Throughout my first fiction-writing and editing experience, I relied mainly on the Internet and RWA for information about markets, genres and other important considerations. And once I'd completed my first novel, Cult of the Black Virgin, it was time to try and get it published. Now keep in mind that I had no experience in any of this. I knew absolutely no one in the publishing business, and the only published author I knew wrote sci-fi and crime fiction.
So it was off to an international writers' conference, where I learned how to pitch my story to agents and editors.
Boy, was that ever a humbling experience. But it was absolutely necessary, I know now. I sure learned a lot.
First of all, meeting the pros, a rather jaded lot, I must say, reduced me to the status of an knee-knocking undergraduate turning in her first paper to a tenured professor. And for the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to fail.
It was terrible. Throughout my academic career I'd shone. And throughout my teaching career I'd been the one to dole out the passes and fails. Now I was on the receiving end of a failing grade--and it hurt. Really, really hurt.
I had just paid hundreds of dollars to learn that my baby wasn't ready for publication. Nowhere near ready.
With my tail between my legs, I slunk home to learn how to write a synopsis, a query letter, and a log-line. Then I had to seriously re-think my first page. And I had to edit the whole damned manuscript about fifty more times. Given that it was over eighty thousand words, that was enormous.
In retrospect, the conference fee was money well spent. Of course it was. After another year reading more romances and books about writing, researching the publishing business, taking an on-line course, and attending a few workshops, I felt confident enough to begin the search for an agent.
And that, is a story unto itself.
Through the virtual grapevine I learned about a website called Predators and Editors. I found it invaluable for one important lesson alone. Not all editors and/or publishers are what they seem. In my quest for an agent and/or publisher, I became acquainted with something known as a Vanity Press. And editors who make their living in a similar manner.
I understand that it must be pretty easy to find desperate clients who readily agree to pay to have their book read, edited, formatted and/or published. Especially clients who'd suffered many, many rejection letters from traditional publishers and legitimate agents.
When I was offered my first contract from a publisher, I was over the moon. But a quick search on Predators and Editors gave me the bad news: this was a vanity publisher. And sure enough, they asked me for money up front to "help defray expenses."
Ditto for the first agent who seemed delighted to accept my novel. But I didn't need anyone to tell me she wasn't what I wanted. She asked for $200 up front for photocopy paper and envelopes.
Every time I received the standard "congratulations! We are delighted to offer you a contract" letter, I was wary. And sure enough, my research showed me that every single offer was bogus.
Sad. I had no idea this sort of practice was so common.
But the good news was, I came out of the experience with more smarts.
At the same time I was searching for the elusive agent who would love my story and swear to bust her butt to sell it to a top publishing house for an enormous advance, I was learning that the publishing industry was changing at breakneck speed. More and more books were being published in electronic formats. And it was becoming more and more difficult for a writer, especially a new one, to secure any kind of contract at all with a traditional publishing house.
So I began researching e-publishers. Most of them accepted non-agented submissions. And many of them published the kind of erotic romance I'd written.
In my next post I'll share what I've learned from this next phase in my trying-to-get-published journey.
