Today I have a very special guest to introduce. My editor, the lovely Samantha Streger! The best news? FFF Digital is open to submissions (including YA) Read below to find out more about Samantha and the company. 


Samantha Streger is the Publisher of Full Fathom Five Digital, where she has the badass job of publishing and promoting commercial books. Before joining FFF, she was Associate Editor in the teen & children’s department at Open Road Integrated Media, so ebooks are her forte. She also holds a publishing certificate from NYU and previously worked at Disney Publishing Worldwide and the Wallace Literary Agency. When she’s not reading and editing, Samantha can be found watching “Vampire Diaries” and re-runs of “The Office,” and trying to quit the gym. 

Submission/contest info:

Full Fathom Five Digital (www.fullfathomfive.com) is accepting manuscript submissions. We’re looking for young adult, new adult, and adult commercial fiction, especially genre-driven work in the Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance, Horror, and Mystery Categories. Please send a brief description of your work and a manuscript to submissions@fullfathomfive.com. Questions? Read our submission Q&A before you ask!

We also hosted a $10,000 fiction contest this November. Stay tuned as we announce the finalists and Grand Prize Winner on February 25th—the same day you’ll be playing hooky from work and reading Lisa Green’s Soul-Crossed :D! 

1. How did you decide to become an editor?

I wanted to be an editor since the third grade. Of course, at the time, I thought being an editor was the same thing as being a copyeditor or proofreader, fixing typos and perfecting grammar! I was a stickler for mistakes. When I learned more about content editing, though, I found it even more interesting to give creative input. Even though I don’t have a large opportunity to edit these days, I keep taking on projects because of how much I enjoy being involved in the artistic process.

2. What are some of your favorite YA/children’s books?

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine—the best Cinderella.  The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce is one of those series that forever changed me as a person. And I’m not ashamed to say that I love Harry Potter. (And I trusted Snape all along.)

3. What are some things NOT to do when submitting work?

Do not describe your book as containing “the marketability of Harry Potter with the mystery and intrigue of the Hunger Games.” Yes, that’s a real pitch letter I’ve received. Comparing your book to the most popular mainstream titles of the day digs a hole of expectation it’s almost impossible to crawl out of.

4. What title are you most proud of and how did you find the author? Besides myself of course! LOL

I am incredibly proud of my first acquisition for FFFDig: The Apartment Novels by Amanda Black (an adult romance series). I was a fan of Amanda’s stories when they were originally published online for free, and for years I’d dreamed of acquiring and publishing one of the amazingly talented fanfiction authors whose work I admired. I reached out to her on my first day at Full Fathom Five Digital; she had just begun the process of sending the manuscript out to agents. It was meant to be!

5. What is more important: character, plot, or world? 

Character. Particularly in YA / coming-of-age novels, there’s nothing better than the emotions evoked by a characters reactions and misperceptions. An incredible world and a strong plot is useless without characters to care about.

6. What book do you wish you’d edited?

I wish I’d edited Fifty Shades of Grey, because Anastasia Steele would not have become the Editorial Director of a publishing company after working there for about a week. (It takes at least two). 

And then I’d be the editor of Fifty Shades of Grey!

7. What’s your favorite part of being an editor?

Getting notes like this from authors: “Ha, I swear to God that you have a finesse translator, because that’s what I MEANT it to sound like.” 

8. What does FFF Digital offer an author that’s different?

In 2014, we saw large publishing houses still operating in a lot of traditional ways, while the realm of self-publishing cracked wider and wider open and was packed too full of content from many worthy authors looking for an audience. FFF Digital offers the expertise and services of a professional publisher, but also works with our authors to navigate the individual need for continual marketing and exposure. We also have a Full Fathom Five Productions arm in LA and thus an enormous opportunity to bring our content to the big screen!

9. Coffee, tea, chocolate — what’s your vice?

I love coffee, but I wouldn’t call it a vice. I just have to have it before anyone speaks to me.

Me too. And that’s why we get along so well. Thank you, Samantha!