Avon Romance, an imprint of HarperCollins, publishes 400 romance novelsa year. Use their online submission form to submit your manuscript directly.
And don’t forget your book proposal!
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How Much Does Editing Cost?
Nowadays, authors know they have to hone their manuscripts as near to perfection as possible to enhance their chances of being picked up by a publisher…or if they’re self-publishing, to enhance their appeal to readers.
Writer’s Resource was founded on the idea that authors should help authors. Part of that is helping with the financial investment. Occasionally the market is surveyed to ensure that costs are at the lower to middle range for comperable levels of experience and services.
This year, the Freelance Editor’s Association found that standard costs across the market are $45-65/hour based on the experience of the editor. A 70,000-word manuscript could take 56 hours for developmental editing. The result is a fee between $2,520 and $18,200. Copy editing, a much lighter form of editing, averaged $25-50/hour for a fee range between $840 and $7,000.
That’s quite an investment.After twenty years in business, this shop maintains price structures that are on the lower and middle ends of the ranges quoted above. The higher level of editing used by the association is also divided into separate services called developmental assistance, consulting, rewriting and line editing.
Breaking things down ensures that each client is able to select only those items they truly feel will help…and the different options help them keep to a budget!
Standard copy editing ranges from $2.50 per page to $3.95 per page. Line editing ranges from $4.00 per page to $7.50 per page. Line editing includes everything offered under copy editing, of course.
Developmental work and rewriting fees are set based on each individual manuscript’s needs; generally, they are higher than the highest level of line editing.
Consulting is performed on an hourly basis.
Whether you’re aiming for a publisher’s attention, self-publishing or tackling both options at once, call or email for your editorial and developmental needs.
Book Sales are REALLY Up!
BookStats reports that e-book sales in fiction rose 42% in 2012 to a total value of $1.8 billion.
Nonfiction e-book sales grew 22% to $484.2 million.
E-book sales in children’s and YA categories increased a whopping 117% to $469.2 million.
E-books now account for 20% of publishers’ revenues.
Net revenues for publishers are also up slightly. The industry is recovering. If you have a manuscript that’s been lying in a drawer somewhere collecting dust, it’s time to pull it out and start pitching!
Do Agents Rep Juvenile Authors?
The work I offer through Writer’s Resource covers a range of age groups and genres including juvenile works. Juvenile is defined as anything from children’s picture books through young adult (YA).
Authors are often surprized to learn two things…that they should have a submissions packet for their juvenile works, and that agents will represent fiction and nonfiction targeting younger readers.
Fifteen years ago, the landscape was much different. It was much more difficult to locate agents who represented works for young readers outside the academic market. Today, things have changed so much that juvenile works are well respected…and agents want to represent the works whether they’re for the academic market, the mainstream reader, or both.
It used to be that when a client asked me to put together a list of agents for their juvenile works, the research turned up only a handful of agents. Nowadays, it is common for those lists to include dozens of names…often a hundred or more.
If your project has a wide target, consider adding an agent to the team of individuals you work with to help you along your publishing journey.
Book Auctions
Yesterday I posted a comment about a client who wondered if the longer wait for a positive response from a publisher was cause for concern. He wrote back again noting that if a deal came through, he knew it would in part be due to all the work we’d done together to improve the manuscript.
He ended with a comment about competition between the various publishers. He was referring to a book auction.
Several times recently I’ve been asked if auctions still happen. Yes, they do! The industry is in flux and is scrambling to adjust their course in an unknown present but the book auction is alive and well.
And yes, Toto, auctions are still offered to authors who are not celebrities. So take heart and keep working. If you’ve created your best work and keep trying, you’ll eventually meet with success.
How to Tell If a Publisher is Interested
Recently a client contacted me about a manuscript that had been submitted to several of the top publishers. His first manuscript had been picked up right away but this one seemed to be lagging behind. He wondered if “no news is good news” on this front.
The answer is yes. Publishing has changed quite a bit over the past several years and response times can be much slower. Generally, rejections are provided fairly quickly. Any time lag in response often means someone at the publisher wants the book; they just have to go through a series of hoops before getting full and final approval.
So, take silence to mean that a publisher is interested…they’re just trying to figure out where the book will fit in their lineup, how the marketing department will handle the work, or a host of other issues.
Meanwhile, keep working on the next book!
Book Sales are Up Again!
