I follow several of the Entangled editors on Twitter and more than once over the years I've seen them post "Have plotted out an entire story/series idea... now to find someone to write it."
Does this happen elsewhere? I've seen editors say they'd like a motorcycle club story or a billionaire story or a cowboy story, but do editors at other publishing houses actually plot out an entire story and then go looking for someone to write what they want?
We call these "spec projects," though the concept is actually quite common in the industry. Entangled handles these differently than, say, a book packager, where the pay is less than ideal. (I've worked with a book packager in the past, so I can speak to this personally.) Entangled spec projects are contracted the same way regular books are contracted, with royalties matching those an author would receive for their own books. It's a popular option for prolific authors who just want to
write without having to come up with the perfect story and characters. It also works well for debut authors who have a fantastic voice, but haven't yet learned how to craft a solid story for a specific imprint.
Spec projects aren't for everyone. If you're the type of author who likes to take an idea and transform it into something totally different, you'll probably feel too limited. We pick and choose who we take on for spec projects carefully for this reason.
I am sure that Liz probably has good research into the whole use of tropes and how they help sell books. I can't think of any other reason they would be so focused on them. It has to be a business reason, hasn't it?
As Le Mole said, it was a business decision. There's a big difference between category romance and single-title, and those differences are difficult for authors who aren't familiar with - or fans of - the
specific expectations of rabid category romance readers. We've done extensive research both within and outside of Entangled, and like any successful business, have developed our own formula that works for our readership. It's not for everyone, but if an author wants to write for a specific imprint at a specific publisher, they'll likely be faced with that publisher's own research and preferences.
If category romance isn't for a particular author, we publish single-title romance as well, and those aren't trope-driven.
'Why is there still no system in place for solid release dates so authors can organise their publicity?'
The answer to this lies in our business strategy. We place more emphasis on responding to market conditions than arbitrary release dates, unlike many other publishers. The reasons we move release dates are varied, and almost always market-related, e.g. pairing up authors that we're able to market together more effectively, pairing up similar concepts and/or tropes so we can create a marketing plan around that concept and/or trope, and moving books to capitalize on specific advertising venues that weren't available when the book was initially scheduled to release.
In addition, since we attract so many prolific and high-profile authors, we are continuously juggling self publishing and other publisher-related release dates around our own. Add in books that don't meet deadlines, author and editor pairings that aren't as effective as we'd hoped, and a desire to make every book the best it can be, and you've just increased the degree of difficulty of hitting specific dates tenfold.
To combat the frustrations of fluid release dates, Entangled picks up the majority of publicity for our authors. While it's wonderful to hear that some authors want to plan out complex marketing plans of their own, it's unnecessary. We've created marketing strategies that work with a flexible release schedule to maximize everyone's opportunities.
That said, we absolutely could just set dates and hit them, but we wouldn't be as successful as we are, nor would we be putting the author's eventual financial gain first.
'Why, a year after you promised it would not happen anymore, are authors still being required to rewrite their books after QA?'
QAs are an internal evaluation to ensure that our authors receive only the best editorial advice. With a freelance editorial staff, there is no other way to know an author has been well-served until after the book releases, at which point nothing can be done.
From time to time, an author ends up paired with an editor who isn't the best match for that particular book's issues, and the QA process reveals the mismatch. While it's frustrating for both the author and editor, it's still in the author's best interest to produce the best book possible. This has been true of both new and experienced editors, since every book warrants different editorial skill sets.
The QA system, while flawed from time to time, works, and because of our attention to detail, we've launched some of the biggest names in the industry. We hope authors can rest easier knowing we take such care to ensure every book receives the best chance possible to become a bestseller.
'We have been promised a number of times over the years that you will learn from your mistakes and absolutely nothing has changed. Why should we believe you now?'
While we may disagree that "absolutely nothing" has changed, there is no answer to this question. Whether you choose to believe anything anyone says is ultimately your call. We'll continue striving to be the best publisher we can be in the meantime!
I hope this answers your questions!
