I read
a scene in the Little House series about Grace watching the beans popping up
from the ground one very warm day…one after another after another. And it made
me think of notes from my clients:
Have
you heard of Exon-Freon-TakeAnything Publishing? Or…WeWant it-You’ve got it
Press?
There’s
hardly a week, shucks, a day, that we don’t hear about a new publishing house
coming to life. And yes, they say they are royalty paying houses that want YOUR
book. Most often, there are ‘conditions’ such as using only their editors for a
fee, their marketing associates for a fee, or their design team…for a fee.
Do
your homework. Know who the folks are who want you to turn over your baby. Are
they going to charge you for diapering? Burping? Or are they truly willing to
become a village and help you bring your baby to adulthood? There are plenty of
smaller houses with wonderful reputations who do put the author and his or her
work first.
Very often
I’ll have a client contact me all excited with a prospect. Then I begin to lay
out some of the hidden costs
involved. One more disappointment.
Folks,
there are no shortcuts that will get you from point A to point B.
You
must learn the craft, write a brilliant novel, synopsis, and proposal. You must
wait patiently while someone considers the work. And then, if rejected, you
must go back to point A and figure out where you went wrong. Or if you went
wrong at all. Maybe that person just simply was not a good fit. That happens
often.
Don’t give
up. Don’t put the novel in a drawer and forget about it. Don’t whine to your
mom. She loved it, right? Of course, she did. Take it to crit partners who know
their stuff. Hire an editor. Do what you must to make your submission
marketable, but do…not ever…give up.
And by
all means, research where and to whom you submit your work.
Don’t
go for one of the beans popping up tomorrow unless you’ve checked them out.
There are as many unscrupulous folks waiting to take your money as there are
authors.
2 comments:
I know a poem about beans. Maybe I could get that published? Just need someone to do the artwork. Oh, and it kinda goes hand-in-hand with the link you shared on FB. :)
Seriously, you're spot on. Write, rewrite, edit, submit, cry cry cry, then do it all over again. I suppose if you're looking to only ever publish one book, you could go with a vanity press. If you want more than one published, you'd better make danged sure that first one is good!
Well said Linda. Too many authors are in a hurry, and it often bites them in the end. Pun intended. :-)
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