Browsing reader blogs and forums you are able to get an idea what the readers would like when it comes to the epublishing industry. A frequent comment that is made is that in a bookstore you can read a short bit from the first few chapters but since most epublishers only put up a small snippet for an excerpt on their website, potential book buyers can’t do that. That is something I never thought of while putting up Blade’s first few book excerpts and I am one of those book buyers who likes to skim a bit before I buy.

So in light of the comments, which totally make sense, I have changed the way we will post book excerpts from now on. If you click on any one of the excerpts now on our website you will be given a short excerpt from chapter one, which then up in the top right corner you can click on a link that will take you to an excerpt of chapter two, and so on, all the way to chapter 4. Hopefully snippets of the first 4 chapters are enough for you to get a feel for the authors writing and whether or not it’s a story you would like to continue reading.

I appreciate the reader blogs, and the information they put forth so that publisher’s like myself are able to implement the things the readers would like to see. I hope you all enjoy the new excerpts for our current books. There are many more to come.

 ~Abby

I was approached with an opportunity a few days ago that I could not turn down. Cover model and actor Michael Elan has founded a non-profit organization called It’s Meow or Never, a rescue and sanctuary for animals. Blade will be supporting Michael’s organization through a series we have named, “PAWS For Thought.” Michael is thrilled with the project and will be gracing our debut covers.    

PAWS For Thought Submission Call  

Do you find it hard to resist a man or woman who loves animals? If so then keep reading.  

We are looking for stories where the hero or heroine is some how involved in the daily care or rescue of animals.  We are open to any story ideas, from a fireman whose popularity exceeds no other when it comes to cat rescue, to a vet who takes care of un-identified paranormal creatures.  

There is no requirement of heat level nor does there have to be a happily ever after. If you write young adult and have a story in mind then we would love to read it. Young Adult acceptances will go on our sister site, Midnight Press, which is currently under development.  

Stories should be between 30,000 and 35,000 words.  

The first PAWS For Thought novels will be published in the first part of 2009, so in order to be considered for one of the debut releases, submissions should be received no later than November 1, 2008. Once royalties are paid the remainder will go to charity, unless of course the author chooses to donate his/her royalty as well. That will be up to the individual authors.

We are very excited about this new charity project and working with Michael to create a safe haven for the animals they rescue.

*Permission to forward granted*

~Abby

This is just a quick reminder for all those people who are planning to submit a manuscript to Blade Publishing. Before you hit that send button please read through and follow the submission guidelines that are located on the submissions page. They are there for a reason. If you cannot be bothered to read and follow simple submission instructions then we cannot be bothered to read your submission.

 In the last month and a half we have had 4 submissions that because of not following our guidelines were immediately deleted. Two of them I have no idea if they were submissions or not, the email itself made no sense yet there was an attachment. I am too busy to send out emails requesting clarification as to the intention of your emails.

So please read and follow the instructions and guidelines we have outlined for you.

Have a great weekend!

Abby

Surfing around the Internet the other night I came across an old writer’s forum and one of the topics caught my eye. The initial post was months ago, which will give you an idea of how active it is. Anyway, the topic was along the lines of how polished should your manuscript be before sending it off to the publisher. Had it not been after 2am I most likely would have joined the forum and made a post so that anyone else stumbling across that forum would not take the advice that was put forth.

The consensus was that authors shouldn’t fret too much over their manuscript because it’s the editor’s job to catch all their mistakes. Yes, you read that right. There are still aspiring writers who think it’s the editor’s job to dot their I’s and cross their T’s for them. And I’m sure when the form R’s come in they will wonder why.

It is not an editor’s job to fix your punctuation and spelling mistakes. If you are unsure where to place a comma, when its is used as opposed to it’s then might I suggest investing in a grammar guide. Because if you submit to Blade and it is evident that you either don’t care, expect and editor to fix it, or are just plain clueless you will receive an R with a link to purchase a grammar guide. That may seem a bit harsh to some but there are many authors who polish, polish, and then polish their manuscript just one more time before submitting it, so why should you do anything less.

When an editor has a stack of books that need editing, do you think she is going to want to waste her time on an author who does not take the craft of writing seriously? And yes writing is a craft. I don’t ever recall reading this phrase in a book, “In order to become published just write the book. Once it’s completed send it in. You don’t have to do any edits or polishing of your own because the editor does that for you.” Does that make any sense at all? If you think yes, then you aren’t ready to be published. I have sent out my fair share of R’s to people who have sent in manuscripts as such. I don’t want your first draft.

Writing and publishing is a business, one that we take serious. So it’s important that you, the writer, have the same mindset.

As promised in an email message I sent yesterday here are the books we will be publishing for our Christmas “Under the Mistletoe” series.

While I had this big marketing idea planned, I was hoping to be able to release 12 books. Well, things don’t always work out like you plan so things change. We received only 6 christmas submissions and out of those 6 only 3 are going to be published.

*Drumroll*

Her Knight Before Christmas by Debora Dennis  - A well crafted time-travel romance and with Debora’s quick wit she once again had me laughing out loud. And it had everything to do with the size of his sword. LOL

Christmas for the Cowboy by Patricia Bates - I can’t think of anything more hot than a cowboy, tight jeans, body oil, an auction, a hotel, and a weekend in bed. Need I say more.

Bad Timing by (keeping her real name a secret until I find out if she is using a pen name or not) - A ten year crush, a Christmas holiday get together, and a bottle of Brandy. Will they or won’t they. You’ll find out in December. LOL

There you have it, Blade’s debut Under the Mistletoe authors.

Coming to you December 2008!

~Abby