Today, we have a special treat.
Please welcome Angela James, executive editor for Samhain publishing!!
Writing Slut : Despite having to sift through piles of manuscripts every day, what do you like to read? What’s on your “keeper” shelf?
Angela James: I’ve always been a big fan of paranormal, which was really difficult 10-15 years ago, before paranormal was commonplace in romance. So I bought a lot of small press even then. A huge portion of my leisure reading is paranormal romance, fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction/space opera. But my keeper shelf is even more diverse than that. Some of my all-time favorites include David Eddings’ Belgariad/Mallorean series, JD Robb’s In Death series, Julie Garwood’s old historicals, Tell Me No Lies by Elizabeth Lowell, the Lucas Davenport Prey series by John Sandford, and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.
WS: If you could write yourself into a story, what would your character be and be like?
AJ: Oh, I’d definitely be some kickass Buffy-wannabe heroine who went around in killer (maybe literally) black leather knee-high boots, the perfect jeans and a black tank top with a skull on the front. I already have a bit of a punk look going with my nose piercing and bright pink hair, so I’d like to think I’d be a badass character. Sarcastic, witty, irresistible to men, with one good female friend to knock me upside the head when I don’t recognize that one man’s awesomeness. But still a bit of a loner, with need for “me” time. And, of course, I’d be compassionate and kind to animals 
Even shapeshifters, when they didn’t get on my bad side.
WS: What does a normal week look like for you?
AJ: People have normal weeks? I had no idea! I do try to have a sort of routine at home, which is kind of necessary when you have a toddler. She goes to daycare from 8-5 during the week, so I try to get the bulk of my work done during that time, but I work pretty much every night for at least 2 more hours, usually after dinner. I also work on the weekends, though how much varies from weekend to weekend. Sometimes it’s editing, sometimes it’s answering emails.
As for what a “normal” workday consists of, that too varies. I edit at least two days a week, dedicate two days a week to email and other admin duties (such as email, being a boss, marketing efforts, etc), and then spend usually a day on other editorial duties like finalizing books, looking at back copy, cover art forms, etc. One thing you might notice I didn’t mention in there is submissions. Submissions are something most editors don’t really read during a normal workday. Occasionally (maybe once a month) I will set aside one day to go through submissions, but otherwise, I read them in my “down” time: at the beach, on the plane, at night in bed.
There are a bunch of other things that get thrown into my work week. Things like this interview, blog posts, Twitter (which I do consider part of my job…a fun part!), traveling to conferences, some marketing, contests, phone calls, etc. Being an editor is certainly never boring, with all the various duties, but it’s also definitely not a nine to five job and requires a pretty enormous time and energy commitment. As an example, I answered these questions on the drive to and from the beach!
WS: On average, how many submissions do you receive each day?
AJ: We get about 4-5 submissions a day, though that can vary depending on whether we’ve recently had something happen marketing or conference-wise to increase interest, or if there’s a specific call for submissions out that people are answering.
WS: What kind of stories/manuscripts are you (Samhain) currently looking for?
AJ: Really, the first and most important thing we’re looking for are manuscripts that are ready to be seen by an editor. I’m always surprised by how many submissions we get that just clearly have not been edited. Almost like the author wrote the first draft and figured that once the book was done, it was ready to start being submitted. I don’t know any authors who should be sending an editor (or agent) their first draft.
As far as genres, it varies by editor as to what we’re looking for. There’s a good post here: http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/?p=2324 that gives some insight into some of the editors’ interests. We’re each looking for different things, which means most authors will find their genre sought after. But even if a genre isn’t specifically mentioned, it doesn’t mean we’re not looking for it. Some of my very favorite books I’ve edited are in genres I don’t specifically say I “want”.
WS: What is involved in getting a book into publication (from the point an author sends in a completed manuscript to when it is delivered to a bookstore)? What does it look like from your desk?
AJ: After we receive the completed manuscript, we put it on the release schedule. The author will receive forms to fill out for cover art and back cover copy. Once they return those to the editor, the editor sends them to the appropriate people within the company. The cover art department assigns a cover artist while the back cover copy writer will rewrite or polish the back cover copy. The author, via their editor, will have the opportunity to have input into both the final cover art and the back cover copy.
