LET'S GATHER AROUND THIS BEAUTIFUL FIREPLACE AND GET READY FOR THE INTERVIEW! HERE WE GO::
We are honored to have Louis and Kimi here to discuss their new publishing company, Cool Dudes Publishing, launching Jan. 5! We are so glad you guys could join us!
1. Thanks so much for
joining us Louis and Kimi! We are excited about the new publishing
company, can you tell us how you came up with the name Cool dudes? I
love it!
Kimi: Louis had the
name. I thought it a great fit for a publisher of m/m genre fiction.
Louis: Thanks for this opportunity Bec, you always
make folks feel welcome.
My hubby and I started a mobile retail book
company in 2009 and we searched for a cool name that would attract
both young and old customers. Man oh man, we tried every name under
the sun, and each time the name was rejected because other companies
had registered with the name. Then the registering authority sent us
a list of five other names, and one of them was CoolDudes. We
snapped it up immediately and within a week we were registered.
Bec- I do love the name, and the way you knew it was right for you and you grabbed it, that is great!
2. What made you two
decide to team up together? It seems to be a great fit! :)
Kimi: Louis put out a
call, and I thought to myself, “Here’s a chance to engage with
readers and writers in a whole new meaningful way." He got in
touch and there was this synergy that just flowed between us, and
coalesced with the people on our team. They’re all a great bunch
with various levels of experience and skills in the publishing arena,
not to mention varied reading tastes. It makes for a well rounded
outlook that hopefully will connect with readers and authors alike.
This is really important to me personally because I have two children
who are LGBT. I want to help produce books they’d want to read and
to be proud of their mom for helping produce.
Louis: I put out a call on FB believe it or not
and one of the first to reply was Kimi. She sent me a CV of her
experience and it was everything I had hoped for. I was astounded. We
chatted about our vision and it just seemed to come together. We
won’t turn away any manuscript that has potential.
Bec- I love it when the perfect team comes together like that! I know the results will be awesome, I can't wait to read the first book, Draven's Gate! We are gonna feature the details of this book in the afternoon post, so be on the lookout friends!
3. Are you just
focusing on one genre, or are you open to all of them?
Kimi: We only publish
m/m, and while there should be an element of romance and a happy
ending, the works do not have to be romance novels in themselves. Our
calls for submission include (but isn’t limited to) romance, hard
hitting science fiction, gritty urban fantasy, and young adult/new
adult fiction.
Louis: Our categories aren’t limited at all.
As long as the MS has anything to do with us gays, and as long as the
stories are exceptional. We also want literary manuscripts,
thrillers, poetry (as a collection), short stories, and non-fiction.
We will do coffee table books too as long as the main element is gay.
Bec- I think it is wonderful that you will only publish MM, this is a genre that I wish people weren't afraid of, this is such a wonderful genre, with powerful, heartfelt stories that should be enjoyed by so many more people, I am so glad your company is helping to get these books out there!
4. If there was one
piece of advise you could give an up and coming authors about the
best way to get published what would it be?
Kimi: Ask for
volunteer betas (check their experience first!) to check your story
for plot holes and continuity issues, do a grammar check, format it
cleanly per guidelines, and send us a submission query. ::grin::
Louis: I agree with Kimi all the way there. A
good beta is essential to the story, particularly if the author has
no recourse to a writing workshop or a “street team”. The best
advice I can give any author would be to research the market. Find
out what publishers want. Some do only romance. Others only
thrillers. Don’t try to send a romance to a thriller publisher.
Make a book proposal: Our website makes it easy
for the author. Just fill in the form and send it to us. It will
cover the title of your novel. Genre. Length. Audience (age wise), YA
or NA. Previously published books. A synopsis. And lastly, email us
the first three chapters or the first 30 pages.
In your email please don’t tell us that this MS
is the great American novel that will create a new consciousness
among all Americans. That’s not what we want. You could say to us
something like: This work is similar to Patricia Nel Warren’s work
as it deals with gay romance in sport set against a background of the
Olympic games.
