March 2013
Monthly Archive
March 27, 2013
“Convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble, on paper, not eternal bronze: let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. No one will rush out and print it as it stands.” Jacques Barzun
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Musa Publishing will begin taking submissions for its new shared-world project, Dark Side Chronicles, on April 1, 2013. From the guidelines: “The Darkside Chronicles is seeking stories from 35,000 to 100,000 words in the grand tradition of shared world projects like Thieves World, Borderlands, and The Fleet. We are looking for stories in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, horror, romance, paranormal, and noir in combination with the steampunk foundations of the world. .Musa will provide interested authors with an extensive bible of backstory, history, and information necessary to the uniform creation of the world.? To request the world bible, or with any questions about the project, contact Celina Summers at editor@musapublishing.com. See all the Musa Publishing guidelines here.
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Harper Impulse, a new imprint of digital-first novels, novellas and short stories for young adult readers, is up and running and the editors are actively acquiring manuscripts. “We’re seeking all kinds of adult and new adult romantic fiction for digital publication, but particularly contemporary, historical, new adult and erotic fiction as well as short form content.” Submit your your completed manuscript, covering letter and brief synopsis to
romance@harpercollins.co.uk. (though the editorial office is based in the U.K., submissions are welcome from anywhere in the world.) Find out more here.
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Strange, Weird and Wonderful is a small press that specializes in speculative fiction. The editors are assembling an anthology of stories “The Worlds of CY Canis Majoris“. “CY Canis Majoris is the largest known star in the Universe. If this massive body were in the exact location as our own sun, it’s outer edge would stretch to the area where Jupiter orbits. A star with this mass would have an inhabitable zone as large as our entire solar system, if not much larger. With this premise, imagine the worlds which could orbit such a body. Then imagine the beings who could inhavit those same bodies.” The editors are looking for 5,000 to 10,000 words stories, in any speculative fiction sub-genre. Payment is $100 per story, plus two copies of the anthology. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2013. Find more here.
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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog, repost and pass along to others. Please give me credit as the source and include a link to this blog. Thank you. Cindi Myers
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Shop Vitacost for all your health and wellness needs. Groceries, vitamins, home items and more, with $10 free for your first order and free shipping for orders over $49.
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One King’s Lane – vintage and market finds for every room in your home. On sale every day.
March 13, 2013
“I have written a great many stories and I still don’t know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances.” — John Steinbeck
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The big buzz in publishing this week is about Random House’s reversal on the contract requirements for its digital first imprints: Loveswept (romance), Flirt (new adult), Alibi (mystery) and Hydra (sci-fi/fantasy.) Various writing groups had objected to the recent change in contracts to a profit sharing model, under which the author and the publisher split profits 50/50, with no royalties or advance. Profit was defined as net sales revenue minus certain deductions. The ability of the publisher to determine and compute these deductions raised the spector of profitable books yielding nothing for the author after all the deductions are taken out. Stories abound of participants in similar profit sharing contracts in the movie business who ended up making little or nothing.
Random House has responded to the protests by allowing the author to choose between the profit sharing model described above and a more traditional contract with a negotiated advance and an ebook royalty of 25 percent of net. Want to know more? Go here.
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Adams Media is seeking submissions for its Wild and Wanton imprint of erotica based on classic novels. From the guidelines: “Wild and Wanton books take classics (like Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice) and turn them into erotic novels by adding sexually explicit scenes between the characters that readers already know and love. Wild and Wanton authors add these scenes using same tone, voice, and style as the original work. The added scenes must fit in with the original novel’s story arc and character development.” If this is for you, submit a 2-3 page erotic scene from a classic, public-domain novel. Check the guidelines here for more details, and a list of books they’ve already done.
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Wednesday, March 13, is the last day to get a copy of my romantic comedy, The Santini Sisters Survive Sex & Dating, free for Kindle. Get your copy here. 
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Carina Press is seeking New Adult stories. From the guidelines: “We are looking for submissions with a strong story and fully developed, very definable protagonists, 18 and above, (or at an age eligible to enter college), in their early to mid-20s. While at least one protagonist should fall in this age range, it is possible the other protagonist may fall in their upper 20s. Story elements should be targeted to an adult, not teen audience, and should contain adult contemporary themes, frank, modern language, high relationship drama and intense conflict.” Stories should be romances, with a happily-ever-after, or happy-for-now ending and be 50,000 words and up. The editors are particularly interested in contemporary romance, but will also consider paranormal and dystopian stories.) Find all the submission guidelines here.
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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog, repost and pass along to others. Please give me credit as the source and include a link to this blog. Thank you. Cindi Myers
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Shop Vitacost for all your health and wellness needs. Groceries, vitamins, home items and more, with $10 free for your first order and free shipping for orders over $49.
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One King’s Lane – vintage and market finds for every room in your home. On sale every day.
March 6, 2013
“You don’t find time to write. You make time. It’s my job.”
– Nora Roberts
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Harlequin Blaze is sponsoring a contest for those who want to write for the line. Submit your first chapter and a brief synopsis (no more than 10 pages) to the contest by June 1, 2013. The contest is free to enter and you could win a Harlequin editor for a month to mentor you, or a one-time consultation with an editor. One entry per person. Find all the details here.
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Grand Central Publishing has plans to expand its Forever romance imprint, from 64 titles last year to 120 titles this year and 190 titles in 2014. They’ll also be releasing more titles in their ebook only imprint, Forever Yours. While Grand Central normally takes only agented submissions, the editors are open to unagented submissions for Forever Yours. They’re looking for manuscripts between 8,000 and 100,000 words in all romance sub-genres, including contemporary, historical, paranormal, romantic comedy, time travel, romantic suspense, westerns, urban fantasy, futuristic romance, fantasy romance, inspirational and erotica. Your submission package should contain a query letter, a 3-5 page synopsis and your complete manuscript. Find all the details here.
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Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, Maryland is sponsoring the Nora Roberts Writing Institute August 2 and 3, 2013. The two-day retreat is designed to help beginning and aspiring writers learn the fundamentals of writing from professionals. There’s also a Young Writers Institute for students in grandes 10-12. Find out more here.
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Longtime editor of Mira Books, Valerie Gray is retiring at the end of March. In the wake of her leaving, Tara Parsons will assume the role of executive editor, Harlequin MIRA. Susan Swinwood will take over as executive editor, Harlequin HQN and LUNA, and Margo Lipschultz will be senior editor, Harlequin HQN and LUNA.
Peter Senftleben has been promoted to Associate Editor at Kensington Books.
Kaela Myers, Anna Pitoniak and Sam Nicholson are now Associate Editors at Random House.
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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog with others — repost, reprint and pass it on. Please credit me as the source, and include a link to the blog. Thank you. Cindi
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Shop Vitacost for all your health and wellness needs. Groceries, vitamins, home items and more, with $10 free for your first order and free shipping for orders over $49.
**********************************************************************************************************
One King’s Lane – vintage and market finds for every room in your home. On sale every day.
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