LAUNCHING FIVE RIVERS' BOOKS at WHEN WORDS COLLIDE

TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE VOICED YOUR SUPPORT FOR ON SPEC either here on Suzenyms, on the I Read On Spec Facebook Page, or elsewhere, thank you. In light of our 2015 funding cut by the Canada Council, we have appreciated your comments more than we can say. As editors, we sometimes feel as if we are the 'enemy', especially when we have had to make hard decisions. Those of you who have commented on On Spec's behalf, (especially if we have rejected you in the past), not only show your professionalism, but reaffirm for me something in which I strongly believe - that we are all part of one great SF community. Because of you, On Spec will survive. I am hopeful that our grant funding may be reinstated in 2016.

As some of you know, I am heading to Calgary on Friday to attend one of my favorite conventions held here in Western Canada, When Words Collide. As well as being involved with the panels I list below, I am launching The Tattooed Seer on Sunday at noon. Five Rivers is also promoting all of its new 2014 releases on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For those of you who would like to purchase Five Rivers' books, I've been told by Robert Runté, Editor in Chief, that he has five copies of each title which will be sold for $15.00 each. (The print version of The Tattooed Seer regularly sells for $28.00. As a convention offer, I'll be selling it for $25.00, so if you nab one from Robert, you're getting a deal.)

I am also on the following panels, which I am looking forward to and which should be a lot of fun:

On Friday, at 4:00 PM - Live Action Slush - Fantasy Edition: I love being involved with live action slush panels. If you aren't familiar with how these work, writers submit the first few pages of their work anonymously. The editors listen to a reader who reads the submission. Then the editors raise their hands when they reach a point where they might stop reading because of a writing problem. After three editors raise their hands, the issue is discussed. If no editor raises his or her hand, the piece is working well. Even if the submission has faults, this panel is a great way to hear professionals offer their advice on how to improve work. For me, it's a great mental workout - helps me hone my editorial edge.

On Saturday, at 11:00 AM -The Short Story - A Stepping Stone to Novel Writing: This should be an interesting one. This is how I started as a writer. Cutting your writing teeth on the short story has its benefits, but it also has its drawbacks. I'll be interested to hear what my fellow panelists have to say.

On Saturday at 3:00 PM - Live Action Slush - Historical Edition: Another Live Action Slush! (Diana Gabaldon was going to sit on this panel, but unfortunately she had to cancel her appearance at the convention. Even so, I am pleased to share it with GoH's Jack Whyte and D.J. McIntosh, plus Barb Galler-Smith, Randy McCharles, and the lovely and talented Adrienne Kerr of Penguin/Random House Canada) .

On Sunday at Noon - The Tattooed Seer, Book Social and Launch. Come on by for a chat and to help me celebrate! (I know, noon isn't a great time, everybody wants to have lunch. I'm ordering some food - I hope to have munchies on hand.) I will do a couple of short readings, field questions, and socialize. I will also have both The Tattooed Seer and The Tattooed Witch available for sale.

On Sunday at 2:00 - Five Rivers' Publishing Seven-Book Launch, as indicated in the image above. I'm looking forward to seeing other members of our Five Rivers family, including Dave Duncan and Ann Marston. (Yes, I am name-dropping, but what great names to drop!)

I'm looking forward to all of it, meeting old friends, and making new ones. If you're attending, don't be a stranger! I hope to see you there.

- Susan.

BROKE 40,000 WORDS THIS WEEK on THE TATTOOED ROSE

I FINALLY BROKE 40,000 WORDS THIS WEEK while working on the first draft of The Tattooed Rose, the third book in my Tattooed Witch trilogy. Let me tell you, this has been the hardest book to write, mostly because I know how I want the trilogy to end and some of the high plot points I want to reach, but everything else has been undefined. Way back, when I had the vague idea, "Well, they finally manage to escape Tomás (my sadistic Grand Inquisitor) for a while, and it all happens on the Great Ocean Sea (the Atlantic) and in the Caribbean. Miriam is on one ship and Joachín is on another, and eventually they get together on Xaymaca (Jamaica) where they run into more trouble with pirates, voudou sorcerers (bocors), and the Inquisition, again," that that would be enough. 

