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It’s Just Women’s Work
An Interview with Women’s Work Press

OutLook Press recently had the pleasure of interviewing Meredith Elkins, one of the founders of Women's Work Press, an exciting new publishing house located in Burke, VA. Throughout the interview, we cover issues such as the rise and fall of lesbian publishing, their long-term mission to "not exist" and what it takes to write "The Great American Novel." So, without further ado, we are pleased to present Women's Work Press...

OUTLOOK: First, let me congratulate you on the quality of stories coming out of Women's Work Press. I read "Beware the Kiss" a few months ago and it was superb! I can't wait to read the sequel! "Death Off Stage" is currently on my nightstand, waiting its turn! :) Thus said . . .

WWP: Thanks! We're very pleased with the response we've gotten so far.

OUTLOOK: Tell me about Women's Work Press? When/why did you start it? What's its mission? Just the basics . . .

WWP: Women's Work Press was founded in 1999. I submitted a query to Naiad, and hadn't heard anything for quite a while. I didn't think much of it, but eventually I went back to their site and discovered they weren't accepting work from new authors. Barbara Grier later told me I must have fallen through the cracks. I briefly toyed with the idea of self-publishing, but given the rather low opinion most people (including myself, if I'm honest) have of vanity / subsidy presses, I opted to start Women's Work instead. Our short-term mission is to publish high quality, engaging material for, by and about lesbians. Our long-term mission is to make ourselves extinct because being a lesbian is as much a part of the social fabric as is being Greek or Protestant.

OUTLOOK: What made you decide to start another lesbian press? Seems there are a plethora of little ones popping up left and right?

WWP: I was actually surprised, once I started looking around online, at how many there were. I'm not sure how familiar the average lesbian reader is with these presses, though. We don't seem to get a ton of press coverage as a group (present company excepted!)

OUTLOOK: With the downsizing of Naiad, the grandmother of lesbian publishers, did you take that as a sign of a downturn in lesbian publishing or publishing in general?

WWP: I took Naiad's contraction—rightly or wrongly—as a sign that a woman who was over 65 years old, and had devoted a number of years of her adult life to something, wanted to retire.

OUTLOOK: Do you feel one reason we have seen the demise of so many lesbian presses the past few years is because society is becoming more accepting, thus in turn more mainstream publishers are picking up lesbian-theme work?

WWP: I think one reason for the demise is the rise of lesbian and gay work finding its way into the mainstream. However, that isn't to say that the mainstream is embracing our stories. In 1997, the publishing industry thought they would cash in on the big "LesBiGay chic" trend, and fast-tracked a number of works, giving the authors healthy advances. When these books didn't scream up the bestseller lists, the industry sat back and reconsidered its rush to embrace our stories. So, while society's greater acceptance of us (tolerance, bleecch) has some role, I also think the facts show that the "grandmothers" of lesbian publishing—Grier, Carol Seajay of Feminist Bookstore News, Nancy Breteano of Firebrand, and others were getting to the point in their lives that they wanted to do other things, or at least slow down. There wasn't an equivalent "daughter" generation, so it's our "granddaughter" generation—WWP, Shady Ladies, Justice House, Cape Winds, Bella and others—that is continuing the tradition.We also can't overlook the advent of online and chain booksellers, the decline of the independent bookstore and the different business models that are required to operate in this new "e"-conomy. WWP had a secure-socket layer-enabled web site before we had an international distributor!

OUTLOOK: Did you find it difficult starting a lesbian publishing company, or is the fact you publish lesbian novels inconsequential to your vendors/distributors? In my own personal experience, I have come across a few printers who wouldn't print material of a gay/lesbian nature for clients of mine, so I know discrimination and homophobia can be a problem for a start-up company like WWP. Have you experienced any of that? And if so, how did you respond?

WWP: For the most part, it hasn't been an issue. However, when we first started operations, we sent out a request for quotations (RFQ) to 40 or so book manufacturers. Based on price and the quality of samples, we selected one, and began planning the release of our first title (Cognate). A few weeks prior to going to press, I noticed in Publisher's Weekly that this company had a christian—and I use the lower case "c" advisedly—publishing arm. Uh, oh. So, I mentioned to my account rep that Cognate was a lesbian sci-fi title, albeit one with no sex. He checked with his "superiors," and informed me that they decided they would have to review each and every one of our titles on a case-by-case basis before they would print it. Uh, no. That's my job as publisher. I informed him that was unacceptable and that he should report back to his supervisors that they had lost our business. I also asked our current printer (before committing to them) if they would have a problem, and their answer was basically "no cover nudity, which I knew was a non-issue for us. The only other noteworthy thing is that no mainstream specialty bookstores (mystery, sci-fi, etc.) carry our books. And believe me, we've approached a number of them.

OUTLOOK: How do you feel about all the "über" fiction that seems to be all over web and being printed by other small presses? You going to get into that genre?

WWP: I have to confess to not being 100% sure what is meant by über fiction. If you mean serial fiction that is web-based, I don't see us trying to make inroads into that genre. I have read two or three manuscripts that began their lives as web serials, and both would require a lot of work before they'd be published by WWP. Usually they're long (one I read was 800+ pages), and sometimes elements and scenes are added to spice up the 59th installment and not for the movement of the plot or character development.

