It's February! On a personal level, I'm always glad to see January in the rearview... not that this one was all that bad. January is all about new beginnings, and we really "be starting something" here at Lyrical this year. We launched our first-ever contest (4 more days to get your entry in, by the way) and opened--for the first time--to YA submissions. That line will launch this summer. We saw a huge jump in submissions numbers: not just in volume, but also quality.

During January, we reviewed 18 cold submissions, from which we accepted 6, rejected 6, and the other 6 went ignored because they didn't meet our guidelines. We also reviewed 4 subs from roster authors, of which 3 were accepted. Another 7 direct subs were processed, and we contracted 4 of those, rejected 1, and issued revise and resub requests to 2. We also contracted 3 books from authors for a joint series next spring. So altogether we processed 29 submisions, and contracted 16. This is a record number of contracts for one month (which leads me to believe the mass exodus of authors who've decided to attempt self-publishing is on the decline).

A bit of info on the books we contracted:

To editor Abby Rose:

• Gossamer, by Renita Pizzitola. A full-length YA paranormal romance.
• The Quest, by Mary Abshire (sequel to The Awakening). A full-length urban fantasy.
• Enchanted, by Judith Leger. A full-length paranormal romance.
• Rising Currents, by Lani Rhea. A full-length urban fantasy.