Sometimes it feels like agent Rachelle Gardner is direct-wired to my life, and posts just for me. Get out of my head, Rachelle! No, on second thought I need you to keep me on track, however accidentally. Today her guest poster Catherine West talks about when a good project is too different to find a home right away. She had to shelve her quirky baby for a while, but ultimately was able to find just the right home for it.
I find myself somehow surrounded by self-pub advocates, so I might toss something out there and see what happens. If I do, it won’t be the quirky baby, who still has some traditional pub life in her. I’m convinced there is an editor who loves quirky babies and is willing to pay for them. But I am considering doing the Kindle thing with my traditional fantasy. It will be at least a trilogy. Thing is, it’s completely different in voice and content from the quirky one, so I might use a different pseudonym so as not to confuse people. Not sure.
Maybe you should query Rachelle. I've met her-she's very nice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I named a character in The Guitarist after you. :)
What the--? Cool! What kind of character?
ReplyDeleteAnd I wish I could query Rachelle, but she reps about everything except what I write. I've checked. :(
Her name's Sherri Baxter. She's a high school senior and journalist. She's the Greek Chorus and narrator of the story.
ReplyDeleteCool beans! I've never had a character named after me before. :) Can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI think using a pseudonym is a great idea. Darc kicked around the thought of doing that too, before ultimately deciding not too. But when you're not sure if you want to get your feet wet, going in as someone else can be a happy medium. :)
ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't keep my pseudonym a secret, but for the readers I think it helps them recognize the difference between the styles.
ReplyDeleteA pseudonym would probably be good to as you look for an agent.
ReplyDeleteYou have a character named after you! That is cool. A friend of mine based a character on me--loosely. But not with the same name.
I am sending you many positive vibes on your agent search! Don't give up on the quirky baby! Your quirky baby gives my quirky baby hope.
I went over to the link and read the post... sigh. It made me feel everything I write is too different. What sane publisher would risk their money? Poor quirky baby.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it makes me feel the same way, except I know weird books get made, darn it! I've read some! I've already decided that if BVA falls through in traditional, I will try self-pubbing it online. It might do better there.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wish we could get together for coffee and work out our publishing plans!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I've read some quirky books too!
Sigh.