Interview of XoXo Publisher, Gina Cianfarani, CP

XoXo Publishing™ is known as a Canadian Small Press publishing high quality fiction and nonfiction books for everyone. In 2011 you will see XoXo Publishing™ embark in the young adult and children literature field and discovering new talents.

Website: http://www.xoxopublishing.com
http://xoxopublishing.blogspot.com/ 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/XoXo-Publishing/258678558724
Twitter: http://twitter.com/xoxopublishing

Q: Describe your job.
A: As a publisher 24 hours doesn’t exist. I’m constantly on the look out to discover new talented writers, poets and artists.

Q: What motivated you to get involved in the romance industry?
A: I’ve always been involved in the romance industry, I like everything and anything romantic, and try to instill romance in my life daily.

Q: What's one important thing you've learned about your job as you became more involved in it.
A: One thing I’ve learned is that electronic publishing is a competitive marketplace and to beware of whom you hire. Despite doing background checks anyone can falsify their identity on the internet. I made a few mistakes and have learned along the way. Overall, publishing is my passion and not a hobby. I enjoy doing what I’m doing and looking for new writers, poets and artists to discover.

Q: Finish this sentence: Romance is:
A: all around you, inside of you and you are romance.

Q: How do you handle complaints/negative feedback from readers/authors?
A: lol Great question. As a professional I handle them to the best of my ability. If an author is being very aggressive and threatening, our legal department handles them. Just like any business, there are pros and cons in the industry and you cannot please everyone. Overall we haven’t had much complaints or negative feedback and the ones that we have had, they have been taken care off immediately.

Q: Ebooks or print. Do you read both? If you read ebooks, what reader do you have?
A: I read and publish both ebooks, and print and CD’s. I do read ebooks and I have a Kindle. I enjoy reading as much as writing.

Q: What do you consider the best way for an author to do promos?
A: An author has to understand that a publishing company will only do so much promotions for you. Therefore I would suggest that they put together a good marketing and promotional plan for all of the books they plan to have published. If you’d read "The Art of Self Promotion", you’d learn how to create one and read other top authors' plan samples and techniques. "The Art of Self Promotion" will be released next year electronically, CD, manual/soft cover and with a series of courses.

Q: Conferences and conventions. Do you attend any and how do you decide which ones to go to?
A: We have been attending local conferences and conventions and will start attending overseas sometime next year. We always consider our budget first and who will be attending and where. Next year we have signed up the for Toronto Small Press,Canadian Authors Conference, Romantic Times Convention, and a few others.

Q: What’s the one most important thing a reader/author should know about your business?
A: That we are a legitimate registered business located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We have an actual location, brick and mortar and not just an online presence. Our business is to publish high quality fiction and nonfiction books geared towards the selective reader that are passionate about reading.

Q: What are your guidelines for a writer/author to submit a book/manuscript for a review or to sell?
A: For any author to submit a manuscript to XoXo Publishing™, they should read over our submissions guidelines posted on our website at http://www.xoxopublishing.com/submission-guidelines/for-writers/index.html

Q: How important do you feel it is for authors to take part in chats on loops or at other romance sites?

A: Chats are important in the electronic publishing industry but it's not the answer to selling your books. A good marketing plan will help you along the way, especially if an author collaborates with the publisher to work on a marketing plan together and promote the new release as a team. As I tell my authors, "we work as a team, we will both benefit". XoXo Publishing™ has exclusively hired a new promotional agency, "9Clouds Marketing and Promotions" to handle our promotional direction along with our in-house promotional director.