Guest Interview: Tiffany Schofield
Tiffany Schofield is a featured presenter for the All Write Now! 2016 conference who will give you excellent advice on how publishing companies work.
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Bill Hopkins - Curious authors want to know, what does Five Star publish?
Tiffany Scofield - Five Star/Cengage (Maine) is currently publishing mystery, western, and frontier fiction novels. Going forward we are only looking for new projects in the western and frontier fiction genres, which can include sub-genres such as frontier mystery (all stories must be set in America’s Western Frontier, pre-1920s). We are no longer accepting submissions for contemporary mysteries.
BH - May I send you an unsolicited manuscript?
TS - Yes, Five Star accepts solicited and unsolicited manuscript submissions for evaluation. If you have a completed manuscript project that is set in America’s pre-1920s frontier (between 55,000-130,000 words in length) email Five Star to request their formatting & submission guidelines; email FiveStar@cengage.com. The most important tip Five Star can offer for authors wanting to submit their project to any publishing house and/or agent is to carefully go through their manuscript and polish it to excellence prior to submitting. Give your project its best chance of being noticed in the submission process by submitting a professional looking document.
BH - How long after you accept my manuscript will my book come out?
TS - Five Star typically acquires projects 18-24 months prior to publication.
BH - What do you expect me to do in the way of marketing my book?
TS - In 2013, Five Star received the WWA Lariat Award for distinction in their support of Western literature and in 2015 was named Best Historical Western Publisher by True West Magazine. The Five Star team has worked diligently in the last 20 years to build a superior reputation for quality publishing and we expect no less from the writers we choose to work with. Five Star likes to work with authors that are fully invested in their writing careers by having a solid author platform. Even if you’re a writer without a published novel under your belt, there are various ways to formulate and build your author platform even before you are published. You can create an author website, post blog updates about your work and/or other literary musings, as well as build your fan base through social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
BH - Do I need an agent?
TS - Five Star does not require agent representation.
BH - What if I faint during my pitch session?
TS - We promise that Tiffany Schofield will not break out the sharpie, draw pictures on your forehead and take selfies to feature her artwork on Facebook. Instead, she’ll fan you, bring you water, remind you to take slow deep breaths and remind you that everything will be alright.
BH - Okay, I lied. That was six questions, but everyone at the conference will want to know the answers! Thank you.