Revise. Please don’t send us first drafts, we’re
not in the rewrite business.
Bec- How awesome that you know what you want, and don't want from a book, I bet that makes the screening process so much easier!
Kimi: As submission
editor, I’m looking for a few things. Firstly, I’m looking at the
sample to see if if it’s well written, formatted as requested so
that I can easily read it, and that is indeed m/m. Free of major
grammar issues, that sort of thing. If I ask for the entire
manuscript, I then read the entire work, casting a critical eye over
story premise, characterizations, originality, lack of major plot
holes/continuity errors. It doesn’t matter if you are an
internationally acclaimed best selling author or a first time newbie,
you get treated the same and have the exact same chance of being
offered a contract by us. If you think you might just have a story
that not only entertains but will resonate with readers, we want to
read your manuscript.
Louis: Kimi has carte blanche on that aspect. But
let me just say, we won’t turn away any writer who writes well.
Action scenes, reaction scenes, subplots, surprises, no loose ends,
the wrap-up.
In all the stories (with the exception of the
Paranormal, Fantasy and Science Fiction)we want to see:
Characters that are real. Their motivations must
be logical and necessary to the story. Our readers must identify with
the character.
Dialogue. Does the dialogue seem realistic? Can
the reader imagine real people talking like the characters do? Does
the dialogue add to the story, or distract us from it?
Setting. Does the story have a context and place
that is convincing and alive? Is the reader able to visualise each
scene?
Point of View. Is POV consistent? Or does it leap
(head hop) in the middle of a scene. Is the POV appropriate - do we
get a clear enough picture of the MC’s inner drama - or too much?
Could the story be told more interestingly from another POV?
Development. Does the story develop organically,
without the reader noticing, or does the narrative make sudden leaps
or get stagnant? The reader get confused at any point?
Pacing. How deeply is the reader drawn into the
story? How long does it take to set up the story? Is the reader drawn
into the story from the beginning. What is the hook?
Mechanics: At the outset, some writers experience
trouble with the mechanics of expressing their fiction in words.
Story, paragraph and sentence structure are all slaves to the flow of
the story. If something is amiss, the reader will experience the lack
of flow immediately. This is where beta readers are vital.
Kimi: Well, Louis is spot
on here. Though I will say ::grins with her canine teeth showing ever
so slightly:: if you send us fantasy/paranormal, I want characters
who seem so real that they could be possible in a readers mind.
Bec- I love that you have it almost down to a science, what will work for books you publish! That is so important, and Kimi, I so agree with you on the characters jumping off the page, as an avid reader, those are the most enjoyable reads for me. You read to escape the pressures of everyday life, and what better way than to be transported into a story by an author who can take you there!
6. What made you two decide to start a publishing
company? (a wonderful idea by the way!!)
Kimi: It’s a growing
genre with an ever widening readership. It’s also a field where a
lot of authors have been frustrated by length constraints and even
requests that they change who the main character falls in love with.
We wanted to offer an option so that if a well written novel is 30 k
or even 120 k in length, it gets seen. We also want authors to
have access to editors that won’t change the story to fit THEIR
ideal. This is the author’s story, not the editor’s. If the
editor wants us to have a story they craft the way they imagine it
going, they can write it and submit it. ::grin::
Louis:
I edited a manuscript for an author two years
ago, a MS that I thought was fabulous in every aspect. I became his
agent and sent it off to publishers. One publisher offered a large
royalty base and of-course, the author accepted. But this publisher
used three editors and one year to tell the author that he needed to
change the love interest, that his MC may not die, and that no one is
interested in the geopolitical references of a certain place upon
which the book is based.
Both author and myself tore our hair out and
refused to change those core elements to appease the publisher. The
publisher wanted a book that the author did not write and they
should not have offered him a contract based on false hopes.
I took it upon myself to publish this book,
sought help, and got together with Kimi and several others who are
well known in the writing industry, from places like the United
States, Sweden, Australia and England.
Let me say something about manuscript length.
