RNA CONFERENCE: Meet the Publishers

With the RNA Conference fast approaching the RNA blog today welcomes Industry Professionals who are offering 121s to delegates. We have asked all IPs a series of questions so that members can get to know them prior to interviews.

A warm welcome to Rosie de Courcy (RdeC) Head of Zeus; Julia Williams (JW) Mills & Boon; Pia Fenton (PF) ChocLit; Natasha Harding (NH) Bookouture; Emily Yau (EY) Ebury and Laurie Johnson (LJ) Mills & Boon.

What would you not like to see in a submission?

RdeC   Anything paranoral

JW      We are looking for fresh original voices in the line, who can bring a new twist and dimension to a classic love story.  We don’t want stories where there is no emotional depth or where the characters don’t grow. And we do want to see stories that target our series effectively and give our readers the HEA they’re looking for.

 

Pia Fenton

PF      I don’t want to see stories with unhappy endings (it should at least be a positive one), or stories with weak heroes, TSTL heroines and too much ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’.  And no YA, children’s books, non-fiction or poetry please.

NH      I’m looking for complete novels to discuss not partially written books.

EY      One of my most frequent complaints is that a story is passive – when a novel is made up of a series of unfortunate events (pardon the pun), which our protagonist must overcome. I like to know the main concept of a novel from the first few chapters, with the primary dramatic tension being introduced in one (or a few) events early on. A character driving their own narrative is much more interesting to me and helps to make them more engaging and likable.

LJ       Clichéd and untargeted storylines with two-dimensional characters and unfounded set-ups. The common misconception is that it’s easy to write a Mills & Boon book, that it’s romance-by-numbers—let me assure you, it’s not! Our authors work hard to create their stories, build their characters and develop their plotlines.

What is it you hope to achieve on your own behalf?

RdeC   To find a new star for Head of Zeus

JW      As an editor I am always looking for fresh original voices that can tell an old story in a new way. I am always keen to nurture new talent and look forward to meeting writers at the start of their career.

PF       I’m not there to achieve anything for myself personally – in my role as commissioning editor for Choc Lit I’m looking for great stories that will suit their style/brand and authors who will be an asset to the Choc Lit team.

 

Natasha Harding

NH    I’m actively acquiring in my role at Bookouture so I'd love to find new commercial fiction authors to work with. I’m particularly looking for a world war two saga, a laugh out loud romantic comedy and a novel that perfect for mums.

EY    I’m always on the lookout for new talent so am really looking forward to meeting lots of authors from the RNA community. I always welcome the opportunity to talk to writers – after all, I love talking about books! – and even if it doesn’t come to anything I find that it really helps to spark ideas on both sides.

LJ       I would like to acquire fresh, new authors! It’s exhilarating to read raw voices brimming with potential and be the one to help take their book from concept to published manuscript.

What is your company looking for at the present time?

RdeC   Classy storytellers

JW      Mills & Boon is looking for strong themes and key selling hooks told from fresh new angles. We want strong, targeted, marketable editorial that fits the romance promise for the series we acquire in the UK—Mills & Boon Modern, Medical, Historical and Cherish. 

PF     Quality adult fiction with romance at the heart (unless the author is aiming for the Death by Choc Lit imprint ie crime), preferably featuring the hero’s point of view and with a male hero. 60-100,000 word completed manuscripts previously unpublished and not currently accepted by an agent or other publisher.  Sub-genres:  contemporary, historical, thrillers, mystery, romantic suspense, fantasy, time slip.

NH     Commercial fiction, primarily women’s fiction and crime, from authors who are able to write two or more books a year.

 

Emily Yau

EY      Ebury fiction is interested in new and exciting voices in women’s fiction, whether that’s big-idea issue-led novels that will have readers reaching for the box of tissues, or lovely, charming reads that you want to curl up with and that have a slightly different angle to those that have already been published.

LJ       Mills & Boon is looking for strong themes and key selling hooks told from fresh new angles. We want strong, targeted, marketable editorial that fits the romance promise for the series we acquire in the UK—Mills & Boon Modern, Medical, Historical and Cherish.

Will you be joining any of our panels or workshops over the 

conference weekend?

Rosie de Courcy

RdeC   Yes, both

JW    We will be running a workshop called Make a Date with Mills & Boon. Where we will be discussing the secrets to writing successfully for series romance and looking at what makes a perfect hero and heroine. We can also give you some insights into what Mills& Boon can do for you as an author.

           

PF       Yes, but not on Choc Lit’s behalf – I’ll be my ‘author self’.  As Christina Courtenay I will be doing a workshop together with Anna Belfrage on time slip vs time travel in romantic fiction, and as Pia Fenton I’ll take part in a panel/workshop with the Paisley Piranha author collective about romance, relationships and realism in YA.

NH      No

EY      Yes – The State of the Industry, chaired by Nicola Cornick at 4.30-5.30pm, Friday 14th July 2017.

 

Laurie Johnson

LJ       Yes, we will be running a workshop called Make a Date with Mills & Boon. Drop by and discover the secrets to writing series romance, looking at the perfect hero and heroines; learn what Harlequin Mills & Boon can do for you as an author; and meet the editors you’ll be submitting to.

If you had one piece of advice to give to a writer, what would it
be?

