Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

by Deb Werksman Editorial Manager, Sourcebooks Casablanca At the upcoming RWA National Conference in Anaheim, I’ll have the privilege of being among the agents and editors who will be holding sessions to hear book pitches from authors. I’m incredibly excited to talk to authors about their books, so know going in that:           a) I’m really receptive and excited to hear from you           b) I don’t expect you to be a great pitcher—I’m hoping you’re a great writer           c) Being nervous won’t take away from your pitch—I’m going to be listening for your book to meet my editorial criteria, not to see if you can deliver a good pitch to me under intense circumstances Here are a few tips that will help you get the most out of your pitch session: Research the editor, agent and house ahead of time and make sure yo...

By Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor This week, I’ve been doing a big pitch critique over at YA chat lit. Even though the material is all young adult, you might want to check it out for ideas in honing your own pitches:http://yalitchat.ning.com/forum/topics/pitch-slam-weekend-january-13-15-2012. Here’s a roundup of some of the most common questions I had for those who submitted a pitch: · Where’s the hook? What is the element of your story that’s going to make everyone clamor to read it? · Where and when is it set? · Does it fit the category? If it’s YA, the pitch needs to mention that the characters are teens. And for romance, I need a happy ending for the main characters. One comment that came up frequently for me was that I’d seen a lot of similar themes lately. The pitch was strong—it summarized the story, it had a hook, there was a sense of drama, the storyline was clear—but I felt as if I’d read it before. This is always...

by Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor Happy St. Patty’s Day! I was going to do a whole post on luck vs. hard work (quite the opposite of this month’s pampering theme, I know). But then Deb and I got on the phone yesterday afternoon and decided we’re on a hunt-down for some contemporary romance. It doesn’t get fresher than this. What makes an amazing contemporary? It’s all about the guy. When I think about my favorite contemps, we’re getting a hero we can fall in love with very quickly in the story—and I mean in the first chapter when I say early. We’re getting snappy dialogue and characters we really believe in, along with a story we could envision (or fantasize about!) happening to us. So if you’ve got a fresh complete contemporary romance with high action a la Suze Brockmann, small-town values like Robyn Carr, humor that sizzles like Robin Kaye, or just as all-round delicious as Jennifer Crusie’s BET ME, bring it on! Post a comment below with: Your ...

By Deb Werksman Editorial Manager Sourcebooks Casablanca I’m giving a talk on this topic next week at the San Diego Writers Conference and I thought I’d start a conversation here with our dear authors. When I receive a book or series proposal from new (and sometimes seasoned) authors, the first thing I ask is: What is the hook? By hook I mean: What is a 1-3 sentence pitch I can give my sales people that they can give the buyers, that answers the question “What is it about your book or series that makes it really stand out and grab the attention of potential readers?” Here’s the sobering reality: The competition is extremely fierce. Last year over one million (1,000,000!) new titles were published. You’d need several lifetimes just to read all those books, even if you never had to do laundry or the dishes (or go to work)! Packaging a work of art is of course counter-intuitive, but if we’re going to get your book into the hands of as many readers as possible, it’s got to s...

by Casablanca Editor Deb Werksman I loved the pitch contest that we did last month. It was a blast to see all the creativity, and a lot of people did a fabulous job of pitching their book in just 50 words. I haven't received all of the submissions I asked for--besides the original 3 winners, I had asked for about 14 more--so please go back and see if you're one of them. Here's what's interesting about the submissions I am seeing--sometimes, the experience of reading the book doesn't match the experience of reading the pitch! I've got pitches that are hilariously funny and clever, but then the book itself is serious, straight contemporary romance. I've got pitches that are historical and the world-building is fascinating, and then the book is character-driven. M ake sure your pitch matches your book! It's so much easier to rewrite the pitch to match the book, than to rewrite the book to match the pitch... And, if I didn't choose you as a ...

By: Deb Werksman, Casablanca Acquiring Editor Hello, everyone. The pitch contest was FANTASTIC, I loved it! Thank you to all who participated and all who didn't. An extended list of winners was posted, so if you didn't see your name on the short list, please go back and check again (I believe the extended list was posted on 2/17). Of course, I have an open submissions policy, so if you're not on any winner's list, you can still submit to me (and some of you already have!) However, the value of the contest is to see: *which pitches caught my eye *which ones didn't For the most part, the ones that did had something unusual that grabbed me (think "HOOK!!!!!!!") and the ones that didn't either weren't clear, sharp and fresh in the writing, or seemed like something I've read before. Here's a quick update on the state of the category, subgenre by subgenre, very subjective in some ways, but hopefully informative. PARANORMAL: still the hottes...

