Encircle Publications
Encircle Publications publishes a wide variety of genres. What do you look for in a manuscript?
Yes, we publish a variety of fiction and poetry. We love crime-fiction of any kind, mysteries (from cozy to hard-boiled), historical fiction and literary fiction. We look for the wow. We want to be invested in the work. We seek manuscripts that are polished in the sense that we can’t take on projects that need a lot of developmental editing. Once accepted, though, we work with authors to help polish manuscripts through our editing and proofing processes. We have three people on our editorial board who meet regularly to discuss submissions. Although we have published first-time fiction authors, our ideal author is someone who has previously published with some success, who has a visible social media presence, and is willing to partner with us in promoting their work.
For over 10 years Encircle has run a poetry chapbook competition that draws entries from across the country. How have you seen that program grow and change? What do you hope for in the future?
One of the biggest changes we’ve seen is the introduction of the online platform Submittable. When we first began, people were printing out paper copies of their manuscripts and mailing them to us. It was time-consuming and nerve-wracking for them and cumbersome for us. Submittable makes things so much easier. Especially with submissions from overseas. No printing, going to the post office, possibly losing submissions in the black hole of postal services, hurrying for a postmark or received-by date. No keeping track of paper submissions on our end and passing them back and forth between editors. We’ve also seen the quality and quantity of submissions steadily grow. Around five years ago we also doubled the cash prize to $250 (the winner also receives twenty-five printed copies).
You have graphic designers on staff. What is Encircle Publication’s approach to designing an eye-catching book cover that also reflects the author’s story?
On our design team includes Eddie Vincent, and Deirdre and Chris Wait. Familiarity with the manuscript at hand is very important, as is talking with the author about any ideas they might have in mind for cover design. We always try to be true to their intentions, and we search for artwork accordingly. We do request the final decision regarding design, as sometimes certain artwork or photographs just won’t work, or are unavailable for use due to copyright or the quality of the image/s. For an upcoming title, Sleuth of Sherwood: A Robin Hood Mystery by Jay Ruud (author of the Merlin Mystery series), we hired an illustrator and she did a fantastic job of portraying Robin Hood. It’s breathtaking. The key is to have a vision, but to be flexible and open-minded.
What inspires you about living and working in Maine?
Our staff hails from Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont to Colorado. Owners Cynthia Brackett-Vincent and Eddie Vincent moved to rural (western) Maine from the South Shore of Massachusetts in 2002. Although they miss the close proximity to family including six grandchildren and many friends, the thing they love most about Maine is the quiet. They live on twenty acres of woods off of two dirt roads with no visible neighbors. “We love stepping outside at any time and just listening to the quiet. We love working from our home here where we enjoy each season to its fullest.” Cynthia graduated from UMF’s creative writing program in Farmington in 2005, and she and Eddie have found the literary community in Maine very welcoming, in large part due to MWPA’s presence, events, and workshops.
Is there an event, publication, or any kind of change happening in the next year that you are particularly excited about and would like to share?
We are super-excited about our growing list of Maine authors. We like to think of ourselves as an Encircle family—Eddie Vincent hosts a weekly Zoom “happy hour” with all of our authors who wish to attend. We are very excited about being part of the annual Books in Boothbay event coming up in July. Aside from Encircle, Eddie and Cynthia along with partners Deirdre and Chris Wait, are happy to report that they have acquired a literary agency, Golden West, an agency that has been representing successful Western authors for decades, and we are thrilled to be thinking about creating an imprint tentatively called Golden West Press.
Encircle Publications
PO Box 187
Farmington, ME 04938
www.encirclepub.com