July 15, 2009

Why ‘Sold out’ doesn’t mean ‘Sold well’

Posted by Leah under Inside Publishing, Sales
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I recently came across a “save this series” campaign–the publisher has basically told the author sales have been rough and they likely won’t be able to buy any more books unless they see a dramatic uptick .  But the author couldn’t understand how sales could be bad if a book sold out its print run.

One word: returns.

For mass-market paperbacks, when a book is “returned,” it’s really destroyed. There’s no way to resell it.

Just recently I got numbers back for a debut published a while ago.  Our intitial print was close to 50,000 copies, which is pretty terrific for a first-time author.  In fact, a major account wanted to take 6000 more a few months after publication, which led to a reprint.  Fantastic, right?

Unfortunately, that same account then went on to return that 6000 and a good chunk of what it had initially bought.  Why did they order more when they had unpurchased stock sitting in their own warehouse? I have no idea. I’m sure it’s something to do with costs of shipping and warehouse inventorying.  It seems completely inefficient to me, but since they’ll get reimbursed for returns, there’s really nothing for them to lose.

 

July 14, 2009

What they do: Marketing Assistant

Posted by Leah under Guest Blogs, Inside Publishing
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I’ve wanted to start a behind-the-scenes series about some of publishing’s less visible jobs for a while.  And Tanya Reynolds, our marketing assistant, bravely stepped forward to tell us more about what she does.  Tanya, a journalism grad from St. Bonaventure University, has been at Dorchester for just about a year now, and as you can see by her diverse workload, she’s pretty much ready to take over the company.

So here’s the scoop directly from Tanya:

As sales & marketing assistant, there really isn’t much I don’t have my hands in at any given moment. I help out our senior VP for sales–organizing and monitoring our sales activity at various accounts, tracking foreign rights contracts and creating sell sheets & marketing pieces for our monthly sales kits.

Our marketing department is wonderful enough to trust me with organizing a few P.R. campaigns, editing pitch letters, writing newsletter pieces, and – perhaps my new favorite task – keeping up-to-date on publishing news and posting fun tidbits on our Dorchester Twitter feed.

I’m learning more and more about e-books as I gather and pitch to e-book retailers, and I work with our production department on plans to start getting our e-books in as many stores as possible.

Of course, as assistant, I also help tie up any loose ends: sort print numbers, compose data feeds for online retailers, and generate sales & marketing notes for each month’s titles before they become the short blurbs on cover 3s.

With so many tasks at hand and publishing changing so rapidly, I’m still learning new things each day, but the people here are fantastic – and that free pizza each month isn’t too bad, either.

When I’m not hard at work at any variation of these things, you can find me at my desk creating a new Elvis/No Doubt/50 Cent station on Pandora, or starting pop culture debates in the mailroom.

 

July 13, 2009

Superstar free read

Posted by Leah under free stuff | Tags: , |
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Some paranormal superstars such as Jacquelyn Frank, Cynthia Eden, Michelle Rowen, Angie Fox, Elissa Wilds, Natale Stenzel and more are offering a free round-robin short story called White Wedding Nightmares (oh boy!) in serial installments over at Romance in the Backseat.  There are already eight chapters posted, so you’ve got plenty to get you started.

 

July 10, 2009

Earn quick points when you pitch

Posted by Leah under Uncategorized
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I’ve covered the basics of pitching in other posts: use comparisons where appropriate, keep it short, don’t be afraid to ask the editor questions.

But as I was thinking back to the pitches I took at the New England conference in March, there were a couple of people who got immediate brownie points.  They could’ve said pretty much anything and I would’ve requested their work. 

For those who are prepping their own pitches for RWA, here are those magic words:

  • “I’ve been a member of the Love Spell book club for years, and I really loved the Immortals series and some of the new authors you’re bringing out, like Elisabeth Naughton and Kathryne Kennedy.”
  • “I’ve been reading Leisure since I was a teenager.”

You might see this as sucking up (heck, it probably is a little bit).  I see it as someone who already knows the kind of stuff we publish.  And having those details counts for a lot. 

