 26,000 words. Now it is 46,000. There are still areas that could be better if fleshed out which would make it even longer. After hearing you say Kensington prefers novels to be 80,000 or more, I would like your advice on whether I should send it to Selena as is, or take the time to lengthen it and send it later? Or should I just mention in the e-mail when I send it to her that it could be lengthened if she agrees that would improve it?
2. If Selena decides Clouded Desire is not her cup of tea, would it be all right if I send it to another editor at Kensington after I have made the changes? Originally, I had intended to send it to John Scognamiglio since his areas of interest incluce both erotica and paranormal and Clouded Desire is an erotic paranormal.
Thank you so very much for your time,
Jenny