Understanding Imprints

jessicamb · Nov 8, 2008

Hi. I belong to a writing newsgroup and the discussion the last few days has been about how different imprints of the same publishing house won't work with the same author.

Have any of you encountered this and/or can anyone explain this?

My understanding of imprints had been that they belonged to the same publishing house and had a different focus or style. So I assumed that if you wrote one type of book it could be accepted by one imprint and then maybe a few years later your new book would fit better with another imprint. Is this not possible?

I'm unpublished, but it'd be nice to know more about imprints if I ever get that far.

Jessica

CheshireCat · Nov 8, 2008

It depends on the house.

But, as a general rule, you're perfectly free to submit to a different imprint at a house. Once you're published, your primary imprint/publisher will most probably have an option to look at your next book first, but if it doesn't work for them, you should be free to submit elsewhere -- even within the same house.

That said, your agent should know all the players, and may advise not to submit to a second imprint, depending on the internal politics of the house.

Crinklish · Nov 8, 2008

Might some of your newsgroup participants be confusing this with the fact that imprints in many houses can't compete against each other for an author? At both Simon & Schuster and Penguin, for example, individual houses can't bid against each other in an auction--if multiple houses want the project, it's decided in-house who will offer the bid.

Understanding Imprints

jessicamb

CheshireCat

Mostly purring. Mostly.

Crinklish