Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing has changed its name to Studio Fun International. The change reflects the evolving direction toward reaching new audiences and diversifying their product line.
They’re still looking for innovative, fun projects, so check out their submissions guidelines to see if your juvenile project fits the bill.
Simon451 is a new imprint from Simon & Schuster. The imprint will release sci-fi titles in both print and digital with an ebook-first approach well suited to this target audience.
Simon & Schuster’s president and CEO Carolyn Reidy said the company’s top growth is coming from international sales. Foreign markets are hungry for American books of all types.
To take advantage of this trend, submit to S&S. If you have any works self-published, make sure you’re offering them on digital platforms that have a presence in foreign countries. You don’t have to have a translation; it’s possible to make sales in English-speaking countries as well as India, Scandinavia, and other areas where English is spoken widely as a second language.
Recently there has been quite a bit of conversation about how little support there is for female authors. This runs the gambit from fewer reviews to fewer publishing contracts. In 2012, for example, only 16% of reviewed books were written by women. Writers of color are also underserved.
Joanna Walsh has launched the #readwomen2014 project to help correct the imbalance. Daniel Pritchard, editor of the Critical Flame journal, is dedicating the entire year to women and authors of color. Support these projects…and of course submit to Critical Flame to help boost your own writing.
Literary agent Steve Laube has bought the Christian sci-fi publisher Marcher Lord Press. Open since 2008, the press has a backlist of 40 titles. Laube plans to release 4 to 8 titles per year through Marcher Lord.
Platform, platform, platform. It can be fun or a huge waste of time depending on who you talk to these days.
Generally publishers want to see that authors have some type of social media presence. This is because they want to know that authors are engaged at some level with potential readers.
Does a huge following help? Yes. Is it necessary? Not at all. A few hundred followers on a blog or social media page are enough to show that you’re out there. Anything more is really just frosting on the cake.
Keep this in mind as you manage your time. Never allow a quest for big numbers to take time away from your primary goal, writing.
Netflix has been on a roll. Originally considered something of a rube among Hollywood types, the individual responsible for its success has proven that new ways of thinking, and servicing viewer’s desires and needs before any other metric, is the path to success these days.
Netflix did everything “wrong,” according to film’s old guard. It released a full season of episodes all at the same time to allow for binge viewing (which subscribers wanted), it paid top dollar to lease items that others would have taken only if they could own (again to serve their subscribers regardless of the way others would have made a deal), and they bought new concepts without forcing the producers to make a pilot (taking a chance again to give viewers what they want).
Publishers could learn from all this. Release books faster (because that’s what readers want), allow authors to maintain ownership (serve readers no matter what the old deals looked like), and take chances on unproven concepts (because again, readers want unique, fresh ideas from authors who haven’t yet “proven” themselves with big publishers).
Authors, too, can learn from Netflix. Although the company is willing to take risks and try new things, the concepts they’ve bought have had a strong level of professionalism built in. Actors have been sought out who are clear viewer favorites to attract viewers to those fresh concepts. All the deals made have also been for concepts that have fully written scripts, professional people already on board, and “bibles” or dossiers that outline the fictional world’s details in full.
For authors, this means having a full and polished manuscript ready to go, professional assistance from editors or pitch consultants, and a fully developed idea about their audience, publishing trends, and the author’s potential or actual platform (which is all wrapped into a book proposal, the author’s bible).
Elise Parsley went from query to book deal in 72 hours.
Her work is a picture book called If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! Little, Brown made a preemptive offer (meaning one that was intended to eliminate other bids and a potential bidding war).
The story sparks with creativity and chaos. In juvenile publishing as in other forms of fiction, that creative spark is critical! And yes, quality still sells!
Texts that deal with Biblical information and themes have long been popular with readers. In fact, publishing a Bible often anchors a publishing house with a text that continues to generate sales year after year.
This leaves the arena wide open for authors writing Christian-based works. In addition to novels that deal with spiritual topics, the nonfiction area is strong. Topics can be academic in nature or geared toward mainstream audiences reading at home on their own.
Keep an eye on titles that are coming out to determine which publisher is best for your Christian work.
Rio Nuevo Publishers work with nonfiction books on the American West and Southwest: history, folklore, cooking, travel, memoir, photography, and more.
More great news in publishing. Amulet paid a seven-figure deal for a new middle grade series. The four-book deal is for The Terrible Two, which follows two pranksters.
Middle grade books are alive and well. In fact, some chatter has been overheard lately about adults purchasing these books for their own reading pleasures. They’ve been doing that for YA titles for some years now. Although the numbers likely aren’t the same for middle grade, the fact that some folks are admitting to reading the books rather than only buying them for their kids proves that the story counts.
Yesterday I discussed the latest trends in YA, and noted that everyone is looking for a YA thriller right now.
It seems that Finland has hit the mark. A YA series has come out and the rights have been sold in 33 territories. The first book, As Red as Flood, was released in Feb 2013. Book two came out in August and the third is scheduled for spring of 2014.
Don’t wait! If you’re finished with a YA thriller, get your pitch together now!
Agents are reporting that the number of submissions they’re receiving in the YA category can average 10,000 every year. To ensure your work stands out, consider the latest trends.
The market these days is more sophisticated. Your story has to be sharper and smarter than ever before.
Paranormal elements are fading rapidly; they’ve been overdone.
Contemporary realism continues to be a mainstay.
Stories that offer a hook that allows the book to rise above the masses of other available titles are always in demand. Hone your pitch pieces (the query letter, book proposal, synopsis, etc.) so that your project has the best chance in this area.
Deep emotional topics are in demand because they help guide readers who might be dealing with the same issues.
Thrillers are a big area set for growth. Everyone’s looking for the YA version of Gone Girl.
Pitching your book to a publisher has always involved more than simply the book itself. All along, publishers have been interested in the author as much as the author’s ideas. That’s because readers want to purchase a specific person’s books more often than one from someone they don’t feel like they know.
Additionally, the publisher runs calculations about the book when deciding whether to make a contract offer. The calculations include typesetting, cover art and printing costs, the interest they’ll pay on the money they’ll spend until the book begins to generate revenue, the projected revenue, and subsidiary rights. All that calculates the potential or projected return on investment.
The desired ROI, by the way, is about 8 percent. Less than that and publishers don’t want to bite.
Katie Reed of Andrea Hurst & Assoc wants areas of YA fiction. Especially interested in commercial works with a compelling hook and a protagonist who battles real life issues, soft sci-fi, and fantasy.
Also accepts commercial and literary adult fiction for book club women’s, soft sci-fi, fantasy, suspense/thriller, and contemporary romance.
Nonfiction needs: memoir/biography, self-help, crafts/how-to, inspirational, and parenting.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 