Good grief. What was I thinking? I've had to do research on Spanish galleons (naos), carracks, and caravels, how they're built and what kinds of guns they might have carried. I've had to figure out how long it takes a sailing ship in the mid-sixteenth century to get from Spain to the Canaries and then to Hispaniola (Haiti and the DR). I've had to study piracy, and voudou, and African slave routes (yes, slaves are involved), the Taíno (one of the indigenous groups of the Caribbean who were mostly decimated due to small pox), and the myths and beliefs surrounding the Fountain of Youth, and Ponce de Leon. Book Three touches upon all of these. I'm taking a short break to write this post, because I'm not sure what to do next in the plot. I need to think about character motivations, what drives them, what the reactions should be to last actions. I've already written the following scene, but it's a culminating one and I need a stronger lead-up. 

I'll figure it out. I always do.

Still, I never thought writing would be so difficult. The Tattooed Witch took me six years from considering the idea, developing it, writing it, revising it too many times to count, to interesting an agent, to finally seeing the book published through Five Rivers Publishing last summer. (Thank you, Robert, fabulous editor that you are, and Lorina, my wonderful publisher). Book Two, The Tattooed Seer took me just over a year to write and revise, and it wasn't that hard. I had less of an idea for it than The Tattooed Witch, but I knew I wanted Miriam and company to race across Esbaña (Spain) in order to reach a port to sail to the new world. There's more magic in Book Two, and more enemies including Tomás (the Grand Inquisitor), plus more romance, as well. Joachín's and Miriam's relationship deepens. But Book Three, this one... oh, yoy.

It'll be the best book of the three, I know. But in the meantime, I feel like I'm running (writing) a marathon. The end is in sight, but I still have a long ways to go.

(If you haven't read The Tattooed Witch, you can read the first two chapters from my previous post here: http://suzenyms.blogspot.ca/2013/08/the-tattooed-witch-first-two-chapters_1.html

OR, you can read the first four chapters from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Tattooed-Witch-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00DZ25XAC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383251781&sr=8-1&keywords=the+tattooed+witch)

If you purchase a copy of the book, thank you very much! As a debut novelist, I both need and appreciate your support. If you like the book, please feel free to write a review - on Amazon, on your blog, or wherever.

GUEST POST BY LORINA STEPHENS, PUBLISHER of FIVE RIVERS PUBLISHING

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED BY PEOPLE WHO DECIDE to get into the publishing business as small press publishers. I've wondered at what their initial motivations were, what prompted them to take on such responsibilities, and what the depth of their business acumen must be in order to ensure their house is a success. Over the next while, I plan to host a number of small press publishers on Suzenyms, to offer you their stories. Since Five Rivers Publishing represents my own work, it made sense to start with my publisher, the talented and formidable Lorina Stephens:

WHEN FIVE RIVERS LAUNCHED INTO PUBLISHING in 2008, it was with humble beginnings and a small catalog, primarily my own works. It was never my intention for Five Rivers to be a vanity house, yet in those first two years we were very embryonic, soliciting manuscripts and developing our mandate, which was to be a showcase of new and established Canadian voices. We tested the waters with two of my books: Shadow Song (August 2008), and And the Angels Sang (September 2008), also Elephant's Breath and London Smoke, by Deb Salisbury (February 2009). In July, 2009, we also published another one of my books, From Mountains of Ice.

Why publish these four books? Shadow Song had been the rounds of major publishers, often garnering positive comments, but always falling just short of that illusive publishing contract, mostly, it would seem, because of its hybrid nature. I decided to venture out on my own, given there was enough response to make me believe a small house and sufficient marketing could bring in a reasonable expectation of success. Turns out that decision was sound, and while Shadow Song has not hit bestseller, it has certainly performed better than the majority of self-published books which usually only see a maximum of 200 units sold.

Since I'd already decided to commit the, then, sin of self-publishing, I figured I'd publish a collection of my own short stories, And the Angels Sang. (For those of you who have or are reading Joseph Boyden’s The Orenda, you may find the title story of this collection of interest.) If nothing else, it would gain me experience in the publishing world, in all of its facets from creation to the business of distribution and accounts collection. 

Around about that time an old colleague of mine, Deb Salisbury—who researched and created historical sewing patterns under her business, The Mantua-Maker—told me about a dictionary of historic colour names on which she was working. That piqued my curiosity, and after several discussions with her I asked her to let me publish the book. I knew very well Elephant's Breath and London Smoke would be an ultra-niche market book. But for those who were after this kind of esoteric historical material, it would be invaluable. And given my life-long penchant for ignoring the status-quo—that became a recurring theme in the publishing house—the decision to publish the dictionary just seemed logical. It was impeccably researched, well-organized, an ease to layout and publish. During that time I also took on several books on the business of writing by freelancer, Paul Lima. Paul went on to take control of his own publishing. 

