Interview with Karen Ball, Part II

Karen Ball just left a position as the executive editor in charge of the fiction publishing program for Zondervan. She is now a freelance editor and author, and has worked in the Christian publishing industry for more than twenty years. After nearly 12 years with Tyndale House Publishers as senior editor of books, she served as senior editor of fiction for Multnomah Publishers. Karen lives in southern Oregon with her husband, Don, and their "kids", a mischief making Siberian husky named Bo, and an irrepressible blue-eyed Aussie-Terrier mix named Dakota.







Gina: Speaking of Zondervan, you have recently said, I believe at the ACFW conference that Zondervan was booked up acquisition wise until 2008, but we hear of people getting contracts. What’s the deal?

Karen: We can sometimes find a place for really excellent fiction.

Gina: Were you who acquired Camy Tang’s novel? I’d imagine she’d be a publisher’s dream—such a sweet, hard working lady.

Karen: Zondervan acquired her, yes. Sue Brower, the new Senior Acquisitions Editor, brought the manuscript in after she met Camy at the ACFW conference. She championed the manuscript, and once I finally read it, I could see why. Everyone at Zondervan--marketing, editorial, sales...the whole team--is so excited about her book. It’s something we’ve been looking for, the Asian chick-lit. To find someone who could actually pull it off has been difficult. Sue and I brought her manuscript in to the team meeting and they were all over the moon and said how quickly can we get this into our publishing line up? You know chick-lit is starting to wane and so you can breathe new life into it by bringing in another category.

Gina: We all know the advice not to write to market, but what's hot right now?

Karen: It depends on what publishing house. Different publishing houses have different personalities. Probably at Westbow an author would have a good chance at getting supernatural suspense published. They know how to do that category.

What writers need to understand now is that it’s not enough to be good anymore; it has to have a wow factor because the competition is so fierce. A place like Westbow you could probably make a good pitch for a supernatural thriller as long as it was different enough from Peretti and Dekker’s. At Zondervan we’re not looking for that type of book even though those authors are doing great, that’s not an area they’re ready to move toward acquisitions-wise. So if you come there, contemporary suspense.

They’re also starting a romance line in 2007, I believe, with Lori Copeland as our anchor author.

Gina: Is this going to be straight romance or--?

Karen: Across the board. I would however ask writers to wait before submitting right now. Zondervan has what they want for romance. If it goes well, then they’ll be open for new stuff. Plus you have to understand with the new fiction leadership at Zondervan, the personality of the line may change. I wasn’t interested in looking at historicals. I was interested in building up contemporaries because that was a niche I knew best and Zondervan could do well with.

I would advise everyone to give my replacement some time to get in, get settled and get her footing. Give her time to figure out what she’s looking for. Then go on Zondervan's website and see what they’re saying.

Gina: Speaking of the ‘wow’ factor, is that something you can define or is it something you just know when you see it?

Karen: It’s really hard to quantify. It’s the power in the writing. It’s depth of character development. It’s when you start reading a story and are immediately transported. I think one of the challenges in publishing is that it’s so subjective. Each house is different. Each editor is different. What does it for me may not even impact another editor. It really is hard to define.

But if you’re writing the best story you can and a story you’re passionate about, you have a much better chance for hitting that wow factor. If you really spent your time researching and studying the craft, that’s the biggest thing. You need to be reading really great writing, both in the Christian market and in the secular market. Reading the books that have won the Pulitzer and books that have won the Newbery. Reading excellent writing so writers can bring their writing up a notch.

Gina: Is there a writer that is coming up right now that you feel excited about. Just one.

Karen: Can I say two?

Gina: Sure.

Karen: Donna Fleisher. I found her manuscript at Mount Hermon two years ago and contracted her. It had that wow factor. Her first paragraph was just amazing. She’s someone whose writing is just getting stronger.

A writer who has been around awhile but who I think is going to be breaking out is Clint Kelly. The marketing people have said it’s some of the best writing they’ve seen.
He’s writing a new suspense series for Zondervan. I can’t believe the feedback I’m getting. I mean I agree with it, but it’s incredible the response I’m getting in house. I haven’t gotten response like this since Francine [Rivers]. His writing is very different but it’s still has the power to it.

Gina: What are your views on branding?

