Posted by : Sherri Cornelius Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I’ve been on fire lately. Very motivated and confident and self-sufficient. It’s a weird feeling, and I realize that in the past when I felt this way it was so uncomfortable for that that I’d squash it in some way. I’m trying not to do that this time, and maybe it’s working. I feel capable of moving on from things that have stagnated.

So I finally got the book edited and sent off. A few weeks ago I had compiled a list of a few small publishers, but after the edit was done and I began to write my query letter, I realized there was only one I felt comfortable submitting to. First I eliminated any that had a book too similar to mine, and then my main criteria was professional-looking covers and website. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but people do. I do. If I see an amateurish cover, I might assume the book inside has been amateurishly written and edited. It’s about quality standards. And no, it’s not foolproof, but if the only publisher I can snag is one who can’t make my book look professional, well then I can do that myself.

Anyway, the single publisher I chose to submit BVA to is Carina Press, the digital-first arm of Harlequin. They accept non-romance genres, and since they publish digitally, they’re not so sticky about word count—at 72k words, BVA is a little shorter than expected in the fantasy genre. It’ll take a couple of months to hear back from them, and once they reject it (*snort* pessimism, anyone?) I’ll publish on Smashwords, I guess.

I must say that if I do self-pub it, it will be only for my peace of mind. With “Mon Petit Ami,” I got the most wonderful feeling of closure on a piece that I’d anguished over for years. It was done a long time ago, but I seemed to get stuck on it, unable to put it down for good. I’ve got over a hundred downloads on it, which is pretty cool, even though I sold only one copy to a friend. But the point is, it feels done now that it has an ISBN. And hopefully this will also work for Ea’s Gift and Black Veil Angel, if it comes down to that.

{ 10 comments... read them below or Comment }

  1. So, so proud of you. I wonder if feeling motivated, self-sufficient and confident helped you move forward with sending your work out, or vice-versa. I'm guessing it's a kind of feedback loop. Move forward= feel better/stronger= moving forward. You set us a wonderful example!

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  2. Good for you! Nice to feel confident. It's been a while since I felt that way.

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  3. I love love LOVE this new confident you that I'm seeing evolve over the last few weeks. Yes, I've been busy catching up on my Google Reader *gulp*. I trashed a bunch of 'em and read through a few months worth of others, like yours. I'm so proud of you!

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  4. It's definitely a feedback loop, and the beginning was when I started making some changes in my personal life. The more I do, the better I feel, and around again. I think what I'm actually feeling is the lifting of depression, which hasn't happened in so long it took a while to recognize.

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  5. Aw, I made the blog cut! Well I shouldn't be too much trouble since I'm only posting every two weeks. It's cool you can see my confidence increase in my posts. Thanks for taking the time to get caught up with me. :)

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  6. *gasp* You're publishing BVA? Yay! I can't wait to read it.

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  7. LOL, well that's a great reaction! Thanks, I'll keep you updated. Or you can like my page on FB for updates. If anything happens, it'll happen here or there.

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  8. Yay for feeling motivated! It's a great feeling, isn't it? At least, that's what I hear. ;)

    Good for you for on the BVA thing, and congrats on the MPA book. I knew people would like your stuff if you had it out there. :)

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  9. Well a hundred people like it, anyway. :)

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