What a Small Publisher Thinks
An Interview with Inked in Gray's Lauren T. Davila
The Swordfights & Spaceflights crew asked if some traditional independent publishers would be interested in doing an interview to give some insight into the publishing process, and Lauren T. Davila of the small publishing house, Inked in Grey, answered our call! (And several of our interview questions!)
Tell us about Inked in Gray, and what your job is with them.
Inked is a small press that focuses on amplifying historically excluded authors and creators. All of us on staff also identify with marginalized communities. My job is as the Acquisitions Editor, which means I am actively acquiring most of our new manuscripts and projects. I am managing submissions as well as running developmental editing for all MS’s I acquire. I’m wearing a lot of different hats right now but I am absolutely loving it!!
What kind of books do you work with? Genres, age/audience.
I’m concentrating primarily on YA, NA, and Adult submissions in anything that falls under the speculative umbrella at the moment. My bread and butter is SFF, especially with cross genre appeal to horror and romance. I love mish-mash genres– the messier the better!!
What are some common pitfalls that “sink” otherwise good novels? What makes them “fail” on submission or during the querying process?
One thing that I’ve noticed while running acquisitions is the importance of the synopsis! I know they are painful to write, but it's the bible for the project you’re working on. An editor (or agent) will often have hundreds of stories crossing their desk monthly, if not weekly. In this case, we look at the query, then the synopsis, and finally the pages. Each step should lead to the next one. The query is something that's pored over by authors but the synopsis can be make or break. This is the spot where we check that the pacing is on track and to make sure the arcs and such are complete. I have had stories I’ve been super excited about but then, after checking the synopsis, I can tell the story just isn’t there! My advice here is to pay attention to your synopsis– it's super important!!
What are some trends that you are seeing in the speculative fiction genres?
I think there’s a lot of BookTok adjacent trends which aren’t a bad thing for sure! Some trends include heavy internality with the main character, quippy high-concept pitches and comps, and easy “fanfic” adjacent relationship tags (ala enemies to lovers or fake dating or mistaken identity). Ooh also lots of retellings! I’m super partial to all of these though so maybe it's less trends in my inbox and more authors playing really close attention to my MSWL and social media presence! Overall, the trends are super character centric at the moment rather than plot or worldbuilding specific!
Should authors write to trends? Should they anticipate the creation of new ones? Or should trends not be a consideration?
This is really interesting after the question above!! I personally love trends but I don’t think they’re the end all be all! I often think that humanity in general gets inspired by the same things at the same time! Hence all the vampire novels or dystopia novels from the 2010s! Or right now, with the boom of contemporary romance due to BookTok! But while trends are fun (and honestly unavoidable), its nearly impossible to predict where the market will be next year let alone in 3-4 years– which is what a normal publishing schedule looks like. At Inked, I’m already acquiring for mid-end of 2025 and I’m sure trends for then will look different than what is currently happening. However, looking so far into the future is a bit of a disservice to current writers querying current projects. I have to hedge my bets in some ways that for example, witchy aesthetics or campy thrillers won’t be totally “off trend” by then! But as an editor (and writer myself), the story that needs to be told is the one that's written. Write the book of your heart rather than writing the book you think publishing wants. Your story will find the home it's meant to!
How can authors submit to Inked in Gray?
We are currently closed to unsolicited submissions (aka outside of querying events or personal invitations) but we hope to open late 2023! For more info on my specific MSWL and submission details, you can follow this link: Lauren T. Davila.
How can readers help you and your authors?
By talking about our manuscripts and sharing on social media your thoughts! As an indie publisher, we really rely on word of mouth and social media presence! If you enjoy a title, tell your friends. We publish marginalized authors who especially deserve to be read and discussed widely! Take a chance on an indie/small publisher– we are doing some amazing and inventive work!
What should readers keep an eye out for from Inked in Gray in the future?
We’ve announced a few acquisitions of mine so far and I can talk about them finally! There’s an anthology I’m editing releasing in January 2024 where the locale is a main character in the story! I just started dev edits on Jules Devito’s contemporary vampire novel CARNELIAN (Feb. 2024) and it’s amazing. Other than that, look out for Amanda Cessor’s YA cottegecore historical fantasy WITH LOVE, JUNIPER (August 2024) and Nicole Zeniker’s queer YA contemporary coming-of-age ALL I KNOW SO FAR (January 2025). I can hint at one soon to be announced manuscript with four phrases: interconnected, anthology, small town, final girl! But you’ll have to wait to learn some more about that acquisition! :)
You can find more about Lauren T. Davila at her website, at the Inked in Grey website, on Twitter, and on Instagram. And you can always find Inked in Grey at their website, on Twitter, and on Instagram.
For those in the mood for some short speculative fiction, Swordfights and Spaceflights author Noah Lemelson is set to be featured in Shapers of Worlds Volume IV, now on kickstarter. Shapers of Worlds features new and reprinted fiction from authors who have taken part in the Worldshapers podcast. If you want to support the project, check out the link.
