On March 10, ACRA's own Vickie King posted an interview with
Debra Dixon, President/CEO, and
Deborah Smith, VP and Editorial Director of
BelleBooks and Bell Bridge Books, on her blog,
Heartstrings. This is a reprint of that interview, with Vickie's permission.
Meet these ladies in October at the 2012 Fiction Writers' Bootcamp sponsored by Ancient City Romance Authors. For details, see the At The Event section of this blog site or the web address at the end of the interview.
Interview
with BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books'
- Debra Dixon,
President/CEO
- Deborah Smith, Vice President and Editorial Director.
Debra
Dixon, President/CEO of BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books has
published with major publishers, written ten books, contributed to twelve
anthologies, and served as Vice President of RWA. Her popular GMC: Goal,
Motivation, and Conflict workshop spawned a book that has become a how-to-bible
for writers.
These days, she's better known as Publisher for BelleBooks and its imprint Bell
Bridge Books, which tackles a broad spectrum of genres in both print and ebook
formats. A 2011 company highlight was holding the #1 spot on the full
Paid Kindle list for more than two weeks. Their titles have been picked
up in translation and by major New York publishers in subrights deals for mass
market paperback, book club, audio and large print. The company has
published work from NYT's bestselling authors: Anne Bishop, Susan Addison
Allen, Deborah Smith, Sharon Sala, Sabrina Jeffries, Sandra Hill, Jill Marie
Landis, and Jill Barnett. As well as USA Today bestseller Kalayna Price.
Deborah Smith is the New York Times bestselling author (A Place to Call
Home, 1997, Bantam Books) of more than 35 romance, fantasy, and women's fiction
novels. Her most recent success is The Crossroads Cafe, a Top 10 Amazon
Kindle bestseller in ebook. She is the winner of numerous awards
including a career Achievement Award From Romantic Times Magazine. A
Place to Call Home was named one of the Top 200 Best Romance Novels of the 20th
Century by Romantic Times. More than 3 million copies of her books have
been sold, worldwide.
Since 2000, Deborah Smith has been Vice President (and a
founding partner of) BelleBooks (now primarily known as Bell Bridge
Books.) Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Bell Bridge Books is a successful
small publishing company featuring popular fiction. More than 25 Bell
Bridge titles have been bestsellers in ebook.
1. What is your bestselling genre right now?
We try not to lock into a "trending" mind-set. We've seen that
just about every genre can do well with the reading public. So, we focus
on finding great authors, who can write amazing books, and worrying about genre
later.
2. Is there something you don't currently have in publication that you
would love to acquire?
We'd like to acquire more time in the day!
3. Do you work with new/unpublished authors or prefer authors with a
backlist?
We are primarily a publisher of original fiction. That is our
focus. We publish original fiction every month. But, because of the
changes in the industry and the number of authors who now control their Big6
backlist, we have developed a large reprint "list." We have a
somewhat different approach to backlist management, which is why so many
authors are working with us. It's not about tossing the books up as fast
as possible. Our focus is on creating the right branding and packaging
for the author as well as assessing the content for all the little fixes that
might be necessary to freshen an older work. We generally launch backlist
as part of a complete publishing program, which includes originals by the
author.
We have established relationships with the various ebook platforms and print
distribution that most authors just can't duplicate. That's not to say
that authors can't be successful self-publishing. This program is a
different animal and well-suited to authors who like the collaboration of
publishing and need to focus on creation of frontlist titles instead of
managing or relaunching backlist themselves.
4. What can an author do to impress you and set her/him apart from the
rest?
Write a great book, concise query and readable synopsis. Voice is
critically important. The voice has to be on the page from the
opening. Editors don't have time to "warm up" to an author's
work. The author has to engage us and make us sit up straight in
amazement right from page one.
5. What would you consider the most important advice or tip you could
give an author on submitting to BelleBooks or Bell Bridge Books?
Be Patient. Even though we're a small press, we gets lots of new queries
every week. It's impossible for us to respond to them immediately.
It may be 2-3 months before an author hears from us.
6. Would you consider adding a genre or a time period that you do not
currently work with and why? (Examples: Historical Western Romance,
Victorian Romance, Colonial times, WW II, Erotic Romance.)
We never say never. The only thing we don't actually anticipate
publishing is erotica. That has to do with erotica being a very
well-served market. A publisher our size can't be all things to all
readers. We have to pick and choose what we publish very carefully.
7. What sets BelleBooks and Bell Bridge Books apart from other
publishing houses?
Deborah Smith: The founders and Managing Directors are all authors.
We try very hard to be more author-friendly than the bigger publishers.
