About Toad Hall

Publishing Credits l Submission Guidelines

Sharon Jarvis

From 1969 through 1983, I was primarily an acquisition editor although I also wrote cover copy and promotional copy. I worked at:

Ace Books, when it was an independent full-line publisher (it is now a science fiction division of Berkley paperbacks).
Popular Library, when it was an independent full-line publisher. It was absorbed into a larger publisher and then killed.
Ballantine, when it was an independent full-line publisher (it is now merged with Bantam and Dell).
DoubleDay, when it was an independent full-line publisher (it is now merged with Bantam and Dell).
PlayBoy Books, when it was an independent full-line publisher, it no longer exists.

     I worked extensively on original manuscripts and specialized in science fiction, fantasy, horror and occult, although I also handled every genre and non-fiction as well. I worked with Isaac Asimov, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, Phillip K. Dick (who once asked me to marry him sight unseen), Phillip Jose Farmer, F. Paul Wilson, etc. I discovered John Crowley, Octavia Butler, Eric Van Lustbader and others.
     In 1983, I became a full-time agent. My finds include Melanie Rawn, W. Michael Gear and Peter David (Star Trek, Babylon 5). Clients include Vernor Vinge, winner of the Hugo, and projects include UFO Crash at Roswell which was made into a Showtime movie, and Blood Moon, soon to be an ABC movie of the month.
     In 1995, I started publishing books under various imprints such as Toad Hall Press and Belfry Books. Toad Hall Press specializes in how-to books for writers such as You Can Write a Romance and Get it Published! by Yvonne MacManus and Every Page Perfect by Mary Lynn, both in their third printings. Belfry's lead title was The Amityville Horror Conspiracy by the Kaplans, now in its second printing.
     I also attend numerous conferences each year in the fields of publishing, the paranormal, and holistic topics. I am a member of the Independent Library Agents Association, Publishers Marketing Association, Small Press Association and more. I am a Facilitator Emeritus with the Holistic consortium of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I am a longtime member of the International Fortean Organization and have attended their annual conference for the past ten years. For nearly thirty years, I have gone to numerous science fiction, fantasy, UFO, and New Age gatherings, the annual Book Expo, annual writers conferences around the country, and small press symposiums. I have friends and acquaintances in the media.

Publishing Credits

The Alien Trace, written as H. M. Major (with Kathy Buckley), Signet, 1984
Time Twister, written as H. M. Major (with Kathy Buckley), Signet, 1984
Inside Outer Space, Frederick Ungar, 1985
True Tales of the Unknown, Bantam, 1985, reprinted 1990
True Tales #2, The Uninvited, Bantam, 1989
True Tales #3, Beyond Reality, Bantam, 1991
Dead Zones, Warner, 1992
Dark Zones, Warner, 1992

Previous columns in Fantasy Newsletter, Mystery Scene, The Literary Journal.

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