New writer ready to submit.

xccorpio · Jul 21, 2009

Hi everyone. I'm so happy for finding this forum. I'd been writing for a while. Being by myself for so long. It's great to find a place where I can interact with others writing about the same genre. There is so much I still need to learn. However, I have four complete stories. Which I want to submit. I'd been checking the different publishers. And there are three I want to try first:

Samhain Publishing

Harlequin for the lines (Silhouette Nocturne/Spice/Blaze)

Ellora’s Cave / Cerridwen print

About EC I'm a little hesitant. I read some pretty scary stuff about them . Seriously, their own Author Information Packet said: Length of grant of publishing rights: Life of copyright. Includes digital, print, audio, translation, and secondary/subsidiary rights.

Are they being straightforward about what the others will only reveal, before signing the contract?

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks.

brainstorm77 · Jul 21, 2009

Congrats and best of luck to you.

Susan Gable · Jul 21, 2009

Are your 4 stories all in the same subgenre? Same type of story?

Here's my advice:

Go for your "top" publisher first. Always start at the TOP! You can only submit one thing at a time to a publisher. So pick what you think is your best, most marketable work.

Send that to HQ.

If HQ rejects it, then send it to the next level publisher on your list. Send another work to HQ, keeping in mind anything any of the editors have told you in the rejection letter. (ie, if the rejection letter mentions head-hopping, make sure you clean up the head-hopping in the next ms before you submit it to them.)

Continue on. Meanwhile, as you're doing this submitting, be working on something that specifically targets your ideal market. If that's Spice, work on a Spice. If it's Blaze, work on a Blaze. (Because those two are totally not the same. <G>)

Glad you found your way here. This is a great place.

Oh, and all those secondary rights? HQ will take all those, too. And more. For the life of the copyright. And more. <G>

So don't let that stop you.

(There is a clause in my contracts about rights reversion if the book is out of print for a certain amount of time. It spells out the proceedure to get the rights back - but it's a "use 'em or lose 'em" clause, so usually when you petition to get rights back, they will publish the book somewhere.)

Susan G.

LorelieBrown · Jul 21, 2009

Susan Gable said:
So pick what you think is your best, most marketable work.

Send that to HQ.

Emphasis on most marketable.

Personally, my best work and my most marketable don't always go hand in hand. (I once killed a hero at the end of a story. Quite tragic. lol)

Also not positive HQ is automatically the top of the list. If her best work is a sexy-as-hell shifter menage? That's very marketable, but sure not through HQN.

But yeah, that's pretty standard rights information. As I understand it, the trick is to look for the clause in the contract that spells out a way to get your rights back if the publisher isn't using them in any form. I know first hand that Samhain has that clause.

mlhernandez · Jul 21, 2009

Susan has good advice. If your story is suitable for the NY market, look for an agent or commercial pub first. If it's not suitable because of length or content, then definitely start with EC and Samhain since they have the largest customer bases and steady royalties.

As to EC's contract, they're flexible on some issues and not so flexible on others. That's par for the course when it comes to any publisher though. Just make sure you strike the option clause. That's a biggie with EC. Or at least have it changed to only include derivative works. At EC, I have an amazing editor, earn fabulous royalties, and have seen my reader base grow with every subsequent release.

Samhain's contract was just as flexible and fair. I can't speak to royalties yet as my first novella with them doesn't release until December. My editing experience has been fabulous so far.

Cobblestone and Noble have equally as fair contracts, good royalty splits and wonderful editors too. Hands down, Cobblestone provides the best promo art package of any publisher I've worked with up to this point.

xccorpio · Jul 21, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
Congrats and best of luck to you.

Thanks, I'll need luck for sure.

Susan Gable said:
Are your 4 stories all in the same subgenre? Same type of story?

I'm sorry, I forgot to say anything about my stories. Three of them are contemporary erotic romances. And the forth is a paranormal erotic romance.

They are different from one another.

Susan Gable said:
Here's my advice:

Go for your "top" publisher first. Always start at the TOP! You can only submit one thing at a time to a publisher. So pick what you think is your best, most marketable work.

Send that to HQ.

