Latina editor can get you published
March 22, 2007
Al Carlos Hernandez
Marclela Landres is a uniquely
skilled editorial consultant who travels the country and works on-line in
helping veteran and first time Latino authors get published. Her results are
impressive.
Raised in the housing projects in
Long Island City Queens, she was one of the first Latino editors at Simon &
Schuster in New York. In her seven year tenure there she realized that, writers
are woefully uninformed about the business side of publishing, this lack of
knowledge often results in disappointment and missed opportunities.
Marcela said,” I’ve been
independent since 2003, I get paid to do what I love-editing manuscripts and
empowering writers; I present workshops around the country on how to get published,
I get to travel and meet people, arrange my own schedule, the down side of that
is that I work all the time including weekends and holidays”.
“Knowledge is power only when
shared and as such I offer clients form all walks of life my experience and expertise
with the intention of empowering the artist to create the writing career one
desires and deserved”.
“The biggest problem for first
time writers is that they think their job is to be the best writer they can be
and it is someone else’s job to sell their books, this is why most books fail”.
“I have created an award wining web
site http://www.marcelalandres.com/Welcome.html
whereby I give writers strategic advice as to how to launch and maintain a
successful writing career, this includes advice as how to write a successful
book proposal, how to get published and a free career advice newsletter”.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marcelalandres/.
“As a consultant I edit
manuscripts, critique proposals and offer advice on how to strategically
navigate the business side of publishing”.
Landres has an impressive and
growing list of publishing success stories, she likes to put forth her credo
and old Hopi proverbs that says, “The one who tells the stories rules the
world”.
“There is a growing market for
Latino writers, because of the increasing amount of Latino readers, according
to the 200 census; Marcela says that three out of five Latinos are English dominant,
when it comes to reading books. So, the demand for “Latino” books is primarily
for those written in English. Most published books are non-fiction the same
holds true for the Latino market”.
“When agents and editors contact
me looking for Latino writers, the number one kind of book they’re looking for
is young adult Latina commercial fiction or what I call Chiquita Lit. Unless
you write very quickly and/or are passionate about current events/pop culture,
new writers should write what they authentically love and don’t obsess too much
about trends. The process of writing a book is s-l-o-w, so by the time a writer
finishes a manuscript whatever was hot has turned cold. As long as we keep
having babies, we will have readers, though most babies will admittedly grow up
to be videogamers instead of book lovers”.
“While there are exceptions, such
as academic books for the most part writers are better off with and agent than
without”. Marcela has a working relationship with many agents who are looking
for new talent.
Marcela has had many successes,
“My favorite success story would be Janice Taylor, Long and short; she had a
great idea for a book, got an agent a bunch of rejections, she came to me we
fixed her book proposal, the book went out to auction and ended up at Penguin a
major publisher, for an advance just under six figures. Her Book, Our Lady of
Weight Loss was published in August of 2006. I work with one writer at a time,
either editing manuscripts or critiquing proposals. Big and small publishers
are both good-which is better for a particular book depends on the author and
the book idea”.
“While writing can be a calling,
a vocation and even a mission, if you want to get published that means you want
to get paid for writing, it becomes a job. Be an artist when you write, but be
a professional when you seek publication”.
“In the future I would like to
launch a line of products such as e-book versions of my workshops. My idea clients
or workshop attendees are writers who are professional about their careers as
they are passionate about their craft”.
If you are serious about becoming
a published author, contact Marcela Landres on her website.
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