Thursday 23 April 2009

PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT - White Rose Publishing


We're excited to announce the arrival of White Rose Publishing. On May 1, 2006, two writing critique partners, RJ Morris and Rhonda Penders, decide to open a "kinder and gentler" publishing company. That company was, and is, The Wild Rose Press. Their premise was to grow a "garden" where authors would be treated with respect, concern, and understanding. RJ and Rhonda wanted a publishing company that didn’t make authors wonder what was happening with their manuscripts. The two also believed that no one should ever again receive a form rejection letter. If the manuscript was not something the company could use, every writer who sent a query would receive a personal, prompt, and courteous letter of rejection explaining exactly why the manuscript wasn’t accepted and what the author could do to improve it. If an author was to receive a contract, the process would be as efficient as possible, and the author would be kept in the loop with communication every step along the way. In fact, communication was to be one of the key strengths of the company.

Almost three years later, RJ and Rhonda have successfully fulfilled their goals, and over five hundred authors in a range of fourteen different lines have been published at The Wild Rose Press, and a staff of close to fifty includes a Graphic Arts Department, Production Department, Proofreading, Marketing and, of course, Editing.

Continuing to cultivate The Wild Rose Press was to be the end of the story. However in late 2008, RJ and Rhonda became aware that some Christian readers and authors were reluctant to visit The Wild Rose Press catalogue site because of some of the non-Christian covers that sometimes appear on the front page as new titles the non-Christian lines are released. Not wanting to offend, RJ and Rhonda quickly bulit a White Rose portal at http://www.whiterosesbooks.com/ so that Christian visitors could avoid non-Christian content if they so chose. But, on further research, both agreed this was not enough.

VOILA! White Rose Publishing was born. With the experience of RJ and Rhonda behind it, along with the impeccable reputation and RWA recognition that The Wild Rose Press is upstanding, pays royalties promptly and on a regular basis, and is not a vanity or subsidy publishing house, White Rose Publishing sees its dawn as we move towards becoming the online place for quality Christian romance. We will publish books and stories in various lengths ranging from Rosettes, which are quick reads, to Roses, which are 100,000 word novels. All books over 65,000 words will be released in both print and ebook form. Anything less than 65K will be available as an ebook at a variety of distributors, including Amazon Kindle, Sony Ebook store, and Fictionwise, among others. Printed books will be distributed through http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, Target.com, and can be ordered by libraries, bookstores through such distributors as Bakers and Taylor and Ingram.

As a new publishing venture, we are actively seeking quality submissions in all romance subgenre. Senior Editor Nicola Martinez, holds to strict guidelines of what is and isn’t acceptable for a White Rose book. While we will publish some titles that might be considered “edgy” according to regular CBA guidelines, with her team of three editors, Ms. Martinez will work hard to bring readers entertaining, quality stories that also glorify Christ by upholding a strict code of Christian values. For informaton on how to submit, please read our submission guidellines below.

Submission Guidelines
We publish romance in a variety of lengths:
Rosette Between 7,500 and 20,000 words (ebook)Miniature Rose Between 20,001 and 40,000 words (ebook)Rosebud Between 40,001 and 65,000 words (ebook)Rose Between 65,001 and 100,000 words (ebook & print)

We only publish ROMANCE. Although we take all romance sub-genre, every story must have romance as a strong element and in ALL lengths. This includes short stories. Please do not submit women's fiction, poetry, science fiction, fanfiction, or any type of nonfiction. For more information on how we define ROMANCE, please read the pertinent articles listed here.
If you are already a White Rose Author and would like to submit a query to your editor, you may do so directly, but please follow the formatting guidelines as stated below.

As in every romance, the focus of a White Rose story should be the conflict between the main characters. These stories encompass protagonists who may, or may not, be spiritual at the onset, but come to realize that faith is a cornerstone of love. Protagonists should possess layered, three-dimensional, personalities. They should be people who struggle with decisions on a regular basis, using their existent or burgeoning faith to augment their growth both, together, and as Christians. Remember, Christians are emboldened by their faith, not burdened by it. Protagonists' backgrounds do not have to be exemplary, but in the current story line, protagonists must have already come to terms with those issues which do not live up to Christian morality and virtue; their past immorality should not be overtly displayed on the page, but should be the catalyst for their internal conflict and growth.

White Rose books should convey life as it is lived, or can be lived, by people of faith. Because life can be humorous, mysterious, hazardous, and even a bit otherworldly, with angels popping in at times, White Rose books can encompass a variety of elements. The setting for White Rose books can be contemporary, historical or futuristic. They can be straight romances or include other factors such as mystery, suspense or supernatural elements, etc; however, an element of faith must be present in all White Rose stories-without becoming overbearing or preachy. (Please specify in your proposal if your story includes elements beyond simple romance. Also, please take note that supernatural themes are not the same as paranormal themes. Supernatural themes must be limited to Christian elements [e.g. Angels would be acceptable; a talking witch's familiar would not.])

White Roses should have an emotional rise and fall; however, the characters should not make love unless they are married, and then it should be behind closed doors. Feel free to delve into sensitive topics (e.g. infertility, terminal illness, infidelity), subjects that affect real people, but without profanity or nudity. There are no detailed love scenes in these accounts, but natural sexual tension is encouraged. We want to feel the emotion the hero and heroine feel for one another, not explicitly see the physical culmination of those feelings.

Protagonists should be Christian, or should be discovering Christianity. Elements of non-Christian faiths may be present in the story, but issues which deny the essence of mainline Christianity must not be conveyed as acceptable. (e.g. Denying the Trinity [One God in Three Persons] or denying the divinity of Christ, etc. would not work if conveyed as acceptable; however, showing someone struggling with these beliefs, and then coming to realize the truth of Christianity, might work.) Please specify in your query if your story includes elements of non-Christian religious beliefs, and briefly describe how they are handled within the story, and why they are essential to the plot.
Finally, to get a real sense of what White Rose editors like to see, we recommend reading some of our already-available titles.

When you're ready to submit, please use the following procedure:
send an email to whitequery (at) whiterosepublishing.com
Include your query in the body of the email (any email that includes attachments will be deleted without being opened)
In the SUBJECT LINE type: WRP Submission--Title of Manuscript
Make sure your query includes all pertinent information such as total word count, whether your story is complete, any relevant sub-genre, and any pertinent writing credits. (Note, however, that submissions from unpublished writers receive the same consideration as those from published authors.)
Also include a one-to-two page synopsis, pasted into the body of the email. (Again, no attachments, please.)

Formatting Guidelines:
When your full or partial manuscript is requested, please be sure it is formatted to the following specifications:
Manuscripts should be typed double spaced in Times New Roman, or some other Serif font.
Margins should be one inch all around.
Your name and the manuscript title should be a header on every page.
Be sure to send your entire submission in one file. (If you have your chapters in separate files, merge them before submitting.)
Files should be in .doc or .rtf format

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