Tag Archive | Prism Book Group

Confessions of a Newbie Editor

Mar24
Reading Time: 3 minutes

A year ago I took a step of faith and became part of the Prism Book Group team, taking on the role of Acquisitions Editor. This article is not an attempt to brag, but more of a confession of sorts. prism logo

Lessons: I had never been an editor before, so there was a learning curve. Here is some of what I learned:

  • I discovered how much fear held me back until I had to push against deadlines to make sure my authors had books ready for publication.
  • I relished how good it feels to give an author that contract – and to celebrate with them when their dreams are in print for the world to read. 
  • I’ve developed a way of giving rejections that takes some of the sting out and helps writers grow. I may not contract them but I do still care. This was the scariest part of taking the job. I still don’t like to do it but at least I don’t crush dreams (or try not to).
  • I delight in encouraging authors at conferences.  

People. All the highlights this past year have shown up in the form of relationships:  

Lisa Lickel is the person who passed along the job opportunity with Prism. At first I couldn’t believe it. You think I could do what? But I asked friends, took a test (and passed) and prayed about it. Then I took the plunge and have not regretted it. She became the first author (in a group of four) that I signed. She protested, “I didn’t tell you to get the job so you would publish me!” I’m glad I did, as Brave New Century was a huge revelation. I worked with four different authors and stories all at once. Do you know how intimidating it was to edit an editor’s work as well as when she is a dear friend? She must not have minded Prism at all as she just came out with another novel, The Last Detail, in January. Because it wasn’t a strict romance, fellow editor Marcy Dyer did the honors of working on that book.

Anita Klumpers entrusted her debut novel to me and worked her butt off with such cheerfulness. Anything I threw at her she took and was grateful. Her attitude was such a bolster to me and a bit frightening. Sure. She had never been through this process before. But neither had I. Her novel was released on January 22nd. Just coming up the the title, Winter Watch, with her was an adventure in and of itself. I loved every minute.

Daisy Jerico also entrusted me with her fun novella and delivered the best pitch I ever heard to date. She talked like she loved her characters and she was telling the story of something that happened to a close friend. The Love Thief ebook has done well and if you want sassy and suspenseful romance – that book is pure delight. I must not have done too bad with her as she signed with me again. Sparks Fly is due out in July. Oh, and we’ve had coffee together and both emerged victorious during 2013’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Paula Mowery was part of an anthology I had contracted and became interested in doing my job. Well, not my job, but the same position. There’s plenty of great fiction to go around! I have now worked with her on not one – but two books! Brave New Century released in November of 2013 and Love and Legacy released March 19, 2014.

Jacqueline Hopper is another Acquisitions Editor at Prism Book Group and an author in her own right. She has been a great support and willing to answer all kinds of questions to the newbie on the block. She helps with scheduling reviews and making teasers and trailers for our books. (Check out her novella The Gingerbread House!)

I also had the honor of working a repeat Prism author, Penelope Marzec on her book Patriot’s Heart which released in February.

Finally, I have to mention Joan Alley, the owner, and Editor-in-Chief of Prism Book Group. She was willing to take a chance on me and I am grateful she did as I have learned so much in the process about writing, about speaking, and about myself.

I’ll be honest. I did this as a way to earn a little income while waiting for my own books to come to print.

I gained something far more valuable in the process, and I am grateful.

Legacy and Love (Book Review)

Mar21
Reading Time: 2 minutes

LegacyandLove_ebook2 copy (1)The book, Legacy and Love by Paula Mowery is not just a book. In reality it is two romance novellas put together because they have similar themes of which the title represents.

The first story in the book is The Prayer Shawl. Sean Holland has dismissed the Christian faith and is living his life as a magazine reporter. Challenged by his editor to find a new story, he stumbles across Hope, a nurse at the hospital who makes prayer shawls for people who are sick.

Hope learned to make the shawls from the grandmother who has since died. With a strong faith in God she knits them together with love and a lot of prayer. Sean sees a story, but when multiple crisis hit Sean’s life, he turns to Hope for help. She has to decide how much to provide given the lack of his faith in God.

Inheritance is the second story in the book. Alex Lyndon has lost her job, is divorced and with little money in the bank. She discovers, on top of all that, her Granny Olivia, her only family left, is dying. She rushes to her side but is too late to talk much to her one last time. Instead her Granny has set her on a search with a cryptic message.

A mysterious check shows up along with a handsome man. Chase Carson is a book editor who ended up taking over the reigns of his family’s publishing company. His one get-away is to go see Granny Olivia only this time he arrives to find she has died. He’s heard about Alex but Alex has not heard about him nor had any clue of the secret Chase kept for Granny. Together they search for clues to the inheritance left, the missing document he needs and the purpose Alex has been desitined for all along. But can love survive the miles and the secrets still held? 

Two grandmothers with amazing legacies that impact far more than the people they leave them to. The butterfly effect is how one action can have a ripple throught time and impact, potentially, millions. This book tells two stories of such impacts in a beautiful way.

