The Rocky Road to Publishing

[Ruby]

acissej,

When they post writer's submission guidelines, perhaps you could please let us know in this thread.

If you want to talk/write about the conference, the name, whether or not you think conferences like that are worth an author's time, please do.

Thank you so much for dropping by and alerting us to this new opportunity.

Ruby

[acissej]

When they post writer's submission guidelines, perhaps you could please let us know in this thread.

Kensington's website doesn't offer much help to writers. The guidelines aren't listed, but perhaps if one were to call the editorial office or mail an SASE with a request for guidelines, Kensington would provide them.

If you want to talk/write about the conference, the name, whether or not you think conferences like that are worth an author's time, please do.

The conference I went to was rather small and geared primarily towards women's fiction writers, so there was heavy emphasis on chick lit, lady lit, romance, romantic suspense and romantica. African-American, Latina, young adult and erotica were also touched upon. It was sponsored by the Romance Writers of America who do a phenomenal job educating their members (close to 10,000 of them) on the entire publishing process, from writing to submissions to contracts and so on.

As the name suggests, the RWA is extremely romance-focused, but as more and more sub-genres in women's fiction have evolved, the organization has also evolved to accomodate their members. The RWA is broken down into various chapters across the country that periodically have small conferences, but they have a ginormous national meeting every July that is well-attended by women's fiction editors and agents. I'm not sure what the policy is about non-members attending and how much it costs, but the conference lasts four days and has probably at least a hundred various workshops led by editors, agents and published authors on topics such as how to query properly, to editors pet peeves, to how to heighten tension and build character conflicts, with sessions on contracts and copyright law, and doing research and so on. Editors and agents are also available for appointments in which unpublished writers can pitch their stories to them.

I highly, highly recommend the conference for romance writers, but think it is also valuable for writers in other areas of women's fiction. The workshops are very educational and the conference (like many other conferences) provides a rare opportunity to meet face-to-face with editors and agents, especially when many publishers won't normally consider unagented projects.

[crimson]

i got lucky... i co-authored with Geoff Merrick for the non-illustrated "Tatyana Transcripts" (tatyana - that would be me .

It is still selling on the dofantasy.com site. It would have had much better sales if it had been illustrated (as all novels are!). i look back on it... read through it... i seem like such an amateur! my writing now is SOOOO much better and i wish i could do it all over again.

Perhaps i will - i intend on emailing Geoff and seeing if we can do a sequel, or perhaps an entirely new piece.

for now... i'll continue to contribute stuff under "crimson".

Oh... and before anyone says a word - yes, i'm working on more chapters for Passenger Train, so stop emailing me!!!

Oh ok... please... email me... i admit it... i'm a feedback whore.

[Ruby]

Thinking about signing a contract? You may want to read this first: "Your Rights as an Author" at writing.com

http://www2.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/860454

There's some very interesting tips and things to think about.

To all your success,

Ruby

[bearbeast]

Thanks Ruby


for your information, I have kept it in my folder for future referance I may one day need it ........?

bye bye for now

bearbeast.

[Sean Malone]

I started writing my fantasies down in my teens. Later I discovered the Literary and Fantasy Group of the Forum Society, which was a mail based writers' group in the UK. It was a very tough group that gave me a good start in writing for publication. One of my first stories published in the Group Newsletter is here:



Some of the other members became best selling authors of erotic novels.

After that I had a series of short stories published in Pleasure Bound magazine, published by the company which has become Olympia Press. These were erotic science fiction, Mf bondage / slavery oriented stories. I also had a short story published in Secret magazine. However I was not paid for any of this.

These early stories were written before I really learned to write dialogue, and that has been an important step in the development of my writing style. It did not come easily at first, but now I have learned to bring characters to life as well as the scenarios that they are in, in new stories written under a different pen name. I am constantly pestered by readers who want more!

More recently I have been working on a novel about the sexual adventures of a professional woman crew member on a merchant vessel in space. It is about three quarters finished. I decided that this time I wanted to be paid, and I want my book to be on the shelves in high street bookshops. These days it might easily finish up online as well, as electronic publishing is here to stay. As nothing I have offered to a publisher has been turned down yet, I feel quietly confident that I will succeed in having this book published, but I am not in touch with the right people, and I really appreciate the information provided in here.

[Dr Mabeuse]

I've got 2 books out now, and two more on the way.

Like Powerone (the dog!) I was contacted by an editor from Ghede books about my BDSM "Abigail" novel. (It went through a bunch of title changes and finally emerged as "Overcoming Abigail") Ghede held it for almost a year before going bust, and then Ellora's Cave--Ghede's parent company--picked it up. It came out last June and is doing okay. I won't be retiring to the south of France anytime soon on the royalties, but the checks are nice.


EC also bought my "Helene Blackmailed" and that should be out in a month or two now. They have 2 more manuscripts under consideration.

I sent "The Croft", an erotic vampire story, to Extasy and signed a contract last April, but they're slower than molasses and are terrible about answering mail. I don't know what the status of that is now. They're so backlogged that they've stopped taking new submissions.

And then my private eye spoof, "The Bound Angel" was picked up by Renaissance and came out in September, I think. I found out by accident. Renaissance never informed me. Haven't been paid yet either, but they pay quarterly.

EC is good because they have a big market presence and advertise. In a lot of ways, getting published is the easy part. You've still got to advertise and get your title out there so people know about it. Renaissance and Extasy don't have the weight EC does, but EC doesn't publish everything. They're looking for erotic romance.

My advice is, submit early and often. It can take a publisher up to 6 months to get back to you (although Renaissance claims they'll have a reply in 6 weeks and they were as good as their word) but they will read it and they will let you know. Besides, what good does that book do you sitting on your computer?

Before you submit, though, go to the publisher's site and find out (1) what they're looking for (it's no good trying to sell your heavy S&M stuff to Ellora's Cave, for instance), and (2) how they want it submitted--what format, entire book or just 3 chapters and synopsis, cover letter or what--and follow their instructions to the letter. They won't read it if you don't.

Here's a good place to find publishers as well:

http://www.erotica-readers.com/ERA/G/BestAmerican.htm

--Dr M.