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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Blatant Self Promotion

I just wanted to celebrate with you . . . I submitted a manuscript, "Deadly Star," to Crimson Romance, in October and signed a contract with them yesterday. Yay!

The eBook version is presently scheduled for release Feb 18, 2013 (check Amazon, B&N.com) and the POD version comes later.

And for me, serious developmental editing and verifying is coming down the road.

"Deadly Star" did not start out as a romance, but then I decided to change the ending to a happily-ever-after. Obviously, there was enough of a relationship between the characters in the rest of the chapters to make the change work.

My eQuery pitch went this way:

A small-town scientist's world is turned upside down when she accidentally spots a top-secret satellite and a psychopath sends an assassin to silence her. When her CIA ex-husband, whom she still loves, gets involved, things get even more complicated for her. 

In Deadly Star, malevolent serendipity spins Dr. Mirabel Campbell's quiet life into a toxic mélange that makes her the target of a madman. Mirabel, a botanist at the top of her field, is burned out and plans to make a career change after one last project. She's also an amateur stargazer in pursuit of a mysterious point of light. What she finds is that the elusive night sky twinkle intersects her scientific speciality in a way that marks her for death. 

The experience with Crimson Romance has been smooth so far. My editor contact has been friendly and helpful. Still, if I've learned one thing from listening to other authors, it's never sign a contract until you've had time to digest it, have someone else look at it, and make changes if you need to. I did, I did, and I did. 

Crimson Romance is a new imprint of Adams Media which is a division of F & W Media, Inc. Sounds complicated, but these are the folks who published the "Cup of Comfort" series (no longer in print) and "Writers Digest."

If you write in the romance genre, here's where you can find their submission guidelines:
http://www.crimsonromance.com/submissions

They're looking for "lots of talented authors with fresh voices and engaging stories; we seek smart, heartwarming romances for sophisticated readers."

So I say, you're talented. Go for it!    

You all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same. 

cj 

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