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Crème de la Crime Ltd,
PO Box 523,
Chesterfield,
S40 9AT
All manuscripts sent to us must be accompanied by a SAE with full return postage. If you do not wish us to return the manuscript, please enclose a small SAE for our response.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
What is Cr�me de la Crime?
Cr�me de la Crime is a small independent publishing company specialising in high-quality original crime fiction. We publish up to six new crime novels a year - tightly-paced, well-written and suspense-packed books with high production values, aimed at discerning crime fans.
Our main goal is to encourage and develop new crime writing talent. We set out to give fledgling novelists the chance to kickstart their professional careers. Many of our authors stay with us for years, and develop successful series, but all are unpublished in the crime genre when they come to us - though only because their flair, imagination and great story-telling skills haven't been discovered yet.
Cr�me de la Crime authors
A Cr�me de la Crime author is a big crime fan, bursting with ideas about how to do it better than established authors, and aware of the conventions and pitfalls of the genre. S/he knows how challenging it is to create an intriguing plot, and understands the importance of getting the facts and details right.
A Cr�me de la Crime author has market savvy. S/he knows what readers want now, not ten, twenty or fifty years ago.
A Cr�me de la Crime author has the right attitude - businesslike as well as creative. S/he understands the importance of deadlines, delivers every manuscript on time and to the standard required, and participates actively and willingly in the editing process.
A Cr�me de la Crime author is computer-literate. It's essential to be able to deliver work on disk - retyping 70,000+ words isn't practical - and to be contactable by e-mail.
A Cr�me de la Crime author is outgoing and media-friendly. Our authors are our publicity department; they are all expected to work hard to promote their books. Kissing babies isn't compulsory; smiling at bookshop managers is!
Cr�me de la Crime books
Our books are the best of their kind. They rattle along, fast-paced and dynamic. We leave the 600-page blockbusters to the big publishing houses, and focus on the lean and gripping end of the market; all our books are 70,000 - 80,000 words.
Our cops and robbers aren't retreads of stereotypes: they are fascinating characters who live and breathe.
Crime happens anywhere in the world, and in the future or the past as well as the here and now. So do our books. But we will only consider work that sweeps away the old and brings in the new�
So forget
- dead colonels discovered in country house libraries;
- detectives who are cantankerous crossword buffs;
- hard-boiled private eyes strolling down the mean streets of 1940s Chicago;
- maverick cops with a drink problem, a comic sidekick and a pencil-headed bellowing boss;
Of course, far and away the best way to find out what we're looking for is to look at the books we've already published. No two are alike, so best to read a selection.
About Cr�me de la Crime readers
Our readers devour crime fiction voraciously and go in search of more. And a lot of them are women. It's a fact that women buy far more crime books than men do. So all Cr�me de la Crime books need to appeal to a female audience.
That doesn't mean soft and fluffy - quite the opposite. Women like gritty books packed with menace and tension. But they also like pro-active female characters they can identify with: women who can mix it up alongside the men.
So there must be strong women players somewhere in the drama. Cr�me de la Crime women don't scream a lot and wait to be rescued; they get themselves out of the tight spots.
What Turns Us Off
Our list of hates and prejudices aren't necessarily logical or defensible - but they're ours. Best to take notice! We really dislike:
- Childish slapstick humour.
- Badly executed spoofs and pastiches.
- Badly written sex scenes.
- Poorly researched historicals with no sense of era, in which everyone talks and acts as though they stepped straight out of the 21st century.
- James Bond, Raymond Chandler or Agatha Christie rip-offs. Make that rip-offs of any kind.
- Novels with next to no dialogue, or written in dialect, or stream-of-consciousness. That's literary fiction masquerading as crime.
- Stories with no real crime in them, or written for another market altogether but with a crime incongruously bolted on.
- African or Middle Eastern settings.
- Anything set in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s: it's too recent to be period, not recent enough to be contemporary.
- Nazis, neo-Nazis, Nazis in frozen storage, or anything with Hitler still alive, cloned or reborn.
- The Cold War.
- IRA hit men, or The Troubles.
Topicality
A background of current social trends helps to give a novel immediacy and impact - but beware hanging your story on a specific event in the news; it will already be stale by the time we receive your submission. Nothing ages faster than topicality.
A Question of Taste
We want our readers to buy lots of Cr�me de la Crime novels, so we set out to entertain, not appal. There has to be a line we won't cross.
Sizzling sex is fine; mean, dangerous and gritty is great. But erotic or violent elements should enhance the plot, not cover a flagging story-line or lack of tension. And we're unlikely to accept manuscripts that appear to condone illegal sexual practices, child abuse, graphic depictions of torture, extreme blasphemy, racism and over the top violence - operative word condone.
Bad language is not a problem; it's a tough world out there. But characters who talk in four-letter words all the time quickly become boring.
All we ask is you use a little common sense and judgement.