In May, the U.S. Census released statistics for bookstore sales. In March, they rose 1.1% to $931 million.
For the first quarter, bookstore sales were up to $4.03 billion. That’s a 2.2% increase over the first quarter of 2012.
Compare that to the 2.6% rise across the entire retail business, and you realize that books are as important to today’s buyers as designer jeans and bling. Go, books!
Two New Trends in Young Adult (YA) Books
Tired of vampires and other incarnations of the undead? There’s hope!
The pendulum in YA is swinging away from the paranormal back toward contemporary fiction. Yes, zombies are also hot right now and it will take time before readers completely turn away from them. Meanwhile, publishers are ramping up to focus their marketing efforts again on modern fiction.
Mysteries and thrillers are also becoming hot for this age group. This is happening because YA readers reach into the adult market for these kinds of books but the material isn’t suited well to their level. So many more adult authors are shifting their focus or revamping material to fit YA readers.
New Trend in Academic Juvenile Publishing
The No Child Left Behind policy changed publishing when it first was implemented. Now the focus is shifting away from that and toward the Common Core.
This is a hot topic with publishers right now. The focus is on helping young readers gather facts and learn how to think.
This means that there is a renewed focus on nonfiction titles for young readers, particularly middle-grade chapter books. Publishers are looking for things that are fun to read, a little quirky, and especially things that don’t read like homework.
Have something that fits the bill? Dig it out…today! Hone your pitch to this new trend and fire it out!
New Juvenile Imprint
Algonquin Books, long known for their focus on high-quality fiction and nonfiction, is launching a juvenile imprint this fall.
They will start with five titles, a substantial amount considering that they limit their adult titles to a total of 20 every year.
Their goal is to eventually publish 15 juvenile titles in middle-grade and YA markets every year.
Whenever a publisher launches a new imprint, pay attention! Your chances of being considered are much higher as they work to build their list for years to come.
Novellas are on the Rise
One of the latest trends is an increase in the popularity of novellas.
It used to be that novellas were a tough sale. Often publishers and agents would only take them if they were paired with other novellas to create one long book or were embedded in a collection of short stories.
Ebooks have had a hand in changing this for the better. Novellas now are easier to sell because the market has changed. Reading on cell phones has had a particular impact because the shorter form is better suited to that style of consumption.
If you’ve been hanging onto a novella because you heard the market wasn’t buying, take it out of the drawer. See what happens when you send it out to agents and publishers today!
Good News for Indie Bookstores
The demise of Border and the reduced presence of B&N has actually had a benefit.
2012 turned out to be the best year ever for indie bookstores. They posted an 8% increase in profits over the year, which outpaced B&N’s slower growth. Publisher’s Weekly thinks “the worst days of the independents are behind them.”
Celebrate by visiting your local indie bookstore and making a purchase!
When to Revise Your Book
Just heard back from a client about his project’s status. We’ve been working on revisions and his agent is sending it out to publishers now.
If you’re questioning whether your work is ready to send out, consider a few things first.
Is the opening as compelling as it could be?
Does the story have a rising action with one event leading readers forward to the next?
Are your characters developed just enough–deeply for the protagonist and antagonist, and in a well-rounded manner for secondary characters?
Does the pace rise and fall throughout to provide readers with enough time to process emotional milestones while still driving them forward to the next chapter?
Does the ending fulfill the promises made in the opening pages?
Before you even begin the editing process, be sure your storytelling aspects are honed. You’ll be much further along than if you simply copy edit the words.
Agent Info
Agent Jamie Bodnar Drowley of Inklings Literary seeks adult, new adult and young adult fantasy, mystery, romance, paranormal, historical, contemporary, horror, light sci-fi and thrillers.
New Life in Newspapers
Before the collapse of printed newspapers, owners could expect a 30% profit margin from their businesses. Then came the e-revolution.
Times change, and even the revolution can generate good things. After flailing around a bit to try new things like e-publishing, newspapers have returned to print.
Shocking, I know. But it’s working. Now owners can expect about a 10% margin…still very, very good in terms of a business model. Many of the bigger papers that had gone out of print or to e-models are returning to print version.
This is great news for writers. Because hand-in-hand with the rebirth of newspapers is the idea that papers, above all other news forms, are reliable, consistent, and provide quality.
Check around your local area to see what opportunities might have sprung up out of the ashes. And good luck!
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 