Pelican Book Group

Call for submissions: A new imprint from Pelican Book Group

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments

————Permission to forward is granted————

Pelican Book Group announces a New Adult romance imprint. Pelican Pure Amore romances will be distributed through an exclusive direct-to-reader subscription service.


Pelican Pure Amore^(TM)
Sweet Romance, Pure Enjoyment ^(TM)

Pelican Pure Amore^(TM) romances are sweet in tone and in conflict. These stories are the emotionally-driven tales of youthful Christians who are striving to live their faith in a world where Christ-centered choices may not fully be understood.

Plots should not contain overly hard-hitting or controversial subjects but should be hope-filled, enjoyable reads that don’t come with a lot of excess baggage. Stories should be written in an active, engaging style that leaves the reader satisfied and smiling. Plots should focus on the love between a man and a woman who both hold God at the center of their lives and who have never been married. The hero and heroine will exhibit traditional Christian values but also should be three-dimensional and therefore exhibit flaws as well as virtues.

  • Neither the hero nor heroine can have been married before. No divorced, separated, or widowed protagonists
  • Both Hero and Heroine should be Christians throughout. While Pure Amore^(TM) may feature subplots that include the hero or heroine rediscovering or growing to a deeper faith, these are not stories centered on conversion. Therefore, both Hero and Heroine must be Christian at the onset.
  • Either the hero or heroine, or both, must be a virgin. That means they must be physical virgin as opposed to being a “rededicated” virgin, and this fact must be addressed naturally within the context of the story.
  • These are stories of Christians living Christian lives. Characters should adhere to mainline Christianity, but should not be preachy or didactic. The Christian element and/or lesson should be inherent to the characterizations and so should come through in the protagonists’ natural actions/reactions to events and people around them.
  • Heroes and heroines must be between the ages of 21 and 33, inclusive.
  • ALL titles must be between 40,000 and 45,000 words. No exceptions.

Pure Amore^(TM) romances emphasize the beauty in chastity, so physical interactions such as kissing or hugging should focus on the characters’ emotions rather than heightened sexual desire, and any scenes of physical intimacy should be absolutely integral to the plot and/or
emotional development of the character or relationship.

At this time, we are interested in finished manuscripts only. Please do not query unless your manuscript is complete. Please visit our web site for the access to the submission form. http://pelicanbookgroup.com/ (short URL: http://pelink.us/write4pbg )

God Bless,
Pelican Book Group
http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com
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http://twitter.com/pelicanbookgrp/
White Rose * Harbourlight * Watershed * Pure Amore

Change…love it or leave it?

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Back in the fall of 2012, several of my author friends were announcing multi-book contracts. I was thrilled for them, but inside, my inner voice mocked. “You’ll never get one of those. You can’t plot.”

Sure, I’d managed to crank out five romances, but they’d all been written in advance, and individually contracted and published with Pelican Book Group. For me, that meant writing a story, submitting it, and then waiting, praying and hoping for a contract. I dreamed of snagging a contract for a series that I hadn’t written yet…to know that the story I was laboring over would have a home when I finished. But, in order for that to happen, I needed to force myself to learn how to plot, so that I could submit a proposal based on a synopsis or summary for three stories that hadn’t been written yet.
In the early stages of my writing career, I’d tried plotting. Oy! My neighbors could probably hear my ranting and thrashing about my office, banging my head against my desk and threatening to toss my laptop out the window. 

Change…it never gets easier, does it? 

But that fall, this confirmed pantser finally determined to become a plotter. You can read my tips on how I made the transition here and how I organized myself here. Trust me when I say there was plenty of weeping and pulling hair involved, especially when I plunged into simultaneously plotting out five books, two independents and three for a series. 

I’m nearing the end of my timeline, and I’m thrilled to report that this week I completed my fifth plotted book in just a short~ or long, depending on how you look at it~ eighteen months. 

Change is never easy…but it’s possible. I like routine, and change hurls me out of my comfort zone, leaving me unsettled and anxious. But with a little faith and a good bit of persistence, I’m always amazed at the outcome.

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” ― Anthony Robbins

Do you embrace change or despise it? 
What’s the most difficult change you’ve experienced lately?

New Year, New Direction?

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Happy New Year! (picture compliments of Bing)

I’m a little late with my New Year’s post, but you all know my philosophy on New Year’s resolutions. I shared it a couple years ago, but here‘s the skinny…If there’s something in my life that I recognize needs to change, why wait until January 1st?

But that doesn’t stop me from reflecting over the last year, totally in awe over the blessings God poured out in my personal life and in my writing.

2013 was spectacular! Two more of my books released, Journey’s Embrace and When Truth Whispers, making a total of five published romances, all with Pelican Book Group. Several more books are contracted and in various stages of publication, and who knows what 2014 will bring.

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, especially in regards to my writing. God’s prompting me to dig deep and try new things, to release my dreams and fears to Him, to spread my wings and soar over unfamiliar waters, to reach out and love more. 

What does that mean? I don’t know, but I trust God. If He points to a road and says, “Go that way. I want you to meet somebody,” just like when He directed Philip towards the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40), who am I to argue?

Who does God want me to connect with this year?

Where He leads, I will follow.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.” Ps 23:1-3 NIV

And I’ll try not to allow fear to squelch that giant swell of anticipation that’s building and rising for the journey ahead, that awesome wondrous feeling that God loves me and wants the absolute best for me…just like He loves you!

Wishing you a joyous, Son-kissed 2014, my friends!