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St. Martin's Press / SMP Swerve

She who must

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Hi all, I don't think there's a thread here, but it's a digital press that pubs unagented romance, and it pays an advance. Seeing its St martin's, I thought it worth sharing. Has anyone subbed to them yet?
 
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Old Hack

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Can you share a link to their website?
 

She who must

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Sorry I'm on my phone at work. Shhh. But they come up on google search
 

LJD

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Yes, I've subbed to them. Got a rejection three days later.
 

Anna204

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I've submitted twice to them. Both times I was rejected, however, the most recent rejection came last week and the editor invited me to submit other works, so I took that as a positive.

I should add that both rejections took 2-4 months.
 

Anna_Hedley

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I may just be being dense but where are their submission guidelines? I can find what content they like but not what format they require, e.g. if they only take American English at twelve point Times New Roman double spaced.
 

Anna204

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I may just be being dense but where are their submission guidelines? I can find what content they like but not what format they require, e.g. if they only take American English at twelve point Times New Roman double spaced.
My two submissions came via PitMad, but I see a pink submit button on their website.
 
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JustWonderin

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Does anyone have updated info on sub times? I'm at a little over 3 months and I know I might have another month of waiting ahead of me but I'm dying to hear back from them.
 

LJD

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I submitted at the end of November and got a rejection at the beginning of January. ~5 weeks
 

gingerwoman

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I may just be being dense but where are their submission guidelines? I can find what content they like but not what format they require, e.g. if they only take American English at twelve point Times New Roman double spaced.
A lot of pubs like this don't really care or bother to outline that any more. This is an imprint of Macmillian by the way. I've looked at the site quite a bit and I don't think they include that.
 

gingerwoman

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The site says to allow 12 weeks so I'd give a nudge if it's past that.
 

YaSciFiFantasy

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Anyone have any updated stats on submissions? Mine is out 6 months now & there's no way to nudge via submittable.
Thoughts?
 

thethinker42

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I've been working with them since the end of 2016. Sold them a gay romance trilogy. So far the experience has been pretty good. None of the books have been out long enough to see any royalties yet, but the first two books had solid rankings on Amazon.
 

gingerwoman

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I've been working with them since the end of 2016. Sold them a gay romance trilogy. So far the experience has been pretty good. None of the books have been out long enough to see any royalties yet, but the first two books had solid rankings on Amazon.
Lori did you take the advance? Or if that's too personal that's fine.
 

Pisco Sour

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Subbed a previously released and re-vamped erotic romance and received a form rejection pretty quickly. Then I looked at their submission page and--does not exist anymore. Instead there's a message saying there are no open calls and they are no longer accepting submissions. Is the writing on the wall for SMP romance? Worrying, but in light of recent romance publishers closing their doors I would not be surprised.
 

gingerwoman

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Subbed a previously released and re-vamped erotic romance and received a form rejection pretty quickly. Then I looked at their submission page and--does not exist anymore. Instead there's a message saying there are no open calls and they are no longer accepting submissions. Is the writing on the wall for SMP romance? Worrying, but in light of recent romance publishers closing their doors I would not be surprised.
You need to clear your inbox, sweetie. It is full.
They are owned by one of the big five. I noticed Excessica and Riptide Publishing are also closed. I guess these places are getting flooded with submissions when so many others have closed?
 

Pisco Sour

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You need to clear your inbox, sweetie. It is full.
They are owned by one of the big five. I noticed Excessica and Riptide Publishing are also closed. I guess these places are getting flooded with submissions when so many others have closed?

Hmmm, I checked my messages boxes but they were fine. I delete messages anyway, just in case. Thanks for letting me know. Should be find for messages now. :)

Re SMP, yeah, not sure what's going on. Recently another Big Five romance imprint closed but I can't remember which one it was. And Riptide say they are cleaning house, as reported by BenPance (if they can ever manage to get out the grime. Not even Clorox will do it, methinks!). Thing is, I've got a few previously released romances lying around and my agent isn't bothered if I sell them myself. Romance isn't his 'thing', though he'll look over any contracts etc. But good romance publishers who take re-releases keep disappearing!
 

cool pop

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Hmmm, I checked my messages boxes but they were fine. I delete messages anyway, just in case. Thanks for letting me know. Should be find for messages now. :)

Re SMP, yeah, not sure what's going on. Recently another Big Five romance imprint closed but I can't remember which one it was. And Riptide say they are cleaning house, as reported by BenPance (if they can ever manage to get out the grime. Not even Clorox will do it, methinks!). Thing is, I've got a few previously released romances lying around and my agent isn't bothered if I sell them myself. Romance isn't his 'thing', though he'll look over any contracts etc. But good romance publishers who take re-releases keep disappearing!

Pisco Sour, did you ever consider self-publishing? It's a great way to get out those books you got back from pubs. That's how I started my indie journey. After being with several pubs that closed one after the other, I'd had enough and decided to self-publish. I agree, it can be difficult to keep finding pubs that even take on previously published books and with the way things are going it's like no one but the big five will be left.

And I think you are speaking of Crimson Romance that Simon and Schuster just axed after they were hailed as one of the most diverse publishers by the way.
 

Pisco Sour

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Pisco Sour, did you ever consider self-publishing? It's a great way to get out those books you got back from pubs. That's how I started my indie journey. After being with several pubs that closed one after the other, I'd had enough and decided to self-publish. I agree, it can be difficult to keep finding pubs that even take on previously published books and with the way things are going it's like no one but the big five will be left.

And I think you are speaking of Crimson Romance that Simon and Schuster just axed after they were hailed as one of the most diverse publishers by the way.

Yes, it was Crimson, thanks! And wasn't that a shocker? Jeez.
I've flirted with the idea of self-publishing, off-and-on. I wouldn't have to pay a lot for re-editing these novels (I've done some major re-writing) and I know several great cover artists, so there's that. But I'm hoping a (solid) publisher will take them on. I've still got a few subs out, but if these editors pass I'll shelve the books until I've sold something new, then reconsider. Thanks! :)
 

gingerwoman

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Every single publisher I was considering for re-releases has closed to submissions now. Well apart from one but I don't think I'd submit something of this length to that publisher.
I remember reading various different authors with Crimson being upset about their sales.