Elizabeth, welcome and please tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you been in publishing and how did you get started?
Rebel is actually the ‘baby’ of five people. We wanted to do something different and try to treat people in this industry better than a few of our founding five were treated when they had their first manuscripts accepted for publication. We’ll be two years old this fall.
What is the most exciting thing about Rebel Ink Press for you?
Working closely with writers is my favorite part of heading up the Rebel team. While it’s true at 
the small press level self-promotion is the name of the game, there’s so much small presses can do to help authors get their names and their work out to broader audiences. While promotion takes a huge manpower investment and isn’t free, the rewards to authors can be incredible. At Rebel we’re blessed to have two of the best business minded people in the game on our team. Lila Munro was heads up our corporate promotions while Bethany Halle works directly with our authors. This two pronged approach is going to result in people seeing the names of Rebel authors in some very savory places in the coming year.
What’s your background in this job field?
I taught English for several years and have an extension background in corporate publication and copy editing. Those things combined sent me back to school for creative writing and professional editing. Then I started meeting upstart writers who needed a good home for their work. It’s kind of like being a doctor. Once you tell someone what you do, you get the “Oh, you’re an editor? Well, I wrote this story. Would you mind taking a look at it for me?” And here we are…
What’s a typical day around the office like for you?
Even though I say we keep hours around here, what I really mean is the clock has 24 hours on it. Most days start around 6am and end between 12 midnight – 2am. As far as what the day contains: email, edits, marketing and promo meetings, graphic design meetings, yahoo group posts, email, contracts, blurb edits, formatting, epub uploading, cover art proofs/approvals, filing, email, plagiarism checks, copyright infringement, title and tag line infringement. Oh yeah, then there’s accountants, lawyers and vendors to deal with…
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be the next F. Lee Bailey when I wasn’t thinking about being the next Barbara Walters. I anchored the cable news show at my high school and lettered in debate four years straight. Tell you anything?
Where do you see the future of publishing going?
It’s right here, epub central. I believe hardcovers will dry up within the next few years and most paperbacks will go POD. With the dissolution of the large format bookstore and the current economy, the future is here–digital publishing.
What do you want to know about the future?
Which one of my writers makes it to the Big Six first? And who gets a tv/film deal first? We have several contenders…
What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?
I read and study Karate.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Right here, helping anyone with a solid story to tell achieve their dream…As a company, Rebel strives to provide readers with stories they want and while offering the services authors deserve. We’re committed to good citizenship, fair business practices, and developing up and coming authors through editorial support, marketing and promotion–all of which help authors create their best works possible.
Our philosophy must be working because here we are a year later, Rebel strong! We now house over sixty writers and our inbox is a busy place. We currently have eighty plus titles available at ARe, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Coffee Time Romance and Bookstrand, and we’re looking to expand our vendor list in 2012. Our release calendar is full and our first quarter of 2012 is busting at the seams. In fact we’re looking to double our available titles this year. Our writers are gleaning rave reviews and several are bestsellers at ARe, to date they’ve earned twenty-one of those coveted silver stars.
At Rebel our promise to ourselves was to provide the Cadillac of customer service to our writers. Yes, our writers. They enjoy benefits under our roof not often offered through small presses, such as the services of a professional cover artist, marketing opportunities arranged through our public relations department, professional editing services by a half-dozen plus hand-selected editors, graphic arts help, and we have an in-house review coordinator. Our ARCs are sent out in advance of release to reputable and safe reviewers so we have feedback for our writers to grow on. As a result, we’re growing, too. By leaps and bounds.
Again we’d like to say thanks for hosting us today. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments section or email us at editor@rebelinkpress.com . We’d be happy to answer them.
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Rebel Ink Press – Publisher of Cutting Edge Romance
Genre: We encompass everything from sweet to heat in all sub-genres to include but not limited to contemporary, erotic, paranormal, suspense, historical, ménage, same sex, and BDSM.
Company Bio:
Open since August 2010, Rebel strives to provide readers with stories they want and while offering the services authors deserve. We’re committed to good citizenship, fair business practices, and developing up and coming authors through editorial support, marketing and promotion–all of which help authors create their best works possible.