By 2010 the pattern for Five Rivers was cast; remember that statement about ignoring the status-quo? Yeah, pretty much. I found myself keeping company with blissful renegades who scoffed at the concept of warehousing inventory and print runs, who giggled at the accepted policy of book returns whenever and wherever, who mined the reality of online sales and marketing through the major online booksellers on a global scale. Small publishers, after all, stood an almost non-existent chance of gaining space on the expensive real estate of bricks and mortar store-shelves. So why compete? And why bleed funds into expensive distribution which would only target a limited market with limited success? Why not target online global booksellers amenable to the kind of guerrilla marketing we happy few employed? 

There was an attendant cost, however, to that new-age thinking; it meant we sank or succeeded on our own nickel, without the floatation devices offered through government arts grants and funding. It meant reviewers and awards jurors having a problem with a curling lip when our print-on-demand, micro-press books showed up for consideration. That’s fine. A problem is simply a solution waiting to happen. We went to grassroots reviews, rather than critical reviews. (Ask yourself, does the average reader ever open the pages of a critical review journal?) We mostly eschewed literary awards which required a fee or some proof of pedigree. Instead, we again went to the people. And therein lays another phenomenon: there is no such thing as bad publicity. So even when one reader trashes a book, another reader purchases that same book just to find out about the hype. 

By 2010 I’d acquired a few orphaned titles from authors with a backlist, broadening our base, and through them other manuscripts, both non-fiction and fiction, started appearing in my email. That all seemed a little weird somehow, and there were days I felt like the kid wearing the superhero costume playing Let’s Pretend. But through it all was an honest desire to create something unique, to build relationships of trust and common purpose, so that author and publisher could work together toward a greater ideal. 

I knew what it was to be the writer in the dark of the closet, stuffing pages under the door. I knew what it was to sit on the other side of a desk as an editor, and find an endless repeat of errors from authors, and how to wield that blue pencil with both compassion and uncompromising standards. And now, I knew what it was to be a publisher, balancing a writer’s dreams with the imperatives of profitability. I felt, and still do, as though I’d found my life’s work, that I could still be the writer, but I could also share and put to good use my experience as an editor, and now as a publisher. But I get ahead of myself. The most pivotal event of 2010 was when I made the acquaintance of Dr. Robert Runté, whom I met through SFCanada. Our relationship, and subsequent friendship, developed around a query he sent me for a review copy of that hybrid novel of mine, Shadow Song. I’m sure, if Robert’s honest, he was expecting to find some sort of drek. He didn’t. And so a relationship of mutual respect and trust developed, so much that by 2011, Robert’s name was on Five Rivers’ masthead as Editor in Chief. Robert brought with him an immense body of knowledge and editorial skills. He believed in the vision I had for this crazy publishing house, and was willing to work alongside me as my Wing Man. How great is that?  

After that, things grew exponentially. Manuscripts flooded in. The usual two week or less turn-around for reading submissions expanded into weeks, then months. We went from those initial two books in 2008 to 32 now in publication (34 by the close of 2013.) And the beauty of the business model we embraced ensured all titles remain in publication until the agreement is terminated by either the author or Five Rivers. So, in essence, our titles earn money while we all sleep. 

In 2012 Jeff Minkevics came aboard as Five Rivers’ Art Director. Jeff’s background as a graphic artist and his own extraordinary vision and skill, marked another evolution for the publishing house. He has an ability to take an author’s vision and translate it into some of the most dynamic cover art we feel we’ve ever seen. 

Our publishing docket now projects forward eight years, with approximately 50 titles scheduled and under contract. Late in 2012, I had to make the painful decision to close our doors to submissions, simply because it was unfair to authors to ask them to wait so long for a response to their queries and to push publication dates out so far. I never wanted to be one of those houses. But there are attendant responsibilities to success. I am toying, however, with the concept of opening to submissions for a brief window every year, perhaps a two week period, just to keep the literary gene pool fresh. If we do, our mandate, however, still remains: to give voice to Canadian writers. 