Hi everyone and happy President’s Day! First, congratulations to the author of IN THE RED , Kelsey Browning , for winning the critique by Deb, and to the authors of DECODING DECEPTION (Julie J.) and HELLION’S HIGHLANDER (Renee) for their full requests from Deb. Please send your synopsis and full manuscript to deb.werksman@sourcebooks.com . Because the contest rules said Deb would pick three, three names were announced, BUT, Deb couldn’t stop there. She was THRILLED with the pitches—so much that she wants to do this again—and she’d like to see MORE from the pitches we got. Yes, more!! We are thrilled for all our visitors who worked so hard to get their pitches down to 50 words and have won the chance to have their stories looked at. Deb would like a synopsis and full manuscript from the following people as well (send to deb.werksman@sourcebooks.com ): A POCKET FULL OF ASHES , by Pat Shaw THE LIST: CAN PERFECT BE PUT ON PAPER?, by Carmen Shirkey She would also like the following peopl...

From our acquiring editor, Deb Werksman Reading submissions is my favorite part of my job--every one of them has the potential to be something truly extraordinary. I also love judging contests, because who doesn't love being asked to judge and evaluate? The interesting difference between the two activities is that in a contest, the entries are judged against each other, while with submissions, it's purely about the marketplace. The best of all possible worlds is to find a contest entry that I think is going to work in the marketplace--and that does happen. Here's what I'm acquiring now! Single-title romance (including trilogies and single-title series) 90,000 words, please Any subgenre (historical, contemporary, paranormal, erotic romance, romantic suspense) I'm really excited about this contest, and I can't wait to read your pitches! To enter your pitch of fifty words or less simply post it to the blog as a comment.The winner will be invited to send Deb a full ...

by Danielle Jackson In light of our little focus on pitching—I thought I’d talk about what essentially I do all day: PITCH YOUR BOOKS! Really, I do! I’m presenting your books to reviewers, bloggers, etc., making sure they know what makes your books special and different and worth reading. And that’s what I do. I try to pick out that one thing that makes your book special, so whether it’s humanoids with interesting capabilities in the bedroom or a Navy SEAL with a heart of gold, I’m going to hone in on that unique trait, and expand on that! Now of course, that doesn’t always work the first time around. Generally, I write more than one pitch for every book—some only need one—but others need different angles for the various intended audiences. For example, let’s take Sharon ’s book: Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy . Now Sharon , don’t think I’m singling you out for any reason—your book just lends itself easily to this demonstration. Sharon ’s book is great bec...

posted by Aunty Cindy aka Loucinda McGary BIG THANX to Mary Margret for her instructive post on Saturday sharing her process of coming up with alternate 50 word (or less) pitches. Another good source for pitches (especially if you have more than 50 words or 30 seconds in an elevator) is your query letter. In my case, I have usually revised and polished my query letters to within an inch of my life, so I like to use them (in whatever form) at every available opportunity. Below is the query letter I used most often for the book that eventually sold and became The Wild Sight : Cursed with the Irish clairvoyance known as “The Sight,” Donovan O’Shea fled to America to escape his “gift.” After fifteen years, his father’s illness has forced him to return to the family homestead. Decades earlier, Donovan’s mother disappeared into the encroaching fens and was never seen again. Now the same fens are offering up secrets, both ancient and recent, and restoring a terrible legacy that just may drive...

We're pleased to welcome our lovely editor, Deb Werksman, back for another spin on the blog. She'd be delighted to field questions about the kinds of books she's buying, but please, no pitching stories. And now, here's Deb! Dear Authors: For today's blog, I thought I'd talk a little about book publishing. Then, I'll reiterate what I'm looking for in terms of acquisitions (so you can skip ahead to that part if you wish!), touch on the subject of pitching your book, and then I can't wait to hear your questions. BOOK PUBLISHING Did you know that: *romance fiction is the best selling category in the bookstores, 26.4% of all books sold in 2006? *trade book publishing grew 5.5% overall in 2007? *in 2007 there were over 400,000 (count 'em!) books published? *one of the biggest chain book retailers announced it's reducing inventory this year by 25%? *the vast majority of books published will sell 1000 or fewer copies? *all books are currently sold on...