Blurbs/Excerpts will be determined by the current months releases and will be sent with the necessary information for each host. We have a custom informational blog piece we can share and we’re open to interviews by staff members. We also have an informational video in the works we’d like to share.
Links: http://www.rebelinkpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/rebelinkpress
http://twitter.com/#!/rebelinkpress
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Rebel Ink Press will give away a $15.00 GC to Amazon to one random commenter from the tour! Your comment will automatically enter you, so start typing =)
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48 comments
Goddess Fish Promo
February 6, 2012 at 9:20 AM (UTC -3)
Thank you for hosting Elizabeth and Rebel Ink Press today!
kah_cherub
February 6, 2012 at 10:15 AM (UTC -3)
Karate sure sounds like a good way to release stress.
BTW, I really like your slogan.
momjane
February 6, 2012 at 10:22 AM (UTC -3)
I really think you have a great job. I am sorry that you feel books will be gone in a few years. I love actually holding a book in my hands. Sadly, however, I agree with you that they will become scarce in the next few years.
Mary Preston
February 6, 2012 at 10:33 AM (UTC -3)
I hope you are wrong about hard covers & paperbacks. I prefer these to e-books. That’s just sad.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Lila Munro
February 6, 2012 at 11:08 AM (UTC -3)
Thanks Reading Romances for hosting us! I believe E will be by later today, she’s out of office this morning. Thanks everyone for coming by! I’ll drop in as I can today around my blocks of working time.
Kat C
February 6, 2012 at 11:44 AM (UTC -3)
It may sound like a busy day, but how wonderful to love what you do 8, 12, even 14 hours a day.
Thanks for the giveaway!!
ShotgunGuyIsCool
February 6, 2012 at 12:03 PM (UTC -3)
Thanks for this giveaway!
Mike Woody
February 6, 2012 at 12:31 PM (UTC -3)
Great to learn some more about E. As a Rebel I can testify that the company is excelling at fulfilling their mission. My dream was to be published and Rebel made it happen. The amazing team has been excellent to work with.
Karen H in NC
February 6, 2012 at 2:44 PM (UTC -3)
Thanks for an interesting post today. I enjoy reading how the book gets from the author’s pen to my hand almost as much as I enjoy reading the finished product. It is the people in the background, working hard to bring us the stories we love. Thanks for the hard work.
Donna Steele
February 6, 2012 at 3:38 PM (UTC -3)
I can’t believe you had time to do this too! I know we’ve talked about your schedule – and just talking about it wore me out – but it’s great to see you here. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Rebel and your group and hope to know you a long time!!
Catherine
February 6, 2012 at 5:12 PM (UTC -3)
Thanks for the intro to Rebel. You’re right…indie and small press authors have to spend a LOT of time marketing themselves and their works. As a librarian, I always try to give a fair shake to indie authors when selecting acquisitions for my library, but it’s difficult to find reputable reviews and the quality of titles can be very variable. If one is recommended by our students or faculty, I’m likely to make a purchase without having other reviews for validation. That’s also why I’m following some reading and author blogs…to discover new (to me) authors that might have appeal in my library.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Melissa Keir
February 6, 2012 at 9:02 PM (UTC -3)
Wow! E you are an amazing person and thank goodness for you, Lila, and Bethany. Rebel Ink is a wonderful place to be! They really look out for you!
Krista
February 6, 2012 at 10:30 PM (UTC -3)
I hope paperbacks never go away. I do love being able to trade the bad ones in at used bookstores.
Deb P
February 7, 2012 at 2:12 AM (UTC -3)
I love my books, ebooks are OK. But I still love books,records and VCRs.
r.d1@myfairpoint.net
bn100
February 7, 2012 at 3:27 AM (UTC -3)
I enjoyed your interview. Thanks for the giveaway.
Jeanne
February 10, 2012 at 9:37 AM (UTC -3)
I like to hold the book in my hands and flip the pages. Thank you for this awesome giveaway.
Jeanne
Jenni
February 10, 2012 at 7:19 PM (UTC -3)
Great interview! Makes me want to alternately work for you and submit work to you!