Should that happen, what would snag our attention? In non-fiction we’re always looking for well-researched and documented material in a conversational tone. We’d likely be quite partial to meticulously documented experimental archeology, biographies of forgotten (or otherwise) Canadian figures, and First Nations issues. We are very unlikely to be interested in self-help, how-to, or religious offerings. In fiction, we always gravitate toward strong characterization, and focused point of view, elegance and precision in the use of language, and quirky twists and fresh insights. Whether literary fiction, or genre, there should never be a compromise in the beauty of the written word. Just write the most honest, compelling tale you can. Put it all out there, the beauty and the beasts, the subtlety and sometimes vagary of life. Capture us. Compel us to read the next word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, page. Hold us willing prisoner to the skill of your story-telling. 

Tell us a story. It’s that simple. And that hard. 

If you’re at all curious about the kind of work Five Rivers publishes, simply visit our website at www.fiveriverspublishing.com. You'll find our catalogue there. You will also find a series of posts under the Why We Published tag; those posts will give you further insight as to why a particular title snagged our acceptance. We can also be found on Facebook as both a group and page, and on Twitter under the handle @5rivers. 

Lorina's Bio: In 2008, Lorina established her own indie publishing house in direct response to the changing face of publishing. She brings with her over 20 years of experience as a freelance writer, author, and editor, and a commitment to publishing new Canadian voices which might otherwise remain silent. She has worked as editor, freelance journalist for national and regional print media, is author of seven books both fiction and non-fiction, been a festival organizer, publicist, lectures on many topics from historical textiles and domestic technologies, to publishing and writing, teaches, and continues to work as a writer, artist, and publisher.  She has had several short fiction pieces published in Canada’s acclaimed On Spec magazine and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s fantasy anthology Sword & Sorceress X. Her book credits include Stonehouse Cooks, Five Rivers Publishing 2011, From Mountains of Ice, Five Rivers Publishing 2009, And the Angels Sang, Five Rivers Publishing 2008, Shadow Song, Five Rivers Publishing 2008, Recipes of a Dumb Housewife, Lulu Publishing 2007, Credit River Valley, Boston Mills Press 1994, Touring the Giant's Rib: A Guide to the Niagara Escarpment, Boston Mills Press 1993. She is presently working on two new novels, The Rose Guardian and Caliban. She lives with her husband of nearly 40 years, and cat, in an historic stone house in Neustadt, Ontario. Lorina can be found at her website lorinastephens.blogspot.ca, Facebook and Twitter (@LorinaStephens).

(Thanks, Lorina. You're awesome!)

GUEST INTERVIEW WITH SALLY MCBRIDE, AUTHOR OF INDIGO TIME

THE FOLLOWING POST IS A GUEST INTERVIEW featuring Sally McBride and her debut novel, Indigo Time. I first learned of Sally's work when On Spec published her short story Softlinks in the 1991 Spring issue (coincidentally, the year I started as an editor with On Spec) and again, in On Spec's anthology, The First Five Years. I had the pleasure of meeting Sally for the first time in Toronto at the World Fantasy Convention in 2012. I'm very happy to feature her here. 

 1). To start off, Sally, please give us a short description of Indigo Time. How would you describe the book in terms of genre? Is it a sub-genre? A blended genre? A hybrid? Indigo Time is a hard book to describe, which made it a hard book to pitch. It doesn’t have a tag-line, like “Buffy meets Tarzan” or anything sound-bite-y that allows people to immediately understand what sort of read they’re getting into. Technically, I suppose it’s science fiction (lost colony world of a galactic empire, genetic engineering) but it reads more like a fantasy (primitive society ruled by a mad queen, psychic powers in evidence). It’s a story about a world dominated by a woman so immersed in her past and her quest for revenge that she is willing to sacrifice her own children to satisfy that lust. And about a genetically engineered horse which carries in his blood the means for her to do so. So, yeah, I’d call it a hybrid.

2). What was your inspiration (or inspirations) for writing Indigo Time? The book started as a short story that went nowhere, written when I was still learning that it takes more than a few pretty scenes to make a story. Some critique group friends read it, and one in particular liked it a lot and remembered it years later, giving me an injection of enthusiasm to revisit the tale. The original story was about a woman married against her will to the wrong man, and how she took her revenge. It was sentimental but I thought it had promise. I wanted to expand the lives of the characters I invented in the original short version, place them in a more wide open setting (a new world in an ancient and corrupt empire of worlds), and let them run free. Novel length seemed right, since I wanted to stick with my characters for several years of their lives, and take them into the heart of my evil queen’s long-term plan.

