Deborah Nemeth Is In The House
I have a serious girl-crush on Deborah Nemeth. Deb is my editor at Carina Press and she's generously agreed to answer a few questions. She's an editor in high demand so I really appreciate her taking the time to visit.
Deb recently edited Apocalypse Rising (out TODAY) and I've learned so much from her over the course of editing this book. She's an intuitive editor, grasping what the story needs as it develops. How she can read the same story over and over again and come up with new suggestions leaves me in awe. Editing is hard work! Yet she makes it look effortless. I hit the jackpot when I got her.
Please welcome my extra-special guest. Feel free to ask questions. I'm sure she'll pop in sometime today to answer them.
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Q: What subgenres do you actively seek?
A: Thanks for starting out with an easy question, and one I can talk about at length. Short answer: I like variety, so pretty much any genre fiction except horror and inspirational. As most editors tell authors, voice is the most important attribute, followed by compelling characters and a gripping story. Carina doesnāt just publish romance, and Iām always looking for mysteries of all sorts, from gritty police procedurals to English village cozies.
One of my favorite genres is steampunk, a clever blend of SF/fantasy and historical fiction. Another is historicalsāRegency (of course!), but any period from ancient civilizations to WW2, as well as unusual and exotic settings from Spain to Persia to Siam.
I also enjoy action-packed thrillers and suspense; lighthearted capers, chick lit and rom com; and dark, angsty contemporaries, womenās fiction and paranormals. For SFF, Iām seeking solid, unique world-building, and I especially enjoy epic fantasy, Arthurian, space opera, space westerns, futuristic. Iām open to genre blends and less popular niches such as family sagas. I acquire all heat levels from sweet to erotic and am always seeking more m/m authors and multicultural stories.
Q: What advice would you give new authors when pitching their novels to Carina?
A: Itās always a good idea to read a publisherās guidelines and follow the instructions. Beyond that, here are a few tips:
ā¢ Write the best story you can and take the time to polish it thoroughly.
ā¢ Itās not necessary but itās always nice when an author takes the time to research the editors and addresses a personalized query, which can be sent to the general email address. Dear Deborah Nemeth, I read on Maria Zanniniās blog that you enjoy steampunk/unusual historical settings/capers/cozy mysteriesā¦
ā¢ Our submissions review process is more thorough than at many epublishers, so please allow us sufficient time. At least two Carina Press editors/staff members must recommend a manuscript for acquisition, so it often takes longer.
ā¢ If you get a revise and resubmit letter, treat it as an opportunity, not as a rejection.
ā¢ If youāre new to epublishing, educate yourself about social media and building a web presence so youāre prepared for when you receive an offer of publication.
Q: Can you give us a checklist that tells an author when a manuscript is ready to make the rounds?
A: Hereās a checklist that less experienced authors might find useful:
1. Have you begun the story in the right place, to hook the reader with an intriguing situation, goal and motivation?
2. Is the setup/backstory cleverly interwoven and presented in steady drips, only giving the reader what we need to know to follow the action, instead of fed to the readers in big chunks of exposition?
3. Are your characters fleshed out? Do the protagonists have some flaws? Do the villains have any positive attributes? Have you given your protagonists a goal they feel passionate about, one that grabs the readersā attention and makes them want to keep reading to find out the outcome?
4. If your story is a romance, do the hero and heroine have clashing goals? Have you provided both internal and external conflict?
5. Does tension steadily mount until the grand climax? Do you make it more and more difficult for the protagonists to achieve their goals?
6. Does every scene contain conflict? Does every scene begin and end on a hook?
7. Do you make your protagonists suffer? Do they learn, grow, change throughout the course of the story?
8. Do you bring the readers to a point in the story where they canāt see how the hero/heroine can possibly overcome their obstacle to achieve their goal?
9. Have you done multiple self-editing rounds, ruthlessly weeding out banal dialogue, stock gestures, clichƩd language and situations? Is your prose as tight as you can make it, with repetition and unnecessary explanations pruned away, with no instances of telling what you show? No unnecessary dialogue tags or filler words that can come out?
10. Is your point of view as deep as you can make it? Have you eliminated unneeded filter words to bring us deeper into the viewpoint charactersā minds?
11. Has your manuscript been checked by crit partners who can give you competent and candid assessments of any weaknesses?
12. Have you read the dialogue out loud? Have you read the entire manuscript out loud, paying attention to meter and syntax, the rhythm of the prose?
These are terrific suggestions! Thank you, Deb for being my guest. You're the best!
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Now dear readers, do you have any questions or comments?
Comments
Happy Release Day!
Deb, Iāve heard such great things about you from a few Carina authors. Thanks for providing all this information.
Question for Deb: I'm curious as to the percentage of submissions that actually make it through from query to publication. Thanks again ...
You're very welcome, and thank you for the kind words. I hope some of you may find some of this information useful.
Deb
Thanks for a very informative posting!
The percentage question is tricky for me to answer since I see only part of Carina's subs, and each editor's experience will differ. I can tell you that out of the first 50 submissions I read back in 2009, I acquired 2, which is about 4%, but one of those was after a revise/resubmit. And I also passed one of those submissions to another editor, who requested acquisition. Out of the second 50 I reviewed, I acquired one straight away, from an author I knew at my previous publishing house, and another one after two revise and resubmits, a rare instance when I did more than one RR.
Since then the percentage of slush I've acquired in any quarter has generally been in the 3-5% range. However, my acquisition percentage overall is much higher since most are coming from current Carina Press authors, or authors I've worked with at other houses, and I tend to really like their writing.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about the types of mss I'm seeking and to interact with your blog readers.
Congrats on the release of Apocalypse Rising! I had a great time editing your awesome story.
Deb
Great question. A few common openings in historical submissions spring to mind: the Regency hero giving his mistress her conge, the heroine causing the hero to fall off his horse, and most especially the you-must-get-married-now-to-save-the-family opening, generally due to financial difficulties arising from Papa's gambling debts.
Keep in mind that any opening can work with a fresh twist, crisp writing, and compelling characters, and the must-get-married goal can be a useful one, especially in Regencies.
I blogged more about tired openings on the Carina Press website a few months ago: http://carinapress.com/blog/2011/01/tired-openings/
Deborah
Enjoyed the guest post, Maria! Thanks for arranging it.
Well done, Deborah. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome list to have while working on revisions, I'll be printing this out. Thanks Deborah.
Happy release day Maria!
Deborah - I've saved this post to my "edits and rewrites" folder so I can use your checklist when the time comes. Thanks.
Congrats on the release! Off to buy my copy ;)
Thanks for the checklist, Deb :) Have to print that one out.
Thank you all for stopping by to say hello to Deb. Didn't I tell you she was great?
Sorry I disappeared for a while. (Bad day at physical therapy.) He didn't kill me though, so I'm finally back. :)
Deb: Thank you so much for visiting. I loved your checklist. Excellent advice for any writer.
I'm off to re-read Deb's advice :)
Congrats on your release Maria! Can't wait to read it.
And thanks Deb, for the great advice!
Happy release day!