Welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews Deanna. Thank you for stopping by. I’ve been looking forward to speaking with you since I first heard murmurings of Cobblestone Press. From the blurbs, covers, and professional image your staff presents; the June 2nd launch can’t come soon enough. Until then, thank you for answering some questions.

E-publishing is a competitive market. What made you and Sable Grey decide to create Cobblestone Press?

You’re absolutely right—publishing (print and electronic) is a competitive market. The decision to create Cobblestone didn’t come lightly. We’ve actually discussed it off and on for a year. Near the end of last year, we both came to the conclusion that it was time to stop talking about it and actually build an author friendly business that we could be proud of and Cobblestone Press was born.

How long did the development process take?

We both came to the table with all the skills we’d need to start an e-publisher. Between the two of us we have 15 years of web design experience, 10 years of customer service, 5 years of marketing, 30 years of serious writing experience, and 12 years of art design. From conception to launch, Cobblestone will be 7 months old on our grand opening day June 2, 2006.

As to the “development” process--- it will never end. We plan and research and plan some more everyday and we always will. Cobblestone Press will not stagnate nor become outdated in ideas or ambition within a year of opening. Every day is a new day and we’ll embrace it as such.

What do you think sets Cobblestone apart from other e-publishers?

There are tons of e-publishers and more open all the time. Sable and I have both worked with some simply amazing e-publishers so we knew from the start that we’d have tough and fair competition.

From the community interactions that we’ve had so far, I can say that our author-friendly goals and policies get a lot of positive feedback. Our contract is easy to read, fair to both the company and the author, and we only ask for electronic rights at this time. Sable and I are upfront about our plans with our authors and strive to make their publishing experience the best it can be.

For readers, we are doing everything within our power to offer an easy to use and a work-friendly website. We want our readers to feel safe coming to our website on their lunch break to buy a book without having to worry about a naked butt blaring out from cover art. We do sell erotic romance and we aren’t ashamed of it, but being classy and work-friendly is important to us.

As a reader, I am impressed with the number of services you have available in the Cobblestone Community. How did you think of all these tools?

As authors ourselves, we know exactly what we want from an e-publisher. Everything we’ve done was done with that simple concept in mind.

For readers who have not stopped by this section of your site, can you tell them a little about the Cobblestone Community?

First and foremost, we have the Cobblestone Chronicle. The Chronicle is an HTML newsletter that will be distributed weekly. The newsletter will contain new release information, articles, author interviews, and an events calendar. Readers are able to customize the newsletter per their own reading preferences as well.

Along with the Chronicle we also have a discussion group, the blog, an announcement only Yahoo list, a chat room, and of course the Library. The library is a forum of research links that Sable Grey has developed for authors. Like most authors, we are both lovers of research so creating a library of links for authors just came naturally.

Our chat room has already become the central focus of our community area and we’ll have weekly chats in there.

I know the categories of Wild, Wanton, and Wicked got my imagination flying. Can you tell us a little about the content rating?

Our content rating system is designed to let our readers know what they can expect to find in our books.

Wild- this is for our traditional romance books. Lots of romance, some sexual content, but no explicit language.

Wanton- this is for our erotic romance books. Romance, strong sexual content, and explicit language.

Wicked- these books are erotic romance as well but they contain themes and/or situations that might make readers uncomfortable.

Now as tempting as the Wild, Wanton, and Wicked descriptions are. There are also three specific lines fans can look forward to: Brazen, Outlaw, and Shifter. Can you tell us more about these lines?

Brazen is our bad girls line, but it’s also much, much more. The women in these books will take chances and step out of the traditional female role time and time again to get what they want. No Brazen lady is going to wait for a man to rescue her.

The Outlaw line is all about the anti-hero. He’s strong, alpha, and no where near the right side of the law most of the time. He’s a pirate, a highwayman, a corporate shark with no need to pay attention to all of society’s demands. Yet, he’s also capable of winning a woman’s love and loyalty.

The Shifter line is all about men and women who can shift out of their human form. Wolves, cats, dragons, selkies, bears… you name it we are willing to explore it if the story is a fit for Cobblestone.

How many books do you intend to release each month?

12 to 15 depending on the month. It is our goal to release 3 books every Friday.

Do you have anything special planned for the June 2nd opening?

Along with our six releases, we’re having a party in our chat room where gift certificates and free books will be awarded to a few lucky participants.

From the publisher’s viewpoint, what has been the most rewarding aspect of this venture?

The first time an author told me that I’d made her dreams come true. That was awesome! I know what it’s like to work hard for something and that moment when all of your work has finally paid off – it’s just priceless and I’m really glad that I’ve been able to work with so many new authors.

I have attended a few of the chats Cobblestone has hosted leading up to the June 2nd debut. These chats are always fun, informative, and in my opinion filled with professionals all excited about writing. How were you able to assemble such an extensive group of talented individuals?

In truth, we feel that we are extremely lucky to have so many talented authors and editors in the Cobblestone family. Sable and I are ambitious, goal oriented, and often social creatures. We weren’t all that surprised that we built something awesome and awesome people showed up to take part.

Is there a forum readers can join that will keep them updated on new releases and events?

Readers can join the announcements only list in our Community section or they can sign up for the Cobblestone Chronicle.
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/community.htm

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

We’d like to remind authors that we are actively accepting submissions from new and established authors with a turn around time of 1 to 3 months. Sable and I are especially interested in medieval historical, time travel, chick lit, Brazen/Outlaw, and male/male submissions. We like strong romantic elements, fully developed characters, and tight plotting. Our submission guidelines are here: http://www.cobblestone-press.com/submissions.htm

Deanna, I know this is a busy and exciting time for Cobblestone. I appreciate you taking time to answer my questions. Readers, if you have not had a chance to stop by Cobblestone Press, don’t delay. This publisher promises to deliver quality books to readers for a long time to come. You won’t want to miss out.

Interviewed by: Amanda