An Editor Drops By

Becky Germany is a Senior Editor at Barbour Publishing, and a familiar face at writing conferences. I recently asked her a couple questions about the industry...

In many ways, Barbour has become a leader in Christian fiction -- doing novellas, establishing a book club, focusing on mass market. Where does all the creative thinking come from?

Becky: We're the leading CBA publisher of fiction categorized as romance. We rank fourth in the number of units produced in fiction in CBA. We started publishing fiction as romance flip books way back in 1983 with authors like Colleen Reece, Irene Brand, and Elaine Schultze. I wasn't at Barbour then, so I"m not sure how it was decided to settle upon romance, but it's been our strength ever since. The Heartsong Presents book club began in 1992, the year before I joined the company, and out of that has come a number of stars -- Tracie Peterson, Wanda Brunstetter, Lauraine Snelling, Colleen Coble, Cathy Marie Hake, and more (forgive me for not trying to name them all, Chip). Our fiction series have helped us remain open to working with unpublished authors and developing them into strong writers.

Another Barbour strength has been doing series and repackaging previously published material (including Grace Livingston Hill) to extend the breadth and life of the product. Our novella collections were born when we decided we could create new short stories specifically for collections under topics of our choice. So the creative thinking seems to extend from Barbour's roots, and builds on what we do best. Our team members are, for the most part, people who have been with Barbour many years and who know the company's success model. We've learned to work within our strengths and to keep our product subjects broad, in order to appeal to the widest audience.

What are some of the things that have worked (and not worked) in fiction for you?

When we decided to start doing full-length fiction for the trade, we looked at an area which, at the time, didn't seem to be well tapped -- suspense with broad appeal to include male readers. We left our core readership of women hooked on romance and tried to reach a niche market -- and failed. Even with strong authors like Alton Gansky, Nancy Moser, Hannah Alexander, etc., the market didn't respond to this fiction approach from Barbour. When we swung back to romance, the sales placements and numbers went up significantly. We learned our lesson: For Barbour, having the plot focus on romance is key. Wanda Brunstetter's Amish settings blended with romance have struck a chord with our readers and generated great sales. We also find that traditional American history settings appeal to our readers. Romance has many sub-categories, and we've found that things like chick-lit and suspense really aren't working for us.

What does the future hold? Are there some new things brewing at Barbour you can tell me about?

Well, we just launched our newest book club, containing cozy romantic mysteries. We sort of created a genre combining our romance strength with cozy mysteries. Light, humorous mysteries fit well with our readership, and the added romance is icing on the cake.

We've also increased our focus on building author names. In the early days of Barbour, the majority of our authors were either dead or writing for a set series where the author's name wasn't key to sales. Now Barbour recognizes the need to focus on author names when selling full-length fiction. We've recently signed six authors to multi-book, exclusive contracts, and we're putting a lot of effort into marketing them.

It sounds like there's a lot of interesting stuff happening with your company. So...now that you've got all these readers excited about working with you, what advice would you like to offer them? When they see you at a conference, what should they be thinking?

Just today I was reminded of my frustration involving acquisitions at conferences. I received a book proposal that claims I requested it at a writers' conference 6 months ago. It's been so long that I have no idea what sparked my interest in it to begin with. I would really encourage authors who attend conferences to have, at the very least, the full summary and three chapters polished and ready to hand over at the conference. If the editor requests your proposal, send that as soon as you get home. Then have your full manuscript ready for the editor's review no farther out than one month from the conference. Editors work with a heap of authors, and you have to do all in your power to keep yourself at the top of the review pile if you're going to get noticed.

Thanks for coming and joining us, Becky. I appreciate you taking the time. And now that you have your guard down... what's the dumbest thing you've ever seen at a conference?

My most embarrassing moment came at a writers' conference. I went to this small gathering up in Pennsylvania. I got there just as it was starting, and we were all gathered for dinner. I got sick. I guess I'd been under a lot of stress, and a migraine hit me hard. I left the table, but only got as far as the cafeteria waste can before losing my dinner. What a way to introduce myself to the group! (An agent, Joyce Hart, took care of me like a mom all weekend. I'll always be grateful to her for that.) I've never been back to that conference.

I'd like everyone to notice that it was an AGENT taking care of Becky. Another helpful, selfless literary agent, putting herself in harm's way, thinking only of the needs of others, as usual. What an inspiration.

Oh, brother.

Comments

[Pam Halter]

What would we do without helpful, selfless literary agents? Thanks for sharing, Becky. I especially took notice of your advice on submissions from a conference. We really do have to stay on top of things if we want to go somewhere.

My most embarrassing moment came when I was meeting with one of those helpful, selfless literary agents and I got a nose bleed. She gave me tissues.

She didn't sign me.

Sigh.

[Colleen Coble]

What a great interview! Becky is a great editor to work with and she'll always be my friend as well. It was fascinating to see the background and where Barbour is heading now. My editor at Nelson once told me that when she sees an author has had multiple novels at Barbour, she takes notice because they've taught authors well. My peeps (Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt) all were first published at Barbour and we've often said we're so thankful for the great training we got there. I would still be there if it weren't that I wanted to move into killing people. LOL

[Mary Connealy]

Hi, Becky. I love being part of the Barbour team.

