Does anyone here write for Kensington?

xccorpio · Nov 21, 2009

With the tempest hitting HQ right now, I want to have another publisher handy. Just in case the full MS requested by an editor this week, comes back with an invitation to HH. I thought about Kensington. Do any of you have any experience to share please?

mlhernandez · Nov 21, 2009

I don't write for them but I know a handful of authors who write for their Aphrodisia line and love it. They seem to be a really stand up bunch at Kensington.

Wayne K · Nov 21, 2009

Gary Goldstein took my wife and me out to lunch a few wekks ago. He was very nice. I did my homework. They're good to their writers.
ETA: We're still waiting to hear back.

Jess Haines · Nov 21, 2009

Yes, I'm with Kensington. Can't say enough good things about them.

My editor is John Scognamiglio, and he's an absolute doll. VERY easy to work with.

As you can probably see from my avatar, the art department did an amazing job with the cover.

You can also see from my latest blog post some of the authors they got to do blurbs and where the book is available for pre-sale, even though it's not due for release until May.

I'd say they've done a damned fine job.

Susan Gable · Nov 22, 2009

Jess Haines said:
My editor is John Scognamiglio, and he's an absolute doll. VERY easy to work with.
.

I think John needs to take an editorial pen name, so when his writers' books are up for Ritas, the poor presenters don't spend so much time mangling his name. <G>

And yet...once you hear it, it's really not THAT hard. <G>

Susan G. - who took a penname for a similar reason. lol.

xccorpio · Nov 22, 2009

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback. :Sun:

I still have to decide which editor to query. I might write something just for them.

Maria, that’s great news to me. I prefer to work with a great team and get less compensation, than working with a big corporation with a higher pay, but dealing with difficult people. BTW, how is your baby doing?

Wayne, nice editor! Good luck to you, please let us know when you hear back from him.

Jess, congrats! Yeah, that’s an awesome cover, it invites one to check the book.
I read your blog, great advice in there. I loved the The Rejectionist. :roll:

A stalker writer, that is a great plot for a thriller.

Susan, thanks God for copy and paste. Now, what should I do, if I get a call from him? I hope he doesn’t have a problem with being called John, or Mr. S.
This is from someone who has to spell her last name over and over again.

Susan Gable · Nov 22, 2009

xccorpio said:
Susan, thanks God for copy and paste. Now, what should I do, if I get a call from him? I hope he doesn’t have a problem with being called John, or Mr. S.
This is from someone who has to spell her last name over and over again.

LOL. Practice. Scog-na-mig-lio. Not bad when you break it into parts first. <G>

My real last name (Guadagno) is Italian, and we generally just use the American pronounciation. One year when I was teaching kindergarten, I had a kid walk in and just about floor me, because not only could he pronounce it, he did it in the Italian version. LOL. His parents had been practising with him before he came to school. Mostly, though, I just let the kids call me Mrs. G.

Susan G. (And see, I kept my G. <G>)

brainstorm77 · Nov 22, 2009

Didn't Kensington have a line of shorter romance books and they killed it?

Susan Gable · Nov 22, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
Didn't Kensington have a line of shorter romance books and they killed it?

You may be thinking of the Precious Gem line, which was published by Kensington for exclusive distribution at WalMart.

That venture had its own problems and caused its own ripples in the romance community.

But yes, those were considered category romances. I don't know exactly how long that one lasted, but it couldn't have been but maybe two years?

Susan G.

brainstorm77 · Nov 22, 2009

Susan Gable said:
You may be thinking of the Precious Gem line, which was published by Kensington for exclusive distribution at WalMart.

That venture had its own problems and caused its own ripples in the romance community.

But yes, those were considered category romances. I don't know exactly how long that one lasted, but it couldn't have been but maybe two years?

Susan G.

Yes, I think that was the one I was thinking about. What problems?

Susan Gable · Nov 22, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
Yes, I think that was the one I was thinking about. What problems?

Let's see if my Swiss Cheese memory can recall.

They only paid a flat rate payment. No advance, no royalties, just a one-time payment. That caused a big brohaha back then because it got Kensington disqualified from RWA at the time.

There may have been other issues, but that was the big one I recall.

Susan G.

Lainey Bancroft · Nov 22, 2009

I don't recall the Precious Gem line. Could be that it never made it to Canadian distribution--we're the last to get anything.

