The Editor: Common Mistakes and Where To Find Them

By Katherine Johnson

Photo by Nic McPhee

Editor-in-Chief, Rooster & Pig Publishing

As an editor, I’ve noticed many common mistakes in manuscripts. Most of them are easily fixed with a close review. Spell check is great, but a majority of the mistakes aren’t going to be flagged by spell check because, in essence, they are spelled correctly. Below are some of the more prevalent errors.

1) Then/Than

Then refers to a measure of time. Something happened. Something else happened after it. Example: Rick got in the car. Then he buckled his seat belt.

He got in first. Then he buckled up after getting inside.

Than refers to a comparison. Something is compared to something else, usually in a matter of preference.

Example: I’d rather read a book than watch television.

I’m comparing my desire for reading over the desire to watch TV.

2) Punctuation outside of dialogue quotations

Most publishers use the Chicago Manual of Style (not all, but most). When writing dialogue, there will always be some sort of punctuation within the quotes. Sometimes this is a comma, and other times, it’s a question mark or period. (Or, in very rare cases, an exclamation point, but try to avoid them. Use action words to convey surprise, shock, and other similar emotions.)

Example: Rick said, “I’m going to the store.”

Example: “I’m going to the store,” Rick said.

3) Commas and proper names

When a name is used, sometimes a comma is needed. Always use a comma when the addressing a person by name. However, using the name but not directly addressing the person doesn’t require a comma.

Example: “Liz, come here.”

Example: “I told Liz to come here.”

Example: “Come over, Liz,” Rick said.

Example: “I told Liz to come over,” Rick said.

4) Pronouns

I write same-gender romance, so I completely understand the craziness in dealing with pronouns—especially when writing in third person pov (point-of-view). That said, it’s generally a good habit to stick to one referenced person when using pronouns of the same gender. If you have two men in a 3rd pov story and both men are referenced by pronouns in the same paragraph, it can become very confusing to determine who is who. Rule of thumb: one pronoun-referenced person PER paragraph. All other people of the same gender should be first names.

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Have you made any of these errors in your own writing? What trouble spots do you look for before you send a story out for submission?

Final Call: 3 Anthology Calls Close TODAY

Rooster and Pig has a regular rotation of Calls For Submission and today, three of those calls are closing! It's not too late to submit your short fiction, though. Here are the details.

Kritter Tales
Contemporary M/M

While some couples are happy with the pitter-patter of little feet in their home, other families just don't feel complete unless those feet belong to their four-legged baby instead of or in addition to, their two legged one. The decision to bring home a new pet is a big one, and sometimes it's a decision made impulsively. Is adoption their chosen path? Does your lonely character find an abandoned animal and bring it home to battle off the loneliness which leads him to the hot veterinarian? Or maybe an established couple has a little misunderstanding and one comes home to find a new addition to the family?

 R&P wants your stories of men and their animals. What type of animal is completely up to you. Because sometimes a cat can be a man's best friend too. However, no paranormal twists, if you please, we want our men to be all human and our animals to be all animals, other than that, have fun with it! But let us know all about how these animals come to be the owners of their humans and how they help to either bring love into their human's life or how their presence helps to rekindle the flame.

Deadline: June 30, 2014
Word Count: 5,000-15,000
HEA or HFN Ending Required: Yes
Expected Publication Date: August 29, 2014

Submission Guidelines: Here

Twisted Kritter Tales
Paranormal and Fantasy M/M

Some couples are happy with the pitter-patter of little feet in their home; other families just don't feel complete without a four-legged baby. The decision to bring home a new pet is a big one and sometimes it's a decision made impulsively. Is adoption their chosen path? Does your lonely character find an abandoned animal and bring it home to battle off the loneliness which leads to the hot veterinarian? Or maybe an established couple has a little misunderstanding and one comes home to find a new addiction to the family? But what if the new pet isn't what it seems? What happens when your character(s) new pet turns out to be a shifter in disguise?

R&P wants your stories of men and their animals. What type of animal is completely up to you. We want your stories of men and their pets turned paranormal entities. Be sure to include how your paranormal comes to "own" their human’s life, turn out to be the love their human so desperately desires, or how their presence helps to rekindle the lost flame.