3). When did you start to write the book, and how long did it take you to finish it? I took an extraordinarily long time to finish it… I worked on Indigo Time, in its various incarnations, for 15 years, off and on. Mostly off. During that time I moved several times (in Canada and the US), my parents died, I got divorced, I got remarried… life tended to get in the way. Not that “life” is an excuse not to write, but it does tend to take up a lot of bandwidth. I’ve always worked slowly, but pretty steadily, and if I don’t write at least a couple of hundred words every few days I get a little antsy. When I get an idea, I start out “pantsing” (seat-of-the-pants writing), then when things get complicated I turn into a plotter. Using brief scenes, I generate an outline. I know what should happen, and the order of events leading to a climax and resolution, but along the way ideas, plot twists, characters, and embellishments pop into my mind. I work on several projects at once, switching from book to book as my enthusiasm and inventiveness wax and wane. I’m very glad to see Indigo Time in print at last.

4). How long did it take you to find a publisher? I actually found a publisher for an earlier draft of the novel over 10 years ago. It languished there, unattended, and I got interested in several other projects. I’d think about it now and then, but it kind of dropped below my radar until a friend said, “Why not talk to Robert Runté at Five Rivers? He’s looking for manuscripts.” Since Robert and I were both attending the 2012 World Fantasy Conference in Toronto, it seemed like a great chance to talk about the book. Robert expressed an interest in seeing it and I was thrilled. Not only is he an experienced freelance editor of science fiction and fantasy, he also serves as Five Rivers’ Editor-in-Chief. He acquired the manuscript and put it on the fast track.

5). What were your most difficult moments when writing the book? What were your best? Overall, the fact that this story sat around for years in an unfinished form, nagging at my subconscious, was the worst. I went through periods of just wanting to forget it, call it a practice novel, and move on. The realization that other people—whose opinions I respect—might find merit in it was the best. As far as the manuscript itself—it was that darn opening few pages that brought me to my knees. Not without a fight, mind you. Robert Runté showed endless patience coupled with an iron will (and the sharp eyes and ears of a born editor), and finally a new opening scene grew out of his insistence that 'no, someone sitting on a horse thinking' does not constitute an action scene. 

6). I found many wonderful things about Indigo Time, in particular, the complexity of your characters and their relationships, ie., the difficult marriage and frustrated tensions between Grae Tarlannat and his wife, Kael, the conflicted feelings between mother and daughter, Kael and Nikkolue, as well as others. Your portrayal of these relationships is potent and honest. Why explore difficult emotional situations? Do you feel they draw the reader? What is your process for building such characters and relationships? Stories are about people. Interesting stories are about complex, troubled people doing things that complicate their lives. Resentment, jealousy, and unrequited love drive the stormy relationship between Grae and Kael. A twisted obsession with her stunted (literally) past makes my villain, Marrula, do what she does. Without conflict, a book is just a recitation of who does what to whom. As soon as you ask why they are doing it, things start to liven up. Why does my protagonist hate her husband? Why does one of my main male characters feel like a useless coward? Remember the TV show Ugly Betty? About a plain but feisty Latina girl trying to make it in the fashion world? Betty gave me a quote: “Find your way in, by making it personal.” It’s a good rule for starting an opening scene, and it’s good to remember to keep it personal all through the story. Readers are interested, generally, more in what believable people are doing and thinking than in descriptions of scenery, lumps of back story, and narrative explanations of politics or whatever. If I have a scene that’s dragging, I try to find a way to tell it in dialogue, or in a different point of view, while watching out for the dreaded, “As you know, Bob” trap. If I can get a view of my world through someone’s eyes and heart, rather than just describing it, then I know I’m succeeding.

7). Your antagonist, Marrula Tamara, immortal, ruler of Strand, and great-grandmother to Nikkolue is one of the most evil and psychopathic antagonists I’ve ever encountered. I suspect this is because you play on our sensitivities—grandmothers are not supposed to take advantage of their grandchildren. When you create an antagonist, what are your building blocks? How do you make them so memorable? I love to hate my antagonists, but they are my literary children too, just as much as my stalwart hero or my pure-of-heart heroine are. If I have any tip at all on how to create a truly nasty character, it’s, don’t hold back. I tend often to be too nice  (the Canadian in me perhaps); I have to remember that the villain usually thinks they are right—that is, their chosen course of action makes perfect sense to them. They aren’t trying to be evil, per se, they are trying to win, or at least survive. When driven into a corner, the meekest rat will fight, so a clever, driven villain must fight as hard as possible to gain what they want. If they trample others in the process—well, that’s part of doing business. I do think that Marrula Tamara gets a bit carried away with enjoying being bad… but she is half-crazy. She has a cherished goal in mind, and it has taken over her thoughts too much. I’d really like to give her a chance to redeem herself.

