So says James Lightsey, New Concepts’ author liaison person.

He goes on to add:

“NCP customers want and expect something different. Futuristic, Paranomal, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, these are genres that NCP readers most want. These genre are in high demand by a select group of readers that want more variety than mainstream can provide.”

Nothing like generalisations on a massive scale huh?

When I first read Lightsey’s post on Mrs Giggles’ blog, I assumed that it was a response to the NCP dust-up. I was wrong. The post was sent to the NCP loop in January. So still no official comment from the publisher.

It certainly makes for interesting reading though: (the bold emphasis are mine)

To: authorpromotion@yahoogroups.com
From: “new_concepts_pub”
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008
Subject: [authorpromotion] Greetings from the Author Liaison

Dear Authors,

As most of you know, I’m sometimes slow(OK always slow) to answer e-mails. So I try to answer as many questions on the author loop as possible. As author liaison for NCP, my loyaty lies foremost to NCP, however I am honor bound to help NCP authors in any and every way that I can. So here is my best advice on many of the concerns on the loop.

Submissions:

Always send the 100% complete, self-edited, RTF format version of your manuscript. Include any and all dedications, forewords, prologs, epilogs, glossaries, or whatever, because they might not be added later. Also to speed up the editing process at this point, go through your book and remove all references to trademarked items. Replace the trademark name with the actual name of the item ie. Q-Tips are cotton swabs, McDonalds=burger joint, whatever, we can’t use trademarked names without permission.

Contracts:

When you receive a contract from NCP, as is true of all contracts, read it until you understand everything. Do not sign the contract unless you agree to stand by your decision. If your legal name, book title, or address is different than what is typed on the contract, strike through it with a pen, write in the correct info, and initial it. The contract is as is and not negotiable. Any questions about the contract may be sent to me.

No negotiations? This strikes me as being a little inflexible. What would happen if they managed to attract a big name author who didn’t like some of the terms? (more…)