This week, I’m excited to have in the hot seat, Samhain Publishing editor, Laurie M. Rauch. So, let’s get on with the questions (and thank you to Haven Rich and April Morelock for adding to my question list… )

Lara: Tell us a bit about yourself… How and why did you become an editor?

Laurie M. Rauch: It’s actually a funny story… I was in University, studying Theatre, and late one February night, a few months away from graduation, I was standing on a 12-foot ladder in an empty theatre trying to hang a $10,000 light. I looked down, even though I’m totally afraid of heights, and I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So, I did a bit of soul searching, and found a book – Careers for Bookworms . One of the suggestions was Editor, and I was like… I get to read? For a living? It’s what I was meant to do! So, I finished my degree, and promptly went back to school for a diploma in publishing. Since then, I’ve edited just about everything – newsletters, flyers, text books, software manuals, print and ebooks. But, I’ve been having the most fun editing romance.

Lara: You call yourself a grammar geek. I’m guessing you have grammar pet peeves?

LMR: I have a few big pet peeves – the rampant misuse of the apostrophe, the use of “that” when it should be “who”, using a noun as a verb (the decorating shows are the worst at this one… “and today, we’re going to staplegun this fabric to the wall” ugh.), oh, and “try and”. This is the worst… if you’re trying and doing something, then you’re really just doing it. If you’re trying to do something, then the action of trying is impacting the verb that you’re doing. Wow, yeah, I really am a grammar geek.

Lara: Moving on to submissions, what will make a query stand out for you?

LMR: When I get the information I need out of it. Remember that this is a business letter introducing yourself to me. I need to know what genre your book is and the word count. I’d also like to see a short blurb about your book, and a short blurb about yourself. But keep this professional. Tell me your writing background and any writing credits you have and any writers’ organizations you belong to. I don’t need to know about your kids or your dog. After I buy your book and we build a relationship, you can tell me all about them. (Just know that I’ll share stories about my dog, Oscar *grin*). But for now, keep it professional.

The fact of the matter is, I’m not going to buy or reject your story based solely on your query letter. It’s all about the story. But if I’m already in a grumbly mood when I open up your manuscript because your query letter didn’t give me the information I’m looking for, your story is going to have to be that much better to get me out of my grumbly mood.

And, since we receive all of our submissions via email, it’s okay to put the query letter in the body of the email. Don’t make me work to find your query letter attached as a separate file or buried in your manuscript.

All this being said, I also like it when the query letter lets a little of the author’s voice shine through. If you’re submitting a romantic comedy, and you make me laugh in your query letter, you’ve set the mood for my reading experience, and I’ve gotten a sense of your voice.

Lara: Can you summarize several problems that will stop you in your tracks and cause you to trash the manuscript even if you’re only on page one?

LMR: No? LOL.

Really, it comes down to the writing. If the first page is riddled with grammatical and spelling mistakes, that’s going to be a big red flag for me. But it’s probably not going to stop me in my tracks at that point. If the voice isn’t grabbing me, and there are spelling and grammar errors, that’s usually not a good sign. But even then, I might keep reading to see if the author just got off to a rocky start.

I have a bit of a routine… I’ll read until I have a gut reaction about the manuscript and then I’ll pull out the synopsis. If I had concerns with the manuscript and the synopsis shows me there’s plotting issues – like there’s no conflict, or the plot isn’t believable, or there are character issues, that’s usually when I stop.

And my deep, dark secret… sometimes I cheat and read the synopsis just to make sure there’s a happily ever after. *grin*

Lara: Are there any kinds of stories that you pass up because the story is overdone or the market just isn’t strong enough for it?

LMR: I try not to. I think one of the cool things about epublishing is that we can take risks on stories that may not be the current greatest thing but really have great writing and a great story. I will take the market into consideration and whether I think the book will do well in sales, but sometimes you have to take a leap for a story you believe in and see what happens.

Lara: Is there an emerging market that you really wish you had more submissions for right now?

LMR: I don’t know that these are part of an emerging market, but there are genres I love to read that I wish I had more submissions for… I know a lot of our editors are dying for more high-action futuristics, and I love those too, but I really, really, really want a good whodunit romantic suspense that keeps me guessing… something dark and really twisty. If there’s a serial killer, even better. On the other end of the spectrum, I love romantic comedies and paranormal, (especially when they’re combined, but they don’t have to be), ménage stories, shifter stories, and I love contemporary romances and urban fantasy. Really, just send me a good story and I’ll be happy.

Lara: Have you ever read a story that just swept you off your feet and moved you to tears? And did you sign that author?

LMR: I’m not usually a cry at books kind of girl, so there’s actually only been two authors ever who’ve moved me to tears – L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series and Judith McNaught’s Whitney, My Love. I don’t think L.M. Montgomery will be sending me anything any time soon, but Judith, if you’re reading this and you ever want to get into epublishing, let’s chat!

Lara: What does a submission need to sweep you off your feet and make you contract it?

LMR: Keep me reading! Seriously. I love to read (if the whole bookworm, grammar geek thing didn’t already tell you that), so if your voice is engaging and your world-building is good and you’ve told me a darn good story, I’m going to offer a contract. Plain and simple.

I always say (and I’ve actually got some of the other Samhain editors saying this now, too) that I’m looking for the wowie zowie. If your story sparkles and has that wowie zowie… that’s the kind of book I want to contract. So give me wowie zowie.

Lara: You must do a lot of reading… When you’re off the clock and not reading as an editor, can you turn off your editor brain and just be a reader?

LMR: Rarely. I’m actually re-reading the Harry Potter series (for the I don’t know how many-th time, but I needed to purge the memory of how disappointed I was with the sixth movie), and while I love these books, my editor self keeps jumping up, yelling passive voice! Try and! And other editor-type things. I wish I could be the type to turn off my editor self, because I used to always have a book in my hands, and now I’m finding myself rarely reading for fun.

Lara: Thank you, Laurie, for chatting with us.

LMR: Thank you, Lara. It’s been a pleasure being in your hot seat.

As a special treat, Laurie is giving away one of the Samhain ebooks she edited to two commenters. Simply tell us which Samhain book Laurie worked on you’re dying to read. (Here’s a hint, there’s a full list on her blog). Check back after 5 p.m. EST on Friday for the winners.

UPDATE: Laurie has picked the winners of the contest. In a random “honey, pick two numbers between 1 and 11″, Laurie’s honey chose comments #2 and #6, which is Jennifer Leeland and April Morelock. Congratulations, Ladies! Please contact Laurie directly at laurie[at]samhainpublishing[dot]com to arrange to receive your books.