Karen: I just taught at Mt. Hermon on this. There’s a new understanding on branding that makes great sense. It’s not so much about what you write as it is about your reader. Who they are or who they would like to be or who they feel they are when they read your book.

Branding isn’t really about one thing. Those things I mentioned are one aspect but it’s also about you as a writer and your passion and voice. And your specific niche, are you staying in your niche.

Someone who did the branding thing right from the beginning was Francine. She wrote three books in The Mark of the Lion series. With those three books her niche was so well established, and it wasn’t historicals. It was powerful, life changing writing that had an element to it that was beyond anything people had read before. It had realism and authenticity in voice and power. That became her brand and she could go to any genre she chooses. Her passion comes through to the page.

Branding is a multi-faceted topic that is extremely difficult to understand. I need to do more research on it. I think it’s impacted by society and who we are as individuals and that is constantly changing.

I would say that writers need to stay within a certain category or niche until they are established, then they can try other things.

Gina: Speaking of Francine Rivers. You were the editor for
Redeeming Love is that right?

Karen: Yes.

Gina: I’m sure you’ve heard this story a thousand times, but reading that book was life altering in a sense for me. Before that book I wasn’t sure about Christian fiction. To be honest, I hadn’t read much yet, but after reading that my mind was made up. It is the most powerful book outside the Bible, CBA/ABA I've ever read.

Karen: I tell you why I think that is. That is the one book Francine will say of her own writing that she didn’t write. God wrote it. I have felt for a long time that Francine Rivers’ writing is annointed and I don’t say that about a lot of writers. There are writers who are great, wonderful, but few fall into the annointed category. Redeeming Love was the most amazing thing she’s ever written and I think that’s because it was the first book she wrote after becoming a believer. It was the last book she wrote for the ABA.

When I worked for Tyndale, they loved Francine but were uncomfortable with some of the subject matter in Redeeming Love. The story is about a prostitute, there’s no getting around that. Francine and I presented it to Multnomah, with Tyndale's blessing, when I went there and they took it in a heartbeat. It’s been in print ever since. Tyndale has never begrudged Multnomah the success they’ve had with it. It was win-win for everyone.

Gina: Do you hear stories of publishers turning down best-sellers and then shaking their heads later?

Karen: Oh sure. I personally turned down Mitford when I was at Tyndale. Again, it just wasn’t the right fit.

Gina: Advice for an aspiring novelist, trying to walk the path you’ve walked.

Karen: Get to know the editors the best you can. Publishing is about relationships. Too many young writers don’t understand that they’ve got to invest time and money not just in learning the craft of writing but in understanding publishing. You need to be at writer’s conferences where editors are going to be. You need to get to know them. Talk to them so they can hear your heart. I can’t tell you how many published books have come about because I’ve gotten to know someone at a writer’s conference and seen their heart for God.

That and do everything you can to refine your craft. There’s a great little book out there called, The Courage to Write. They mention in that book that the number one fear of mankind is not death but public speaking and writing is public speaking on paper. It’s terrifying to have your stuff out there. Also you need to be spending as much time in the word as you are learning the craft. The writers I know who are powerful writers are in the word. The calling and the passion develops there. It’s not just about the writing, it’s about the calling.

Gina: How important is marketing and publicity? Can it make or break a book?

Karen: Bottom line, yes. If you’re a new writer, you’re not going to get a lot of marketing. You have to be the one to do it. I know writers say they just want to write, but you have to be responsible for every facet.

Dee Henderson was a huge phenomenon because of the way she got in touch with her readers. Again, publishing is about relationship. There are so many avenues available. Doing on-line workshops, blogging, websites, etc. You create connections with people who will go out and buy your book. It’s very difficult to have a good success without strong marketing or strong word of mouth.

The best thing you can do is create consumer evangelists. Get them excited about what you’re doing and they’ll get the word out for you.

Gina: In a proposal, can an author’s marketing plan, or a built in audience through blogs or speaking engagements, make or break whether or not their book gets published?

Karen: No. It makes a difference if a manuscript is up against a similar manuscript and you’ve got one author willing to self-promote against one who isn’t, it could mean the difference. I’ll tell you one other thing you can do is talk to your publisher about cooperative marketing. There’s a great company out there, Glass Road PR run by Rebeca Seitz. One of the things I’m going to do with my next novel is offer to pay Multnomah half of Rebeca’s fees to hire her as my publicist.