If HQ rejects it, then send it to the next level publisher on your list. Send another work to HQ, keeping in mind anything any of the editors have told you in the rejection letter. (ie, if the rejection letter mentions head-hopping, make sure you clean up the head-hopping in the next ms before you submit it to them.)

Continue on. Meanwhile, as you're doing this submitting, be working on something that specifically targets your ideal market. If that's Spice, work on a Spice. If it's Blaze, work on a Blaze. (Because those two are totally not the same. <G>)

Glad you found your way here. This is a great place.

Oh, and all those secondary rights? HQ will take all those, too. And more. For the life of the copyright. And more. <G>

So don't let that stop you.

(There is a clause in my contracts about rights reversion if the book is out of print for a certain amount of time. It spells out the proceedure to get the rights back - but it's a "use 'em or lose 'em" clause, so usually when you petition to get rights back, they will publish the book somewhere.)

Susan G.

Thanks so much for your great advice. This is the kind of knowledge and experience that I need right now.

Your method is great. I might need to do more reading of HQ Lines. Before I'm sure I pick the right one to submit to.

There is one of my stories that I will submit to HQ first. It's among my best work.

LorelieBrown said:
Emphasis on most marketable. Personally, my best work and my most marketable don't always go hand in hand. (I once killed a hero at the end of a story. Quite tragic. lol)

Also not positive HQ is automatically the top of the list. If her best work is a sexy-as-hell shifter menage? That's very marketable, but sure not through HQN.

But yeah, that's pretty standard rights information. As I understand it, the trick is to look for the clause in the contract that spells out a way to get your rights back if the publisher isn't using them in any form. I know first hand that Samhain has that clause.

Are you serious? How could you kill the MC?

All my stories include a happy ending.

Thanks for sharing 'the trick'.

I like HQ a lot. I grew up reading their novels. I'm willing to write something for them.

However, I understand your point. Indeed, one of my stories. The paranormal erotic romance. (vampires, angels and demons). For which I'm planning a series of novels (I'm so greedy) One of the secondary couples is m/m. I could change it though. For now, that one is not HQ material.

mlhernandez said:
Susan has good advice. If your story is suitable for the NY market, look for an agent or commercial pub first. If it's not suitable because of length or content, then definitely start with EC and Samhain since they have the largest customer bases and steady royalties.

As to EC's contract, they're flexible on some issues and not so flexible on others. That's par for the course when it comes to any publisher though. Just make sure you strike the option clause. That's a biggie with EC. Or at least have it changed to only include derivative works. At EC, I have an amazing editor, earn fabulous royalties, and have seen my reader base grow with every subsequent release.

Samhain's contract was just as flexible and fair. I can't speak to royalties yet as my first novella with them doesn't release until December. My editing experience has been fabulous so far.

Cobblestone and Noble have equally as fair contracts, good royalty splits and wonderful editors too. Hands down, Cobblestone provides the best promo art package of any publisher I've worked with up to this point.

Thank you so much for telling me. Can you please elaborate a little bit more about this part?

Just make sure you strike the option clause. That's a biggie with EC. Or at least have it changed to only include derivative works.

And thanks for mentioning Noble and Cobblestone Press. I'd never heard of them before. I checked them out, and both look pretty good.

brainstorm77 · Jul 21, 2009

HQ does have an erotic line called Spice.

xccorpio · Jul 21, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
HQ does have an erotic line called Spice.

Thanks dear, I already knew it.
Those were the ones I used to read the most.
Right now, I'm going to study more the Spice and Blaze lines. To see which line best matches what I already wrote.
Susan's advice made me realize that I need to know better their current lines.
HQ is not what it was a few years ago.
I'm considering writing something just for their Silhouette Nocturne. Or for the Nocturne Bites.

Learning this trade is not easy, but it's fun.

mlhernandez · Jul 21, 2009

Spice is more erotica than erotic romance though. They put out fabulous books by some of my fave authors!

As to the EC options clause, the boilerplate clause wants first whack at any erotic romance over 8K. The revised clause I accepted gives EC first look at any work I write using the same characters or world I've created in a previous novel contracted to EC. Sequels or novellas/novels in the same created universe basically. If you don't change that clause, you'll have to submit your future works to your editor, wait for a reply and then either accept their offer or decline and move on to a different publisher.