Patriot’s Heart (Book Review)

Feb7
Reading Time: 2 minutes

PatriotsHeart_eBookPatriot’s Heart is a gripping historical romance by author, Penelope Marzec. Agnes has taken over the blacksmith shop while her father has gone to fight with the Continental Army. Going into the barn the day after the Battle of Monmouth she finds a man, one of the British, seriously wounded. While he is the enemy her heart will not let her condemn him to death with the Patriots. She vows to help the handsome man regain his heath and as he recovers they tell everyone the lie that he is a cousin from England who came to visit.

Edwin is not just a soldier. He is also the runaway son of the Duke of Dalfour. He was on a mission to deliver a message when he was shot by the enemy. He has no idea how he came to be in the barn or where his horse has gone. He goes along with Agnes’s lie to buy time to heal and perhaps spy on the colonists.

As they encounter challenges wrought by the war, they both start to fall in love. the only problem is Edwin will leave when he is well enough and Agnes will once again be alone. When Loyalists capture Agnes’s sister, Edwin vows to bring her back by returning to the British encampment. He hopes they won’t hang him as a deserter. 

Agnes struggles with her feelings for the this man and his own personal struggle from independence from an overbearing father. Will war tear his budding relationship with Agnes apart or draw them together? Could Edwin give up a title and a life of relatives ease to take up the Patriot’s cause and a life of struggle and hardship as a price for independence? Could sworn enemies become more?

This tightly woven novel is written with plenty of conflict and characters who surprised me. The hardships faced as the United States America first took its stand for independence was fraught with hardship and trial and yet love as well. Penelope does a wonderful job of drawing the reader into the story, into history, so we can experience what that struggle might have been like. It’s not all heavy war either, there’s some fun stuff thrown in as well that will make you smile.

The Love Thief (Book Review)

Dec20
Reading Time: < 1 minute

TheLoveThiefThe Love Thief is a novella by Daisy Jerico and is her debut work out by Prism Book Group

Sandra has overcome a difficult past and is on the cusp of realizing her dream of being a jewelry designer while she manages a jewelry store for her boss.

A break-in and theft at the store, however, threatens that dream when she comes under suspicion. The problem is, Sandra didn’t steal the jewelry which included her own design that she had sunk every last penny into. Now her job is in jeopardy as well as her freedom. On top of her life falling apart, a mammoth dog has chosen her to be his owner. How much more can one girl take?

She’s not given much of a choice but to work with an ex-thief to try to trap the real culprit, her former boyfriend, a Svengali type of guy who still thinks that Sandra would want him back after he set her up for a fall five years ago.

Throw in a mammoth dog and some mishaps and you have one humorous yet suspenseful love story.

Will Sandra catch the thief and live to tell about it? Could love flourish in the midst of this? Spoiler – the real love thief is Viking, the dog. Thoroughly loved this story and the cover makes me grin.

This is a novella and available as an e-book only.


Brave New Century (Book Review)

Nov15
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Brave new century final coverBrave New Century is a lovely quartet of four novellas. Four women in search of their identity in the new century, 1900. The time is filled challenges, triumphs and responsibilities. Four stories. Four lives. Four loves. (Click here for a link to the print version of the book)

In the first story, Three Rings for Alice, Lisa Lickel highlights Alice Smith’s struggles to be a modern woman. Orphaned, she has to make her own way in the world and in a time when women are just coming into the workforce, it is fraught with uncertainty. Vowing to never marry, time and a secret love changes her mind with a decision to marry for no less than love. Even if the one she loves is only known as a voice on the telephone.

Paula Mowery’s tale, Forgiven, brings us Jessie Lee Capelle who wonders if she will ever have a loving family. When she meets laborer Henry Smith her dreams look like they will come true. When a surprising twist of history is revealed, can their love withstand the truth. Can they forgive?

In The Pocket Watch, Kathleen Rouser weaves a tale of Isabel Jones, an orphan in Detroit Michigan who’s only real desire is to know who her parents were. An accident brings her into the world of Dr. Daniel Harper and a pocket watch brings them together even as a special ring, left by Isobel’s mother, threatens to reveal terrible truths. Can love withstand these obstacles?

Teena Stewart tells the final story, Flames of Hope.  Lily McMinn’s Irish family operates a thriving mercantile n San Francisco. She enjoys visits by Gideon Light, a police officer. When a  violent earthquake destroys much of the city, countless people die. The crippled fire department is helpless to fight multiple fires raging out of control. Can Lily and her family survive the tragedy with the help of Gideon?

Love, romance, history. Four different stories but with these uniting themes. Step back in time and enjoy the journey these four women make. You’ll be glad you did.

Why Are You Doing This Writing Thing?

Oct28
Reading Time: 3 minutes

I write because I’m compelled to, but more than that, I’m called to. My prayer is that my characters will somehow encourage others in their struggle with faith and living that out in the midst of the challenges of life.

I want my characters to in some way come to manifest characteristics of Christ as we are all to be sanctified, growing, continuing to be made holy in our walk with Him.