Think you've got what it takes? Read on to find out how to submit your work to us�
Covering letter
It's useful if you tell us a little about yourself - but keep it brief and businesslike; a single page is enough.
A few pointers:
- We'd like to know about any of your writing that's been professionally published or any major competitions you've won. Rejected work doesn't count, neither does any material that you self-published or paid someone to print on your behalf.
- Has your novel been offered elsewhere in the recent past? Please tell us who you sent it to and what their response was. If you have any feedback from them, we'd like to see it..
- Have you any specialist knowledge or relevant experience? For example, have you worked in law enforcement, forensic medicine, social work, criminal psychology, victim support? Or have you been a criminal yourself?
- Is there anything about you that would spark media interest and help us to gain publicity for your work? Have you any contacts who would help us promote your book?
Beyond those points, just let the work do the talking for you. Please don�t EXPLAIN the story or its significance, or try to draw our attention to very important plot points. We�re smart enough to work it out for ourselves - and if it turns out we're not, maybe the problem is with the book, not with us.
Short and sweet
We try our best to give potential authors a swift reply. We don't always succeed - there are only 24 hours in a day - but we aim to get back to you with our decision within 50 working days of receiving a manuscript. Please make it easier for us by sending in ONLY a 1000-1500 word synopsis and the first 10,000 words of the novel.
This extract is enough to tell us whether you and the work have potential. If we're impressed by the opening, we'll ask you to send us more.
ALWAYS send the first 10,000 words. An exciting action sequence from the middle is not hard to write; we need to see how you tackle the much more demanding job of setting up the mystery and hooking the reader's attention.
Smoke-free
We respect anyone's right to smoke - as long as we don't have to put up with the resulting smell. There are few bigger turn-offs for us than opening an envelope and being knocked back by the reek of stale tobacco. None of the Cr�me de la Crime staff smokes and we all feel strongly on the subject. So we ask that you ensure all submissions are completely smoke-free.
Manuscript presentation
Your manuscript gets just one chance to make a good impression. Good presentation is crucial. We want clean manuscripts, free from scribbled amendments and coffee stains.
All submissions must be:
- In English.
- Clearly typed, on one side of the page only, in a 12-point font
- Double line spaced.
- On white A4 paper.
- Tidy, with each page numbered and arranged in order.
- Accompanied by a title sheet that states the title, an ACCURATE word count, your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address if you have one.
- Unpublished, original, your own work and not under offer to other publishers.
If your ink cartridge is on its last legs, invest in a new one. Anything difficult to decipher will be automatically rejected.
Please do not submit work in plastic sleeves or ring-binders, or spiral-bound. A large paper clip is enough.
We are unable to accept on-line submissions.
And afterwards�
We only want to see the first 10,000 words of your manuscript in the first instance - but be ready to respond quickly if we want to see more. Only submit work if you've written at least three-quarters of the book; and if it's not finished when you send the opening, keep on writing.
Sending work
Please send your submission to:
Creme de la Crime Ltd
PO Box 523
CHESTERFIELD
DERBYSHIRE
S40 9AT
MOST IMPORTANT: submissions will only be returned if you have provided a self-addressed return envelope with adequate postage.
If you want notification that the manuscript has arrived safely, please enclose a stamped, self addressed postcard.
We used to offer editorial feedback on submissions for a small fee. Unfortunately our resources are now stretched too thin to continue with this service.
If you would like some feedback, we can recommend an excellent, reasonably priced professional appraisal service. Please request this in your covering letter, and we will forward full details by return.
We hope these guidelines have told you all you need. We look forward to seeing your work.
FRANK ANSWERS TO AWKWARD QUESTIONS
Q. What's the catch? I bet you'll hit me with a bill somewhere further down the line.
A. Absolutely not. We want your commitment, not your cash. If we like your book enough to publish it we take the entire financial risk; that's what publishers do. All we ask from you is that you smile at booksellers.
Q. So you pay advances and royalties like every other publisher?
A. Royalties, yes. Our authors receive a realistic share of the profit per copy. Advances, no. We want our writers to share the challenges as well as the thrills - to feel they have as much involvement in making their book a success as we do. Your book will earn what it earns, not an arbitrary up-front payment which it then has to claw back.
Q. If you only going to pay a small amount, why don't I take my novel to Random House instead?
A. Who said we'll only pay a small amount? Our words were Your book will earn what it earns; if that runs into six or seven figures, we'll be as delighted as you.
But if a big publishing house wants your book, give it to them, with our congratulations. Send us a postcard from your new yacht.
But the reality is that major corporate publishers take on very few new faces. We founded Cr�me de la Crime to give new talent a break.
Q. Won't you be upset if I take professional advice before signing the contract?
A. Quite the opposite - we'd strongly urge it. We want you to feel you're being treated fairly and with respect. We'd urge all potential novelists to contact the Society of Authors for advice.
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