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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

MAKING A DIFFERENCE--PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLICATIONS by CHERYL PIERSON



In August, 2013, my business partner, Livia Reasoner and I decided to take the plunge and open our own publishing house. So many little companies were bursting on the scene that we wondered if we would be able to make much of a difference in the publishing world. Less than a year later, I want to share with you all what we’ve done.

To start with, I better talk a little about why we wanted to start Prairie Rose Publications to begin with. Livia and I both belong to a professional western writing group, the WESTERN FICTIONEERS, of which we are both very proud to be members. I am currently acting as President of the Western Fictioneers until 2016. We had both noticed that there were many women writers—good women writers—who were having trouble “breaking in” to the western genre. Many of these women wrote “gritty” western stories—not so heavy on the romance as on the “western” aspect; many of them wrote shorter stories than the normal popular length for a novel, or novella; and many were having trouble just because they were women—with the name to prove it.

Lots of publishers don’t like taking a chance on westerns anymore, written by man or woman—but when they have a choice, they’ll be publishing the ones by men—since men are more apt to buy western and science fiction works by another man than by a woman.

Livia and I agreed that one of the submissions requirements for our publishing house would be first and foremost, to submit, you had to be a woman. We have not been sorry, and have had more business than we can handle at times.

Another thing we wanted to do was encourage new writers as well as seasoned ones. We’ve got a fantastic mix of both, and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them all. Our royalty rate is one of the best anywhere, paying 80% net to the authors, who work so hard to write these wonderful tales and hope with everything in them to find a home for their stories. After years of being offered the traditional meager 35% for e-books and 7% for print, our authors are extremely happy with the royalty payments, and so are we.

We can do this because we don’t accept anything that requires heavy editing, so we are able to produce more quality stories and novels in a shorter time span.

It wasn’t long after we opened Prairie Rose Publications that we were asked if we published children’s westerns. And what about contemporary and science fiction? Well, did we also have an imprint for youngsters’ contemporary or fantasy stories? The answer became YES very quickly. Painted Pony Books is our imprint for Middle Grade, YA and New Adult western fare; Tornado Alley Publications is the sister imprint for Middle Grade, YA, and New Adult contemporary stories, and Fire Star Press satisfies contemporary, science fiction and fantasy categories for adults.

All of our imprints except Prairie Rose Publications are open to ANYONE to submit to—men and women, alike; newbies and experienced writers.

Since opening our doors, we have published many anthologies at PRP—Wishing For a Cowboy (Christmas 2013), Hearts and Spurs (Valentine’s Day 2014), Lassoing a Bride, Lassoing a Groom, Lassoing a Mail Order Bride, and Cowboy Cravings (Summer stories, 2014).

We’ve also put out 14 novels in the PRP line, as well as 6 novellas.

In the Painted Pony Books imprint, we’ve published 9 books, some for all three of our age groups.
In the Tornado Alley Publications imprint, we published our first anthology, THIS SUMMER STORM, for YA readers just a few weeks ago in time for summer reading for ages 13-17. We also released a “retro” novel about the Viet Nam era, Echoes in the Night, and will be releasing two more about that era in the next couple of months.



Fire Star Press has seen the release of one novella and one novel, with many more on the way.
Part of what we want to do with our company is to inspire people in many ways, and one of these ways is by helping others. We have partnered with some charities that are so rewarding and exciting to work with. One of them, The Lighthouse For Recovery Ministries, has many branches that reach out to all segments of the Birmingham, Alabama community—the homeless, abused animals, addiction programs, and programs for veterans who need help. http://www.thelighthouseforrecoveryministries.org/

Another of our “pet projects” has been helping with Westie rescue expenses by donating books to the Westie Rescue Missouri Fundraising Auction (here is the Facebook page for their event, for anyone who might be interested): https://www.facebook.com/groups/WestieRSQMissouriAuction/


What do we have coming up in the next year? More of the same! Prairie Rose Publications will have its first Halloween anthology, Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico making a debut in late September. But there’ll also be an anthology from Tornado Alley Publications for Middle Grade Readers this fall called My Dog Can Do Magic! For New Adult readers, we’ll have an anthology just in time for Halloween—It Could Happen—stories that have a love story with a Halloween twist. We have submission calls open for all three of these anthologies, if you have a story you think might meet the requirements!


Christmas will see two anthologies, Present for a Cowboy and Present for a Cowgirl in our PRP line.
And Valentine’s Day will be marked by another new anthology to be released in the middle part of January.

