Carina Press

Does anyone know why Carina has decided to accept proposals for unfinished manuscripts? I could understand it more if it were limited to authors already published by them, but to accept work based on partials from authors unknown to them seems inherently risky.

Zombie Fraggle said:

Does anyone know why Carina has decided to accept proposals for unfinished manuscripts? I could understand it more if it were limited to authors already published by them, but to accept work based on partials from authors unknown to them seems inherently risky.

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They might be only accepting work on that basis from folks who have a publishing record.

Although it's unusual for publishers these days to offer a contract based on a proposal and sample chapters, it's not completely unheard of. Especially with folks who have other published work in the genre the publisher produces.

Aggy B. said:

They might be only accepting work on that basis from folks who have a publishing record.

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There is no such requirement in this case. It's open to everyone. (Until July 27)


They're only accepting proposals for unfinished manuscripts for things on their wishlists. Maybe they're just trying really hard to get the sort of projects they most want to see?

No, it's an open call. I can't really figure it out either. Maybe they want test guiding a story from start to finish in a way that brands it "Carina." Sort of the way Harlequin does. That's the only thing I can really think of. I don't think they're an imprint that's lacking submissions.

ETA, Laura beat me to it. And that's another good guess.

They extended the deadline? Dang. I already had the chapters because I was going to sub to their shapeshifter antho, but went for this instead. I rushed the synopsis a bit so I could have it out by Wednesday. And now it's extended two weeks? Oy.

Oh well. Now I have time to put together a proper proposal for the story I was going to send to the SF antho. We'll see how that works out.

So, having an open call doesn't equal accepting proposals from unpublished authors. It just means they'll look at all of them. But I'd suspect they would be more inclined to make offers to folks who have an established record of finishing and selling books.

(And I say this based on past experience subbing non-romance centric MSs to Carina - because they say they publish stuff that isn't just romance driven - and then getting rejections that specifically mention that there are not enough romantic elements to interest them. They seem to want to hedge their bets by looking at everything, but still wind up focusing on smaller subsets.)

Aggy B. said:

So, having an open call doesn't equal accepting proposals from unpublished authors. It just means they'll look at all of them. But I'd suspect they would be more inclined to make offers to folks who have an established record of finishing and selling books.

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Ah, that makes sense as a risk management strategy.

Aggy B. said:

So, having an open call doesn't equal accepting proposals from unpublished authors. It just means they'll look at all of them. But I'd suspect they would be more inclined to make offers to folks who have an established record of finishing and selling books.

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Yeah, I have no idea how seriously they'll take these, but they have emphasized that they are interested in hearing from new writers.

(And I say this based on past experience subbing non-romance centric MSs to Carina - because they say they publish stuff that isn't just romance driven - and then getting rejections that specifically mention that there are not enough romantic elements to interest them. They seem to want to hedge their bets by looking at everything, but still wind up focusing on smaller subsets.)

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They did (somewhat recently?) change their requirements for SFF. In the past they didn't require romantic elements for these submissions, but they do now. I don't know how many SFF books they ever published without romance. I believe mysteries don't require romance, though.

LJD said:

They did (somewhat recently?) change their requirements for SFF. In the past they didn't require romantic elements for these submissions, but they do now. I don't know how many SFF books they ever published without romance. I believe mysteries don't require romance, though.

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I'd subbed to them several years ago. My books had romantic elements as part of the subplots, but were still rejected (in part) for not having enough romance. *shrugs* It could have been that the general personality of my female protagonists didn't read as having the right kind of romantic elements. (They tend to rescue themselves and sometimes the menfolk they are interested in, and, I've been told since then, that's a non-starter with romance oriented publishers. Obviously, YMMV.)

My SFF heroines either rescue themselves and their guys, or are firmly antiheroes. Definitely not good fodder for romance publishers.

I'm writing more M/M these days. Are there rescue rules for that?

(BTW, Carina said on their blog they were interested in M/M)

They do genuinely seem very interested in M/M. I think it's Angela James that keeps asking for a good, dark, step-brothers romance. (Which I really want to read!)

Wonder if it's due to the fact they may not these days get the volume of subs they once had? At a recent conference, an attendee reported that Harlequin's pitch appointments were not filled up, and HQ editors were standing in the hallways looking lonely. And Carina is a division of Harlequin, q.e.d....

