Entangled Publishing

triceretops said:

How about a follow up nudge?

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I have nudged twice a month apart. I can't find a contact email other than the person who originally sent me the 'thanks for waiting' message and they have not answered. This doesn't seem an appropriate subject for their 'contact us' form.

I am in the middle of moving my family to another state so I think I'll let it go until after we're settled and I have more time to deal with submissions stuff!

Hi folks,
Anyone who would like an update on their submission in Submittable can email me at lydia(at)entangledpublishing(dot)com
If your submission was sent to an editor's email rather than through Submittable, contact that specific editor directly for an update.
You are welcome to request an update on your submission as often as you want to, but I usually suggest checking in about once a month after the initial 60-day response period has passed.
We give every submission a thorough editorial review. It takes time, but we understand waiting is torture, and when we say "thank you for your patience" we mean that sincerely.
I hope this helps.

It does. Thanks for the info. My 60 days aren't over yet, so I'm still waiting, more or less patiently
Best regards.

What's going on with this publisher? Are sales strong? I know Entangled used to be a decent seller but have no idea how they are doing now. Are there any issues to be aware of? A friend is curious and I never hear anything about this pub anymore so wanted to ask. A complaint I've heard repeatedly over the years is they rely heavily on tropes to the point of having authors rewrite their work according to these tropes. Is that still happening here?

Thanks!

My experience with this publisher was...underwhelming, to put it mildly, and my sales were poor. There are definitely some authors who are happy with them and have good sales, though.

LJD said:

My experience with this publisher was...underwhelming, to put it mildly, and my sales were poor. There are definitely some authors who are happy with them and have good sales, though.

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Thanks, LDJ! I have heard others say sales were very low as well and the publisher didn't promote their titles. Again, this is what I've heard so I am not making a judgement since I never worked with this publisher. Appreciate you chiming in!

cool pop said:

A complaint I've heard repeatedly over the years is they rely heavily on tropes to the point of having authors rewrite their work according to these tropes. Is that still happening here?

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I can't comment on sales but my interactions with Entangled editors confirm they are still very hot on tropes. I didn't consider that a bad thing, but if you do then it's probably not a good fit.

A friend of mine has several books with Entangled and none have sold very well. She was told that it was unlikely she would be picked up for any more books because their focus is on authors who sell very well - so sales of 10K units or more. She also got the impression they weren't taking on many first time authors.

Now this is just my opinion: when a publisher starts making those demands for sales targets, my experience is that there is some kind of trouble afoot. Again, just my opinion.

Anna204 said:

A friend of mine has several books with Entangled and none have sold very well. She was told that it was unlikely she would be picked up for any more books because their focus is on authors who sell very well - so sales of 10K units or more. She also got the impression they weren't taking on many first time authors.

Now this is just my opinion: when a publisher starts making those demands for sales targets, my experience is that there is some kind of trouble afoot. Again, just my opinion.

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I agree about trouble could be afoot. Thanks for sharing your friend's experience. I had my friend take a look at this thread and she says she might end up self-publishing.

Earthling said:

I can't comment on sales but my interactions with Entangled editors confirm they are still very hot on tropes. I didn't consider that a bad thing, but if you do then it's probably not a good fit.

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Thanks for chiming in, Earthling. Yep, my friend doesn't care for how heavy they are on tropes. It was a big concern for her so she didn't wanna submit before more research. I directed her to the thread. She says she most likely will self-publish. She isn't too impressed with the pubs she's seeing.

I think Entangled has been very open that they're publishing smarter these days. One of the things I've always admired about them is their flexibility and openness to change.

NineLimes said:

I think Entangled has been very open that they're publishing smarter these days. One of the things I've always admired about them is their flexibility and openness to change.

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If publishers don't publish smart, they'll disappear.

I was happy with my experience with Entangled a few years ago, but my editor is no longer there. I just submitted a book in a different genre than my other books with them. So we'll see.

Submitted early November, and got a response before the 2 months was up requesting more time (it was a form response). I'll nudge again in a few weeks. If it's a no from them, I'm also planning to self publish.

