CS4W: Please tell us about Samhain Publishing and what types of books you publish.
AJ: Samhain Publishing is a general publisher. We publish all genres of fiction and non-fiction—with the exception of poetry. Otherwise, we accept submissions from in all genres.
Our company motto is “It’s all about the story.” What this means for writers is that we don’t put you in a box and say you can only write one genre, one type of book. We want you to write where the muse takes you. If that’s sensual romance one day and inspirational the next. Great, we’ll publish them both if they’re good. For us, it’s all about the story, not about the sexual content or anything else that might try to force the author into a box.
CS4W: What is a typical day like for you as the Executive Editor?
AJ: Long. I carry a full load of books and authors, in addition to all the duties of Executive Editor. I typically start my day around 7am and log off around 10pm. Of course, I’m not working non-stop through there, but I put in more than the average 8 hour day/40 hour work week.
In addition to working on my own edits, I also head up the rest of the editorial staff. At any given time I’m training three or four new editors (most recently I had seven at one time). This means looking over all of their work, blurbs, submissions, acceptance/rejection letters and answering various questions via email and IM throughout the day.
My inbox is a frightening place to be most days, as I field questions from our over 200 Samhain authors on a variety of topics. I also try to maintain a presence on the internet—on author message boards and in the blogging community, to keep the Samhain name out there.
Last, I also do some admin type things. So my days, while holding a variety of tasks are always quite busy.
CS4W: When you receive a query/submission that piques your interest, what is the process you go through before making a final decision? And how long is it between the offer and when the book is printed?
AJ: First thing we do when receiving a submission is to make sure the author has followed the submission guidelines and sent all the necessary info. If only three chapters have been sent with a synopsis, I’ll request a full manuscript. Then, I’ll read the full manuscript if the story continues to hold my interest. If I find the first three chapters were the best part of the book, I don’t read the full.
After reading the full manuscript, I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the book. If I feel story changes are needed, I’ll ask for a revise and resubmit. I know some authors view a revise and resubmit as a rejection, but it’s really not. A revise and resubmit is actually a type of protection for both the author and the editor. It lets the editor see if the author is willing and able to make the requested changes before a contract is signed. And it lets the author know what changes the editor wants before they sign the contract and find themselves in the position of being asked to make changes they’d rather not make. A revise and resubmit doesn’t always lead to a contract, but if the author is motivated to work hard and make the changes, it certainly improves their chances.
Once all that occurs, a contract is extended to the author. Right now, we are scheduling for 2008, so contract to ebook release is about a year. Ebook release to print is another 9 months because our sales team needs time to market the book to bookstores and get pre-orders in.
CS4W: What is the response time on queries? How are acceptances and rejections handled?
AJ: Response time is 8 to 10 weeks. Each editor is given submissions as they come in (based on genres they enjoy) and each editor is responsible for acquiring the books they want to edit. Rejections come from individual editors and while we all try to offer some specific feedback about each book, it’s not possible with every submission. We’re simply too busy.
CS4W: How closely do you work with your authors?
AJ: Very closely. We do several rounds of edits, using email, phone and IM to discuss changes and revisions. If we disagree, we compromise or give and take.
CS4W: Is Samhain Publishing open to first-time novelists?
AJ: Absolutely. We love first time authors. They have a particular enthusiasm and energy that’s a joy to work with.
CS4W: What mistakes do you see the most in the submissions you receive? Are there any mistakes you’ll overlook?
AJ: Submitting work that’s not ready to be seen by an editor. We can overlook some typos, we know no one is perfect, but we get submissions with poor grammar, badly constructed sentences, typos (in the first line even!).
Another common mistake is not realizing the power of the synopsis. We’re busy people and will use the synopsis first as a means of familiarizing ourselves with a book, to know if the plot catches us before we invest several hours in reading the whole thing.
Last is submitting the first draft of work. Or the second or third. We encourage people to polish a book within an inch of its life, utilize critique partners and understand that learning the craft is an ongoing process, not one that ends at some point. Don’t assume because you put a story on paper that it’s ready to be seen by an editor. Most people aren’t very good at seeing the flaws, typos, etc in their own work. Get feedback from others first—it’s less painful than a rejection from an editor.
CS4W: What do you like/dislike about taking appointments at conferences? Have you bought any manuscripts this way?
AJ: I like meeting people face to face, but it pains me how nervous everyone always is and it’s so difficult to get a sense of a story from a nervous person in ten minutes. If the pitch isn’t catchy, it’s nearly impossible to know if the story will be interesting or not. And of course, a person might have the best story in the world, the best pitch, but are unable to write!
I personally have not bought any manuscripts from pitches I’ve heard, but it does happen and hopefully that will change this conference season.
CS4W: How far into reading a submission do you know whether or not you’ll accept or reject it? Have you ever read a submission that needed work, but were willing to take a second look at it if the author made revisions?
AJ: I can usually tell within ten pages if I’m going to reject a book or keep reading, though there have been books that I’ve read in their entirety and ended up rejecting. I don’t accept a book without reading the whole manuscript unless it’s an author I’ve worked with before. I did cover the revision process above, but we use revise and resubmits often at Samhain and they should be considered a chance to show your stuff—if you’re offered a revise and resubmit, don’t think of it as a race to get it back to the editor quickly before they change their mind. Look at it as an opportunity to show the editor you’re willing to put time, effort and thought into these changes. We want to work with authors who are going to work hard to produce the best, cleanest, most compelling book possible.
CS4W: What advice would you like to share with our readers if they want to submit to Samhain Publishing that could increase their odds of getting a request for a full manuscript and hopefully an acceptance letter?
AJ: Be professional in your query, follow the submission guidelines and as for the manuscript? Polish, polish, polish.
A former harem princess, Duchess of York and globe-trotting superhero, I’ve lived an extensive fantasy life thanks to the world of books. But after all that, I settled for the job of Executive Editor at Samhain Publishing.
In love with everything involving the world of publishing and most especially epublishing, every day is a new adventure for me as I learn something new about editing, publishing and administrating (is that a word?) This job might keep me busy but it’s never dull!
I can be found on any given day at my own blog (be warned, I talk about my two year old a lot!).
http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog
Samhain links:
Submissions info:
http://samhainpublishing.com/submissions
Samhain blog:
http://samhainpublishing.com/blog
