MG: Hello, Jackie. First of all, let me thank you for your time and congratulate you for getting LBF off the ground. I understand you have five new titles coming out in a few months, can you tell me a little about them?

JDM: Hi, Michael, we're pretty excited about these titles. To choose which ones were first was not an easy task. Ironically, they are all different genre's and that wasn't pre planned. We have a wonderful vampire/werecreature novel, Vintage Blood and the Sacred Scepters. If you are a LOTR fan, Chronicles of the Planeswalkers is for you. False Impressions is a wonderful, quick read mystery. Rhyming Pittsburgh a dramatic novel, and Revolutions is our first poetry book.

 

MG:  What all is involved in starting a publishing company?

 

JDM: Money, patience, dedication, and time. With publishing, there are no 'right-away' profits. Every dollar, every hour, every moment of frustration is all an investment to the eventual sales that will come in.

There is so much more than just saying, "Hey, I'm gonna publish some books." You have to register your company, purchase ISBN numbers, know who will edit, do art. You have to put time in effort into devising a marketing plan, and finding distributors that you will court after the book comes out. Sure, you can go with just Baker and Taylor, but the most effective distributors are the small specialty ones and they don’t take every book.

All that doesn't include the book preparations. All of this takes time, seven days a week, long hours, and no paycheck for those hours. I work at least 70 hours a week for LBF because I believe in what we do and the books we take. I also figure if I work hard for our authors, our authors will work hard for LBF and together we can all be a success.

 

 

MG: Did you have any authors lined up at the starting gate, or did you have to go looking for some?

JDM: Actually, no. We sent out letters of invitation to ten established authors to submit. All of them were extremely excited, "yes, yes, I love it, I'll submit." Only two actually did. The rest of what we signed all came from submissions.

 

MG: What are the genres that interest you the most?

JDM: Me, personally? I love End of the World novels. Not ones that take place a hundred years from now, but modern day, nuke, plague, stuff. I love it. Next to those, horror and comedy.

 

MG: Do you see a future for short story collections in general?

JDM: Absolutely. People love anthologies, they are easy to read, travel books, and people can get a sense of reading accomplishment a lot easier. I think that so many publishers have concentrated on theme anthos, that the general gathering of many genres is lost.

 

MG: Do you work with multiple imprints? If so, what are those imprints and what kinds of manuscripts are you looking for in each one?

JDM: Right now we are working with the LBF titles, but we are planning on launching the SK line, "Silly Knowledge' how to books on handled in a silly manner.

MG: How can an author best get your attention with a proposal?

JDM: First, and most importantly, include cover matter or some sort of cover letter. Secondly, witty always works for me. Appeal to the person in me. Give me a catch line (opening line to the query) that 'catches' my attention.

MG: What should an author send you in their very first communication? Do you prefer a simple query letter at first, or do you want some samples of the
writing to dig into right away?

JDM: If you are querying a novel by email, then I prefer a query letter telling me about the project, and I'll ask for more. But if you are sending a book proposal via snail mail, send samples. If you email a short story submission, use a query/synopsis style email if the story is long (Over 3500 words).

MG: What is the easiest way for an author to turn you off?

JDM: Abusing the submission tracker we have on our site. I get authors who use it everyday, when I clearly have on the site that time tables for each phase. Also, being pushy. 

 

MG: Do you accept email submissions? If so, do you prefer email or snail mail?

JDM: We accept both.

MG: How long does it typically take for you to decide on a manuscript once it
arrives on your desk?

JDM: Depend on what time of the month it is. No, that's not a menstrual reference. Actually, some queries catch my attention when I open them and I respond within hours. But on average, if you are a cold query (Not previous contributor, or recommended) it takes about 6 - 8 weeks on whole manuscripts. For queries only, I usually get to them within a week, that's if I see that it is clearly a query and not a whole submission.

MG: Once you’ve accepted a manuscript for publication, what is the process the author can expect to go through before finally holding their book in their
hand?

JDM: First we review the contract, and then we sign. After that, I assign an editor and send the MS out to the art department. You will work closely with your editor to get the MS as perfect as perfect can be. Rewrites (If applicable), then red line changes, then proof reading. Then we let you see the art! :)

MG: What is the average time frame between acceptance and publication?

JDM: Like a baby, roughly nine months.

MG: Must have been rough getting those first five out and about. Quintuplets, huh? Where do you see LBF ten years from now?

JDM: As an imprint of Random House. No, actually, I want to be the big publisher who is small. I want to have a stable of authors that work with us as a family. That we don't have to rely on signing author after author in order to have huge volumes of books to make money.