Or it could be that Precious Gem was more than 4-5 years ago before I had any interest in who published a book.

Kensington does still have the Brava novella line, sexy shorts. I think the stories are 25-35k and they do them in anthologies, mostly with 2-3 different authors. They have a Brava Forum too and a blog.

Shamrockgreen · Nov 22, 2009

Susan Gable said:
I think John needs to take an editorial pen name, so when his writers' books are up for Ritas, the poor presenters don't spend so much time mangling his name. <G>

And yet...once you hear it, it's really not THAT hard. <G>

Susan G. - who took a penname for a similar reason. lol.

I will use a pen name...no one ever pronounces my last name correctly. BTW if Gable is your pen name I like it very much.

thethinker42 · Nov 22, 2009

I want to get in with Kensington. Hoping the third submission is the charm.

*fingers crossed*

Susan Gable · Nov 23, 2009

Lainey Bancroft said:
I don't recall the Precious Gem line. Could be that it never made it to Canadian distribution--we're the last to get anything. Or it could be that Precious Gem was more than 4-5 years ago before I had any interest in who published a book.

Yes, I think it was 8 or 9 years ago.

"Category lines" are numbered. That's another thing that sets them apart from other types of romances.

For example, my first Superromance was Superromance #1103.

My Super from this year was #1545.

Susan G.

xccorpio · Nov 23, 2009

Susan Gable said:
LOL. Practice. Scog-na-mig-lio. Not bad when you break it into parts first. <G>

Thanks, I think that would do.

Lainey Bancroft said:
Kensington does still have the Brava novella line, sexy shorts. I think the stories are 25-35k and they do them in anthologies, mostly with 2-3 different authors. They have a Brava Forum too and a blog.

Thank you for the link, it's so sad that Kate Duffy isn't around anymore. She was such a great editor.

thethinker42 said:
I want to get in with Kensington. Hoping the third submission is the charm.

*fingers crossed*

Good luck to you! Please let us know the outcome.

Jess Haines · Nov 23, 2009

Haha! Yeah, I remember when my agent emailed me John's name the first time. I was TERRIFIED of screwing it up when we first spoke on the phone.

Thankfully, he's a very easygoing guy. Love working with him.

xccorpio · Nov 23, 2009

Jess Haines said:
Haha! Yeah, I remember when my agent emailed me John's name the first time. I was TERRIFIED of screwing it up when we first spoke on the phone.

Thankfully, he's a very easygoing guy. Love working with him.

Jess, thanks for sharing, now I feel a little bit less anxious about sending a query.

thethinker42 · Nov 23, 2009

Jess Haines said:
Haha! Yeah, I remember when my agent emailed me John's name the first time. I was TERRIFIED of screwing it up when we first spoke on the phone.

Thankfully, he's a very easygoing guy. Love working with him.

I queried him a few months ago (no answer

), and must have spent five minutes triple-checking that I'd spelled his name right. hahaha

Jess Haines · Nov 24, 2009

xccorpio: Anytime.

Glad to help!

Lori: Ack! Are you sure he got it? I'm not sure if he has a no-news-equals-rejection policy, or if he just didn't receive it. Maybe send him a polite follow-up...?

thethinker42 · Nov 24, 2009

Jess Haines said:
Lori: Ack! Are you sure he got it? I'm not sure if he has a no-news-equals-rejection policy, or if he just didn't receive it. Maybe send him a polite follow-up...?

Their website says "no answer = rejection".

But...*cough*...if you happen to talk to him...

In all seriousness, I've completely revised my query since then. The one I sent him was "meh", and I've been kicking myself ever since. I don't want to re-query a book to him, but man, I would have DIED to get that book into his hands.

Jess Haines · Nov 25, 2009

Totally know how you feel. I was SO freaking hopeful when I got a short story accepted into the running for the third quarter of the 26th volume of Writers of the Future. I was bracing myself for rejection since I got the book deal, but it still hurt like the dickens to receive the letter.

Oh well. You got my PM. Carry on! You'll find a home for your baby, I'm sure of it.

Albannach · Nov 27, 2009

I'm thinking of trying out writing a romance which I've never tried. I was wondering which imprint is their historical line and can anyone give me any info on guidelines as far as length, etc? The guidelines on their website doesn't give a clue.

Thanks.

Does anyone here write for Kensington?

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