I think the cozy mysteries are going to be a huge hit and I had so much fun writing mine.

I really love that Barbour is letting me write the historicals AND the cozies. That's a great opportunity for an author.

I remember my first meeting with you in Nashville in 2004. I came in to pitch my books and I'd just won the historical category of the Noble Theme contest with Petticoat Ranch, but I'd lost my Winner's certificate.

I came into the room for the meeting and you lifted up the certificate. You'd found it.

I wasn't sure if that made me stand out from the crowd...and if it did, it maybe made me stand out as a dork. :)

But Petticoat Ranch is now on the shelves.

Great interview.

[Nancy Mehl]

Great interview, Becky!

I'm gearing up for my first big conference. If I feel uncomfortable at any time, I think I'll remember your experience. It couldn't get worse than that, could it?? LOL!

Thanks so much for sharing.

[Timothy Fish]

I’m always more interested in failure than success. Success often comes from dumb luck, but failure usually has a reason. Any thoughts on why Barbour failed when they tried to tried to branch out from romance? I am particularly interested to know whether Barbour attempted to apply romance marketing strategies to the new market or whether they attempted to apply a different marketing strategy to the new market.

[Matt Jones]

Excellent interview. It's such a gift to have individuals working in the industry give us a view as to what works. It really stirs the mind and gives our creativity some direction.

Thanks Becky and Chip!

[Rebecca Germany]

Thanks for inviting me to blog, Chip. It took me a while to get the questions done, but it was rather fun.

Timothy, I'd go ask others about that marketing, but the 2 key people involved are out on the road this week. It could be that we had nothing to compare to as we were pitching the books. We couldn't say "you had success with this like product, so now we are sure you can sell this new thing." We put money into marketing ads and such, but we were still learning how to market stand-alone fiction and authors. Part of the problem was also in not getting wide-spread placement and book reviews.

[Tina]

This comment was fascinating, "at the very least, the full summary and three chapters polished and ready to hand over at the conference" as I have spent a good many years refraining from tossing proposals under toilet stalls and slipping them under hotel room doors at one a.m. or paying the concierge to shove my msc into and editor's luggage.

I am utterly confused and shall have to rethink this entire process.

Thanks for the interview!!!!

[Tina]

This comment was fascinating, "at the very least, the full summary and three chapters polished and ready to hand over at the conference" as I have spent a good many years refraining from tossing proposals under toilet stalls and slipping them under hotel room doors at one a.m. or paying the concierge to shove my msc into and editor's luggage.

I am utterly confused and shall have to rethink this entire process.

Thanks for the interview!!!!

[Mary Connealy]

I don't think Becky meant you'd get to actually hand it over AT the conference, just be ready to, so you can go straight home and send it in. Right?

Also, in my earlier comment...it was ACFW in DENVER in 2004, not Nashville.

[Colleen Coble]

Yes Mary is right, Tina. Read what Becky said after that. She's saying it's ready to send in right after the conference. We are always preaching to people not to pitch anything unless it's ready. You run the risk of losing the editor's interest.

[Tina]

LOL, thanks guys, I was um, not actually being literal myself.

[Rob Sargeant]

Thanks Chip and Becky,

I downloaded the submission guidelines from Barbour books not too long ago for the Romance genre, and it seemed to me like there were some stringent guidelines. For example: the stories should always end with a wedding, bedroom scenes should be avoided, and other heated situations. Is it really still that stringent? Or do they have more flexibility nowadays?

[Susan Page Davis]

I think those rules Rob mentioned are only for the Heartsong Presents books. In that line from Barbour (I've written 10), they do like a "wedding epilogue" right now. In one of my books for Heartsong, the couple was already married, so in the epilogue you saw the first child born. In another one, the wife announced to the husband in the epilogue that they were expecting a baby. It's a moment of closure for the reader, and a peek into the future. But they don't do that in their mysteries or their trade books. And rules do change over time.

[Kristi Holl]

Thanks for a great interview--and the advice about follow-up after a conference. I'll keep that in mind!

[Pam Halter]

I always bring a proposal letter and sample chapters to conferences. I know that most of the time, I'll be taking it home and mailing it in later ... but I have also had times where an editor took it, so I was glad I had it with me.

I also take envelopes and stamps for that situation so I can provide a SASE.

[janet]

So...if neccesary, you'd mop up after me? That's sweet, Chip.

I appreciate hearing what Rebecca had to say about sending requested proposals right away. I've heard writers advise one another to "wait awhile because editors are ambushed right after a conference." I'd just assume send something right out and have the person I spoke to remember me.

[Robin Shope]

There once was a man from Oak Park
Who thought that he was a lark
He went soaring above
and swept down like a dove
Now he is six feet in the dark.

[Diane Rosier Miles]

Happy birthday, Chip-a-roo
Here's a poem just for you:
You might be oldy
But you're dapper.
Your looks are not yet in the crapper.
So long as Patti thinks you're cute
I know that you won't give a toot
When you're finally green and moldy.