8). Your use of a character’s interior dialogue is very well done, reflective of how most people think. As writers, we’re encouraged to write prose that is lean, vivid, and strong. In Indigo Time, you do this remarkably well, even when your characters’ thoughts skip from topic to topic as your immortal wizard/veterinarian Olren Warrek’s do, in particular. What tips do you have for writing great interior dialogue? It helps if you spend a lot of time inside your own head, rummaging around. I often find myself having lively conversations with imaginary, or remembered, people. It’s good practice for dialogue both interior and exterior. People’s heads are full of misinformation. Resentments fester, lies take hold, imaginary slights grow large. There is also truth in there, things people know but would never admit. In a character who is virtually immortal, things get forgotten, twisted, mashed up, or misfiled. Interior dialogue is a good way to reveal character, for you can show hidden facets that wouldn’t come out in narrative, or regular dialogue. The thoughts of a young, innocent girl are very different from those of a jaded, immortal scientist, or a brooding, self-pitying mother.

9). What themes were you personally exploring in Indigo Time? Why? Learning or finding personal courage. Forgiveness. The dynamics of a family in stress. How people can hang on to hate, however irrationally, because somehow, it's a comfort. Hate can be a stalwart friend who tells you that you’re right, even when in your heart you suspect you are wrong. The pitfalls of immortality, which sounds great until you have to live it.

10). Indigo Time works well as a stand-alone novel, but you’ve left the way clear for more of the story to come. I would love to read a sequel. Any plans for one? Yes, I have a sequel plotted out, very loosely. It follows many of the main characters of Indigo Time and starts about 16 years later. It involves contact—at last—with the Empire that stranded them on their beautiful, lonely world so long ago, and introduces several new characters. One of the main characters from Indigo Time undergoes a complete change. Its themes are revenge, love, and lust, and how they can be mistaken for obsessive hatred, and the healing power of forgiveness. Quite similar in theme to Indigo Time, but with more spaceships. 

11). Where can readers find Indigo Time, and what other books of yours are available? Indigo Time is available directly from the publisher, Five Rivers Publishing, as a print or an e-book. It can also be found at the usual online venues where readers can take a peek inside (see below). I had an exciting summer - another novel, Water, Circle, Moon, came out from Masque Books, a new e-book only imprint of Prime Books. Water, Circle, Moon is an expansion of a short story published by On Spec Magazine - it's a romantic fantasy set in modern day England, and features shape-shifters. Horse shape-shifters. Do I detect an equine theme? People are welcome to check out my (rather lame, I'm techno-challenged) website at sallymcbridesf.ca. I'm currently working on The Nightingale's Tooth, a fantasy set in an alternate medieval France, and Unconfigured Stars, a science fiction novel about shape-shifters, but without any hint of horses. As usual I have lots of other projects at various states of completion.

Thank you, Sally! If you'd like to read Indigo Time, you can find it in print or for e-books, here:

From Amazon: 

From Kobo:

From Five Rivers Publishing:

HYBRID BOOKS, ARE THEY SALEABLE?

WHEN I WAS AT WHEN WORDS COLLIDE IN CALGARY, one of the reading panels I was on was the ‘Hybrid Historical Readings’ panel, which I shared with Graeme Brown and Ronald Hore. As we only had an hour to read, we didn’t have time to talk about what we considered a hybrid novel to be, or how cross-genre books fit into the ever changing paradigm of the publishing world.

Six months earlier and before I signed with Five Rivers Publishing: when my agent was hoping to interest one of the Big Five Publishers in New York, she was told, over and over, that the editors liked The Tattooed Witch, but there was one problem: they didn’t know where it would fit in a bookstore. I went to Jasper, Alberta, on a writing and evaluation retreat. On one of the worst weekends of my life, I considered rewriting the book as a women’s historical. I thought of giving up the vision, of tossing the magic, of limiting the love interest to only one (because, by formula, romance readers want only one love interest, not two). I spent an entire Saturday re-reading Witch and not knowing whether the book was any good or not. On the following Sunday, I vacillated between feeling numb and crying my eyes out. I’d spent six years on this novel, and I was being asked to consider rewriting it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn’t. If I turned it into a strictly historical, I would destroy it. I would snuff the life from it, I would kill its soul.

