Val Wineyard Publishing

We at Val Wineyard Publishing are looking at books about this region of France, its history, it's beauty, its magic, its mysteries.  We are happy to look at "spiritual" books that connect to the Rennes-le-Château/Languedoc region.
  Submit to us, as you would to any other publisher, with a Proposal.  Send it as a pdf to the e-mail address; valwineyard@gmail.com   If you prefer to submit in any other way, then send us a message on the box “Contacter Auteur” at the foot of the page. 

  Please note that we - like other publishers - don't have the time to read long manuscripts submitted without a Proposal.  If the Proposal interests us, we will contact you and ask for the full manuscript.
  Your Proposal should consist of
1.  Your contact details
2.  Working Title and sub-title of your book.   For example;  THE ARCHERS.  An everyday story of Templars.
3.  A brief summary of the book in three or four lines.  Example;  How the archers of the Templars learnt their trade in Carcassonne.  Information about old weapons and weapon museums.  New research previously unpublished.  20 photos in black-and-white and colour.  70,000 words
4.  The market for the book.  Do NOT say “More and more people are interested in the Templars.”  That tells us nothing.  But “Total membership of archery associations in the UK is 1,000 people” tells us something useful.  You need to know your market, to make sure you are truly speaking to your reader, (define him or her if you wish) and the publisher needs to know too; it might or might not, for example, be a market he is acquainted with.
5.  Any similar books out there, including those you have used for research.  Tell the publisher how successful the competing books are; another book in the same field might be equally successful.  It's all a matter of where the bandwagon is; if it is approaching and not receding, your book will persuade the publisher to jump on it.  Add a note if you wish about how your book carries the genre forward. 
6.  All about you.  A brief biography including your qualifications to write the book; not just your work experience, but membership of associations and similar leisure activities.  Include any writing experience, from parish magazines to national dailies.  List any previous books you have written and/or published.  List any web-sites you may have and any web-sites you have contributed to.  This is called your "platform."

7.  The first chapter of the book.

8.  A list of of the other chapters with a brief description, such as;  Chapter Five.  Kingly Cruelty.  How the King persued the Templars.  Chapter Seven.  The flight to Scotland.

Please use this formula of 8 sections, even if you do not have all the information yet.  Just write; "more info to come" under the appropriate headings.

   Putting your book in the form of a proposal is a useful exercise in that it clarifies your ideas and gives you focus when you are writing.  Some people find it nerve-wracking, wondering if they are "selling" correctly or "making" the publisher accept it.  Just remember, the proposal is simply to communicate all appropriate information in an accessible way.

  For some great advice from a well-known literary agency on fine-tuning your proposal, or Submission as it is sometimes called, click here.

 WE AT VAL WINEYARD PUBLISHING PROMISE YOU THAT WE WILL REPLY
  Every proposal will be treated on it’s merits.  Some books cry out to be published, while others might need extra work to become “saleable.”  If the book idea described in your proposal interests us, we will take it from there. 

  If your idea does NOT interest us, if we feel your title would not suit our list and manner of working, we would advise you briefly, and free of charge, how to proceed.  We might also suggest some services we would ask you to pay for, such as editing your manuscript or designing a layout or promotional web-site for your book.  You might need photographs - we have an extensive library of places and events in our region.  

  It may interest you to hear we have not yet charged anyone for publishing their book and the service most demanded is to edit the manuscript.
   We are interested in providing a service and making and selling books.  “Good” books; books that are well-done and that people will be delighted to own.

Beautiful pictures make beautiful books.

Just for fun

   Here follows a light-hearted piece from Val on the subject of qualifications - her "platform."  We suggest you list your qualifications in a proposal, don't worry too much if you don't have many!  

  I have been strongly advised, by those who are experts of marketing for authors, to tell the world more about myself and my qualifications.
  I am so tempted to laugh at this sort of thing and say;  "Well, I DID get an A level in Physics . . . or was it Chemistry?" but it was always more important to me to get a poem in the school magazine and write my stories.  My first book ever published was a book of poems.
  I worked in a public library for a while and took up photography as a hobby.  Today my photos are very important to me, and everything I write is illustrated.  While I was married I starting writing articles for photography magazines and when my marriage broke up freelance journalism was a valid option for a woman with children at home.
  It wasn't long before I had editorial positions under contract, and there I learned all those essential skills like page-lay-out and proof-correcting, but also things like, how to pace a story and how to get the balance right, especially in a magazine, with the right number of articles on the right subjects, and how to solve such knotty problems as whether to open an article on the right-hand page or the left?
  As the children got older I was more free and worked in tourism for a while.  I fell in love with France, including Rennes-le-Chateau, and decided I wanted to live permanently in the region of Narbonne.  Never mind the wonders of Brittany or the splendour of Paris - it was the Languedoc for me or bust!  I moved here in 2000 and then started publishing my own titles here in France.
   A new Mac - I've always used Macs - and a new Internet system meant the glories of Google researching and doing publicity on Facebook were revealed.
  I love doing blogs, as it reminds me of my editorial days doing magazines.   The blogs evolve, rather like an endless magazine that can always be updated.
  But I still haven't gained any qualifications on paper whatsoever except that one A level!  Every time I've wanted to do something I've just taught myself how to do it.  I did go to Art School once and in my third year they closed it down!  Two years studying for no qualification . . . I went to learn Counselling at night-school, but the course was so awful I left, then they sent me the certificate in Counselling anyway!