Publishers require certain lengths and our max is 120k. They require
a certain length not because they’re particular or odd or
difficult. On a basic business level, manufacturing costs require
that books fall within certain ranges in order for them to be
profitable, and also for shipping. I’m talking printed books here.
And that is the secret - realising that publishing is a business like
any other. And if one wants to be successful, it is useful to stick
to these rules.
On the other hand, readers require certain
lengths for certain types of books. An avid romance reader knows
that a Silhouette Desire novel will run to a maximum of 50 000 words,
whereas an Avon historical romance will give a more leisurely read of
100 000 words.
With ebooks it’s not much different, because
in the end, the ebook also goes to print. So we need to keep that in
mind.
Bec- That is a very good point about the length of a story, and it is so wise to make a word limit! Something I never would have thought about doing, but I have read some books that would have been 5 stars had they stopped way before they did, almost a too much of a good thing type of thing! Great idea guys!!
7. What is your main
area of advertising? Website? Facebook? There are so many options
nowadays! :)
Kimi: We’re on most
of the popular social media platforms. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest…
We also maintain a friendly relationship with bloggers who run
promotional news. Review blogs may contact me via the submissions
page in order to get added to a list of reviewers who receive notice
of upcoming releases that they may request review e-copies of.
Reviewers must provide their blog URL, or Amazon/Goodreads review
page link as part of the vetting process.
Louis: What Kimi said. Include Google+. I’m
also developing a monthly catalogue and looking at a weekly online
newspaper that will cover everything, from the literary world to the
sporting world. And of course, word of mouth. We want people to say,
“Wow! This new kid on the block seems like a good place to start!”
One question I have been asked is; How do I know
if my book will sell? My answer is always; You don’t. You pray.
If there is one thing I would like to mention it
is this: Gay society has come a long way from the turn of this
century. More countries have legalized, and many more are considering
it. But there is still a stigma attached to LGBT. For this reason we
intend to build a comprehensive social outreach by supporting
charities all over the world, starting with Leona Windwalker’s
fabulous book called Sol’s Solstice.
Available here:
http://www.cooldudespublishing.com.
Leona had kindly offered her part of the royalties
to the South African organisation called GALA, (Gay and Lesbian
Memory in Action) and you can find GALA here:
Bec- I loved Sol's Solstice, and I am so looking forward to the sequel, (I hope Leona is reading this) ;) any author that donates royalties to a worthy cause is more than worth their salt to me!
8. If you had a slogan
that summed up your company in a few words, what would it be, or what
is it?
Kimi: CoolDudes in
awesome reads for the discerning m/m reader.
Louis: Ah…Our books. Your books. Their books.
The small publishing company with BIG gay books.
Bec- Those are great! Just for fun I am gonna throw my hat in the ring: For MM reads that turn up the heat or pull on the heartstrings, grab a book from CoolDudes Publishing!
Thanks guys for the wonderful interview! Now we have a few links and we have the awesome CoolDudes logo for you to see, can't wait!!
Kimi: Thanks for
having us here!
Louis: It’s a
pleasure, Bec. I think I’ve spoken now for the rest of the month.
Visit our site, folks. It’s clean and easy to negotiate. We welcome
any and all comments.
HERE IS THE AWESOME LOGO:
IT IS SO PRETTY! FOR SOME REASON I WANT TO GO SURFING NOW, AND I HAVE NEVER SURFED A DAY IN MY LIFE! HERE ARE SOME LINKS FOR YOU TO CHECK OUT:
I KNOW THE COOLDUDES LINK IS IN THE COMMENTS, BUT I AM GONNA SHARE ONE MORE TIME TO MAKE SURE YOU GOT IT :) THE LAUNCH IS IN 2 DAYS, SO BE SURE TO USE THIS LINK THEN FOR THE LAUNCH!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY, I HOPE YOU HAD AS MUCH FUN AS WE DID WITH THIS FIRESIDE CHAT! WE WILL SEE YOU BACK HERE LATER WITH A LOOK AT DRAVEN'S GATE!
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