Publishing Cycle

Here's an e-mail I wrote to a friend about the foibles of publishing my novel, Sagebrush at Seven Trout Creek:

Hey, Mac,

These days, you write fiction because you love writing or you think you tell great stories. Getting it published by a reputable house is very iffy unless you're an established commodity like, say, a Grisham, a Clancy, or a Mary Higgins Clark. (Many women's books are what I call "precious" and are boring (no action or conflict). Another large group have strongly religious (Christian) views and sold mainly in Christian bookstores or web-sites. To me, these don't count, but they still make money. I don't consider them literature at all, but I suppose it's dangerous to group all such books into this "unreadable" category. They would say the same about what I write.)

Many people are going the self-publish route, which is getting easier and easier. I want a real publisher because publishing/marketing your own book means visiting hundreds of bookstores for little promotional chats all over the country. Even worse, these days people, especially men, do not read fiction nearly as much as 30 years ago.

I have two agents asking for a query letter The "Query" is a somewhat formalized request for them to read one's first 20 pages. If they're not very impressed with the query letter or the first 20 pages, they write you a rejection letter. When I spoke with both of them at a writers conference in September, I got scared that I needed the work trimmed down a lot, say, 95,000 words down to 65,000 words. So I'm still doing that, even before sending out the query letter. Unless you're just a plain genius, it ain't easy.

I can rewrite and polish something to death. My wife always complained of that about me. On the other hand, my writing has improved vastly from conferences, books, my critique group, my articles in our newsletter, and my laborious/rigorous rewriting process.

I ought to put out the query letters today, realizing there will likely be a four-week (or more) delay before an answer comes, and my first 20 pages is pretty well set (prepared to be sent), anyway In other words, I should poop or get off the pot, as Gary Labelle used to say.

If either one accepts, I send them the whole manuscript, probably e-mail MS Word attachment, double-spaced, by their specific format rules. If either one thinks it's pretty good or very good, we'd shake hands on the deal (no advances for fiction), and he'd assign my work to an editor. That professional editor would ask for small tweaks, corrections, questions about character's motivations not being clear, etc. I'm easy, so I'd change those things that would make sense. If his company still thinks it will make money, which is always the big question in commercial writing, they would give it the green light and publish it. I'd probably still be on the hook for a whole bunch of book signings at bookstores, but at least I would know it's legitimate, somebody in the industry thinks it has promise, it would get book reviews, and be easily available on Amazon and at chain bookstores.

If I fail to get interest, I'll wallpaper my living room with rejection letters. After I cry a lot, I might self-published, just to have it all in one place, under one cover. Then try my hand at marketing at local talks and signings. I'm very tempted to self publish a volume of poetry. I've had several people request that of me, which bolsters my confidence a lot. After a two month rest, I'd start structuring my next novel, which is about launching one of our (Silicon Valley) technical products on a Space Shuttle mission in 1988, and the reader will find out the protagonist designer's products caused it to explode. Recall that disastrous launch Reagan witnessed back then.

As Mark Twain said, I would have written a shorter letter if I had the time.

So, hey, Mac, keep your head down, and follow through. Golf is 85% mental. Writing commercially is 85% luck. --Rich