Thank you for joining us for part two of our interview with author Candace Salima. For those of you who missed part one, click here.
Candace, I understand that “Out of the Shadows . . . Into the Light” is just the first in a series. Is that right?
Oh yes. The gang from Lost Canyon Springs are alive and well in my head. At the moment there are three books slated for the series, but I do see myself visiting Lost Canyon Springs off and on throughout the years. I just don’t think I’ll ever be ready to say goodbye to Caroline, Slade and the crew.
When will the rest of the books be released?
We’re shooting for a Feburary 2007 release. Because I have separated from my publisher, Spring Creek Book Co., I have decided to launch my own publishing house. I did speak to several LDS publishers and found that none of them are truly, aggressively, going after both the LDS and national markets. Because of this, Valor Publishing, Inc. was formed and is currently looking for investors. I have hired a gentleman to run the company who took another publishing house to the top of the national market, and we have many unique and effective ways to promote and sell books, as well as help our authors to efficiently market their own work. We are excited about this venture, and the first two books released by Valor Publishing, Inc. will be “Standing on the Fifth: The Long Road” and “Dreams Die Hard: Book II, Lost Canyon Springs.” I foresee the third book in the series, as of yet unwritten, although outlined, to be released in late 2007, early 2008.
Valor Publishing, Inc will be unique in that we will aggressively go after both the national and LDS markets. We have unique marketing plans and will assign a publicist per book, offering incentives for them to sell those books, and we will hit both markets with everything we have. We will only publish high quality, well-written books that adhere to the LDS standard. In addition, there will be no book shuffled aside to wait on marketing monies until it actually makes money. This is a standard used only too often in the current markets. We have budgeted marketing dollars, and will use them and utilize our authors in every possible way to make each book a success.
I invite any and all who would be interested in funding such a company to contact me directly at ces@candacesalima.com to discuss the particulars.
How did you get the idea for Shadows?
Interestingly enough, my training and interest began in the movie industry. I studied hard, formed my own production company and really had no intention of ever writing books. But one day this story just poured into my head, the more I wrote, the more it fleshed out. I am a great fan of romantic suspense but knew that I could never write that genre for the national market and maintain the values that I adhere to at all times. When the thought came to me to try and write for the LDS market, as the Christian market wouldn’t publish a Mormon to save its life, the story just came together in every possible way. What can I say, my brain just works that way.
We will conclude our conversation with Candace tomorrow. I hope you’re able to join us for that. In the meantime, feel free to visit Candace’s website to learn more about her.
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