I hadn’t really connected that to the editing work I do until a week ago.

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Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I received a submission for a novella, a romance that  was set in India. I started to read and mark up the manuscript. I do this for two reasons.

  1. If I choose to contract the story, I have a start on my editing process and
  2. If I reject it, I have tangible points of helpful criticism, that I can give to the author to help them grow in their craft.

I’m unusual in that every rejection I’ve given, thus far, I’ve received warm gratitude for. I hate writing those letters because I know what it feels like to get them myself. Apparently I do it well. Not quite the selling point on a resume though, is it?

This Indian romance was different. It was for a line of fiction that does not need to have an inspirational faith story to it. The only problem was, this one did have a faith story. It was steeped in Hindu culture and belief and it was so integral to the plot there was no way the story could be written without it.

The story moved me. The problems I found in the manuscript from an editing standpoint, were fixable. I would not have rejected the manuscript because of them although many other editors would have. I was brought to tears over the heroine’s struggle. I loved the author’s voice and the color in which she painted her homeland. I’ve never been to India and she was better than a travel brochure to create in my mind the beauty of her country.

Prism Book Group is primarily a Christian publishing house. This rejection was more than just due to mechanics–this was due to an author’s deeply held faith. The weight of this was torture. I couldn’t accept the story–but as a Christian I do not want to alienate the heart of a woman, an author, that God has placed in my path. I don’t believe this was an accident.

See, this is work we do, is more than business. It’s about the heart. About drawing people to know and love our Lord the way we do. And that goes far beyond the books we write, edit and publish.  Ultimately, it happens one-on-one. One heart at a time.

This woman’s heart didn’t know Jesus and here I was, His representative, having to reject her work because of her lack of faith in Christ and her belief in false gods. How do I do this thing?  The fact is–it was her very faith that was the foundation for my rejection!

Apparently I did it well. I quickly received an email response filled with gratitude for the things I pointed out that she could do to make her manuscript better. I was able to honestly compliment her on her writing voice. I pointed out the problem in as respectful a way as I could.  She agreed that these were items that could not be removed from the story.

She thanked me and told me she would hope to submit to me again, when she had a story without the Hindu faith woven in. I look forward to that because there is a relationship that develops between an author and editor and maybe, just maybe, God would open a door for her to know Jesus in the process.

So I am praying for her, because ultimately that is what it is all about. Seeing people come to know and love our Savior as we do.

What’s your motivation as you write or edit or do whatever you do in publishing? We’re not as isolated as we think and our words and actions, even off the page, can have eternal impact.  This past week I was reminded of that and it humbled me.

New Acquisitions Editor at Prism Book Group

Apr22
Reading Time: 2 minutes

prism logo

I recently accepted a position as Acquisitions Editor for Prism Book Group. This was not something I had looked for but kind of got dropped in my lap by surprise. I shrugged. Why not? I applied and was honest that I didn’t even think I was qualified. I took a test – passed. I was offered the job. I thought about it, prayed about it and then….

I volunteered as a judge for the Genesis contest for ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). I’m an encourager at heart and tried so hard to be honest but also supportive  to the entries I had. A few made me smile. A few had me wishing I could sign that author up. That’s when it hit me. That’s what I would be doing as an acquisitions editor. I would be scouting manuscripts and seeing which ones I really wanted to read more of.

Some of those didn’t have the highest scores. Hear me. Some of those manuscripts were not going to win the competition. Maybe they were an 80 or 85. They weren’t a 90 or 98.  I had to follow the judge’s scorecard. I was honest. In spite of perhaps a lower score, there were stories that stirred  me. There was something about the writer’s voice that spoke to me. As an editor who would work with a writer, these were stories I would have been willing to invest in, to help get them to sparkle and to see that author’s name on the cover of their own book. To see them reach their publishing dream.

Tingles of excitement sparked in my heart, and I knew. With all the open doors and the unanimous affirmation of those I had talked this over with, I knew that as much as I love writing my own stories and want to see them published, I would love just as much to help other authors reach their dreams too.

I still feel a bit inadequate for the job. It sets me on a path I had not anticipated. Most of the time when I type the word “acquisitions” I spell it wrong! I also spell the wrong quite often too (teh)!

So if you are here and you are interested, check out www.prismbookgroup.com. I love romance: historical (especially Regency), westerns, comedy, romantic suspense, contemporary. If you know authors who are looking, let them know. They can submit to me at sbaganz@prismbookgroup.com.

I will be at the following conferences as well to meet with writers and hope to add more to my schedule soon:

May 11      Lakefly Literary Conference, Oshkosh, WI  .http://www.lakeflylit.org/

May 31-June 2   Wisconsin Romance Writers Conference, Oconomowoc, WI  http://www.wisrwa.org/

June 6-8    Write to Publish, Wheaton, IL http://www.writetopublish.com/

September 27-28     Wisconsin Writers Conference, Wisconsin Rapids, WI  http://www.wiwrite.org/