Chatting with Publishers: Dominic Wakeford

We welcome Natalie Kleinman with the second in our new series for the RNA blog, 'Chatting With Publishers'. This month Natalie chats with Dominic Wakeford, Commissioning Editor, Piatkus Fiction.

Welcome to the blog, Dominic, and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions.

Can you tell us something about your journey to your present job?

My first job in publishing was in the ebooks team at Random House, which just so happened to coincide with their publication of the  Fifty Shades trilogy – a baptism of fire! This was the first time I came into contact with the romance genre, and having recently completed an English Lit degree and studying the canon for three years, it came as a relief to work on engaging and addictive commercial fiction. After a couple of years at PRH I became an editorial assistant at an independent publisher, Constable & Robinson, who were later acquired by Little, Brown. From there I joined the Piatkus Fiction imprint in January 2015 as a Junior Editor and have recently been promoted to Commissioning Editor.

What is a typical day like as a busy editor – if there is such a thing as a typical day?

Most people think that editors sit around reading and marking up manuscripts in red pen – if only! Like most of my colleagues I’m glued to my emails for much of the day, but will try and fit in some submission reading too around meetings, speaking to authors and agents and tweeting about our forthcoming publications. When I’m working on a manuscript I prefer to lock myself away in our quiet room as we work open plan and so it can be quite hard to concentrate out on the floor. I also handle the desk editing for our imprint, which involves collating proofs and liaising with freelancers. If it’s a really good day, I’ll have a lunch meeting – my favourite perk of the job!

Have you ever wanted to write a book?

I’ve started a couple of things (in my iPhone notes!) but no, I don’t really think I’m cut out for it – which makes me respect what my authors do so much more. I’m a big film fan though so would quite like to try writing a screenplay.

When not surrounded by books in your job what do you like to read for leisure?

I have catholic tastes and don’t like to confine myself to a particular genre, but I’d say my preferred fiction sits at the commercial end of literary. I try to mix old and new, though of course there’s never enough time to read everything I want to. I’m a keen cook so will happily curl up with a cookbook as well.

What are you looking for at present?

I’m on the lookout for romance fiction of all kinds, as well as commercial women’s fiction with a strong voice, memorable characters and sparkling writing – books that allow me to escape daily life and be transported to extraordinary places. A particular focus of my acquiring has been bringing previously self-published authors onto the list, including bestsellers Tillie Cole and Kelly Elliott.

If you receive a submission that is not a genre you handle, do you pass it to another editor in your company?

Absolutely – one of the nicest things about working at Little, Brown is the collegiate atmosphere and so we all have a pretty good idea of what our fellow editors are looking for.

Does your company accept un-agented submissions?

We don’t, but part of my acquisition brief is to seek out previously self-published authors whom I will approach directly if there’s potential to work with them.

Do you have a crystal ball? What do you feel will be then next ‘big thing’?

I wish I did! The most interesting thing about the book publishing industry is how cyclical it is – certain genres which had been going down (paranormal, for example) are coming right back up again, which is great as we’re able to mine our enormous backlist and hopefully introduce old titles to new readers. The recent trend in sports-themed romance doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, and it’s been refreshing to see the return of good romantic suspense as well.

If you have one piece of advice to give to anyone submitting a manuscript, what would it be?

Try to make your submission as targeted as possible, and if you see yourself in the same vein as an existing author on a publisher’s list, say so – it’s often one of the main things we consider when taking on new work. As I said before we don’t take unagented submissions, but if you need help getting an agent an invaluable resource I always direct people to is the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, which is updated annually and provides a list of agents and their preferred genres etc. It’s also worth carefully reading the submission guidelines that agents and publishers include on our websites – it’s a waste of everyone’s time if you submit a romance novel to someone who exclusively handles non-fiction!

What a lot of very useful information you have provided us with, Dom. Thank you so much for joining us today – and if you ever want any guinea pigs to sample your culinary skills just put out a call to RNA members. I’m sure you’d have a lot of takers.

About Natalie:

Natalie Kleinman writes contemporary and historical romance novels and has thrown a bit of a mystery into the mix in her current wip. She is accumulating a nice collection of Regency works to help with her research. You can follow her blog at http://nataliekleinman.blogspot.co.uk/

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

Greetings from Julia Roberts!

It’s always interesting to here from new members of the RNA - in fact any member of the RNA! Today we welcome author, Julia Roberts.

Like a lot of people, I always believed I had a novel in me but it was a case of finding the time to write it. I have worked full-time as a presenter at QVC, the shopping channel, since it went on air in October 1993 while also working as a freelance for a local cable television channel and for Sky Sports. I should perhaps mention that my children were five and six when I started at QVC so I was trying to be a hands-on Mum too… there was a lot of ball juggling going on! I have huge admiration for Mums with small children who can concentrate sufficiently to be creative.  It wasn’t until both of my children had left university that I stopped pontificating and started writing.

My first book was a memoir, called One Hundred Lengths of the Pool, which was published by Random House and was initially sold exclusively on QVC. Shortly after that was published, I went away on holiday to Mauritius with my ‘other half’ to totally relax after a very demanding year, which included a diagnosis of leukaemia, but things didn’t quite go to plan. On the first morning I sat on the beach, under the shade of a palm tree, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the reef, and I had an idea for a novel. Over the course of the next ten days, I scribbled copious notes and talked non-stop about my characters and the plot to my long-suffering partner and by the time we were heading home on the plane, I had the Liberty Sands Trilogy mapped out.

The first book in the trilogy, Life’s a Beach and Then…, took me around fifteen months to write. I then spent another five months deciding whether I should go down the route of finding myself an agent and/or publisher.  I did submit to half a dozen agents but without success, although one or two commented that they liked my ‘voice’. I have left it quite late to embark on a new career as a writer so I didn’t really have the luxury of time to submit to more agents and wait for their response. A friend of mine had self-published and was generous in sharing her cover designer and formatter, and I tracked down and used the copy editor that Random House had assigned me, as we had a great working relationship. Three months later my first novel was available as an ebook and a month after that the paperback was in some independent bookshops and to order through Waterstones.

I think it is harder to be a self-published author, particularly from the publicity and marketing viewpoint, but it does allow the author to have more control over the finished work. It is also a much speedier process. I began writing the second book in the trilogy, If He Really Loved Me…, in March 2015 and published it in November. I’m currently in the final stages of writing the concluding part, It’s Never Too Late to Say…, and aiming for publication at the end of May.

I was really thrilled to be able to join the Romantic Novelists’ Association in January and look forward to meeting some of you at the Summer Party in May. 

Links:

Website

Blog

Amazon

Twitter: @JuliaRobertsQVC

Thank you, Julia and good luck with book three in your trilogy. We hope you have a fabulous time at the RNA Summer Party.

The RNA blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

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