Compiled by Nikki Duncan
NEW YORK PUBLISHERS*
~Tor, like St. Martin’s Press, is a part of Macmillan Publishers Limited. Tor does accept un-solicited manuscripts, but before submitting to Tor, check out their guidelines at www.tor-forge.com. Tor publishes in mass market paper format. When submitting, they ask that you not submit to St. Martins, and vice versa, until you’ve heard back from them. They make this request because should they both come back and want the same book they will end up competing with themselves.
Tor released their first romantic suspense with no paranormal elements in 2007. They are looking to acquire more books along that line, and would like to eventually publish one romantic suspense and one paranormal a month.
Editor Heather Osborn:
~ Is looking for plot-heavy, action driven romantic suspense, paranormals, and urban fantasy with a lot of romance.
~ She likes kick-butt and intelligent heroines who are capable of rescuing themselves.
~ Is open to time-travels if they have an ongoing paranormal theme in the occasions the characters travel back in time, and views a time travel where the travelling goes forward in time as futuristic.
~ When it comes to humor, Heather prefers snarky and sarcastic to slapstick or campy.
Editor Melissa Singer:
~ Edits science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thrillers, women’s fiction, and fiction with romantic elements.
~ Is looking for books that will appeal to female readers over 35.
~ Has an interest in a limited amount of fantasy and science fiction, contemporary and historical fiction, different settings such as India or China, and series mystery with a female protagonist.
~ Witty, not silly, humor is good.
~ Horror fiction and darker urban fantasy also interests Melissa.
~Dorchester Publishing accepts un-solicited manuscripts. They are interested in dark sensual thrillers and light romantic mysteries that are unusual and ‘outside the box’ romances unique plots and settings. Dorchester does not have a specific number of slots in different genres and sub-genres that they must fill each month, which allows the editors to buy books they love passionately.
Unless you have personally met a Dorchester editor and they’ve requested work from you, address your work to:
Editorial Assistant
Dorchester Publishing
200 Madison Avenue, Suite 2000
New York, NY 10016.
The assistant reads queries/submissions and directs them to the most appropriate editor. Enclose a SASE if you prefer to have your materials returned to you. If you include a self addressed stamped postcard, the editorial assistant will date it and return it when your query is opened so you know it arrived safely. Submissions should be 80,000 to 100,000 words, and you should expect to wait 6-8 months for a response. If after that time you’ve heard nothing, feel free to send a friendly email to follow up. Chris Keeslar admits that he is taking closer to eight months to respond, while Leah Hultenschmidt is closer to six months.
Your query should include:
~ A cover letter
~ Synopsis
~ First 3 chapters of the completed manuscript
~ SASE
Your manuscript should be formatted in line with industry standards.
~ 1” margins
~ Double spaced
~ A page break before each new chapter
~ Either Times New Roman or Courier font size 12
~ Your name and working book title on each page in the header
~ Your complete contact information on the first page of the manuscript
~ Unbound
Dorchester is currently looking for:
~ Romance – specifically Historical (preferably before 1900), Futuristic, Time Travel, Paranormal, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense
~ African-American Romance sent to
Dorchester Africa-American Romances
c/o Monica Harris
522 East 20th Street, #6D
New York, NY 10009
~ Westerns
~ Horrors
~ Thrillers, including Technothrillers, Suspense Thrillers, Police Procedurals, Political Thrillers, Legal Thrillers
More details can be found on their website at www.dorchesterpub.com.
E-PUBLISHERS*
~Dark Eden Press will be closed as of March 31. I’ve heard from several authors working with Dark Eden Press that they are hopeful this is being handled with integrity and honesty. Here is the official press release that went out.
“Dear Readers and friends,
It is with a heavy heart I must announce the closing of Dark Eden Press.
I don’t often share personal information, but sometimes life comes at you and you have to deal with it, and this is one of those times for me.
I found out recently, very recently, that my cancer has returned. This is my 6th time around with this in a little over 10 years. It started as cervical cancer 10 years ago and each time has gotten worse and spread to other places. I will be starting chemotherapy and radiation treatments shortly and, as I have been through these same treatments twice already, I can honestly say it isn’t pretty.
After discussing the issues and options with the DEP staff, it was decided to close Dark Eden as of April 1st. I must devote my energies and my time to getting better, and most of all, to my daughter.
All books will remain available through March 31st, so be sure to get the ones you’ve been thinking about buying. The authors will receive their rightful royalties for all sales, so your purchases will be appreciated.