To be honest, it's been a couple of years since I purchased a Carina book...and that was from a M/F author I already knew and liked. After trying Carina three times with different projects of my own, I basically gave up on them. Whatever it was they were looking for, my stuff didn't have it, multiple times.

So they're not really on my radar this submission round, with project #4. Everyone's mileage varies, of course.

Well, Harlequin did just settle that class action lawsuit with their authors, so maybe that explains why people haven't been pitching/querying/submitting to them? (And by extension, Carina?)

I decided not to submit. Something doesn't feel right when a publisher puts out an open call for WIPs. I can't really articulate what it is. Just the spidey sense tingling. SP has made me even more hesitant about putting my work in the hands of someone else. After seeing what I can do on my own, a publisher really has to bring a lot to the table and prove they can move some books. While Carina looks like they are successful with M/M of all kinds, I don't think they can do much for my M/F paranormal.

Good luck to those who've answered the call though.

I'm considering Carina for my current wip. I think as someone already pointed out that they're trying to fullfil their wishlists and putting out open calls and accepting proposals for a limited time is one way to go about it. I don't believe they'll offer contract based simply on proposal. They'll ask for more if they like it, and if someone can't produce a complete ms then they pass. That's my .02 anyway.

Received my R today for the proposal call. I thought it was a good fit for the editor I chose (M/M contemporary). Clearly I thought wrong.
May those still waiting have better luck.

Sorry to hear that! That's a really fast turnaround for them.

ccbridges said:

Sorry to hear that! That's a really fast turnaround for them.

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A super fast turnaround. Since they extended the deadline I was thinking of subbing an M/F historical that's a bit more than halfway done.

Zombie Fraggle said:

Does anyone know why Carina has decided to accept proposals for unfinished manuscripts? I could understand it more if it were limited to authors already published by them, but to accept work based on partials from authors unknown to them seems inherently risky.

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I'm only taking a guess, but usually around this time of year, Harlequin run their So You Think You Can Write contest. Last year, the winning novel was actually one pitched to, and subsequently published by, Carina Press.

This year, rather than running the single large contest, Harlequin have been running a series of 'blitzes' aimed at singular lines or concepts (eg. the current one is a call for stories featuring a Canadian hero). The Blitzes generally provide a period of time during which authors can submit a synopsis plus first 3 chapters. There is then a date provided by which entries will receive an editorial response. Not all blitzes are run the same, with some having multiple stages, and some having more editor involvement than others (with help discussions on the community forums etc).

My thought is that this open call is similar to what the other HQN lines are doing with their blitzes. It is not a guarantee they will take your full story if they like your proposal. It is just a foot in the door to see if what you're offering is in line with what they're looking for.

BarbaraSheridan said:

Received my R today for the proposal call. I thought it was a good fit for the editor I chose (M/M contemporary). Clearly I thought wrong.
May those still waiting have better luck.

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Sorry about your R

I've been following this thread and wondered if anyone had any recent experiences with Carina? I know they keep changing their word count to move back to a lower threshold and that they have a proposal event going on, but what about the state of the company? I was considering subbing, considering what happened to Samhain, but I haven't heard much about Carina lately.

Kweei said:

I've been following this thread and wondered if anyone had any recent experiences with Carina? I know they keep changing their word count to move back to a lower threshold and that they have a proposal event going on, but what about the state of the company? I was considering subbing, considering what happened to Samhain, but I haven't heard much about Carina lately.

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Carina Press is owned by Harlequin, which is part of Harper Collins. So I can't imagine you would encounter the situation Samhain writers recently experienced.

LA*78 said:

Carina Press is owned by Harlequin, which is part of Harper Collins. So I can't imagine you would encounter the situation Samhain writers recently experienced.

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Yeah, I should rephrase what I said because I wasn't clear. Samhain was on my short-list. So I was looking to see how Carina was because they were also one I was considering.

I believe there was a clause that said that while they would look at proposals they reserved the right not to offer a contract until the manuscript was completed, so not the risky idea some were suggesting.

I don't think there's any mystery. A lot of romance authors are self publishing and it's harder to find the content they want, so they're trying to be encouraging in order to get the type of content they most desire.