But even more immediately, we have a special CHRISTMAS IN JULY event coming up from July 25-Aug. 1! During that time period, we’ll have many new Christmas-themed novellas and short stories available for purchase at our brand new website!


We’ll have a lot of giveaways going on, too! We hope you’ll come back and join us during National Week of the Cowboy, the week we’ve chosen for our Christmas in July event—and get to know our authors. But don’t wait until then—here’s the link, come on over and join us now!

PRP website:

PRP blog: www.prairierosepublications.blogspot.com

Questions? Ideas? Thoughts? Please leave a comment with your contact information! I will be drawing the names of 3 lucky winners today!


Here’s what’s up for grabs from the PRP goodie bag!
1 digital copy of COWBOY CRAVINGS
1 digit copy of LASSOING A MAIL ORDER BRIDE
Winners will be announced tonight! Thanks so much for stopping by and celebrating with us!

19 comments:

  1. Congratulations on successful company. What you are doing will help so many out there that does not have an idea where to get started on publishing.

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    1. Hi Jeepgal! That is exactly what we're here for and what we're hoping to do! It's not easy breaking into "the business" and Livia and I want to help in any way possible. Thanks for stopping by today!
      Cheryl

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  2. Cheryl, you and Livia have done remarkable things in less than a year. Y'all give new meaning to heart and soul. Big congratulations and huge hugs to you both! :-)

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    1. Kathleen, thanks so much--and thanks for stepping in to be our PR person, too! We both appreciate that more than we can ever say. Thanks for all you do--the more we grow the better it is for all of us, and we couldn't "grow" without your help.
      Hugs,
      Cheryl

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  3. That's great what you have done. I saw the name out there, of course, but didn't know at all what you'd put together. Congratulations and to the writers you represent. Good going for you all!

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    1. Rain, Livia and I just love what we do so much, I don't think either of us could imagine NOT doing it now! This has been a dream come true for us, in that we're able to help so many people see THEIR dreams come true, too! Thanks so much for stopping by today!
      Cheryl

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  4. Can't believe it has been a year. What a great catalog you have for such a short time. Here is to many more years of wonderful stories and happy authors. Thank you. Doris

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    1. Hi Doris--it's really hard to believe it has ONLY been a year. Time has just flown by for both of us, and looking back on this past year and seeing what we've done is just incredible. Even this post shows so little of all we've accomplished--I wish I had room to put up every cover we've done stories for this year. LOL
      Cheryl

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  5. It's hard to believe you've only been at it for a year. So many great projects brought to fruition. I'm thrilled to be but one small part. :-)

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    1. Kristy, that's what makes this so much fun--all the "parts" that make the whole! When we all do what we do best, it's a fantastic outcome for everyone. So glad to have you here with the Prairie Roses!
      Cheryl

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  6. I am so honored to write for you. You both are not just highly qualified professionals, but warm, caring friends who build me up. Thanks for starting up this great press. Xoxo

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    1. Tanya, we're so glad to have you with us here at PRP! We're just thrilled with the way things have progressed this first year and look forward to many, many more!
      Cheryl

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  7. A heartfelt ditto on all of the responses. I feel honored to be part of this multi-talented writing group. Here's to many more years of writing and publishing success.

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    1. Thanks, Barb! So glad you are part of the Prairie Rose group--we're just as honored to have you and all the other roses with us, and thank you for your faith in us!
      Cheryl

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  8. Thrilled for your success, ladies!! All your Roses are truly an amazing and talented group of writers!! Biggest congrats on your first year & here's to many many more ... ♥

    Warmest regards,

    ~ Cindy Nord

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    1. Thank you Cindy! We love all our Roses and are thrilled to have such a talented 'bouquet'! LOL
      Cheryl

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  9. Cheryl,

    Hope this message is not repeated. Second typing: Don't all stories need HEAVY editing? Anyway, congratulations. I hope you publish, publish, publish, and have greater and greater success.

    Charlie

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    1. Thanks, Charlie! Everything is coming up "roses" here! Thanks for stopping by and wishing us well!
      Cheryl

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  10. WINNERS OF TODAY'S GIVEAWAY ARE....

    RAIN TRUEAX--LASSOING A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE

    JEEPGAL--COWBOY CRAVINGS

    Congratulations, ladies, and thanks to everyone who stopped by today and read and commented! Rain and Jeepgal, if you will e-mail me at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com I will see that you get your prizes as soon as possible!

    Cheryl

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