Lessard Public Relations Blog

Listen up!!

Tired of submitting to slush piles and getting rejected before the editors even see it?

Want a chance to get your book before a print editor???
Want a guaranteed that the editor actually reads it?
You don’t ever get that request for a FULL manuscript??

Well here is your chance!!

Win a chance to have your completed or nearly completed manuscript read and receive a one page critique from

Hilary Sares
Kensington editor
(Debut, Brava, Approdisia lines)

YES!!!!

FIFTEEN people will win this amazing opportunity.

Yes, 15 people will have their full or nearly completed manuscripts read and will receive a one page critique from editor Hilary Sares.

How do you win this amazing chance??

RAFFLE — $100 per entry.
Enter as many times as you want.
(all money is going to a worthy cause)
~~~~~~~~~ Rules: ~~~~~~~~~

You may enter as many times as you want at $100 a “ticket”. The more times you enter, the better your chances are.

Winners will be randomly selected from a drawing of names.
on December 21st, 2007

~~~~~~~~ What do you get? ~~~~~~~~

15 people with completed or nearly completed manuscripts (any genre!) will have their manuscript read
by Hilary Sares (Impress her and she could even want to buy you ~~ if you are what she’s looking for!)
All 15 will get a one page critique of their manuscript.

But that is not all….

RUNNERS up will get….

2nd place Runners up…. (#16 and #17 winners)

Chris Keeslar
Senior Editor, Dorchester Publishing
(Leisure Books and Love Spell)
~~ will read and critique 100 pages ~~
you get to put a proposal of 100 pages before Dorchester’s editor, and receive 1 page critique.
Again, he will consider buying if you impress him!
(Historical Romances, Magna, Contemporary, Paranormal)

Leah Hultenschmidt
Editor for Dorchester Publishing
(Leisure Books and Love Spell)

~~ will read and critique a 100 pages ~!
you get to put a proposal of 100 pages before Dorchester’s editor,
and receive 1 page critique. Again, she will consider buying if you impress her!
(Historical Romances, Contemporary, Paranormal)
3rd place Runner up (#18, #19, #20 and #21 winners)

Leanne Burroughs
Publisher/Editor of Highland Press, will read and critique 4 full manuscripts -the publisher/owner of
Highland Press will read and giveeach a 1 page critique.
Again, she will consider buying.

(Historical Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary,
Mainstreams YA, Childrens)Trade size PRINT Books

Details….The raffle runs through midnight EST December 15, 2007

The random drawing will be held on: December 21, 2007

So 21 people will have a very Merry Christmas!!! Winners will be notified by phone and email on that day.

All monies raised go to help author Dawn Thompson’s hospital and medical bills. Dawn recently had a bad fall. She’s been
in the hospital and will be there a week or two more. She is on a limited income, is a new writer so has to wait for nearlya year or more to start receiving her royalties. She doesn’t have family to help herand has a lot of needs not being covered by her insurance. Money will go to help her pay for medicine not covered, and other needs arising from her recovery.

All drawings will be final. No Refunds

Any questions about the contest email
Deborah Macgillivray
Kensington, Dorchester, & Highland Press author
writer@deborahmacgillivray.co.uk

To enter

Name:

email address (working email addy for you will be billed $100 through Paypal):
Penname, if any:

Your full address:

Your Phone number:

The Title of your manuscript:

The genre of your manuscript:

Is your manuscript completed? Yes NO

If no - expected completion date

Once your email application is received you will be sent a “ticket” bill through Paypal at $100.00 for each entry.
You pay enter has many times as you want to increase your odds.

You will be helping a fellow writer get back on her feet after trauma, and you finally get that GUARATEED
chance to be read by some top print editors.

This note from Hilary Sares:
I promise a two-week turnaround or less for all the winners.

Fallen Angel Reviews awards a 5 star review to Hannah Howell’s HIGHLAND SAVAGE. 

“Hannah Howell has mastered the plot of suspense and intrigue most creatively. Highland Savage is another wonderful story of the Murray clan. Hannah Howell’s female characters are strong and courageous yet soft hearted where their men are concerned, and of course, I love those Highlander warriors one and all. They are seriously alpha, and I wouldn’t have them any other way. Highland Savage is but one of her stories about those dashing Scottish men. If you have never read Hannah Howell, I seriously recommend you start with her Highland series, you wont be disappointed and what is even better is that there are quite a few available. I enjoy Hannah Howell’s straight historical romances, but I love it when she throws a dash of the paranormal into the mix.” Dana P, Fallen Angel Reviews

For the full review at Fallen Angel Reviews

Lessard Public Relations is proud to announce that the electronic version of DANCE WITH DECEPTION by Tracy Goodwin has hit the bestselling titles at Fictionwise.  Within it’s first of release the title has reached #8 in the best romance titles and #14 of all recent electronic titles.

To purchase a copy of this wonderful historical romance at Fictionwise.

THE GAMEKEEPER (ISBN by David Hough is the latest historical fiction release from Lachesis Publishing. 

