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[Publisher] Choc Lit Limited

girlyswot

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Does anyone know anything good or bad about Choclit? I only know what's on the website.

[SIZE=-1]Established in 2008, Choc Lit is an independent publisher, specialising in quality women’s fiction with romantic content, where the writing clearly develops the hero’s point of view.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Not surprisingly, we believe that the enjoyment of a good read is enhanced by the taste of chocolate.

Our debut novel, The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer, was short-listed for two awards including the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance 2009.

Our second title, Starting Over, reached number 3 in the Top 20 Small Publishers List. It was also the best selling book of its genre when it went on sale in WH Smith Travel, outselling top women authors. In November 2010 we had three novels in the Top 20 Small Publishers List, two reaching number 7.[/SIZE]

They seem to have quite a small number of authors, some previously unpubbed and some pubbed elsewhere. They are a print publisher and have obviously managed to get at least some of their books on the shelves of a major UK retailer (WH Smith). I think they look promising, but I'd be very interested to know if anyone has any direct experience of working with them.





 

Buffysquirrel

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WH Smith Travel operates specifically in airports and railway stations.
 

Lainey Bancroft

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I hadn't heard of them before but I like the site. Clean, showcases the releases, appears to be geared to readers more than authors.

(Side note, I mean no disrespect, they really do have a professional looking site, but I must be reading too many erotica sites and submission calls. The first thing I saw when I glanced at this thread was 'clit' and I sorta thought, "Wow, way to put it right out there." :Shrug:)
 

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I've have two ChocLit books and have abandoned both of them before reaching the end. They both suffered from slack editing and lacklustre writing. Whether I just was unlucky or those two books are representative of their lists I can't be sure; but I'll now be very careful before I buy any books from this imprint.
 

girlyswot

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I've have two ChocLit books and have abandoned both of them before reaching the end. They both suffered from slack editing and lacklustre writing. Whether I just was unlucky or those two books are representative of their lists I can't be sure; but I'll now be very careful before I buy any books from this imprint.

Hmm, that's not a good sign. Thanks.
 

girlyswot

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I hadn't heard of them before but I like the site. Clean, showcases the releases, appears to be geared to readers more than authors.

(Side note, I mean no disrespect, they really do have a professional looking site, but I must be reading too many erotica sites and submission calls. The first thing I saw when I glanced at this thread was 'clit' and I sorta thought, "Wow, way to put it right out there." :Shrug:)

I... had not noticed that at all. But now it's all I can see. ;)
 

para

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Sure. But they have a fair number of outlets in those places.

But not all of them are big enough to stock books. My station has two quite large outlets in comparison to some but most of those books are big names.
 

Jettica

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(Side note, I mean no disrespect, they really do have a professional looking site, but I must be reading too many erotica sites and submission calls. The first thing I saw when I glanced at this thread was 'clit' and I sorta thought, "Wow, way to put it right out there." :Shrug:)
Yeah, me too. It made me click...
 

Momento Mori

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Choclit Wesbite:
In November 2010 we had three novels in the Top 20 Small Publishers List, two reaching number 7.

So I Googled "Top 20 Small Publishers List" and couldn't find anything except the references made by Choclit on its website, Linked In page and here on AW to such a thing. Given that I've never heard of it, I'd want clarification as to what this list is, who compiles it and where it is available from.

Companies House lists the company, Choc Lit Limited as being under the small companies exemption, which means its turnover is under £5.6 million and/or the balance sheet is under £2.8 million and/ average number of employees is less than 50. It's a 2 director company - looks like a husband and wife team - Paul and Lynn Vernham - and the company was incorporated about a year after they set up shop. Interestingly, the capital of the company seems to only be £10 (not a bad thing - companies can set up whatever capital they want) but figured it's worth mentioning.

Going through the press releases, it seems that they buy world rights. I'm a bit surprised at that as I can't see anything to suggest that they're able to exploit them.

One author has an agent - Kate Nash Literary Agency although their track record, to me, seems limited and to small presses I haven't heard of - disclaimer though as I'm not a romance reader/writer).

Seems like they're on the right track and they're definitely interested in selling in stores, whether they've got the clout to keep going is up for debate.

MM
 
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Old Hack

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One author has an agent - Kate Nash Literary Agency although their track record, to me, seems limited and to small presses I haven't heard of - disclaimer though as I'm not a romance reader/writer).
MM

We have a thread about Kate Nash here.
She works as an agent, does PR for small publisher Myrmidon (and, I think, others), writes books of her own, helps organise the York Festival of Writing (I'm appearing there this year; buy your tickets now!) AND had a baby recently. I have no idea where she gets the time to do all those things. Especially that last one.
 

Buffysquirrel

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True but a lot of poeple buy books in the airport? if your books is in the chick lit genre it may do well. Sophie Kinsella comes to mind as doing well on the 'holiday read' type.

The book might do very well! More than anything, I wanted to make clear the distinction between WH Smith Travel and WH Smith the high street chain for those who might not realise.

Of course, if they want your next book, its not being in the high street shop might generate some frustration.
 

CaoPaux

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(Side note, I mean no disrespect, they really do have a professional looking site, but I must be reading too many erotica sites and submission calls. The first thing I saw when I glanced at this thread was 'clit' and I sorta thought, "Wow, way to put it right out there." :Shrug:)
Thread title corrected. :hat:
 

Livvie

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I read this thread with interest as I was recently signed by Choc Lit. It seems that initially, people were sceptical, which is fair enough as they were quite new, but I wondered if opinion has changed?

From my dealings with them so far - and bearing in mind I am a debut author and pretty green - I find them to be very professional, and heading in the right direction, a fact borne out by awards a few of their authors have won in recent months.

Before being signed, I'd bought a couple of their novels, and what impressed me at the time was the quality of the actual book.
 

Buffysquirrel

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I wasn't sceptical, and indeed had no grounds on which to be sceptical. I merely wanted to differentiate between WH Smith the high-street stationers and WH Smith Travel the airport vendors :).
 

ChelseaWriter

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I just submitted to them last night. Really like their website and covers.

Wonder if they're a "no response means no" kind of publisher? Or whether they respond to all submissions....
 
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Livvie

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I just submitted to them last night. Really like their website and covers.

Wonder if they're a "no response means no" kind of publisher? Or whether they respond to all submissions....

I know of two writers who were turned down, both with polite emails, and one of them was given some extremely encouraging feedback.

Good luck with your submission.
 

ChelseaWriter

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Oh, great - thanks for letting me know!

ETA -- Livvie, I forgot to say CONGRATS on being signed with them -- so cool!
 
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ChelseaWriter

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Update: Just got a polite form rejection. I really appreciated how prompt they were (a week to the day). And, at least they responded at all!! Good luck to those submitting...
 
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