So go find a book represented by or edited by the person you’re going to pitch.  Read it.  And use it.

 

July 9, 2009

January 2010

Posted by Leah under Previews
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My Zombie ValentineCovers and descriptions have now been posted for the January 2010 books, for those who like to look ahead.  You can also get a peek at what’s in store for February on the Coming Soon page.  Not that we’re in a rush for winter just as summer gets into full swing.

 

July 8, 2009

Sales & Contests

Posted by Leah under News | Tags: , |
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Some points of interest from around the web:

More details on America’s Next Best Celler contest sponsored by Dorchester and TextNovel in a special interview at Romance University.  If you haven’t yet registered, definitely check it out.  There are already some fantastic entries garnering a lot of votes.

BooksOnBoard is offering all Rita-nominated books for 26% off.  Just use promo code RitaOnBoard before midnight on Friday to claim the discount.

i-shot-you-babeConcoct a drink based on Leslie Langtry’s Greatest Hits series, and win a set of signed books.  Why do I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of Sapphire Bombay gin involved?  And is it happy hour yet?

 

July 8, 2009

Levels of editing

Posted by Leah under Writing & Editing
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When I was first starting to learn about publishing, one of the most helpful publications was a book called EDITORS ON EDITING: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do.  It’s been revised several times and even the current edition(1994)  isn’t at all up to speed on ebooks and online marketing and such, but it’s a great basic primer for learning how the business works and what editors of different genres need to look for. 

It also explains the editing process and the different types of editors:

  • Acquisitions editor – An editor whose primary job is to evaluate, negotiate and buy.  He would then pass off the project to a different editor.  Occasionally, you still hear about this – usually only if the author is really big and it’s an editorial director or publisher handling the buy.  But generally, most projects stay with the person who buys the book.
  • Developmental editor – This is primarily seen in nonfiction and educational publishers.  Or if a publisher is trying to package a house-owned series.  Basically, the editor comes up with most of the ideas for the book and gets someone else (or assembles a team) of other people to write it.
  • Line editor – The most common editing that we editors do – fix the plot, sentence structure, pacing, and all that good stuff.  We’re looking at the overall picture–does this book make sense? are the characters complex and likable? will this be satisfying to the reader?–as well as the more nitty-gritty–does this sentence make sense? is this paragraph necessary?
  • Copyeditor – This person gets the book after the line edit and is primarily checking for consistency–making sure ages and eye color and things stay the same–clarity and basic grammar/style issues. 
  • Proofreader – The proofreader catches any consistency or grammar issues missed by the line editor and copy editor and looks for any typos that may have been created when typesetting the manuscript.

A lot of houses blend a number of these.  At Dorchester, our editors acquire and do the line edit.  In certain cases, they’ve also developed series.  We also write cover copy, consult on cover art, write marketing information and do sales analysis.  The books then go into the copyediting and proofreading stages.  But every house works a bit differently.

 

July 7, 2009

RWA planning

Posted by Leah under Uncategorized | Tags: , |
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Unfortunately, I won’t be able to to go to Nationals this year, but if I were going to be there, here are the panels I wouldn’t miss and why:

