Small Press Feature Day: Harbourlight Books

Happy Monday, everyone! As part of our Small Press Feature Day series on Seriously Write, today we're highlighting Harbourlight Books, a new launch from Pelican Ventures (parent company of White Rose Publishing). (Annette here.) It's been a pleasure reviewing some of the new projects coming in. Again, this house is open for submissions, so feel free to check out the submissions page if you have a Christian/inspiriational manuscript, maximum of 80,000 words, which isn't a romance. (For romance, consider White Rose Publishing.)

Harbourlight Books launched in mid-summer, 2010. Here's the press release with helpful links.

Harbourlight Books

Contact:
Lisa Dawn, Marketing Director
Harbourlight Books
A division of Pelican Ventures LLC
PO Box 1738
Aztec NM 87410

http://www.harbourlightbooks.com
lisadawn@harbourlightbooks.com

Pelican Ventures offers new opportunities in Inspirational fiction through Harbourlight Books.

Aztec, NM –July 27, 2010 – Nicola Martinez, founder of Pelican Ventures, LLC, a New Mexico media company, announced today that the company has launched a new publishing venture. Harbourlight Books will publish Christian fiction that ranges in length from 25,000 words to 80,000. This announcement comes just nine months after the company acquired White Rose Publishing, a Christian romance publisher of electronic and print titles.

Harbourlight Books seeks to publish all genre of Christian fiction, Martinez said. “Everything but romance.” Martinez said. “Romance will still be handled exclusively by White Rose Publishing.” According to Martinez, there is a need for the expansion of eBook availability within the Christian fiction community. Harbourlight Books will fill that niche, bringing general Christian fiction to the eBook arena where White Rose Publishing fills the gap on the romance side. The popularity of eBooks is on the rise as “…evidenced by the recent Amazon press release that announced eBooks for Kindle outsold hardbacks,” Martinez said. In addition to electronic books, Harbourlight will publish print editions of novels. Submission guidelines are available on the Harbourlight Books website.

Harbourlight Books is dedicated to providing quality inspirational fiction that adheres to mainline Christian teachings. Currently Harbourlight Books is accepting unagented submissions for short stories and novels that are already complete. The company launch its first release in 2011.

Harbourlight Books titles will be available for purchase directly from the Harbourlight Books website and through various retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others. Bookstores wishing to stock Harbourlight titles may contact the publisher directly, or use Ingram Distributing. Titles will also be available to retailers and at several public libraries as electronic downloads through OverDrive Media.

For information: http://www.harbourlightbooks.com or
Contact: lisadawn@harbourlight.com

Small Press Feature Day: White Rose Publishing

Happy Manuscript Monday! (Annette here) At Seriously Write, we like to equip writers for their journey. One way we thought might be helpful is to share information about small publishing houses. Today we're going to feature White Rose Publishing. I had the privilege of being published with White Rose in 2007, and now I serve as an editor working with Nicola Martinez, the owner. If you write Christian romance, any length, this publishing house is one to consider as you're seeking publication.

Here's what Nicola Martinez had to say:

White Rose Publishing began as the White Rose line at The Wild Rose Press, and I became an editor for the line--and subsequently, senior editor--in 2006. In October 2009, I purchased the White Rose Line from TWRP, and it is now a completely separate entity.

White Rose publishes Christian romance exclusively and in all romance sub-genres. Agented and unagented submissions are accepted, and guidelines are on the website under the "writers guidelines" link. The best chance an author has to get published with us is to write a great story. I know that sounds vague, but it's really the truth. As long as it's a Christian romance, we'll consider it. Include an undeniable hook that keeps the reader engaged. Whether contemporary or historical, stay true to the time period, setting and characterization. We like to see character-driven, emotional stories, rather than plot-driven--although, we won't rule out any well-written and interesting story. It's also important to keep the Christian aspect in there. There must be spiritual growth. It's not enough to show the character pray before a meal or pass by a church. The faith journey is as important as the other plot points.

~~~~~

Nicola Martinez is publisher and editor-in-chief of the Pelican Ventures Book Group, which includes White Rose Publishing and Harbourlight Books. After writing journalistic articles for newspapers and magazines, Nicola moved into editing when she accepted a managing editor position of a small newspaper. She has worked as publisher and editor-in-chief of an international magazine, and has been on the retail end of books and periodicals, owning a Christian bookstore before becoming a book editor.