Your publishers are extremely open. Authors should be taking a portion of their advance and putting it into marketing and publicity. People like Rebeca know how to do it smart, and they have the contacts. It seems like a pretty big investment but the payoff is worth it.

Writers don’t like to hear that about using their advance for marketing. Writers cringe at that. There’s a great piece of advice out there to not quit your day job until you can replace your job income with writing income for three years in a row. Too many authors sell a book, then quit their job. That’s not a good situation because now they’re financially strapped and it becomes about the money. That’s detrimental to doing well with your writing.

Gina: Would you say most of the manuscripts that have come across your desk over the years have been good writing?

Karen: No. I think a lot of proposals get sent out before their time. Writing is a lot of work and you need to do a lot of preparation before you send out proposals.

I’ve been going to writers conferences for twenty years and in that twenty years, I’ve found two manuscripts that I wanted to publish. I saw a lot of manuscripts that had promise but of manuscripts that were ready to be published, just two. That’s why a lot of publishing houses are no longer accepting unagented proposals. With agented manuscripts you have a much better chance of the writing being at a publishable level. What I see from agents is a lot closer to the publishable level.

But even with the agented proposals, quite often, I have to send them to my reader first. She’ll look them over and if she feels the genre and the writing is what I’m looking for she’ll send it on to me.

Gina: So even agented material often isn’t quite ripe?

Karen: Oh, yeah. If you think about it, Zondervan puts out between twenty and twenty five books a year and we get between fifty and a hundred proposals a month.

Gina: That is depressing.

Karen: Publishing is tough.

Gina: Kind of feels like running around a field, hoping to be hit by lightning.

Karen: It used to be three percent of writers could make a living at writing, now it’s one percent. I couldn’t, and I’ve published five novels, three young adults, five novellas and a non-fiction and magazine articles. There’s no way I could make a living writing.

You don’t go into writing because you want to make a living at it [laughing]. Now if you want to make a living, there are things you can do, copy editing, technical writing and that type of thing. I tell people over and over again, ‘don’t do it unless you can’t not do it.’

It’s so important to know this is your calling. That’s why you need to be in the Word so that when the doubts come, you’re anchored. And they’re going to come. And hit hard. My anchor isn’t in a publishing house. It isn’t in my writing. It’s in the knowledge that God is in control and His promises will not be overdue.



Kaleidoscope Eyes
Family Honor Series
By Karen Ball
April 3rd, 2006
Multnomah
ISBN 1-59052-414-4









Reviewed by Ane Mulligan


Wilderness and Weather Are Easily Overcome. But Betrayal? Annie Justice sees things differently. Her unconventional condition, synesthesia, helped make her one of the most sought-after stained-glass artists in the country. And teamed with her German shepherd, she's just as successful in her work with the K-9 Search and Rescue Team, finding people seemingly hidden from others' eyes.

But no one knows her expertise for hiding the childhood insecurities that plague her - until Jed Curry comes along. Then the search for a missing child goes awry, and Jed must reveal his true identity. He's prepared for Annie's anger, but not the hurt. And neither of them is prepared for the real trial ahead - something far more sinister and dangerous than their search.

Can Jed and Annie overcome their unknown enemy - and the insecurities and secrets keeping them apart - before it's too late?

Annie Justice, artist and SAR participant with her canine partner, Kodi, has a colorful view on life. Literally. Yet Annie's synesthesia doesn't overshadow the story, merely colors it, if you'll excuse the pun.The hero, Jed Curry, struggles with his own demons. Complicating matters is his reality series, Everyday Heroes. He wants to feature Annie and Kodi. When she denies his request, he lies his way into her life.

Then against his will, he's drawn to her and must decide which is more important—his career or Annie.

Karen Ball's plots are without predictability.With the expertise of a symphony conductor, Ball orchestrates the tension and suspense in a story. She uses pacing like the conductor uses his baton, creating an arpeggio of action then an adagio of rest for a moment before the next onslaught.

As the stakes rose, I found myself flying through the pages to reach the answer. I thought I had Annie's enemy figured out. All clues pointed that direction—then Ball surprised me. And when it was done, I felt completely satisfied.I've said it before—I'm not a fan of suspense, even romantic suspense. But I'll read anything Karen Ball writes, even if it's a grocery list. I know I'll find humor and insight—even in the vegetable aisle.