Category:Blog

Another “Rule” that Drives Me Crazy

By: Lucia Macro
November 17, 2011

You need to submit a marketing plan with your submission.

Head. On. Desk.

Yes: Think about your market
No: You do not need to create a marketing plan. We have a marketing department. If we acquire your book, we’ll market it for you!

OTHER DISCUSSIONS HAPPENING IN BLOG Romance

  • Lucia Macro says: November 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Here’s another: we won’t consider your work if you don’t have a Facebook page/Website/Blog, etc. Not true.

    I’m also amazed at the number of questions I get every year about margins and such. We aren’t measuring. Just double space your ms and give me some workable margins.

    • RosaBoschen says: November 18, 2011 at 9:03 pm

      Good to know. Getting up to speed with social media can be daunting. I’m just now learning Twitter!

      Lucia, do you have any insight about pen names? Is having one a “plus” or a “minus” at Avon? And, should this be included in the submission?

      I’ve been considering publishing under one for romance only as I write in other genres and hope to establish a certain brand that contemporary romance readers can follow.

      • Lucia Macro says: November 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm

        There are so many factors and ways of looking at this. However, at Avon we don’t ‘require’ you use a penname. This is something that you discuss with your editor. There are cases when having different “identity,” especially if you’re published in different genres, is the way to go.

        As an aside, if I ever wrote romance I’d change my name to something else. I think a different name would be easier to remember and find, because Macro has been turned into Marco (or Maxwell) for decades now!
        I hope this helps.

  • AmyValentini says: November 18, 2011 at 12:30 am

    LOL!! You scared me for a moment there, Lucia. I thought, “OMG, I have no idea how to do that!” I thought the hardest part of a submission besides actually writing the story was writing a query that would make you sit up and take notice. Phew, glad I don’t have to do a marketing plan. Thanks for the giggle and sigh of relief. xoxo

  • RosaBoschen says: November 17, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    Seems we writers can’t escape that Book of Rules, useless though many may be. What other unnecessary pieces of information do you see coming in with slush pile queries?


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