Meanwhile, the editor formats the manuscript into our template and begins the editing process. We generally do two rounds of global/content edits, going back and forth with the author each time. Sometimes a book requires more. After the editor and author feel they’ve gotten the story as close to clean as possible, it’s assigned a copy editor, whose job it is to go over the book both as the “first” reader, looking for any lingering issues, and to clean up any technical things: punctuation, typos, missing words, misspellings, inconsistencies, etc. After both the editor and author have addressed the copy editor’s edits, the editor finalizes the manuscript, doing a final run through, adding in extra content to the back of the book and checking it over one last time. The book is then sent by the editor to the formatting department, where it’s formatted into the various digital formats, prepared for final publication, and uploaded to a variety of online retailers as well as to Lightning Source, where online retailers we don’t have direct contracts with can acquire the book to sell on their sites.
After all this, if the book is long enough for print, our print department formats the book for print, the galleys are sent to the author, who has another chance to go over the book, and then the book is finalized for print and uploaded to Ingrams, our print partner.
All in all, time from contract to digital publication is usually 4 to 6 months, and then ten months after digital publication, the print version releases.
WS: What are your biggest pet-peeves with submitted manuscripts? Or the most common mistakes authors make?
AJ: I think I partly addressed this above, but sending in a manuscript before it’s polished is my biggest peeve. Followed closely by query letters that are full of typos, misspellings and addressed to Mr. Sam Hain. Those are two of the most common mistakes authors make (really, I cannot stress enough the importance of self-editing, beta readers, critique partners, reading your work aloud, setting it aside for a few weeks and coming back to it or whatever you need to do to polish that sucker within an inch of its life).
After that, starting the book in the wrong place is something most new authors do. Authors often write a first chapter (or prologue) of backstory and information, much of which the readers never need to see. Generally, it seems as though the author is writing it to set the story/backstory for themselves, without ever realizing they’re asking their readers to slog through some kind of boring stuff to get to the action. I always encourage new authors to look at their first two-three chapters and see where their story really starts, does the reader really need to know that information at all, and if they do, do they need to know it right away, or can it be woven in throughout the story. Start your book in a place that’s going to capture the reader’s interest and keep them flipping the pages.
To put this another way simply, when we meet, I don’t dump out my entire biography and life history to you. You have to spend time getting to know me. Treat your characters, your book and your story the same way.
WS: What is the most effective way an author can promote their book(s) and/or themselves? What have you seen work for others?
AJ: There are so many promotional opportunities out there now, thanks to the variety of social media, conferences, advertising venues, etc. that authors need to find the things that they’re willing to do. Don’t do it because everyone else is, do it because you want to make it work for you. If you hate Twitter, don’t Twitter. If you love blogging, keep a blog (for your readers, not your family). Don’t be afraid to think outside the box, try new things, experiment and find your promotional niche.
WS: What kind of promotional efforts have you seen that do NOT work?
AJ: I would never point to any one promotional effort and say it doesn’t work at all. I think every promotional effort will reach even a small audience. I think the worst thing an author can do is to not do any promo at all. In the age of a lower publishing economy, downsized marketing budgets and a glut of books on the market, sadly most books won’t just sell themselves any longer. There are going to be exceptions, authors who don’t need to promote, but those authors are far and few between.
WS: What advice do you have for writers who are still waiting for “the call”?
AJ: Keep writing. Don’t wait for your first book to sell, don’t think because you’ve finished a book that that’s the one that’s going to get published, don’t keep recrafting the same book. Write your second, third, tenth book. If you want to be published, keep writing, keep honing your craft. Research your market, know your audience and be aware of what your target publishers are looking for. Don’t give up, there are bestselling authors like Sherrilyn Kenyon with stories of writing and rejection for years before hitting the “one” book or series.
Thank you so much, Angela for the interview!
Every Friday I host a Screaming O Friday. I’ll let you figure that one out. lol Come see me there www.kiradaniels.com.
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