I was finished
writing. Every word had been carefully crafted
into my perfect 300-page newborn: unspoiled
and unpublished. However, I knew my
bouncing baby manuscript would not be fully realized as a novel until I put it
out into the world. Succeed or fail, I
had to try.
But how? I have been asked this several times since finding
a publisher for my baby. How did I do
it?
First, I did my
research. For weeks, I dug through
websites such as Poet & Writers, Writer’s Market, and Publishers Weekly. I
attended classes on the publishing industry. I purchased and read nearly every word of 2013 Writer’s Market: Where and
How to Sell What You Write.
Next, I put my
gigantic, sometimes fragile ego in check. Had I written the next Pride &
Prejudice? No. Had I written a story I believed in; one I
wanted to share? Yes. Had I written a story with a great hook? Definitely. My baby was begging to be published, but which avenue should I choose?
Shelving my ego allowed
my true publishing goal to emerge. I
wanted the experience of working with a professional editor without coughing up
the cash, so self-publishing was out. I
had also learned aiming for the Big Six as an unrepresented author would be
equivalent to flying to the moon. Let’s just say that NASA is not banging on my
door.
I was left with
one choice: query agents or submit
unsolicited to small presses? I decided
to roll the dice with small press publishers rather than attaining an agent
first. Sharing 10% of nothing didn’t
appeal to me.
After compiling
a list of over 100 small presses from around the country, I began eliminating those
organizations deemed “a bad fit.” I
removed all genre specific and nonfiction publishers from my list. My baby is mainstream fiction. Querying the we-pride-ourselves-in-scaring-the-piss-out-of-tweens
publishers would be a waste of time, paper, and ink. I read offerings from several small presses,
evaluating each for quality and parallels to my book. Yes, I was looking for novels similar to mine. My baby needed siblings, a family of books in which to belong.
After the
elimination round, I knew I had a group of real contenders: twenty small presses who accepted
simultaneous submissions from unheard-of authors. Most of the presses’ catalogs were
comprised entirely of Southern authors writing mainstream fiction. As a woman of the South, I dreamed of being
counted among them.
I spent the next
month writing twenty query letters, infusing each with specific reasons why my
baby would be the perfect addition to their family. I double-checked submission guidelines for
each before licking the stamp or pressing send. I was a mother sending her baby
off to college. Would she come back to
me rejected from the cruel world or return triumphant with the hope of being molded
into an even better version of herself?
Nineteen presses
tossed her aside. But one, one said,
“Welcome home, baby.”
You work fast! Your commitment to getting published is admirable and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteJodie,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Sarah! Your road to publication is impressive!
Your hard work really paid off. But that being said, the quality of your work had to be excellent. It is.