What is a literary development company?

At a literary development company, as you might expect, we are interested in making books. We are not, however, interested in manufacturing books—the paper, the glue, the covers, the pages? We leave that to the publishing giants.
Instead, we develop stories. Paper Lantern Lit collaborates with great up-and-coming writers to help bring those stories to life. Finally, we approach the big publishers to get those books sold, produced, and placed into bookstores.

How is a development company different from a publisher? How is it different from a book agent?

The development company is not responsible for manufacturing books (please see previous question for a more detailed explanation). After we help the writer create a fabulous proposal, we find an editor at a traditional publishing house who will shepherd the book from manuscript phase all the way to the bookshelf.

In many ways, our company does have similarities to an agency: we seek out excellent writers, work with them on a project, and then sell the project to a publisher. However, there is one major difference. At Paper Lantern Lit, we develop all of our book ideas in-house. So while a traditional agency looks for books and book ideas, we only care about finding the best new writers out there and fostering their voices. We pride ourselves on cultivating emergent authors, and providing them a context in which to further learn their craft.

Is this job full-time, part-time, or freelance?

None of the above, really, although you might call it freelance. We are looking for writers to write books! If you can do that part-time, great. If you need to chuck your desk job and tuck in at a computer all day, that’s fine with us, too.

How do I get paid? How much will I earn?

Writers are hired based on work-for-hire commission agreements, and are paid competitively in accordance with industry standards. Remuneration varies on a project-by-project basis.

What does it mean to “sample” for a project?

Sampling is a critical part of our process. If we like your initial submission and can envision a project for you, we will send you a 1-2 page summary of a project we are currently developing, called a “spark page.” We will ask that you return to us a chapter or two that demonstrates your interpretation of our idea or spark. We need to see how you would take our concept and make it your own.

If we love what you do, we’ll send you a contract and ask that you develop a few more chapters. You’ll help us shape this into a dazzling 50-70 page proposal, which we will submit to publishing houses. If the project sells, you will be paid to write it, as described above.

Does this job require me to relocate?

Nope!

Who are the people behind Paper Lantern Lit?

The founders of PLL are Lexa Hillyer and Lauren Oliver, successful published writers and editors with more than ten years of experience at major commercial YA and Children's Publishing Houses. See the bios page for more details.

What kind of time commitment can I expect to make?

That depends on how fast you can write! In all honesty, we are interested in working with new writers on honing their voices and generating absolutely first-rate proposals and books. This can be a time-consuming process, it’s true.