Good afternoon, Reades!
Image by Martina Janochová from Pixabay
Well, we are fast approaching the response deadline for my submission of Soldier, the first book in The Great Man series. I am anxiously checking the email I reserve for my writing stuff daily, hoping against hope that this book is good enough for the publisher to take a risk on me and this story.
It's a series - six books, in fact, which I know is an incredibly hard sell. Stand-alones are easier for publishers to rake a risk on, for obvious reasons. And I'm a huge unknown, who has already published a fair number of titles, none of which sell in any meaningful way.
It's an uphill battle, is what I'm saying. The chances of this query being successful are extraordinarily slim.
Still, I'm hoping, even as I'm trying to prepare myself for yet one more rejection that this poor book has gotten. This one, when it lands, will be especially disappointing. I can't help but hope, and having that hope dashed never gets easier.
I love this story so much. I love the characters. I really want to see it succeed.
Like The Lioness of Shara Mountain, I'm unsure what to do with it. If this query doesn't land, and the book is once again rejected, what then? What will I do with it?
I don't know. Part of me just wants to file the story away. A failure. It couldn't cut it.
Another part of me is still aching to share the story.
Yet another part is already gathering a considerable amount of "fuck you" energy (you know the kind. It rears up with obstinant defiance when anyone says 'you can't do that.' It isn't exactly fair that I have that going on, as the query has yet to be rejected... and there's a chance it will not be... however slim).
Once again, I find myself contemplating a number of options. I could submit the book to Renaissance Press, whom I really love working with, but have not really been selling through at all. I love them, so chances are, I'll definitely try them first. I was hoping for more of a global reach, but Renaissance has a lot going for it for such a small press.
I could self-publish it, but there's so much expense and time involved in that option. I don't have funds, and I don't have an awful lot of time. At all. I'm already working three jobs in an effort to keep myself housed and fed. I don't have what it takes to give this book's development and marketing the time and energy it so richly (in my opinion) deserves. Self-publishing is as much a recipe for failure as just filing it away, in my experience.
Perhaps I could go the web novel route, as I'm contemplating with The Lioness of Shara Mountain. Perhaps I'll launch The Lioness that way as a kind of test to see if it will be a viable thing for Soldier and the subsequent books in the series. That option is still more expensive, as I still need to get book covers and editing all sorted.
So, I'm currently spending my time wishing for a publishing contract, and trying to figure out a Plan B for one of my favourite stories I've ever written. It's taking a considerable amount of brainpower.
Any advice you can offer will be welcomed, and even considered.
In any case, I'll find out soon enough. If I'm lucky, I'll have hit on a viable Plan B by the time I hear. All the same, give the manuscript your best wishes.
I'm still hoping Plan A pans out.
Ciao!
It's a series - six books, in fact, which I know is an incredibly hard sell. Stand-alones are easier for publishers to rake a risk on, for obvious reasons. And I'm a huge unknown, who has already published a fair number of titles, none of which sell in any meaningful way.
It's an uphill battle, is what I'm saying. The chances of this query being successful are extraordinarily slim.
Still, I'm hoping, even as I'm trying to prepare myself for yet one more rejection that this poor book has gotten. This one, when it lands, will be especially disappointing. I can't help but hope, and having that hope dashed never gets easier.
I love this story so much. I love the characters. I really want to see it succeed.
Like The Lioness of Shara Mountain, I'm unsure what to do with it. If this query doesn't land, and the book is once again rejected, what then? What will I do with it?
I don't know. Part of me just wants to file the story away. A failure. It couldn't cut it.
Another part of me is still aching to share the story.
Yet another part is already gathering a considerable amount of "fuck you" energy (you know the kind. It rears up with obstinant defiance when anyone says 'you can't do that.' It isn't exactly fair that I have that going on, as the query has yet to be rejected... and there's a chance it will not be... however slim).
Once again, I find myself contemplating a number of options. I could submit the book to Renaissance Press, whom I really love working with, but have not really been selling through at all. I love them, so chances are, I'll definitely try them first. I was hoping for more of a global reach, but Renaissance has a lot going for it for such a small press.
I could self-publish it, but there's so much expense and time involved in that option. I don't have funds, and I don't have an awful lot of time. At all. I'm already working three jobs in an effort to keep myself housed and fed. I don't have what it takes to give this book's development and marketing the time and energy it so richly (in my opinion) deserves. Self-publishing is as much a recipe for failure as just filing it away, in my experience.
Perhaps I could go the web novel route, as I'm contemplating with The Lioness of Shara Mountain. Perhaps I'll launch The Lioness that way as a kind of test to see if it will be a viable thing for Soldier and the subsequent books in the series. That option is still more expensive, as I still need to get book covers and editing all sorted.
So, I'm currently spending my time wishing for a publishing contract, and trying to figure out a Plan B for one of my favourite stories I've ever written. It's taking a considerable amount of brainpower.
Any advice you can offer will be welcomed, and even considered.
In any case, I'll find out soon enough. If I'm lucky, I'll have hit on a viable Plan B by the time I hear. All the same, give the manuscript your best wishes.
I'm still hoping Plan A pans out.
Ciao!
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