If I haven’t said it lately, it is, and has been, a pleasure getting to know our readers. I’m sure you’ll find your favorite authors at new homes in the near future. I know they would value your support as they transition to new publishing houses.
Debra Durham
President”
~Red Rose Publishing is a relatively new ebook publisher of mainstream and erotic romance. Their royalties are on a sliding scale — 40% for the first 300 books sold, 45% for 301-500 books sold, and 50% thereafter. Print books will be discussed on a case by case basis between the author and publisher.
Red Rose Publishing is actively seeking:
~ Romance
~ Action/Adventure
~ Chick Lit
~ Contemporary
~ Fantasy
~ Futuristic/SciFi
~ Historical
~ Romantic Suspense
~ Paranormal
~ Shifters
~ Time Travel
~ Vampire
~ Westerns
~ BDSM & Fetish
~ Holiday
~ Interracial
~ Menage
~ Romantic Comedy
~ Rubenesque that are erotic and mainstream romances
When submitting to Red Rose Press:
~ Include your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number in the body of your email along with a brief synopsis telling about yourself, any experience as it relates to writing, your current work(s), and any literary honors.
~ Attach the manuscript to the email. It should be formatted by general industry standards. One difference is that they do not want page breaks, headers, or footers in the document.
~ On the first page of your manuscript, in the upper left corner, include your story title, your name, the category, theme, rating, your email and phone number.
~ A brief 1-2 page synopsis that clearly defines your plot, describes the setting, introduces the main characters, and tells the resolution of the story.
~ Email everything to redrosepublishing@gmail.com.
More information and submission guidelines can be found on their website at www.redrosepublishing.com. Red Rose Publishing is not an RWA Eligible Publisher**.
~Lyrical Press, Inc is a brand new small press that will be celebrating their grand opening on May 5th. They are currently seeking submissions in all genres. Their preferred word count is 30,000 or more, but they will publish shorter works with a word count of no less than 12,000. Lyrical Press, Inc is not a vanity publisher, as they do not charge authors to publish the books.
Royalties at Lyrical Press, Inc are paid at 40% on a monthly basis, unless they total less than $20.00. In such a case, they royalties are rolled into the next month. I have not been able to determine if they release books over a certain word count in print.
To query Lyrical Press, Inc send a query in the body of an email to submissions@lyricalpress.com with a 2-5 page synopsis and the completed manuscript attached.
Lyrical Press, Inc asks that documents be sent in .rtf or .doc format with 12pt size Georgia font and a page break before each new chapter. Be sure to include your name, contact phone number, email address, the books working title, word count, and genre(s) on the first page of the manuscript.
Lyrical Press, Inc is not an RWA Eligible Publisher**, which they cannot be until they have been releasing novels via national distribution for more than three years.
LITERARY AGENTS
~Trident Media Group represents a wide range of romance and literature. Check out their website for submission guidelines and the appropriate agent for your work. www.tridentmediagroup.com
~The William Morris Agency accepts query letters sent to Literary Department Coordinator, William Morris Agency, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Include a SASE for a reply. www.wma.com
~The Donald Maass Literary Agency accepts queries for multiple romance genres. Email a query letter, synopsis, and the first five pages of your manuscript to info@maassagency.com with Query in the subject. You can check out their website at www.maassagency.com for more information about their agents to personalize your queries, but a generic one is fine as it will be routed to the most suitable person.
~Jim McCarthy with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management accepts a cover letter, synopsis, and a brief sample of the manuscript via email to jmccarthy@dystel.com.
USEFUL BLOGS
These resources from agents and editors cover everything from the dos and don’ts of query letters to the intricacies of the agent/writer relationship. Other topics have included ways to approach revisions and promotions.
~ Editorial Anonymous, a Children’s Book Editor
~ Janet Reid with Fine Print Literary Management
~ Jennifer Jackson with Donald Maass Literary Agency
~ Jonathan Lyons with Lyons Literary, LLC
~ Kristin Nelson with Nelson Literary Agency
~ Nathan Bransford with Curtis Brown Ltd
~ Writer’s Beware
This information was pulled from publisher websites, workshops from the 2008 RWA National conference, www.rwanational.org, and www.cindimyers.com.
* Any time you are considering a new publisher, whether electronic or print, be sure to check out the owners and business history.
**For more information on RWA Eligible Publishers visit the members section of www.rwanational.org.
Nikki’s been a member of North Texas Romance Writers of America for close to two years, and has been recognized as an RWA PRO. She’s completed three novels and one novella. She’s presently searching for representation for her first romantic suspense. You can visit Nikki online at www.nikkiduncan.com.
