I’m finally completing a fun meme where I answer five questions from someone else, then ask five questions of the first five people who post in the comments. So, here are my answers to Jenna Petersen’s questions.
What kind of books do you write?
The two books I’ve contracted are short stories–contemporary romance. This subgenre is the most comfortable one for me, and I enjoy writing shorts. I have a full-length futuristic romance as well, with two more books planned in that world. And finally, I have two historical romances in the works. This subgenre is the most challenging for me to write, so once these are finished, I’m making no promises about more historicals.
Can you tell us more about Cobblestone Press (recently I’ve been hearing quite a bit about them)?
Happy to. In fact, I’ll share the whole story, beginning with how I learned about them. I’ve been reading e-books for about a year, and I initially read books by both Deanna Lee and Sable Grey last fall. One day I saw a notice on Deanna’s blog about Cobblestone Press.
I checked out the website and had two main thoughts: (1) that it looked very professional, and (2) that it might be a good choice for me because it was a publisher dedicated to romance, not just erotic romance. Since I rate my stories on the hot side–leaning toward erotic but not quite there–this made Cobblestone an interesting possibility.
At the time, I had one short story and the futuristic; the former was too short for consideration and the latter is targeted for print publishers. So I bookmarked the site and made a note to come back to it.
Cobblestone began accepting submissions in March. By that time, they had lowered their minimum word count so my short story qualified. I sent it for submission on a Friday and got a contract the following Monday.
It’s been a great company for me as a first-time author. Each book went through three rounds of editing, and the editors pointed out things and made suggestions that made the story stronger.
Cobblestone also sends out its releases to dozens of review sites. I’ve heard from other authors that not all e-publishers do that. I believe the fact that Deanna and Sable are authors themselves helps them know how to make things easier for their authors. And they encourage us to submit to other e-publishers to get our names out there; they even sent a PDF with things to look for as we review contracts from other companies. As a publishing newbie, I found the comments very helpful.
Oh, and I can’t talk about Cobblestone without mentioning the covers! They offer consistently good covers. I couldn’t be happier with mine.
Cobblestone opened last Friday, and my first book isn’t out yet (that’s this Friday, only five days away!), so I can’t speak to royalties, but I’ve been pleased with the company in every other area, and I’m convinced they will continue to grow and do well.
If you couldn’t be a writer, what profession would you want to pursue?
A professional paid romance reviewer. Or a scrapbooking instructor.
What profession would you avoid at all costs?
Anything related to math.
What’s your favorite ice cream?
Bubble gum. I know, everyone looks at me strangely when I say it, but it’s true. Throwback to when my mom would take me to get a shake after surviving a trip to the dentist.
That was fun! If you want me to visit your blog and customize five questions to you, just post in the comments.
February 21st, 2008 by 
Lia Sebastian
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