One month later, I foresook visions of fame and riches and signed with Five Rivers Publishing, a small, but high quality press. Robert Runté, Editor in Chief, had heard me read the first two chapters from Witch two years earlier at When Words Collide, 2011. He told me then, that if I couldn't interest a big house, he would take the book. Luckily for me, not everyone thinks or works the way the Big Five do.

After the When Words Collide panel, I asked Robert for his take on hybrid books and how often they cross his desk at Five Rivers Publishing. This is what he had to say:

“It’s true that a lot of hybrid books come our way. The big presses are run by their marketing departments rather than editorial. After an editor pulls a book from the solicited submissions and advocates for it through the chain of the editorial department, it's the Director of Marketing and his army of sales reps who get the final word. And there’s no arguing with that, because the big presses have to make money for their shareholders. It would be irresponsible of them to choose books merely because they are good, when what matters is that they sell. They owe it to their shareholders to make a predictable return on investment (and the big publishers carry gigantic levels of debt and overhead) so they have to rely on the tried and true marketing channels.

Even the smaller presses, if they are tied to the legacy model of fixed print runs, cannot handle hybrids. It's difficult to risk your shirt on a novel you don't know how to market. In contrast, we at Five Rivers have no problem marketing it, because our category is 'great novels', or  ‘yet another Five Rivers-vetted novel'. We can take risks others can't, because we have low overheads and because the editors are still in charge - not marketing, not shareholders looking for a safe investment. Our sales model is built on the slow build, on word of mouth, on teachers adopting class sets. Three or four thousand copies a year would be too few for a large publisher to bother keeping a title in print, but over a decade, that's 40,000 sales the author didn't make. With the new publishing model, we'd be quite satisfied with 1,000 copies of a title a year, because that adds up to a significant piece of change over a couple of decades, and sales go up each time an author releases a new title, plus each time the press has another hit. So we can risk books that are cross-overs, or are too original, or are too ‘not-exactly-like-this-year's-best-seller’, because we're looking for great books, not safe, predictable sellers. 

 We believe there are still discriminating readers out there who follow authors and imprints and are not necessarily limited to a single bookshelf or category in a bookstore. And so far, we've been correct. We're already in the black after only three years in operation, which is considered an exceptionally strong showing in the publishing industry (and that, without any government subsidies).”

(Me again: I think what really makes me feel happy about Five Rivers taking on a hybrid book like The Tattooed Witch is summed up in this final statement from Robert.)

“I want to publish quality books, which means books that authors are really passionate about, not books dictated by agents and editors based on what they think (notoriously inaccurately) will sell. I want books with soul, not books that have been engineered to market specifics. I want to hear the author's voice, not that of a focus group. I’m not looking to publish titles that sell by meeting the lowest common denominator. I want, and have been getting, quality writing by writers who are writing from their vision, not a publishers’ needs. My fear is if we get a cross-over shelf in bookstores, then we'll get agents telling authors, “I could sell this if you just added a romance-paranormal sub-theme!" Bah, humbug! All it has to be to me is brilliant.”

(Thank you, Robert. You've restored my faith in the industry and in myself.)

THOSE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS - WHAT ARE AGENTS AND EDITORS LOOKING FOR?

A WRITER FRIEND WHO IS JUST STARTING OUT sent me this note recently: "Can I pick your brain, please? When asked to submit the first page of a manuscript, or the first three chapters for that matter, what is it that agents/editors really want (besides the obvious answer—exactly what they requested)? For example, I have a brief prologue: is this the first page or should it be the first page of chapter one? The prologue is relevant to the story as a whole. All my chapters are of differing lengths, so the first three chapters may well be longer or shorter than the others. I am concerned that submitting exactly what is asked for may not present the information in its best light." 

This is what I told him: It sounds like your first page would be the first page of your prologue. If an agent or editor asks you for the first three chapters, I suspect they would count your prologue, then chapters one and two, to mean the first three. 

