Hi Everyone.
My post today is near and dear to my heart. I am thanking the wonderful people who are my publishers..Gina Kincade owner of Naughty Nights Press and all her awesome staff. They are beyond fantastic when it comes to what they do, they give more than just a place to get your book out. They give you a welcome into a family of incredibly gifted editors, writers, artists, authors and everyone else who makes it possible to get a book to the public. They cultivate and nurture new talent, teaching them the "ropes", encouraging them to be the best they can be and kicking their arse when need be as well. But it is all done with care and devotion to their people and their books. Their emphasis isn't on the bottom line or the mighty dollar, it is on getting quality stories out by good authors. They may be new to the publishing world, less than a year old but they are strong and true to the people who write for them. That can't be said for all publishing houses.
As I have stated many times, I am a voracious reader and have been reading Romance since I was 10. Then I moved on to Romantica and Erotica and through it all I am ashamed to say that I never once thought about the people behind the scenes. Once I became a writer and published author, that changed. My eyes were opened to the fact that without all these amazing people..a writer would simply be someone who has a bunch of things written down and no way of getting out to be read.
Editors nurture your baby as much as you do, they help it to walk straighter, be better and stronger. They take your words and emotions and show you how to make them shine better and touch people more. They are as necessary to your book as you are and they are often forgotten...so I say thank you to all of you Editors out there.
Publishers are the ones behind the wheel of the school bus, they get your baby to where it needs to be and they keep it safe. From the time they agree to take you on, they use all their resources to get that book looking and being the best it can be. They put their time, money and attention into you and your book, often taking a big chance in whether it will succeed or not. They are often seen as taskmasters or the dreaded "commanders" but truly they are the people who believe in your books and your talent and take the chance on you....so yeah, they want things done right and well. But it is for the writer's and the book's own good. They also are often forgotten, so to all of you I say thank you.
There is the Artist that is your baby's dresser and tailor. They take your idea and find the best possible image to put on that cover, they draw a person to your book. As a reader and purchaser of books I can tell you I have books that I have picked up because of the cover alone. I have also put a book down and not bought it for the same reason. A good cover and an awesome artist can make a big difference for your book. But yet again, they are forgotten....so to you all you Artists I say thank you.
I also must say a thank you to the distributors, you are the last link in the chain that gets an authors book out to the world. You take our now grown up baby and you make it a debutante, taking it to it's first ball. But you are also often forgotten too, so to you as well I say thank you.
As readers, if you stop and think, I bet most of you never even bother to look at the publisher's name, the artist, the editor or where you are buying it from. I know I never did...and I have bought thousands of books, just ask my credit card company. :) But when I was introduced to the other side of the business I realized that all these people are links in a chain. If any one of those links is weak then the whole chain can fall apart. It is scary to think that some really awesome books would not have made to our hands cause one of those links broke.
I am lucky enough to say that the links in my books chain are strong, true and get the job done and done well. So again I thank Gina and the people of Naughty Nights Press.
So next time you buy a book, take a second to think of all the people it has gone through to become the story you will be reading. It is quite the fascinating process.
Please leave me a note about what you think about the People Behind the Scenes. Whether you are an an author or not.. these people are important to get the stories you like out to the public. :)
8 comments:
Sherry you are right! We as reader never think about the people behind the books we read,we just want and want.. :) Thank you to all the authors,Publishers,Artists,and all the people that makes the books i love come to life! Thank u,Thank u!!!
What a fantastic post, Sherry. So well written and thoughtful. And you're right, when you buy a book you don't necessarily think about all of the behind the scenes people. I've always been interested in the editing side of things while reading and that helped me get to where I am today. But I thank you for making me take a second look at things and give proper credit to all of those that help get the books I buy to me in the best possible shape they can be. Thanks to Gina Kincade and NNP too for bringing fantastic books by wonderful authors to us all. I hope for your continued success.
My editors are the only reason I don't sound like a raving lunatic who has overdosed on LSD. If it weren't for them, writers would sound like regular people. And who wants to read anything from a regular person. ;)
GREAT POST LADY!!
Sherry, your tribute to all the imporatant people that create the publishing power for authors was magnificent and beautiful. I'm sure Gina and all the staff will be crying in tears for appreciation for your acknowledgement of them and Naughty Nights Press, which deserves this to the heart of publishers appreciation week.
Amen, girl! Sherry, you are so right, and you said it so beautifully there's almost nothing more I can add! Maybe I'll just write a post that says, "What she said!" with a link? lol
You're rockin' awesome, chica!
xoxo
Excellent post. The descriptions of all the work the publishers do were really good, and spot on.
Sherry I honestly feel privileged to have been on both sides of pages so to speak.
Able to work with wonderful editors, fantastic publishers and astounding cover artists, is an absolute blast.
But an even bigger buzz is being able to work and support the most extraordinary writers and that to me is important note to remember,each and every writer is uniquely talented in what they do.
So thank you to the writers for making our jobs exciting and interesting and a HUGE THANK YOU to my second publisher for taking a chance on one of my stories.
Thank you Naughty Nights Press.
*bites n kisses*
Oh, I do remember those days of being just a reader, blind to the process and attributing my whole appreciation of the book solely to the author. True, if not for the author there would be no publisher, but it's the publisher that smoothes the rough edges and draws us in. I too picked up books, judgement made solely by their cover (heck it's still the first thing that draws me in, even if the blurb is a little fuzzy I'll still give it a chance!). Although the saying is "don't judge a book by it's cover", seeing as how that's the first thing we see, it needs to be snazzy. And with a snazzy cover the story needs to be as good, if not better. The whole process it arduous but necessary, and we ARE all artists.
Wonderfully phrased, and something I understood without realising until you pointed it out, something I *didn't* understand until NNP. So thank you, Sherry, for the post, and thank you again, NNP, for helping me, and other authors like me, realise a dream, and take a peek behind the curtain that is the publishing world!
Post a Comment