Deadline: June 30, 2014
Word Counts: 10,000 – 30,000 words
HEA or HFN Ending Required: Yes
Expected Publication Date: September 1, 2014

Submission Guidelines: Here

Victimized
Contemporary M/M
All Proceeds To Charity

It starts with an insult. The smallest of ridicules take root planting the seed of self doubt and shame. Days turn into weeks but the emotional blows keep coming. Self doubt digresses to shame. Soon the physical blows solidify one's self contempt. Eventually, shame mutates into a morbid thing called self destruction. What defines a person is their ability to overcome. Abuse is often overlooked but most often missed in the gay community.

Rooster and Pig wants your stories of men overcoming their abusers. Subgenres are welcome but please no paranormal, science fiction or futuristic genres. We want stories as close to reality as possible. We are also aware that abuse often (and in most cases does) leads to rape but please only include rape in your story if it furthers the plot. These are not erotic dubious consent stories of seduction. These stores are about awareness. This anthology is more than just writing a story, this is an outlet for a potentially abused reader to find the strength they need to seek help.

All proceeds, minus the fees taken by our merchant account and PayPal will be donated to a domestic violence shelter that helps not only women and children in domestic violence situations but men as well. Neither Rooster & Pig nor any of the participating authors of this anthology will retain any money made. Authors should be aware and acknowledge this when submitting their stories to Rooster & Pig Publishing. R&P is asking for two years exclusive anthology publishing rights to all accepted stories to the anthology.

Deadline: June 30. 2014
Word Count: 10,000 - 30,000
HEA or HFN Ending Required: Yes
Expected Publication Date: September 24, 2014

Submission Guidelines: Here

Release Day: Gunning For Marie

Several years after the third World War, resources are scarce. The poor are poorer and the middle class doesn't exist anymore. A man with resources travels from city to town buying teenagers from desperate parents and orphanages. The teens are educated, fed and clothed as appropriate for their end purpose, Soldier or Breeder.

 A strong, young woman, Marie Rice, falls for Gunnar Lincoln. Their attraction is forbidden, Marie meant for someone else. Disturbing events on the island lead to Gunnar and Marie looking for a way to escape and save everyone else. While they bide their time, attraction turns to something stronger. Will they escape? Will they save the others?

Gunning For Marie by Tracey Steinbach is now available from Rooster and Pig.

To get you really excited, here is a pop quiz from Tracey herself. Take your best guess in the comments and leave us a way to contact you (twitter, email, smoke signal...) One lucky winner will receive a copy of Gunning For Marie!


1. Marie and Tyson meet...
 A) On the battlefield
 B) In class
 C) In space

2. Gunnar is ___ to Tyson.
A) Brother
B) Father
C) Beta

3. Silas wants...
A) World domination
B) World peace
C) A family

4. Tyson considers Marie...
A) Weak
B) Strange
C) His

5. Rowen is Marie's...
A) Boyfriend
B) Beta
C) Rival

If you just can't get enough, check out a spotlight on Gunning over at Johanna Rae's blog!
Find Tracey on twitter (@mamas449) and goodreads.
List Gunning on your goodreads account.
And RT any of our release day links for another chance to win!

Blog Tour: Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

May 17th is the International day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Like the Day of Tolerance (Nov 16th), we seek to educate the curious and inspire everyone to better communication within their communities.

Welcome to Rooster and Pig Publishing. We're a publisher trying to show the world what the word inclusive really means. Not only do we gladly accept your M/M, F/F, and menage stories, but we're also actively seeking poly families, older couples, asexual, and grey-sexual relationships. In a world where same sex, polyamorous, and diverse relationships are still discriminated against and oppressed, we seek to inspire change through the written word by publishing books that show that these types of relationships are okay and beautiful.

We want to publish your science fiction epic where the main character just happens to be trans but the plot is really about lasers and gunships (pewpew!)

We believe writing a story about a gender fluid character shouldn't be an act of courage, it should be so normal that it is unremarkable.

So give us your unremarkable underdogs, your every-day demi-sexual divas, your casual cross-dressing caterers. Give us a good story and we'll show it to the world.

Check us out:

• Rooster and Pig Website
• Open Anthology Calls
• General Submissions
• Newest Releases

And if you just can't wait to get your hands on some of our awesome stories (really, we can't blame you), enter the rafflecopter raffle below for a change to pick TWO ebooks from our catalog in any format we offer.