  • The Google Book Settlement – Jan Constantine, General Council of the Authors Guild.  The Google thing (as I technically like to call it) is very confusing, changing every day, and will impact a lot of people.  It’s vital to understand how it affects you and what rights you have. Thurs., 2-3 p.m.
  • What Not to Write – author Eloisa James and Avon editor Carrie Ferron. This is basically a trend session, and those are always interesting.  However, they also need to be taken with a grain of salt and the knowledge that what’s a taboo at one house could be perfectly acceptable at another. Thurs., 2-3 p.m.
  • How to Use Networking without Becoming a User – Tanya Michna.  I don’t know the presenter, but the topic is certainly eye-catching. So much of promotion and even selling can be about who you know or someone putting in a good word for you. But how do you reach out to people without seeming needy? Thurs., 3:15-4:15
  • Straight Talk, Librarians to Writers - John Charles, Susan Gibberman, and Deborah Schneider.  The library market is vital.  These longtime champions of romance in libraries will help you make the most of the market – going over what libraries can do for you, what you can do for them, and most especially how to deal with librarians who might not be so inclined to feature romance. Fri., 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • Writing the Hot Historical – agent Lucienne Diver, Janet Mullany, Pam Rosenthal.  I want hot, emotionally complex historicals.  But with humor too–see Neurotica below. Write them and send them to me.  Fri., 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • Online  Promotion – Lori Foster, Jenna Petersen, Michelle Buonfiglio, Danielle Jackson.  These ladies are the experts – from both sides of field, both authors and reviewers.  Fri., 11-noon
  • Neurotica: How adding humor can jumpstart your career like crazy – author Emily Bryan.  No matter what your writing style, you always need a touch of humor.  And Emily is a master.  She knows how to really hook readers with that first line, too.  Fri., 2-3 p.m.
  • Learn to Rewrite – author Anna DeStefano.  Every author is going to have her own process when it comes to edits and rewrites. But if you struggle with revisions, having some extra tips never hurts. Because an author who can’t revise or refuses to rewrite won’t stay published long.  Sat., 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • Make it Happen: 10 tips to breaking in or breaking back in – authors Christie Craig and Faye Hughes. So many authors are in this place.  I think the biggest key is going to be persistence.  But that’s only one.  Christie and Faye have nine more.  Sat., 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • Anatomy of a Bestseller – editor Chris Keeslar, authors Angie Fox and C.L. Wilson. This was originally my proposal, so of course I think everyone should go. ;-)  Angie Fox and C.L. Wilson both hit the national bestseller lists with debuts. Being the rational, scientifically minded person that I am, I wondered what traits the books might share that could have helped them sell so well without any kind of name recognition. This panel will discuss some of their commonalities as well as specific efforts from the authors and publisher.  Sat., 11-noon
  • How to Catch Flies: Professionalism and choosing your business reputation – agent Laura Bradford, Jennifer Schober. There are a few authors I’d met at various conferences and without even reading a word, I thought I’d like to work with them.  They seemed pleasant, professional, well-organized, and promotional minded. This panel will give you an idea of how to project that  image. Sat., 12:45-1:45
  • The Billionaire Tycoon’s Secret Promotional Baby: Making the Most of Online Marketing – authors Carrie Lofty, Ann Aguirre, Barbara Carridad Ferrer; Smart Bitches’ Sarah Wendell; DearAuthor’s Jane Litte. Though there might be some overlap from the other Online Promotions panel, with publishers not having as many ad dollars, online promo is more important than ever and having numerous strategies at your disposal is essential. 
  • Why Publishing is Making You Crazy and What You Can Do About It: the Tao of publishing – agent Steve Axelrod, author Julie Anne Long. Learn what you can control and what you can’t in the business and focus on what matters most.  There’s so much author anxiety out there right now that this is a fantastic reminder of what to let go of and how to do it. Sat., 2-3 p.m.
  • Dorchester Spotlight - Editor Chris Keelsar presents what Dorchester does, what we’re looking for (hint: dragons), what’s next, and some exciting new projects and opportunities.  Bring your questions!  Sat., 2-3

 

 

June 30, 2009

July books out today

Posted by Leah under News | Tags: , , , |
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Feeling the heat?  Cool off with Stephanie Rowe’s chilling romantic suspense, ICE.  Or maybe that a/c is already cranked a little high and you’re more in the mood for A BREATH OF FIRE, Tammy Kane’s highly anticipated fantasy romance debut.  Those and more July books hit shelves today.

 

June 29, 2009

New acquiring agent

Posted by Leah under Submissions
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New agents and editors are always hungry to build their list.  They likely read faster, have more openings to take on clients and are eager to prove themselves.

Today PW announced that Stephanie Maclean has been promoted to Literary Agent at Trident.  She is actively seeking romance, women’s fiction and young adult.  But as with any agent, check the submission guidelines before sending.

 

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