I'm a recent submission. I've thrown every book that qualified their way over many, many years. They've always given me personalized rejects, but ended with the six-month promise to reevaluate if I made the changes (that's a form section). No, it is not happening there for new authors, but I sub to them as a default because I'm so used to it, I guess. The claim of poor sales is new to me. I expect their bigger sellers get pushed more.

I submitted to their teen line on 9/19 and received a request for more time on 11/20.

Anyone know how backed up they are?

I dunno - I've been scared to send anything to them after reading through these forums. Figured I'd see how things go in a few months, see who else posts in the meantime, so please post if you hear any details on you MS (or any detail in general).

I didn't mean to suggest that they don't take on debut authors. I know a couple who weathered the storm. They are just incredibly selective. I have no doubt if you tickle their fancy, they'll haul you onboard. I really think they are always backed up, but they sure manage to get through it after awhile. Does anyone remember them closing down subs? I don't think I have.

Just received this message:


Thank you for your patience as we consider SKY HIGH for Entangled Publishing. This submission is still under review with our editorial team, and we would like to request additional time to reach a decision. In the meantime, please let us know if you receive an offer or if you wish to withdraw the submission for any reason. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Lydia Sharp (they/them/their)

I think this might be their form, apologizing for the delay. Actually, they're pretty swift and have been with me. I do use the submitible form. For what it's worth, I've always had faith in them. They've always had a good track record of sales and lists. It is no surprise that any of the small presses aren't having problems at the moment. They are all trying to maintain a foothold and hang onto their market share. I hope Entangled makes it through any storm they might be facing.

Can any Entangled authors say how difficult it is to reach 10k sales with Entangled?

I no longer have a horse in the race, just curious.

I'm not a jockey in the Entangled race, but I'd say that 10k sales for them is a serious mountain to climb. Not within grasp for the typical author, anyway. Maybe some true scribes can chime in and give you some accurate incidentals.

I also just got the form requesting more time. Does this imply anyone has actually looked at my submission, or is it auto-sent after a certain amount of time?

A.P.M. said:

I also just got the form requesting more time. Does this imply anyone has actually looked at my submission, or is it auto-sent after a certain amount of time?

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I was wondering about that a few months ago, but assumed it means it hasn't been looked at yet.

I ended up with other offers, and so withdrew my Entangled submission before I ever found out what was happening there.

Entangled isn't the only publisher that's totally overwhelmed with submissions at the moment. One Harlequin line is asking people to wait a year for a response!

Earthling said:

I can't comment on sales but my interactions with Entangled editors confirm they are still very hot on tropes. I didn't consider that a bad thing, but if you do then it's probably not a good fit.

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Essentially, most of Entangled's lines are category romance lines (though they do have longer, single-title books, too). I see it the same way I see many Harlequin lines, where readers come specifically in search of certain themes and tropes.

It's an art form to be able to write originally within those guidelines. It's not for everyone, but there are authors who do it brilliantly.

*EDITED* I am not a big poster here on the boards, so I forgot to include a snippet of what I'm responding to. My bad. It was a person a few pages back who commented negatively on Entangled, saying they just seem to be about acquiring work and not promoting it.

My thoughts on this...I had a book published with Samhain Publishing 10 years ago. I would say exactly the same about my experience with them...I had no marketing help really at all. It was mostly up to me. But I will bet you people on Absolute Write considered Samhain to be a wonderful publisher. I just got back from a very good writers' conference where Liz Pelletier (Entangled Editor) gave an incredible presentation about marketing. She's no dummy in this area and had some really good info to hand out to authors. My guess is, just like any small publishing house, a lot of the marketing is on THE AUTHOR. Very few publishing houses help with marketing these days.

So I am not sure what you mean by this negative comment about Entangled. I had EXACTLY the same experience with Samhain. Exactly. But I would never have considered that a bad experience or have warned someone away from them.

I think it really depends on your expectations. If you go in with the idea that you're probably going to be doing the bulk of the marketing and promotion, and you're okay with that, then there are any number of small publishers who might work for you. But if you want/expect your publisher to handle the marketing... It's something you really need to research and be clear about before signing (or even submitting).