That said, I know a lot of editors who don't like prologues. Because of this, you might want to submit the first page of your chapter one instead. What agents and editors are looking for in a first page is writing ability, so send them your best one, whether that's from your prologue or your chapter one. If they're asking for three chapters, they want to see the story's premise and if it grabs them. Send them the best first three—either prologue, chapters one and two, or chapters one, two, and three. You'll know which will serve you best. I suspect anything that hooks the reader right away and gets the action going is what you want. If your prologue does a lot of explaining and providing back story, don't send it. I know of one agent who doesn't want to see back story in the first eighty pages. Ask yourself—do you really need the prologue? Readers are willing to wait for explanations, as long as the story engages them right from the get-go."

After I sent him this note, I decided I should ask an expert, my own editor at Five Rivers Publishing, Robert Runté. When I put my friend’s question to him, this is what Robert had to say. I think his response is representative of what most acquisitions editors think: 

"I agree with Susan’s comment that most editors regard prologues with suspicion. Prologues serve a specific purpose, but most beginning authors use them instead to provide back story, which equals 'no sale'. Just seeing the title 'Prologue' is often enough to make me want to move the manuscript to the 'read later' pile. On the other hand, I want to see the words that the potential buyer picking up the book in a bookstore will see first...so sending something from later in the book may annoy some editors when they finally see the whole thing. (Or maybe not, since it's easy enough to say, ‘lose the prologue’.)

The bottom line, however, is I need to see enough of the writing to know whether the book has potential. As Susan said, if you think your prologue is the strongest first page, send that. If you think the first chapter has the strongest first page, send that (and then recognize that if the prologue isn't your strongest start, you shouldn't have one!). Send enough additional pages to provide a representative sample—three chapters or 30 pages, whichever is greater.

I might also make the suggestion that if you haven't had the entire manuscript professionally edited, or feel you can't afford professional editing for the entire thing, maybe shell out for editing the first three chapters/30 pages to ensure that at least that much is your best foot forward. If editors like what your (edited) opening looks like, they can assign their own editors to edit the rest of the manuscript to bring it up to that level. But you can't get access to the publisher's editors unless you make it through the door in the first place."

(Thanks, Robert. That's excellent advice. As well as being Senior Editor at Five Rivers Publishing and an English Professor at the University of Lethbridge, Robert is also an excellent free-lance manuscript editor in his own right, who can offer you help with your work at all levels. His website contains valuable information on a number of topics in the field. Check out Robert's blog at: http://www.sfeditor.ca/about.htm)

Next post:  Interview with Michael R. Fletcher, author of '88'.

Stay tuned.

FIRST PROMO on FIVE RIVERS BLOG

I HAD TO INCLUDE THIS POSTING this morning. Lorina Stephens at Five Rivers Publishing made this announcement about my upcoming trilogy on the Five Rivers blog. :-)

It looks as if we might see the first book, The Tattooed Witch, launched this August! It will be available in both e-book and print (POD) versions. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow: Guest Post by Rachel Sentes - Do I Need a Publicist, and if so, What Kind?

PUBLISHING NEWS: THE TATTOOED WITCH

I'M BREAKING A POSTING PROMISE. I was going to post Rachel Sentes’ guest post on 'Do I Need a Publicist, and if so, What Kind?' (and I still intend to, within the next few days), but news like this only comes around once in a great while. After six years of hard work (and as many revisions), Five Rivers Publishing is going to publish my first novel, The Tattooed Witch. Better yet, they’ve signed me for the next two books in the trilogy. Hopefully, The Tattooed Witch will be released sometime this fall.

It’s been quite a journey. Like all writers, I’ve undergone a huge learning curve: writing a novel is not like writing a short story, the form with which I’ve been most familiar. I’ve been blessed with wonderful teachers, my agent Sally Harding, in particular. I’ve been more than fortunate in finding a terrific Editor-in-Chief in Robert Runté and a wonderful publisher in Lorina Stephens. Because the book straddles paranormal romance and historical fantasy, I am thankful that both Robert and Lorina are not tied by strict genre guidelines.  

I finished penning my Dedication and Afterword this morning. Artist Jeff Minkevics is either thinking about the cover, or he has started work on it. I am thrilled and happy to be taking my place alongside so many of my friends who have published novels or collections. And to all of you who have offered me your congratulations, thank you for filling my happiness to the brim.

Next Post: Guest Post by Rachel Sentes, Publicist, Do I Need a Publicist, and if so, What Kind?

Stay tuned.