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NineStar Press

Demiurge

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I have three in my query list, of which NineStar is one.

Might I inquire what the other 2 are? I recently decided to try to get my SFF stuff published, so this would be of great use to me if this happens to be someone I haven't yet considered.
Feel free to ignore this though if you don't want to reveal this information, sorry if I'm being a pest.

(Also, sorry for the off-topicness.)
 

sjeller

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Filigree, I'm not sure that Natasha does a lot of illustration, and at this point we do not have an illustrator on staff. I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility in the future, but unfortunately, we don't have one just yet, but Natasha is able to make things look really wonderful and work some crazy magic with her designs. :) I wish you the best of luck!
 

akaria

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The covers on her website are stunning. Especially the ones with little or no people. Demiurge, I think your book would be in good hands with her.

Hell, I love my current cover artist, but will definitely look into hiring Ms. Snow for my next series. Don't keep her too busy NineStar! :)
 

rohstod

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They liked my pitch for #pitchmad. I'm a little unsure because my book isn't a romance, but it feels like most of their books lean that way. At least all their covers looked like romance. Anyone have any thoughts?
 

sjeller

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We actually do a lot of literary/genre fiction too. We're always looking for good genre/literary fiction or stories that highlight the lives of LGBTQA+ individuals. :) Hope that helps!
 
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rohstod

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Thanks for taking the time to respond, sjeller. :) It did help.

Do you guys like nerdy/silly/funny books or do you look for a serious tone?
 

sjeller

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Both! We have editors with different tastes, so some prefer more serious, others enjoy stories that will make you laugh aloud. Additionally, since no one's experience in life is going to be the same, we certainly don't want to pigeonhole it and say it has to be a certain way, if that makes sense (it did in my head, but who knows. Lost in translation.)

So we're pretty open as far as genre/theme/category goes. We're really hoping to bring more quality and diversity to the LGBTQA+ world.

And please, always feel free to ask questions! I completely encourage it, and I'm happy to answer. I know if you ever need to e-mail Raevyn or anyone, they're glad to answer too. I just happened to be floating around here today.
 

kaysa

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I can vouch that the NineStar folks are very quick to respond to emails.

I can vouch for this as well. Lightning fast - sometimes within the same hour. I'm impressed with their base contract, too.

ETA - wanted to add that the base contract still requires negotiation, like anything, but is a good start point.
 
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SaraC

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@Fillgree
How did it go? I have an offer for a novella from them.
 

Filigree

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Minor sales on my contemporary M/M novella, which I expected because I haven't turned in the sequels yet. NineStar is publishing my revised M/M space opera next month. We'll see how it goes. I like them & I'm willing to give them a shot with this bigger book.
 

Jennifer Robins

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I've just submitted a Romance/suspense novel which has a murder mystery to be solved, along with a renewed love affair. I liked what I've read here about NineStar and thought I'd give it a try.
 

SaraC

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Thanks!

Minor sales on my contemporary M/M novella, which I expected because I haven't turned in the sequels yet. NineStar is publishing my revised M/M space opera next month. We'll see how it goes. I like them & I'm willing to give them a shot with this bigger book.

Thanks for the reply. I did end up signing with them for my novella, which is going to be part of their holiday series - mine is Halloween themed. However, I'm new to publishing standalone. What would you call minor sales?

I have a novel in their slush pile from a #DVPit request too. So far I am impressed with how quickly the respond to emails.

Also, I was following your posts on the thread about Pandamoon, because they requested one of my other novels through #pitdark. Initially, I was thinking people on that thread were just not liking them because they were an indie press, but that obviously isn't the case with you since Ninestar is also a small, indie press. You made me think twice about submitting to them, and made me feel better about choosing to sub to Ninestar.
 

Filigree

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NineStar sold under 50 copies of my novella from publication. But part of that's on me for not getting the other two novellas out immediately. I'm building a backlist this year. The publisher has other authors who are selling 3000+ copies.

I picked NineStar because even though they're new, they showed industry experience and common sense. Pandamoon didn't make the cut.

Understand, NineStar could go belly up at any moment, for several reasons. I've allowed for it.
 
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heykatydid

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Thanks for everyone who weighed in on NineStar - they have been moved to the top of my submissions list for the F/F novella I just completed due in part to this thread (and the beautiful cover art they have been producing lately!). I'm hopeful that it's a good fit for the press. :)
 

akaria

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Welcome to AW! :hi:

SaraC, here in BRBC we are always looking for quality places to submit our work. It's not small presses are bad and should be avoided at all times. It's just more likely that a small press will not have the experience and resources to make it a good choice for authors. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves publishers who have no idea what they're doing or they know exactly what they're doing...taking advantage of naive authors. You can find a lot of them in the grayed out links in our publishers' index.

All that said, I'm working on a novella with a trans character as love interest and NineStar will be one of the first places I submit to. Their covers are beautiful and I really appreciate that they have a healthy selection of F/F books.
 

rlangham

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I've not had a book published at all yet - let alone with NSP. But I have submitted to them (playing the awful wait-and-see game right now). I've been impressed with them so far though. Their cover art is stunning. I've also had really fast and pleasant replies from Raevyn to answer my very rookie style questions.
Another editor, Sam, also emailed simply to let me know that she'd be reviewing my submission soon - essentially to let me know they hadn't forgotten about my novel.
I love their website and staff overviews (complete with preferred pronouns). I haven't worked with them, but I hope to some day because they seem to have a good vibe about them, wanting to interact with writers in the spirit of kindness and cooperation. Let's see how I go!
 

heykatydid

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I've just submitted a Romance/suspense novel which has a murder mystery to be solved, along with a renewed love affair. I liked what I've read here about NineStar and thought I'd give it a try.

I just submitted a romance F/F novella with them today - I hope we both find some good luck with NineStar's submissions!
 

Filigree

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For any reasons in particular? Or just general reasons that have historically plagued small niche presses?

A new small press can fail through low sales, insufficient capital, or (if they're single proprietors) through illness or accident. Through no fault of their own.
 

heykatydid

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Hey all, I thought I would update that I got an offer on my novella I submitted to them! Good news for the weekend. The turnaround time between my submission and their offer of a contract was about four days. I'm excited to be working with them. :)
 

Filigree

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Cool! Welcome to the club, Heykatydid. I will say their ARC (Advance Review Copy) rollout has been diligent. Since this next one is a big novel, they're doing more of a push for blog hops, paid advertising, and professional blurbing.
 

Jennifer Robins

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Its been four weeks now for me. Haven't heard anything yet. I really like the name of this pub, for very personal reasons, so dear to my heart. It seemed like an omen to sub to them.