Jane Thompson
February 11, 2012 at 1:22 PM (UTC -3)
It sounds like your life is very full and you still find time to write, amazing! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
liveit
February 12, 2012 at 9:47 PM (UTC -3)
Thank you for the opportunity!
Jennifer L
February 12, 2012 at 10:43 PM (UTC -3)
What a Great Interview. The publishing landscape has expanded so much in the last few years that it is hard to keep up with it all. I”m glad that blogs like this keep me informed.
Jennifer L
Kay Swederski
February 13, 2012 at 3:18 PM (UTC -3)
I hope paperbacks never go away ~ I do have a Kindle but would so much rather read a paperback book. I just like turning the pages and I guess it reminds me of my mom – she loves books and has tons of them.
Savannah Miller
February 13, 2012 at 3:45 PM (UTC -3)
Thanks for the great interview! And for having a giveaway!
brandon_savannah@yahoo.com
Barbara
February 13, 2012 at 9:28 PM (UTC -3)
I hope paperbacks NEVER go away…I have a Kindle too and LOVE it, but…I still REALLY love the feel of holding and reading a REAL book. Thx for the giveaway op!
barbbattaglia @ yahoo.com
Mary @Sweeping Me
February 13, 2012 at 9:49 PM (UTC -3)
I would be heartbroken if they took away paperbacks/hardcovers. I like kindle but I like my favorites in print.
Mary
mary_reiss @ hotmail.com
Cathy M
February 20, 2012 at 3:38 PM (UTC -3)
It was great getting to know you Elisabeth. I adore my Kindle, but still love to see paperbacks of my favorite authors on my book shelf.
caity_mack at yahoo dot com
Pam
February 20, 2012 at 10:51 PM (UTC -3)
Oh wow, my head is spinning. (Well, okay, not literally. That would be scary!) But geez, I didn’t realize what all went into one day on the job at a publishing company. It is fascinating though.
I’m curious, what is your opinion of readers/reviewers writing down and submitting any errors they find in a book to the author or the publishing company? I recently reviewed a book and mentioned that I did run across some errors but that I didn’t find them distracting to the story. The publishing company then asked if I could provide them with some examples so that they could be corrected. Since then I’ve kind of gotten into the habit of jotting down errors as I come across them and I’m wondering whether authors appreciate that sort of thing or if they might feel offended? I certainly don’t want to offend anyone. The last time I let an author know of errors I came across, she seemed genuinely grateful. The thing is, I only found about 7 errors. However, the book I recently finished, I came across approximately 115 errors. So needless to say, I’m a little nervous about submitting all those to the author.
Well, I should stop now.
Thanks for the interesting interview!
Pam
vanillaorchids69(at)gmail(dot)com
Linda Meyers-Gabbard
February 21, 2012 at 6:48 AM (UTC -3)
One word. AWESOME!!!!!
Emiliana25
February 22, 2012 at 6:16 PM (UTC -3)
I love my ebook reader and since I have it, I have to think back to when I last bought a paperback, especially of m/m romance books or erotica in general. Book that I need for my field of studies I liked to read in paperback and there are book about world legends, which I would only like as a hard cover print book.
The E-readers make it easier for you to have your whole library with you, while traveling, comuting or just reading outside, so it is tempting to buy ebooks.
Price also might be an issue, you’d assume that ebooks should cost a lot less but not all of them do and you cannot borrow them in the libraries, at least not anything new and interesting at the libraries in my country.
If the lending system is improved and libraries start having a broad variety of ebooks I could see paperbacks becoming rare.
Pragya
February 23, 2012 at 7:59 AM (UTC -3)
Thanks for the interview and giveaway!
Lyra L
February 24, 2012 at 6:48 PM (UTC -3)
Thank you for the interview, I also see the future of publishing more in the digital worl
An interesting side effect is that so many people are getting published, because now anyone tries to do it. That makes it hard for the reader to chose and see what books are of good qaulity, so I always appreciate to hear about a good new publisher.
