The Great and Wonderful....M

What in the world is Michelle going on about now? Changeling Press. I love this place (It's why I've contracted books with them -LOL) They PDF free stories for crying out loud! I have so much fun on those lists, that my husband will walk away from me as I recap the days adventures for him. He no longer wants to know which writer I've met or talked to me. And he's tired of M this M that. (They PDF free reads WHOOOT!!!)

I convinced the very generous owner (one of them :) to have a chat with me. I am in italics!

-- What types of stories are Changeling Press interested in?
M: We're looking for short, over the top hot Women's Erotica. Sci-Fi, Paranormal, and Action Adventure are our top genres, but we take just about anything but sweet contemporary. Short and hot are top priorities -- 10 to 25K for first submissions, and we only have one heat level, so turn it up!
(Like that is hard to do :) Crank up dat heat baby!)

-- What kinds of stories are you tired of seeing?
M: Honestly the only thing we DON'T want to see is stuff that doesn't fit our guidelines. It's got to fit one of the genres on the web site, at a minimum, (2 or 3 are good, too) and it's got to be HOT. No secret baby cowboy amnesiac brides, please. (Hurl) It's gotta have a love story. You can't kill the hero off in the last chapter for no reason. And if it's 110K, it better be a serial we can break into 4 parts.
(Can anyone see a secret baby cowboy amnesiac bride that shifts into a cougar and devours her husband in a bizarre twisted ritual so that she can feed her offspring until her true love is reborn like a phoenix so he, the heroine, and their triplets can start their plan to take over the world in Michelle's future?)

-- What throws up an immediate red flag in a submission?
M: OH! I get to rant? Yeah, I've got one MAJOR red flag. We don't take Male Lesbian Porn. We're never gonna publish male lesbian porn. Or anything with underage heroines involved. And if it's bad enough, we might just turn it over to the FBI.

-What words of advice do you have for authors?
M: Eat. Sleep. Drink lots of water. We're mostly all ADD and or obsessive compulsive types. We get so wrapped up in the book we forget everything else. Yeah, I want your books. But I want more than one. If you don't take care of YOU you can't take care of me.

-What words of advice do you have for editors?
M: Drink more. Baileys is good.

-Do you like long walks in the rain lol (JUST KIDDING)
M: Do you like Pina Coladas?

--You keep Shelby separate from M right?
M: Sorta. Not really. I've never tried to HIDE Shelby from anyone in RL. (Real Life) I started out writing under Margaret Riley. When T/J convinced me to try writing Erotica I used a pen name to keep the two separate because Shelby wrote SOO much hotter than Margaret. But then Shelby outsold Margaret's lifetime earnings in her first paycheck, and Margaret retired as an author and I didn't care any more. Shelby writes. Margaret Edits. And does Production and stuff. I generally carry two name tags with me to panel discussions depending on which persona should be speaking, but I've never made any pretense that Shelby was anyone other than my alter ego. If I did she'd knock me about the ears w a big stick. Vicious creature, Shelby is...
(lol)

Here's a parting thought for you to share with readers who're nervous about submitting things to a publisher -- any publisher. A Submissions Editor has ONE responsibility -- she buys books. She's not looking for reasons to reject your book. She's not looking for ways to make your life miserable asking you for pointless rewrites. Her job is to acquire new books -- and more importantly new authors, who will write many more books. If a Submissions Editor tells you your submission was good, but not quite what she's looking for, and tells you why, pay attention. Write something that IS what she's looking for, and try again. If she asks for a revise and resubmit, she really likes this story, but it's not quite right for this house as is. Don't blow it off. Give her what she's asking for. Because she had to read 30 or more submissions that were soo NOT what she was looking for -- most of which did not meet the submission guidelines -- before she got to yours. You've got something she could get excited about. Give her a reason to be excited all over again.

YAY
so honest and yet fun and friendly. Gotta love when your employer is all that and a bag of chips.

http://www.changelingpress.com/


Those free PDF reads?

Even if you aren't interested in writing for changeling, you will want to come play on the chat loop so you don't miss all our fun!!

Michelle