Publisher Spotlight: Carina Press

(<=Jake the Glowing e Cat LOL!)

First of all I have to thank fellow Word Whore Jeffe Kennedy for leaving Carina Press for me to write about, since I’ve had exactly two e publishers so far and one of them was myself!

Carina is the digital first imprint of the mighty Harlequin and here’s what HQN has to say: 

“Be adventurous in your reading and try something new!” Carina publishes works from 15,000 words on up, including contemporary romance, steampunk, erotic romance, gay/lesbian fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, or any number of other genres. They’re also very excited about New Adult right now. For more specifics on what Carina does and doesn’t publish, you can visit their Submission Guidelines page.

Here's what their page has to say regarding royalties: "Carina Press pays 40% of net digital receipts to books sold on 3rd party retail sites and 50% of net digital receipts to books sold directly on the Carina Press website. Our contract also lays out royalties for the other rights, such as audio, print and foreign translation."

I can only speak to my own, short experience with Carina but I’ve been very happy. Carina let me live a writer’s fairy tale – I submitted my “Priestess of the Nile” novella to their slush pile in 2011. It was the first thing I’d ever submitted anywhere…and they decided to acquire it! I was so excited and disbelieving that I’m afraid  I wasn't very coherent when I received The Call from Angela James, Executive Editor. “Priestess” came out in January 2012. The second novel in my “Tales of the Egyptian Gods” series will be released by Carina this coming September. The stories are set in 1550 BCE Egypt and have a strong paranormal element.

I loved my Editor Alison Dasho (who recently left Carina to become the Acquisitions Editor for Thomas & Mercer). The whole editing process on both books was a wonderful collaboration, in which I learned a great deal that made my writing stronger. Carina gave me a stunning cover for “Priestess” - it wasn’t at all what I had been picturing (can you say six pack abs LOL?) but was beautiful, mysterious, evocative….ok, yes, I fell in love with the art and the vision of my story. There’s a delicious hint of the Crocodile God…I haven’t seen my next cover yet but I’m confident it’ll be as satisfying. Carina does outstanding cover art!

One of the biggest personal benefits to me of being a Carina author has been the two wonderful author loops I’m now on (Carina and also Here Be Magic). I’ve met some terrific people on the loops, and everyone is very generous about giving advice, commiserating as needed, and celebrating the good stuff with you.

“Priestess” was also issued as an audio book through Audible, which was exciting for me. Carina does put some books into print also, as I understand it, but as yet I’ve not experienced that. They don’t pay advances, the royalties come quarterly, I was pretty much responsible for my own marketing but they have been very supportive with materials for book signings or other events. Carina does have quite a social media presence, with Angela, editors and others tweeting, etc., so I received some promo there. As a beginning author, trying to make a start on creating the all important backlist, having my series at Carina has been a very positive thing.

I believe every author should do what works for them as far as publishing, self publishing, traditional publisher, e publisher, agent/nonagented. Listen to the experiences of others, remember this is a business, stay flexible, but ultimately, do what takes you further along the path you want to go. Happy writing!