The Wild Rose Press

My pitch with an editor from The Wild Rose Press went very well on Saturday! It's a very small online press that publishes anything from 7,000 word short stories to full length 100,000 word sagas. Everything they publish is romance, but they publish almost every sub-genre of romance (excluding certain things like homosexual romance, which I never plan to write anyway). Their full-length books go to print as well.

I pitched my novella, "Steal My Heart" which is just over 20,000 words. She seemed very interested in the story, said that she'd love to take a look at it and to send it to her attention, then she asked if I had anything else. It certainly seems like I should have something else, doesn't it? So much time has gone by since then! But there's really nothing else, which is sad.

I couldn't very well pitch my 50,000 word not yet edited horror novel, so what else is there? I talked to her about some ideas I have for a young adult series since they also have started a young adult line that doesn't necessarily have to be romance, just needs to have some romantic undertones. She also seemed interested in that and said if I ever finish it to let her know.

As far as pitches to editors go, I imagine they usually will ask to see a full manuscript from you unless the story you're pitching absolutely doesn't fit their guidelines. Like, TWR Press doesn't take "Women's Fiction" stories, so if I had gone in there pitching a women's fiction, they probably would not have wanted to see it and simply told me that it wasn't what they are looking for. However, anything that fits into the contemporary romance or historical romance , or any of the genres they carry, would probably get a request for submission regardless of whether she thought it was an awesome story or not. I mean, hey if it fits, why not ask to see it? It's not like they're going to be able to tell from you talking whether or not the actual WRITING is any good.

Now, I'm not trying to lessen the excitement that I have about getting asked for a submission. It's still exciting because when I submit this manuscript, it will go to the top of the pile rather than sit in the slush pile with all the thousands of other random submissions. I'll get looked at faster and taken more seriously simply because I took the time out to go hear her speak and to talk to her. She knows when she looks at it that hey, this person is actually serious about being a writer and her idea was coherent. That's a start!!

Plus, I think she seemed honestly excited about my idea and my story. She said she'd LOVE to see it and she seemed enthusiastic. One of my critique partners pitched her historical novella and even though she got a request, she said the editor just said that they were looking for more historicals and to please send it on to their email. She didn't say love and she didn't seem excited. Her eyes "glazed" over in a few parts, she said. I'm not putting my friend down because she had a good idea, but maybe the editor's reaction to my idea was genuine excitement. I certainly hope so.

Now comes the hard work. When I sent this story out to three previous publishing houses, it was rejected, albeit nicely, by all three. I have been working to revise the story and now that I have a request to submit it somewhere, I have to seriously get it finished. I was intent on working on my Silhouette Desire novel, but when an opportunity like this comes along, you have to grab it with both hands. So, I'm giving myself this one week to get it done and send it in. Here's hoping that my first story will sell. I had almost given up on it, so it's nice to have new life breathed into it!