The Gamekeeper 

  A gamekeeper must keep himself apart from the family he serves. Tom Pendower knows that, but he makes the mistake of allowing Virginia, Brigadier Trethurgy’s flighty daughter, to seduce him. His regrets are manifest even before he meets the pure and attractive eighteen-year-old Lizzie Carthew.
A seaman’s mission in nineteenth century

To read a teaser and purchase a copy Lachesis Publishing

“All in all, I found this book hard to put down. While some of the stories are real gems, all of them produce the desired effect: A sense of dread, surprise, and a morbid fascination with what is to come. Echoes of Terror is certainly worth a few evenings’ time—especially with the lights turned low, preferably in the midst of a raging thunderstorm.” TL Trevaskis

Lessard Public Relations would like to congratulation New York Times Bestselling author Hannah Howell on winning the Golden Leaf Award for a novella for The Hunt which was part of MY IMMORTAL HIGHLANDER which is now available in mass paperback.

Lessard Public Relations wish you and your loved ones a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Once an author has signed with Sourcebooks what is she/he expected to do to promote their book?

Our authors work with our PR and marketing departments to create as many promotion opportunities as possible.  

What does Sourcebook do to promote their authors and romance fiction titles?

*Ads in Romantic Times and Romance sells*Bookstore promotion when possible (New Release table, etc.)*hundreds of ARCs to librarians and booksellers and pre-publication reviewers*extensive web marketing*PR plans based on individual books/authors 

Is a marketing plan needed or welcomed with a submission to Sourcebooks?

Always welcomed, but not needed. 

Your website mentions that you have a large distribution. Can you elaborate on that and explain how this will help sell more of your titles? 

We distribute to the book trade, gift trade, wholesale and library markets, academic markets, online retailers, mass market retailers, airport stores, and international wholesalers. We have a sales force in-house of about a dozen people managing key accounts and markets, 30 commissioned reps in the independent book market and about 110 in the gift trade. This kind of distribution assures that all books are presented to all accounts and gives the books the best shot at reaching the broadest possible audience. 

Are your books available in bookstore shelves in bookstores in the

All the major bookstores in North America and extensively in the UK, Australia,

How long have you been publishing romance fiction books?

The Fall 2007 is our first season, but I’ve been acquiring over the past year and a half. 

What kind of romances are you looking for and what aren’t you interested in?

Single title (minimum 90,000 words) in all subgenres: time travel, paranormal, historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, erotic romance. 

How many titles per year are you planning to publish for the next few years?

15-20 

What are your submission guidelines?

Attached in a separate document—or email me deb.werksman@sourcebooks.com and I’ll email them to people, or visit our website www.sourcebooks.com 

Does an author need to have an agent in order for your publishing house to look over their work or will you also take unagented submissions?

We will take unagented submissions 

Will you consider previously published books?

Only with a very strong sales history 

When you look at a new submission what exactly are you looking for? Good voice, story, characters?

*a hero I can fall in love with (or who makes me appreciate my husband J)*a heroine to whom I can relate (I LOVE an unusual heroine)*a world is created

*I can talk about what makes it special in just a sentence or two

I had the pleasure of interviewing Deb Werksman, romance editor of Sourcebooks to find out more about Sourcebooks and what they are looking for.  I’ll be splitting the interview over the next few days.

Who is Sourcebooks?

Sourcebooks is a 20-year-old general trade publishing company. We are the largest woman-owned independent publishing house in the US, and one of the fastest growing indies.  

What genre of fiction are you currently publishing?

We publish commercial fiction, women’s fiction, Jane Austen sequels, and romance fiction. 

Who is your target audience/reader?

For romance fiction, our audience is a 25+ female readership. 

What are some of your up coming romance fiction titles?

We’re very excited about:*No Regrets (Fall 2007), a Regency romance with a most unusual heroine (she’s fat and wears glasses, and can’t believe that she’s driving the hero wild with desire!). *Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake (Fall 2007), a time-travel with a modern career woman thrust back in time into the social whirl of the Regency period and the arms of an unscrupulous rake!*The Cat Slave Chronicles (Spring 2007), a paranormal/sci-fi romance with a hero from a planet where the inhabitants have a feline gene—he purrs, he likes to rub up against you, he’s gorgeous and sinuous and he has some really unusual, um, equipment…*SEALed with a Kiss (Spring 2007), with a Navy SEAL hero who reluctantly accepts the heroine’s help to connect with his young son. In the process, she discovers that even a hero needs help sometimes, and he discovers a new definition for “high maintenance.”*50 Ways to Hex Your Lover (Spring 2007), a fun, funny paranormal from Linda Wisdom, who’s written 70 romances and sold over 13 million books.*New trade paper releases of Georgette Heyer Regency romances (Cotillion, Fall 2007; False Colours, Spring 2008) and historical fiction (An Infamous Army, Fall 2007; The Spanish Bride, Spring 2008).