If you're looking at other epubs, I'd rank them according to EREC site figures and submit in that order. So that would be EC, Samhain, LooseID, Liquid Silver, Changeling, Cobblestone, etc. I know it sounds mercenary but I want my works at the publishers with the biggest reader bases and highest sales numbers. This is my career and I take it seriously. The two smaller pubs I chose after careful thought because of specific niches those two manuscripts filled.

brainstorm77 · Jul 21, 2009

One thing I've noticed is they don't put out many Spice books. I wonder if this is by choice or lack of submissions? I don't read erotica, I have no clue what other publishers of erotica that are out there. And I agree HQ is very specific in what they want for each line.

Susan Gable · Jul 22, 2009

Option clause tidbit: If it says the next work(s) with that S on the end, strike the S.

You only want to option the next book, not the one after that, after that, after that -- and the S obligates you to more than ONE book optioned.

Susan G.

xccorpio · Jul 22, 2009

mlhernandez said:
Spice is more erotica than erotic romance though. They put out fabulous books by some of my fave authors!

As to the EC options clause, the boilerplate clause wants first whack at any erotic romance over 8K. The revised clause I accepted gives EC first look at any work I write using the same characters or world I've created in a previous novel contracted to EC. Sequels or novellas/novels in the same created universe basically. If you don't change that clause, you'll have to submit your future works to your editor, wait for a reply and then either accept their offer or decline and move on to a different publisher.

If you're looking at other epubs, I'd rank them according to EREC site figures and submit in that order. So that would be EC, Samhain, LooseID, Liquid Silver, Changeling, Cobblestone, etc. I know it sounds mercenary but I want my works at the publishers with the biggest reader bases and highest sales numbers. This is my career and I take it seriously. The two smaller pubs I chose after careful thought because of specific niches those two manuscripts filled.

Do I have to sign in blood? I'm sorry, just kidding.

Thank you for clarifying that for me. Now I know what to expect from them. I guess it's only fair. After they invest in a writer, the least they can get is some loyalty, even if it's that way.

You're not mercenary. You have the right attitude to succeed.

brainstorm77 said:
One thing I've noticed is they don't put out many Spice books. I wonder if this is by choice or lack of submissions? I don't read erotica, I have no clue what other publishers of erotica that are out there. And I agree HQ is very specific in what they want for each line.

My writing is more romantic than erotic. If I remove the explicit parts, the plot still stands.

Susan Gable said:
Option clause tidbit: If it says the next work(s) with that S on the end, strike the S.

You only want to option the next book, not the one after that, after that, after that -- and the S obligates you to more than ONE book optioned.

Susan G.

Good to know. The chances of missing a single letter in small print are great.

Thanks you.

I told you guys, there is so much I still need to learn.

Deb Kinnard · Jul 22, 2009

Why would a pub take rights for the life of the copyright? 70+ years after I shuffle off? No thanks. I'd ask my agent to limit it to a certain number of years. No contract I've ever signed has been more than five.

Just my take. This sounds very long to me.

Susan Gable · Jul 23, 2009

Deb Kinnard said:
Why would a pub take rights for the life of the copyright? 70+ years after I shuffle off? No thanks. I'd ask my agent to limit it to a certain number of years. No contract I've ever signed has been more than five.

.

There are rights reversion clauses. But they're not always as easy to exercise as one might hope.

Susan G.

Jackie B. · Jul 31, 2009

Kensington (Aphrodisia) and Avon (Red) are lines in the same vein as Spice, so you might want to check them out too.

xccorpio · Jul 31, 2009

Jackie B. said:
Kensington (Aphrodisia) and Avon (Red) are lines in the same vein as Spice, so you might want to check them out too.

Thanks for telling me, I'll check them out.

New writer ready to submit.

xccorpio

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

LorelieBrown

Got the hang of it, here

mlhernandez

xccorpio

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

xccorpio

mlhernandez

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

xccorpio

Deb Kinnard

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Jackie B.

xccorpio