Anzu
February 25, 2012 at 10:36 AM (UTC -3)
It’s iteresting to get to know the publisher from different perspectives. I don’t think paper back will disappear at least not for a lot longer, but the market for digital book will grow even more.
anzumerlin at mail (dot) ru
Sue Sattler
February 25, 2012 at 7:43 PM (UTC -3)
Thank you for a very informative interview. I too hope that paperbacks stick around. Even though I have both a Kindle and a Nook, I like to get my favorite series in paperback to keep on my bookshelf.
proudarmymom32(at)yahoo(dot)com
Sarah Kalaitzidis
February 25, 2012 at 7:48 PM (UTC -3)
Relaxing while doing karate well that’s interesting lol!!! I wouldn’t have thought karate would be relaxing but who knows it’s different for everyone!
julie barrett
February 25, 2012 at 7:53 PM (UTC -3)
thanks for sharing the q and a with us. I started out in the printing industry myself in 11th grade. worked 4 hours there, 4 at school and 4 in retail for over a year. Love learning about the industry from the bottom up.
Thanks
Julie
Allie
February 25, 2012 at 8:15 PM (UTC -3)
I would like to read this
Tin
February 25, 2012 at 8:17 PM (UTC -3)
Wishing Rebel Ink all the best!
Here’s to your company’s continued growth and success!
Renee Bennett
February 25, 2012 at 9:13 PM (UTC -3)
Great interview. I didn’t know Karate could be relaxing. I don’t think paperback books are going to go entirely away, but the digital industry is going to grow more rapidly since so many people are getting ereaders. I love my ereader, and use it every day,but every now and then I just have to sit down and read with a paperback in my hand. LOL
Thank you,
reneebennett35(at)yahoo(dot)com
Lilian Cheng
February 25, 2012 at 11:33 PM (UTC -3)
I can’t even read the part about where writing is going in the future without feeling like crying. No paper books and all epub? As much as I love technology, I still love the feel of paper in my hands more than reading from a screen. I would never opt for an ebook if there was a paperback…and I need something that won’t have me freak out if I drop it in the tub. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I think theres a charm in actual books.
Robin D
February 26, 2012 at 2:10 AM (UTC -3)
Interesting post! I hope print books will not stop being available, they are my preference.
Tina Rucci
February 26, 2012 at 6:09 AM (UTC -3)
Great interview. It is very interesting to find ouut what happens after a book leaves the author’s hands and how it becomes available for purchase.
purpleunicorn19(at)yahoo(dot)com
Anastasia K
February 26, 2012 at 11:04 AM (UTC -3)
I like both ebooks and paperbacks, so I hope both will be around
anas-karina(AT)mail(DOT)com
melissa call
February 26, 2012 at 12:21 PM (UTC -3)
I really hope books don’t disappear…I love seeing a brand-new book; a beautiful cover, and a stack of books by my bed!
wihockeycall(at)yahoo(dot)com
Gena Robertson
February 27, 2012 at 1:36 PM (UTC -3)
Very interesting post! I have to admit that I really adore my ereader and only read paperbacks or hardbacks now when I have no other choice.
Thank you for the giveaway chance!
Quilt Lady
February 27, 2012 at 2:39 PM (UTC -3)
Great post and interview! I love both ebooks and paper books and read both. I have been hooked on my ereader lately though so much earier to read with it. Thanks for the great giveaway.
quiltlady110 AT gmail DOT net
Quilt Lady
February 27, 2012 at 2:39 PM (UTC -3)
Sorry got email wrong.
quiltlady110 AT gmail DOT com
Maritza Robinson
February 27, 2012 at 8:42 PM (UTC -3)
It scares me to know that ebooks will take over print books. I love my print books. I don’t own an e-reader. I think they are great when you go on a trip or out and don’t want to carry books with you. But I would pick my print books over ebooks anytime.
Thanks for giveaway!
mararob80 at gmail dot com
Monica
February 28, 2012 at 1:01 AM (UTC -3)
I agree with you about the future of books and I don’t mind at all. I love my ereaders. No clutter in the house and it is so much easier to hold a light ereader than a heavy book.
mcv111 at hotmail(dot)com
books4me
February 28, 2012 at 1:41 AM (UTC -3)
Rebel Ink has some great authors and reads! Great interview and one I’m going to share with my teen as she is interested in going into publishing/editing/writing!
books4me67 at ymail dot com