RdeC   Study and analyse the structure of suspenseful storytelling.   
            It’s a craft to be learned

JW      Develop a thick skin and listen to advice and learn from it, and if it’s your dream, never ever give up.

PF       Find yourself a writing/critique buddy, they are invaluable!

           

NH     Find two authors who have a similar style and/or subject to you writing and use these as comparisons for your work. This will be really useful information when submitting to agents and publishers as well as for beta readers.

EY     Do your research – it really helps when an author knows their genre and their audience: which books and authors write in a similar market to you and – more importantly – why is yours different, or *gasp* even better? And of course, research is hugely important for other areas, such as plotting out a novel, constructing a striking cover letter and deciding which agents to send your submission to. These things take time to perfect, so don’t rush it.

LJ       Think about who your audience is, who you are writing this story for, what readers you want to reach. Target your story for them and then choose a publishing imprint that fits the story you’re selling.

Thank you all for answering our questions today and we hope you will enjoy the 2017

RNA Conference.

Compiled by Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

On The Third Day of Christmas - Julia Williams Brings A Rather Unusual Ornament...

On the third day of Chritmas Julia Williams adds to the RNA Christmas Tree...

I have been married to a dentist for an extraordinarily long time. His name being Dave, he's gone by the moniker of Dave the Dentist ever since I've known him. So we were delighted yesterday to be given this charming little chappie to go on our Christmas tree. He's a dentist, and his name is Dave.  Perfect.

Julia's latest book...

With four children, a Christmas cookbook to write, and her mum suffering from dementia, Cat Tinsall has plenty to juggle. When her eldest daughter, Mel, starts going off the rails, Cat has even more on her plate.

Pippa Holliday adores her family, although often finds her hands full. When Dan is involved in a terrible accident, Pippa’s world is suddenly turned upside down.

Balancing her job as a school teacher with twins and her step-son Steven isn’t easy for Marianne North. With her husband’s ex causing trouble, life is getting even trickier.

As Cat, Pippa and Marianne help each other through a difficult year, they’re all hoping for a much brighter Christmas.

A Book's Journey by Julia Williams

Julia Williams tells us about the book's development...

THE BRIDESMAID PACT which comes out on May 28th is my fourth book, and in a way my most personal to date. Not, I hasten to add, that I have shared any of my heroines' experiences as such, but I did delve deep into some situations from my own life for inspiration, and somehow almost by accident I ended up writing a book set very much in the territory of my youth. That's the strange thing about writing: when my editor suggested I write a book about weddings, I started off with a light bit of froth which was going to involve race horses and vineyards, and somehow ended up with something quite a lot darker, which went nowhere near a race course. I'm glad to say though, an early idea, to have my heroines go to Eurodisney on a hen night did last the distance.

So what did I end up writing about? Well, funnily enough, for a book that is about arguably the most important day in a girl's life (well if she's a romantic like me, anyway), there is just as much in here about friendship - and in particular the friendship of women. I think for a lot of women, particularly, when they have children, those friendships can centre around the domestic sphere, and I wanted to write about that: about the joy, comfort and strength women can give each other, and also about forgiveness and redemption when those relationships go awry.

So my story follows the fortunes of four friends: Caz, Sarah, Doris and Beth, who aged 8 make a pact with one another that when they grow up they will be each other's bridesmaids. Though of course, real life doesn't work out quite as they had planned. But despite all the difficulties that come in their way, the original strength of the Fab Four (named after my own quartet of teenage friends), turns out to be a stronger deeper bond then they might imagine...

Out today THE BRIDESMAID PACT

Avon

£6.99

Dental Impression Material Equals Love for Julia Williams

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer of romantic fiction should find in her life partner, a like minded romantic soul...

Alas in my case, I have married a man without a romantic bone in his body. So it was that on our first Valentine's together, I with deep love in my heart searched the flower shops of Liverpool high and low, for a bunch of orchids (=forever), which I left, rather mysteriously I felt, on the bonnet of his car.
"Why have you bought me flowers?" was his unreconstructed male response, before producing a home made Valentine's present for me. "Here's my heart," he said. How lovely, I thought, till I realised it was made out of dental impression material...

The years passed and the most I could ever hope for was a card (never flowers - oh how I longed for a bunch of red roses), maybe a meal (but invariably we'd always forget to book and end up wandering the streets trying to find a seat at any table that would have us.) I even turned up one year with a red rose given to me by a stranger in a flower shop, and even that didn't work...

So in the end, I resigned myself to the fact that despite his many fine qualities, the man I had married was never going to fulfil my requirements in the romance department (just as well I can create fictional heroes for that), until Valentine's Day eight years ago...

I was four days from giving birth to our fourth and last child, so he was dutifully out in Sainsbury's doing the shopping. From whence, he came with the biggest bunch of red roses you've ever seen.
"I saw these and thought of you," he said, probably as much surprised by his actions as I was.
I vowed then and there never to worry if he never bought me another flower in my life, at least he'd done it once...

Which is just as well really. We spent last Valentine's Day in a freezing cold chalet at Pontins, with all four children. Who says romance is dead?

To find out more about Julia's latest book - LAST CHRISTMAS visit her website http://www.juliawilliamsauthor.com/