Dyslexic? Let us know. We'll work with you to get a copy of the book in a dyslexic friendly font. Because that's how we do.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


And don't forget to follow the rest of the hop here: FOLLOW THE HOP

New Policy Changes from R&P.

New policy changes.

R&P Publishing Welcomes You

The Rooster and the Pig started as a little publishing House in Tonawanda, NY, so named because of the Chinese zodiac signs of its original founders. The owners decided the Publishing House would laugh at lines in the sand, and publish whatever tickled their fancy, and push all the shiny red buttons and only worry about whether or not the fictional stories, or poems, or autobiographies, or non-fiction tales were well written and not give a rip about whether they were about men loving men, or women loving women, or men loving women. Those beliefs still hold true today.

So, at Rooster & Pig Publishing you'll find everything from the fluffiest of a romance you could ever hope to lay eyes on, to the rough tough true grit of tales that plumb the depths of the human heart and soul. We wouldn't have it any other way. Come on in. Poke around. Find something you like, scamper off and read it, and then come on back again. Our doors stay open, and there's always something worth reading somewhere around here, no matter what you're in the mood for.
We are currently open to submissions.

We have a new anthology call. October 1-31th: Theme: Interracial Vampire Love . Word count: 10-20k words. One character must be a vampire the other MC must be of a different race than the vampire (for example: if the vampire is black, his love interest must be white or Hispanic or whatever). We are looking for M/M or M/M/M+ pairings only.
Submissions go to: submissions.rppublishing@gmail.com.

Anthology Guidelines
Submissions must be between 10,000 and 15,000 words. All submissions, once accepted, are subject to editing, but this isn't an excuse to submit first drafts by any means (beta readers are your friend).

All works submitted must be unreleased works. If you've published anything, anywhere, on public forum, it is considered published and therefore cannot be submitted.

This is the "No-No" List. If you're manuscript contains the following don't even try:

Bestiality (intercourse with animals)
Necrophilia (intercourse with a corpse)
Rape (rape can be a part of a characters past but the rape must be handled respectfully)
Scat or golden showers (sex or play with feces or urine)
Snuff (sex in which one or both participants are killed/murdered)
Obscene violence (slasher, splatter punk, and torture porn)

Submitting Your Manuscript
Submissions must be sent via email. Please do not send hard copies of your manuscript to our place of business, they will be recycled and not reviewed.

Submission Instructions:


Rooster & Pig has had a policy change and is now accepting partial manuscripts. Send in your synopsis and your first three chapters and it will be considered!

Rooster & Pig accepts all genres, pairings, and lengths for publication.

Rooster & Pig has an open door policy.

Rooster & Pig's name comes from the Chinese zodiac and shows that we are ambitious, loyal, strong, dedicated, passionate, and intelligent.

All submissions are to be sent to: Submissions@Roosterandpigpublishing.com

Please send your manuscript to submissions.rppublishing@gmail.com
Your email subject line should read: Anthology Title: Story Title: Author Name
Include a 300-350 word bio of the author as a cover page
The top right corner of your cover page should also include: Anthology Title: Submission Title, author's name, address, phone number, and email.
Author's name, anthology call, anthology title, and page numbers, should be on every page at the top of your anthology submission. The best way to do this is in the header of your document. Page numbers are under "Insert."
Your submission must be sent via attachment in Word, .doc, or .docx format, the file named Anthology Title- Submission Title- Author Name
Also include a brief synopsis, no more than 500 words, with your submission (be sure to include the beginning, middle, and ending in your synopsis)
Double spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman, with 1" margins
Please, do not indent your paragraphs.
Do insert a blank line between paragraphs and use ### between scene breaks

Please allow three to four weeks after an anthology submission is closed regarding the status of your submission.

Good News, Everyone!

We have decided to extend the Steam Punk Writing Contest to the end of October. If you've been working on your submission, you now have until October 31st to get it to us. For more details on this contest, check out our earlier post about it here.

In other news, Vicktor Alexander's latest work Chain Me has become a bestseller! It's burning its way up the charts at ARe. Be sure to grab your copy of this steamy story today!

