Hello lovelies! I am completely worn out from our launch meetings this week. I love getting our sales team excited about my titles, but it takes a lot of energy! Thank goodness for Friday–I’ll be going home and catching up on a few episodes of The Finder.
What makes you accept or turn down a request to judge a contest?
First, timing. I try not to schedule more than one contest at any given time, so I don’t get confused about deadlines. Also, if it occurs during a time I know I’ll be super busy at work (conference season, launch meetings, etc), I’m less likely to say yes. Second, what sort of feedback does the contest require? Is it a simple ranking, or is it a 5 page scoresheet? Part of the reason I don’t particularly like scoresheets is because a lot of the time they ask for analysis that is really in depth for 10-15 page samples. The smaller the sample, the harder it is to give detailed feedback. And obviously scoresheets are more time consuming. Third, it depends on the category they are asking me to judge. For example, if they need a PNR judge, and I’ve already said yes to two other contests for that category, and 50% of my submissions are already PNR, I probably won’t say yes. Lastly, I won’t lie, part of it simply depends on my mood the day they ask.
So what questions do you have for me?
What is your wish list for both Brava and Zebra at the moment?
Hmmm…I still want more smart, sexy contemporaries. So in the mood for those lately. But I still love my historicals and paranormals! I’ve just got a lot of those, so it’s harder to stand out.
What goes on at a launch meeting?
So at launch, editors present their titles to the sales team. We don’t summarize a book; we give them an elevator pitch that will help them position the title well for their buyers. (I personally lean toward movie/TV comparisons. Totally not real example: It’s like Downton Abbey set in France in 1812!) We also give them some highlights, like if the last title got a really good review from PW/RT/ Library Journal, if the author does a lot of promo, etc. Then marketing and publicity chime in with the tentative plans for the book. Then sales looks at their budget number and mentions if they need some extra store promo to help meet it, or if they think the cover is really hurting the book, yada yada.
It’s long and exhausting, but it’s really fun to gush about my titles :]
How are you feeling? Every time I notice you’re on twitter I think, “Oh good, she’s still working.”
Will you be going to any conferences?
Hope everything is going smoothly and you feel great.
I’m chugging along so far :] Other than being tired all the time, I can’t complain. Though sometimes he sits on a nerve for a few days and I get those pinching pains in my back. I tell him if he wants me to be nice to him when he gets out, he better be nice to me while he’s in there!
Doc cleared me for RT, so that’s probable (they haven’t made it official here, but I always go). That’s the only conference I’m doing this year.
What are the normal time frames between submission, request for full, offer, and release, etc. How much faster is it for the second book forward also.
These time frames vary widely, so I can only give you a very rough estimate. It generally takes me 3-4 months to read a submission, then if I request the full, another month. Once I decide I love the book, it can take anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks or more to get approval for an offer (factors like how much I want to offer, if I have to have second reads from others on the ed board, people on vacation, etc, can all play a part in how long it takes). If I make the offer, then the release can be scheduled anywhere from 6 months to 18 months after the offer date. We have to have the space on the list that month, plus if I’m buying the book on proposal (which I do for repeat authors), the book might still have to be written.
I almost always do multi-book contracts, so the second book would skip all the steps up to scheduling. Again, this would depend on where we have room on the list and how fast the author writes.
Megan,
Glad your pregnancy is going well! I remember how tired I was during my pregnancy and the fact that you still get so much work done is truly amazing. I remember nodding off in the middle of conversations with my sister sitting on the couch less than a foot away . . .
My question is about an author’s speed. I’ve broken it up into a few different aspects:
1. How many books do you like to see your authors putting out per year (or what range)?
2. If your author is also published with another publisher, be it epublisher or another traditional publisher, do you count those books in your author’s output (since ideally their readership would be reading all of their books)?
3. You say you usually sign multi-book contracts. How many books do you like to sign at a time? If it is based on a proposal, how long do you usually wait for the author to write the book?
Thank you for your time and I hope your little one takes it easy on your nerves
Jenny
1. Ideally, I’d get 2 books a year, but minimum is 1 a year. Occasionally the schedule will allow for 3 a year, but it’s Jan, July, Dec, so roughly 6 months in between.
2. No, even if they are writing other places I still want my 2 books a year. Although I find that all my authors who write for more than one house are the ones who write many more than 2 a year :]
3. Usually 2 or 3-book deals, but I’ve done the occasional 4-book deal. I could probably give a year to write if I bought the proposal, but I don’t like to allow for more than that. Manuscripts have to be into production 9 months before pub, so add a year writing time to that, and we’re already looking at more than 18 months from deal to pub. I prefer to get the book pubbed as soon as the schedule will allow. There’s been the rare occasion where we waited years to pub, but it wasn’t because the author couldn’t write faster, it was because we wanted to position the book a certain way, etc.
And thanks! I’ve staved off the sleepiness so far by having an early bedtime…I’m rested, but my house is messy because of it.
Hi Megan! Oh a boy! yay, for you. That’s awesome. Congrats.
I had a question for you (duh, right?), if you notice an author has been subbing one genre to you but then they change like from Adult Fantasy to YA Steampunk (rhetorical), is that a factor in your consideration? And does it weigh good or bad in the whole scheme of things?
Good luck with Bebe. That’s so exciting!
(And thank you so much for taking the time out – I bet your wrists hurt with swelling)
Bonnie
Nope, doesn’t matter to me. I do notice if they seem to be jumping from one trend to another…it makes me think they don’t really know what they want to write or what they are good at, which isn’t a selling point. But otherwise, makes no difference, as long as they understand I’d be contracting them for only one subgenre.
Thanks! Nothing in the arms yet, but definitely the legs. Compression leggings are a GODSEND.
M
You’re having a boy? YAYYAYAYAYYAAY!! That’s awesome! I missed the sex news. (How did I miss that? How?) I hope that you can make RT. I’ll have a wee gift for the baby.
If your schedule changes, I will mail it to you.