1: First, I’ve discovered
most publishers are also
Yes
I am. I write mysteries and paranormal
romance.
2: When did you start your publishing
company?
Books We Love Ltd. incorporated in 2010, however,
the predecessor to Books We Love, an author promotion group entitled Books We
Love promotion, actually started in 1998.
3: What inspired you to start
your own publishing company?
My
introduction to online publishing came in the early 90s, and it didn’t take me
long to discover there was very limited, if any, support given to eBook authors
by either small press publishers or the industry in general. Since I had a fair amount of experience with
online groups like the original Time Warner and other Compuserve authors
forums, as well as a stint as an editor of the Open Directory, I formed an
author promotion group with a focus on group promotion to give us more exposure
than any of us could gain on our own. In
the mid-2000s many small press houses began folding and by 2009 a great many of
my co-authors and myself were looking for what we referred to as an
“author-centric” publishing house.
4: What makes your publishing
company different than others?
First,
we do not “mass recruit” authors. We
focus on quality over quantity, and we’re very particular about the books we
publish. Our primary criteria are experience
and knowledge of the industry. Our
authors need to have a history in publishing together with the experience
required to be part of a quality-focused publishing house like Books We
Love. We pay higher royalties, offer a
lot more promotion, and much more author support than most small press
publishers. We also expect a high degree
of professionalism from our authors and we only work with authors who can meet
those expectations.
5: What do you like the most
about running your own publishing company? What do you like least?
Being able to publish some of the most fantastic
books being offered in the marketplace and knowing that the author is going to
get a fair share of the proceeds from those published books is what I like the
most.
Having very little time left over for my own writing
is what I like the least.
6: Tell
us about your company, what type of stories are you looking for? How to submit,
what length stories, and where can we find the submission guidelines?
Our
company publishes genre fiction in most categories. We do not have an “open” submission policy. Most of our new authors are recommended by
existing authors, and we do not provide submission guidelines because each
offer of interest is geared towards a specific candidate referred by one of our
existing authors. When we do have an
interest in an author we want the entire manuscript. We seldom bother with
query letters and synopsis. We are a different kind of publishing company.
7: Tell us about your
authors.
All
of our authors are experienced professionals. Many of them have previously been
published by large houses, and have opted for the smaller, more author focused
and individualistic environment of a medium-sized publisher like Books We
Love. Of course, as far as we’re
concerned, we have the most talented authors in the publishing industry.
8: How
do you decide to accept or reject a manuscript?
Based
on the quality of the work, the experience of the author, and the
recommendations of our existing authors.
9:
Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?
Before
you attempt to publish a book, make sure you have thoroughly mastered the
basics of your craft. Don’t just toss
your book out there and see if a publisher is interested. Perfect it first, then seek out beta-readers,
critique groups, and anyone you can find to give you an honest and thorough
evaluation of your work. I remember my
first novel. I revised it 6 times before
it was accepted for publication and then revised it two more to the publisher’s
specification. Publishing takes, time,
patience, hard work, dedication and a passion for writing that goes far beyond
the possibility of any financial reward.
10: I
know you’re extremely busy, but we all need to relax sometimes. What do you for
fun and relaxation?
I
bowl twice a week and my husband and I enjoy long walks. We also enjoy short getaways that allow us to
leave technology behind and explore our country and our neighboring
countries. We’re Canadian, but we’ve
thoroughly enjoyed our visits both to the USA and Mexico.
11: Where
can we find your website? Blog?
Our Insider Blog, written by all of our authors and
unique in that our blog is not a promotion vehicles, it is a calendar of
fascinating stories and articles written by our extremely talented authors.
12: What’s
the one thing you’d most like people to know about you?
That
I respect and value hard work and commitment.
13: Is
there anything else you’d like us to know about you or your publishing company?
That
we have wonderful books written by very talented authors. We have
a Bargain Store right on our website where smart purchasers can purchase the books
in any format they choose at greatly discounted prices. Books We Love also has a contest running
right now where entrants can win their choice of one of three eBook
readers. Visit our main page, click the
contest button and get your entry in there before the end of October.
Thank
you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions. You can find Jude's books at Books We Love
