[CUE Voiceover Guy]
Nina talked about how no one talks about the editor-author relationship, and then one of her authors, Kimberly Pauley came onto the blog and they talked about the editor-author relationship. We got a bunch of emails saying you guys really liked reading about the editor-author relationship. Now here’s the second half of the interview.
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KP: What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of working at/with a smaller publisher?
NH: As an editor, I enjoy working for a smaller publisher. We have a small but tight-knit team that is dedicated to creating great products. I love our designers and art directors who are so creative, flexible, and willing to lend a hand. Just the other day, I wanted some illustrations for Heroes of Hesiod, a promotional game tied to the new novel Monster Slayers. We didn’t have the budget to hire an outside artist so I popped over to Emi Tanji’s desk (Emi’s one of our designers ) and asked if she could help me. Even though she obviously had tons of “real” work to do, she whipped out some adorable doodles that were perfect. All my editorial colleagues are supportive and full of creative energy. And the marketing team, including Shelly Mazzanoble, is enthusiastic about all our books and full of great marketing ideas. From an author’s point of view, a smaller publisher is going to give you more individual attention both in editing time and marketing time. The disadvantages are that smaller publishers sometimes lack the same resources and market-share a larger publisher might have, but I think we make up for that in enthusiasm and effort! And with Random House as our distributor, we are lucky enough to have access to a lot of unique resources like their awesome suvudu website and their fantastic sales team.
NH: Speaking of Emi Tanji, Emi’s illustrations appear throughout your Sucks to Be Me and Still Sucks to Be Me. What was it like seeing those doodles for the first time in the interior of the book? Was it what you were expecting? How about the covers, which Emi also designed (under the art direction of Kate Irwin)?
