Category: Writing Ramblings

Earlier in the year, the NJ Romance Writers had Marcela Landres do a workshop and as always, Marcela gave us some great points on improving our work.

Well, Marcela is going to be a guest blogger all next week! Marcela will be discussing commercial women’s fiction: what’s in, what has-been, and what’s on the horizon.

So mark your calendars for the week of February 26 (Monday) through Friday March 2. Drop by and chat with Marcela!

Here’s a little bit more on Marcela: Marcela Landres is an Editorial Consultant who was formerly an editor at Simon & Schuster and is the creator of Latinidad, which was chosen as one of the 101 Best Web Sites for Writers by Writer’s Digest Magazine. A member of the Women’s Media Group, she has acted as a judge for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and speaks frequently for organizations such as the Romance Writers of America.

Marcela Landres
Editorial Consultant
[email protected]
http://www.marcelalandres.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marcelalandres/
Writer’s Digest 101 Best Web Sites for Writers

Well, folks, this is my last post. As of right now, I managed to answer everyone’s questions (I think). Thank you for your warm welcome and your participation. Maybe I can drop by again sometime.

Here’s today’s soup pot of questions and answers: 

Samantha says: “Medical anthropology! That sounds so cool. Does having that kind of background help you with thrillers and suspense novels?” and Melissa_G adds: “Do you still read periodicals on developments in the field of anthropology? Professionally, do you ever get grief from your family about the change in career? You know, for shifting from “serious” fields of medicine and anthropology to something that, let’s face it, most don’t treat respectfully, romance.” 
Continue reading “The final Q and A”

Stacy here again. Today I’m sharing my job description.

So what’s a day in the life of an editor really like? Busy. And, lucky for me, no two days are the same. Just this morning, in fact, there was a scheduling crisis for one of my authors, which required multiple phone calls, emails and one-on-one chats with the agent and the senior editor. Then there was last week when the approved titles for a twelve-book series were suddenly ‘unapproved.’ Our team had to quickly schedule a brainstorming meeting to come up with twelve new titles. Oh, and the deadlines for that same series have moved up by a month—for the second time.
Continue reading “A day in the life”

Hi, it’s Stacy again. I thought the blog machine might put my signature at the bottom of the post, so you can tell me from Caridad, but no such luck.

Thank you all for your kind comments and interesting questions. I want to address as many as I can today. Granted, that’s more like a chat than a blog entry, but you guys have at least given me lots to write about! There were several people curious about the daily life of an editor. I’ll get to that, and related questions, tomorrow. For today, the questions are mostly about finding publishable manuscripts amidst the slush.
Continue reading “Picking a book out of the pile”

Continuing her sold-out appearance at my blog, please put your hands together and give a big shout out for Caren Johnson, my agent extraordinaire (Come on now! A little louder! I can’t hear you yet!)

I met Caren nearly three years ago when she was recommended by a mutual friend and together we have sold . . . drum roll please . . . 13 assorted books and novellas!!!

Feel free to ask her questions since she will be popping in through out the rest of the week.

Caren — many thanks for stopping by.

So now, without any more delay from lil’ ol’ me, here’s Caren!

If you have any questions, please post them as a comment to this blog! Thanks!

Hi Guys:
There were a few questions about what I’m interested in and one where someone asked me to elaborate on my tastes. I know this isn’t something you want to hear, but I want to put a warning at the very top of this message.

Just b/c it seems like I like one type of book doesn’t mean I’m going to immediately scoop up one that is just like it. That means if I say I like (for example) Gone with the Wind and someone writes to me and says not only did they love GwtW as much as I did, but there book is just like it, I’m probably not going to take another look. Why? B/c we already have GwtW. Why would we need another? Now if someone tells me they have a Latino version of GwtW or a version that tells the real story of Melanie (was she really that nice or was she quietly planning to murder Scarlet in her sleep), then I’d take another look.
Continue reading “Continuing with Caren . . .”