I would like
to introduce to you all a very remarkable women, my publisher Nancy Schumacher.
Twenty months
ago when I was looking for publishers for my first book, For Better or For
Worse I had submitted to a few publishers, and received a few offers back, but
it was the email from Nancy that really
caught my eye. Her email offering
a contract was the most personnel one I had received. I knew right away,
Melange was the right publishing house for me.
Nancy is not
just my publisher; she has become a friend, an inspiration and a fantastic
mentor.
Thanks,
Joanne, for asking me to tell you about my work and life as a publisher.
I’ll begin by
saying that ‘diversity’ is the name of the game in the small press publishing
world. The work of a publisher is multi-faceted, and can change from day to
day.
Because
Melange is a small press, with 3 acquiring editors, 16 editors, 6 artists, 2
proof readers and 2 formatters, many times I will assist in every area with the
exception of artwork. I am the most unartistic person but I know what I like
when I see a cover.
Here is what
happens in my day:
·
I
generally start out the day early in the morning by reading my email at 6 email
addresses. Melange has separate addresses for author-publisher communication,
for submissions, acquiring, editing, etc. and yahoo chat lists for authors and
fans. This can take sometimes up to 2 hours a day.
·
The
next hour or so I sift through submissions to our house and see if anything
needs immediate looking at or a response from me. If I see something I
initially think looks interesting I send it off to an acquiring editor to look
over. Our usual response time to accept or reject a manuscript can be up to 16
weeks. It takes time to look at each manuscript.
·
The
next several hours I work at finalizing, formatting our next several books for
publication release in the next 4-6 weeks. I load books at our print vendor,
order the print proof for the author to check over again before release also.
·
I
then respond again to authors emailing me about various stages of their book’s
release.
·
I
start to receive responses on books to accept or reject from the acquiring
editor, look them over and send out the appropriate letters. I type up the
contracts and send them to the authors for books we’re accepting, and make sure
I have them listed on our release calendars. Currently, we’ve contracted
authors through 2014 and into 2015.
·
I
will then work on listing our latest releases at vendor sites we do on our own
such as All Romance Ebooks and eBookstrand, Smashwords, etc…
·
Then,
if I have time, I go out and search the ‘net’ for reviews on our books and
forward them to the authors to be sure they receive them.
·
In
between all of this I work on royalties as vendor reports and monies come in
for each individual author. I also work on tax stuff that needs to be done.
As you can
see, a publisher wears many hats and I love every minute of my work day!
Thank you so
much Nancy, for taking time out of your busy schedule to enlighten us all. I am
sure like myself, my fellow authors and followers had no idea how much work
went into publishing books, and I know I for one appreciate the hard work you
do for us all.
Nancy’s Bio
Nancy Pirri
Nancy Schumacher is the owner-publisher of Melange Books, LLC, writing
under the pseudonym, Nancy Pirri. Nancy started writing fifteen years ago while
raising four children. Nancy has been a member of Romance Writers of America
and her local chapter, Midwest Fiction Writers, for nine years. She is also one
of the founders of a second Minnesota RWA chapter, Northern Lights Writers
(NLW). They meet in various locations in north-eastern Minnesota the fourth
Saturday of the month.
Nancy's debut historical romance, THE MACAULAY BRIDE, set in late 19th
century Scotland, was published in 2003. The debut book received several
contest wins and received a TOP PICK award from Romantic Times publication in
Oct. 2004. She has written five full-length novels, and many stories included
in anthologies with Melange Books, LLC. Her last story, To Love a Music Master
appeared in the recently released anthology, Christmas Collectibles.
Nancy was also known as 'Dame Sapphire' and was a member of the author
promo organization Jewels of the Quill, www.jewelsofthequill.com. Her stories with the Jewels have
won EPPIE (EPIC-Electronically Published Internet Coalition) awards in 2008 and
in 2010.
January
1, 2011, Nancy opened her new digital and print on demand house, Melange Books,
LLC, www.melange-books.com.
Website: www.nancypirri.com