OUTLOOK: Let's talk about the books you've published thus far. "Beware the Kiss" is very much a paranormal-type mystery with roots in the occult. "Death off Stage" appears to be an good, old-fashioned "whodunnit" and "Cognate" is a sci-fi story in the vein of Star Trek. Very impressive stuff! How do you go about deciding what does and doesn't get published?

WWP: Thanks for the compliment! The three titles we've published so far are very different, but that is more because of the genre mix we're striving for than anything else.But, my process. I wish it was scientific, or even quantifiable. Presentation is very important: the way an author shows her work to us is critical. Alex Acker, for example, sent her manuscript with a cover page that had a large red lip/mouth/kiss-shaped imprint on it. Now, it didn't hurt that the manuscript was smashing, but that really got our attention.

I also have to confess to getting somewhat irate with women who don't follow our guidelines. That, unfortunately, will immediately color my outlook on the author, and therefore the work, especially if she tries to justify her non-compliance: "Well, it would have been more work for me to reprint the manuscript with my name of every page so I didn't do it." xcuse me? Why are you wasting my time then? If you can't follow fairly straightforward instructions, how can you expect I would want to spend business capital —time or money—on you?). I read the manuscript. Cathy, my life and business partner, reads it. We talk about it, and maybe we ask a friend or freelance editor to take a look. Usually we come to the same— though independent— conclusion. We contemplate how we would feel if we had just paid good money to read that manuscript. If we feel cheated, we reject it. If we feel as though we got our money's worth, and we feel like there's a market, we'll offer a contract.The one thing I really can't describe is the "vibe" I get. I think publishing is what I was destined to do, so I really feel like the work speaks to me (okay, I know this sounds a little weird, but bear with me). Sometimes, marketing and production ideas will start churning in my mind, before I've even finished the work. It's a gut-level thing, and I could probably list more things that can guarantee rejection than acceptance, because those are pretty hard and fast: poor grammar, spelling, punctuation or set up. Too short a manuscript (we consider 50,000 words the minimum now, though we have a few books in the pipeline that were written to Naiad's 45-48,000 word maximum) will get you a chance to add to the story, but not an immediate rejection, unless your writing is bad or the story is overdone, not engaging or has something horribly wrong with it (and yes, we've gotten a couple of those)I would tell women, first and foremost, to try. You never know and I don't get my jollies out of shooting down budding writers. And besides, who the hell am I, anyway? Some dyke with an idea, a web site and too much free time, probably! Go for it—it's the only way to live.

OUTLOOK: Are you currently taking submissions? If so, how would a budding author go about sending something to you? [Editor's Note: This information was current at the time of the interview. Please consult the Women's Work Press Web site before inundating them with submissions.]

WWP: We are currently taking submissions. Potential authors can send a SASE to WWP, P.O. Box 10375 Burke, VA 22009-0375 or visit our Web site to get our submission guidelines.

OUTLOOK: What type of novels are you interested in publishing?

WWP: I am happy to read anything women have come up with, because heaven knows I'm not the last bastion of creative ideas. Authors continue to amaze me with their ideas, their creativity and their energy. But, to provide a laundry list: genre fiction (romance, mystery, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.), comics, poetry, sports (I would love to do a good sports title, something non-fictionwe have a fiction work coming out this year that centers around a fictionalized WNBA team), non-fiction, anthology proposals, etc.

OUTLOOK: What kind of advice do you have for aspiring writers who want to write the next "Great American Novel"?

WWP: The best books I've ever read are those in which I forget I'm reading. If that's ever happened to you, you know what I mean. Wanting to write well won't make you write well. You have to write, observe, take criticism, give criticism (to find out what works in others' writing), re-write, get more feedback, observe some more and then do it all again. Writing is work, and writing well is incredibly hard work. You have to be thick-skinned and you can't stop with one rejection. Women's Work Press is not the final frontier; neither are Bella, Cleis, Alice Street Editions, etc. We all have different tastes, expectations and beliefs. So if you get rejected by one, try another. Or start your own publishing company!

OUTLOOK: Are you an author yourself or just behind the scenes?

WWP: As I mentioned, my humble little 48,000 word manuscript was what got the ball rolling. It may see the light of day, but who knows? I'm having an absolute blast doing what I'm doing, so the second book I started all those years ago will probably languish indefinitely.

OUTLOOK: What's coming from WWP in the future?

WWP: So glad you asked! We have a romance anthology coming up in March, which will be three full-length romance novels. Also on the horizon are a fantasy novel by Jacqui Singleton, author of Heartstone and Sabre, called Sabres of Mauldar, the sequel to Beware the Kiss (Beware the Serpent), by Alex Acker, the aforementioned basketball novel, and a second Carlene Miller mystery series, starring high school PE teacher Rebecca Delgado. That's what's planned for 2002, so we hope your readers will support us by buying our books and telling their friends about us as well!

OUTLOOK: What's on your nightstand right now? (to read . . . :)

WWP: Ha! Read for pleasure? Not since 1997! I spent two years reading about the business of publishing before I was convinced that: a) I could run a publishing house, and b) it could be run successfully in this day and age. Since we've started taking submissions, I have no time to read for pleasure, but I do get first crack at some of the best lesbian fiction being written today, both here and internationally, so I guess it balances out. If I did still manage to read for pleasure, I would have Melissa Etheridge's autobiography on stand-by, along with a few Naiad titles. And since we're still talking hypothetically, I would love there to be a new Jaye Maiman book coming out, as well as a Kate Allen title. Oh, and if those two fine talents are out there, I can set them up with a great publisher, if they need one!

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