Debra Dixon: To our author-centric philosophy add our long time
commitment to discoverability and the long tail. We have author after author
break into the Amazon Top 100 on the full paid list. We're putting up
great numbers for authors and finding readers. Publishing is about
building careers, building readership and we never lose sight of that fact.
8. Once a book is accepted, how long before publication?
We operate within an 18 month window, which means that publication is usually
within the same 12-18 month time frame that Big6 specifies. Some books
might publish a little faster, but most books these days are scheduled quite
far out. Books will have to go through a revision, line edit, copy edit,
proofing, etc.
9. What designates a title being selected for audio, and how many
titles are selected per year?
Happily, due to our involvement with Audible.com, it is now possible for us to
submit all of our titles for auditions. The program works by connecting
publishers and producers/narrators. We sort through their auditions and,
after consultation with the author, select a narrator for each book. That
producer/narrator is responsible for every aspect of recording. The
finished audio is sold via Audible, Amazon and iTunes. As of March 2012,
we have about 45 titles in production and about 10 released titles.
10. How much say does an author have in selecting the audio
reader?
See above. We send auditions to the authors and let them choose.
11. What designates a title being published in hardback or large
print?
We're always "working" the titles, selling into foreign translation
or large print. There is no pass/fail for whether a title gets the full
court press. We want to create as large a footprint as possible for our
titles. So we go after these types of "subrights" sales for
every book. However, in the case of an exceptionally long book, its
chances at a large print deal are diminished due to the cost of producing that
in large print.
12. Do you accept submissions for short stories and anthologies?
These are invitation only, but we occasionally do short story
collections. We have one coming out in May 2012--SWEETER THAN TEA.
Some of the authors were from the open call.
13. You have published several children's books. Are you still
acquiring?
Children's picture books and middle grade are specialized markets. We are
no longer acquiring in those categories unless we're continuing an existing
series such as Bill Allen's "How To" fantasy series or Maureen
Hardegree's "Haint" series.
14. What trends do you see in publishing?
Deborah Smith: Continuing growth of ebooks and continuing decline of
paperbacks.
Debra Dixon: That's the big story--the rise of ebooks and the change in
how readers find books.
16. On a more personal note, what is your favorite thing to do in your
spare time?
Deborah Smith: Knitting. Deb Dixon got me hooked last year at a
conference. Now, I'm rabid about it.
Debra Dixon: I adore knitting and usually have a couple of projects
going. One project is always a pair of socks which is small and great for
travel. There's a waiting list for socks. But the one thing that I
must do regularly for my sanity is quilt. I'm a rabid quilter.
17. What is your favorite genre/type of book to read? (Personal
question, not publishing)
Debra Dixon: Both DebS and I are very eclectic readers. I tend to
like a longer book that I can sink into versus a short breezy book.
Although it all depends on mood!
18. Name three things you cannot live without.
Deborah Smith: Husband Hank, our critters (two dogs, six cats, numerous
goldfish) and Deb Dixon. Seriously, we've informally adopted each other.
Deb Dixon: She's taken my answer! I'm very attached to my husband
and son and Deb Smith.
19. Since you are both writers, what advice can you give, one writer
to another?
Deborah Smith: Don't do it for the money. You have to love writing
and be happy doing it no matter how it pays off financially. Publishing
is a tough business. Writers who love the craft and stick with it
generally tend to achieve success. Warning: Writing is never going
to be a get-rich-quick business, despite the "overnight success"
stories that titillate writers occasionally.
Debra Dixon: This is an amazing time to be a writer. Success is
created by "butt in chair." Get better. Write more.
Decide what success looks like, and spend the time to understand the
business. Writers have options, but not all options are created
equal. Getting published quickly isn't always the smart move.
Self-publishing isn't for everyone. Big6 isn't for everyone or every
book. The "mid-major" publishers are different than small,
boutique publishers. Choices mean the author has to do some business
planning and soul-searching about how to pursue this dream.
Thank you ladies for the great answers and advice. Looking
forward to meeting you both in October at the 2012 Fiction Writers' BootCamp.
If you are interested in reading more about BelleBooks and Bell
Bridge Books, please click on the following link to visit the website. BelleBooks
If you are interested in meeting these awesome ladies, they will be the
guest speakers and the editors for ACRA's 2012 Fiction Writers' Bootcamp.
This years' theme - "Mardi Gras on the Beach" held in St. Augustine,
Florida, October 5 & 6, 2012. Yes, it's Mardi Gras in October.
Please click on the Ancient City Romance Authors' website link for more
information. ACRARWA.COM
Don't miss this awesome opportunity to meet two of the founding members of
BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books.
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