Lastly, we have recently updated our submissions policies. Instead of requiring whole manuscripts, we will now take the first three chapters and review those. If your work is of a high enough quality, you may find yourself with a contract for publication with us. So, if you've been working on something and it's not quite finished but you want to see if we're interested, feel free to go ahead and submit it to us now!

Stay tuned to this space for more news from Rooster and Pig in the days ahead!

-- G.K.

Why Rooster & Pig?

Hey all! It's Vicktor Bailey. I am one of the owners of Rooster & Pig Publishing and one of its founders. How you doing?

One of the things I get asked a lot, when people aren't asking me questions about submitting to us, is why I chose the name Rooster & Pig Publishing. I know, I know. You have an image of a farm and a rooster standing on top of a pig, but your image would be wrong.

When Rooster & Pig was created the original founder and I thought up a bunch of names and none of them seemed like they were "right" for us. We were silly but serious and we didn't want to be like other publishing houses around us. They were great and they all have something about them that make them unique but we knew from the conception of R&P that we were destined for big things. Things that hadn't been attempted by other publishing houses. So we thought and thought and one day we were discussing zodiac signs. And not just regular zodiac signs, because I'm a Scorpio and when people hear that they instantly think sex, possessiveness, a sharp tongue, and for some a Dom. I'm not saying these things are wrong about me but I didn't want the publishing house to only be thought of in that way. So looking up the Chinese zodiac sign it was discovered that the original founder's Chinese zodiac sign was a rooster and mine was a pig. Which with me being Messianic Jew we thought was hilarious.

Days later we came back to the name of the company and it hit us like a bolt of lightning: Rooster & Pig!

You see the particulars of these two zodiac signs are perfect for what we wanted to accomplish and convey for our publishing house.

The Rooster: They are deep thinkers considered to be honest, bright, communicative, ambitious, capable and warm-hearted. They have strong self-respect and seldom rely on others. As most roosters are born pretty or handsome, they prefer to dress up. They have a quick mind and hot temper. They like to be busy and neat. They are not reluctant to fall behind others and hate dawdlers.

The Pig: People born in the Year of the Pig are honest and frank, chivalrous and gallant. They have a calm appearance and strong heart. They do whatever they want with their strength. They are tolerant and optimistic, but not until they become your friends can their virtue, advantages and fidelity to friendship be appreciated. They are quick tempered, but hate arguments and quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. They are not afraid of difficulties and problems but try to work them out. They treat friend sincerely and they do not tell lies unless they have to. They are kind and light hearted and usually go to sleep easily.

One thing became obvious to us, not just because of our signs and who we were as people, but because of what we wanted to publish and what we believed as far as books and writing went that we were the epitome of fluff and rough.

And thus we became The Rooster & The Pig Publishing: Where Fluff Meets Rough.

We have learned a lot from dealing with other publishing houses. We have learned a lot because we are authors also. We have the college education to handle the business side of things and we have a fresh approach to publishing that we believe opens the door to the many things we want to do for our authors, our books and our company.

When it comes to our books we publish everything. All genres. From general fiction to romance to fantasy to poetry to nonfiction to erotica to children's books to YA to NA and everything in between. We don't discriminate.

We publish all pairings M/F to M/M to F/F to menages to polyamorous couples. We publish trans* books and asexual books.

We publish all lengths and we welcome authors who have either never published anything before or who are veteran authors.

We have a full staff of people ready to walk our authors through the process of becoming published. We are professional but we are fun and silly.

We are a small publishing house with BIG plans. Our name may make you look twice but we hope our policy makes you stay and sub something to us.

We are looking for you. Your unique story, your unique writing style. And now we are accepting partial manuscripts so that book you have only written about three chapters for but you have the entire synopsis written for? We want to read it.

So, no, we aren't farm animals or a bunch of farmers try our hand at this publishing business. We are the rooster &  the pig Chinese zodiac signs publishing company. Majestic creatures, ambitious, kind, fluffy and rough.

So if you have a book, a story you want to tell, we hope that you'll consider submitting it to us. We are open for submissions and we want you to be a part of the R&P family!

If you have any questions ask them in the comments below and I'll answer them.

-Vicktor A. Bailey

Owner, Rooster & Pig Publishing

Send your submissions to: Submissions@roosterandpigpublishing.com

Did you know we're running a steampunk contest/anthology call? And what about our Interracial vampire anthology call? Get your stories submitted!