Zumaya Publications:

A Few Moments with Liz Burton Acquiring Editor

As Asked By Lyn Lawerence

Question # 1.)  I'm curious about why you became an editor?  What was it that made you put on the editor hat?
LIZ: I got stuck with the job at the local weekly newspaper that was my first journalism position. Seriously. The editor who hired me moved on to a PR position and the publisher, who was actually a printer and had no respect whatsoever for the news side of the business, wasn't willing to pay a going-rate salary to hire somebody new.

By then, I'd discovered I had a knack for copyediting, so when I moved to Texas and couldn't compete with all the younger job-seekers I started copyediting for a couple of electronic publishers. I was writing by then, too, and had joined an excellent novel critique group called Noveldoc (http://www.noveldoc.com) and found I enjoyed line editing as well.

Question # 2.)  Why did you choose to work in the small press or electronic publishing field?
LIZ: I've worked for corporate America. They don't have enough money to entice me to do it again. And I think the small press/electronic press is the future of publishing. The conglomerates have tried to make publishing work like manufacturing widgets, and it's not going to work in the long run. Already, book prices are bloated beyond the means of many readers, and it's only going to get worse as long as the big wholesalers have a stranglehold on the
distribution system. The only way to get their fingers off the industry's throat is a new distribution paradigm--print-on-demand.

Question # 3.)  Let me ask you what you find to be your best sellers?  What makes them different from the average NY book? 
LIZ: Right now, our best sellers are in our erotica line, eXtasy. Erotica and what some call "romantica"--very graphically sensual romances--are a booming market right now, and this is a market the Big Boys haven't even begun to tap. The difference in our books in general, as with most small press titles, is that they're the books the Big Boys won't touch because they stray too far from what they know sells.

That's the weakness of conglomerate publishing. They have to sell enough copies of Book X by Big Name Author to finance Book Y by New Author. And that's a given--that's just simple economics. But the problem is that the beancounters aren't interested in furthering the cause of American literature, so the books most likely to make the final cut are going to be the ones most like those that have a good sales history. 

The result, of course, is that much of what comes out of New York now is essentially the same as what came out last year. So, it falls to small publishers to produce and market the books that AREN'T just like last year's.

 Question # 4.)  Is there anything you found doesn't sell?  Or a particular sub-genre you don't want to publish? 
LIZ: Some genres are more popular than others, but most have at least a niche market. Voracious readers tend to read just about anything. Poetry, alas, is such a tiny market, though, that it simply isn't cost-effective for a commercial trade publisher. Ditto for highly literary novels and anthologies, unless the author already has an extensive following.

Question # 5.)  What do you want from authors submitting?  A query or can they go ahead and submit a partial?   Or do you prefer the full manuscript?
LIZ: Our guidelines, which are posted on our website, request a synopsis and the first five chapters of a novel or work of nonfiction. For the latter, we also require a table of contents. Any good editor will tell you that's more than enough to determine whether a book is good enough to publish, but we always ask for the complete when a sample catches our eye.

Sometimes, that's where they lose me. But I always send at least a brief critique of any book I think has potential but needs some revision. Editors used to do that on a regular basis, but the present climate just doesn't allow them the time. Agents often take up the slack, if you can get one. And I've had some revised versions come back that I later contracted for.

Question # 6.)  As an author we all worry about our manuscripts when they're with an editor.  Some places are known for keeping your ms for years before  you hear anything.  Can you give us an idea of what your turn around time is like?  On an average how quickly will someone hear back from your house? 
LIZ: I try very hard to get back to people in three months. However, given I'm the only reader and with the other responsibilities I have, it can sometimes be longer. But I do try.

Question # 7.)  In which genre are you actively looking for manuscripts?
LIZ: True crime, contemporary romance, thrillers, YA and middle readers, police procedurals--especially those where the "cops" are in other branches of law enforcement--action/adventure, hard SF, urban fantasy, Regency romance, and, of course, erotica. We're particularly encouraging erotica submissions from G/L/B and ethnic authors.

Question # 8.)  If you could, what one myth about electronic publishing would you like to dispel?
LIZ: That if the books produced as ebooks and using print-on-demand were any good they would (a) be published by Random House and (b) be in Barnes & Noble/Borders/Waldenbooks/B.Dalton. For my answer to the first, see question 2. As for the second, the giant chains have one supplier: Ingrams. Most small publishers who use print-on-demand can't afford to do business with Ingrams--who now require a 60% discount and a per-title fee to get into their database.

In other words, it has nothing to do with the quality of the books and everything to do with a distribution system that's been operating in exactly the same way for more than 70 years. Name one other business that's operating today the same way they did 70 years ago.

This isn't to say that there are some "publishers" out there not worthy of the name. They are, in fact, not true publishers but a new level a few steps above vanity presses. One person I know referred to them as "co-op" publishers--they cooperate with an author to get a book into print and do some basic marketing, like sending out review copies. That's fine if what you essentially want is to self-publish and have someone else take care of the technicalities, but often the product is sub-par because of inadequate editing.

That, of course, reflects on all of us. However, at Zumaya and eXtasy, we're committed to proving that our books are not only adequately edited but are actually better in that area than the much-touted "real" books from the Big Guys. We have no choice. As long as print-on-demand published books are the Rodney Dangerfield of literature, we'll have to work twice as hard to gain half the acceptance the established publishers have.

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