Choosing the Right Publisher

Disclaimer: I get on this blog and post things like I'm some sort of authority on the subject. Well, you ought to know that I'm not! So feel free to comment, disagree, or tell me you think I'm a genius.

There are so many different kinds of publishers out there, and much of it depends on what you want out of your publishing company. I thought of this the other day when reading a friend's blog and she mentioned how her agent is shopping her book around.

I've often heard that getting an agent is even harder than getting published. But if you want to get published by one of the big dogs, you gotta have an agent.

That's where I decided I didn't want to get published by a 'big dog.' Or at least, I didn't want to spend three years trying. Of course I wouldn't mind if one of them decided to publish me. But I decided to go with a small press, one that still took author submissions. This path ended up working out for me.

There are other presses that are only for certain genres. Others are only certain formats. Some companies (like the former Mystic Moon Press) are primarily e-books. Others might only be POD (Print-on-Demand) or you might only be able to buy through Amazon.com and not bookstores (like Marcher Lord Press).

Here's what I wanted: a company that I could directly submit to, that would offer me a contract, that would pay for all of the printing/distribution costs and offer me royalties, that would get my book online and into bookstores, and that would represent me well. I found it, in WiDo Publishing.

So, while you are shopping for publishers, here are some questions to consider:

1) Do I require an advance? If so, how much?
2) Where do I want my book to be sold? Bookstores? Online? Independent bookstores, specialty shops? All?
3) What is my genre?
4) Who is my audience?
5) How much to I expect in royalties?
6) How many people do I want my book to be available to?
7) How much marketing am I prepared to do?
8) Do I want to work with an agent?
9) Do I consider this a 'starter' book to get me in the door, or do I expect this to be my bestseller?
10) Will I be happy with a small press or do I want a bigger name?

These are some of the questions I could think of. You might have more. But keep these things in mind while you are publisher-hunting, and you will get what you want out of the deal.

Sequel Stats:
today's goal: 8,210
actual: 9,174 (+1,964)
tomorrow's goal: 10,174

Is it Friday Yet?

My big reason for asking is because I got a new book!!! I'm so excited to read it. We're keeping up with the weekend reading. This one is by H.B. Moore, Abinadi. I got lucky enough to win it in her weekly contest. How's that for great?? A new book and I didn't have to pay for it! (Which is great, because I took the boys out for lunch, and after chicken nuggets, chips, and churros, our bank account is one new book negative.)

One of the things that most excites me about this book is the research Moore's put into it. She's got notes about her research! Orson Scott Card, another of my favorite authors, also had notes of research at the backs of many of his books. (Ah, the wonders of Enchantment. How I loved this book.) This so impresses me. I'm not into the whole research gig. I do it because I'm like, yeah, I know, I made this up. And someone's going to notice. So I guess I'll get the truth. But that's more work! On top of the fact that I just spent three years writing and revising the thing!

Okay, so, I haven't put that much effort into a book yet. But I know it's gonna happen. And then I'll have to buckle down, put on my undergraduate shoes, and research. I know how. You don't graduate with an English degree without knowing how. But I don't like it.

Anyway. I'm not touching Heather's--I mean H.B. Moore's--book until tomorrow. If I feel like it, I'll post a review. So keep reading.

Sequel Stats:
today's goal: 3,716
actual: 4,757
tomorrow's goal: 5,757

The Detective's Word

So, I know you all have been waiting all weekend to know how it went with the detective! Here's what happened:

Last week I emailed both the Springdale and Fayetteville police departments, asking to interview a detective for a book I'd written. No response from Springdale. Fayetteville played phone tag with me for a day, until I finally spoke to Lieutenant Fields, who's in charge of the detective department. She told me to email her my questions and she'd find the right detective for me.

So I did. Well, she must've sent those questions on to the detective and not the rest of the story, because the email I got from the detective went something like this: "These are not questions I generally answer for the public. I need to know who you are, why you need this information, and why you contacted the Fayetteville police department." Let me tell you, I felt my heart leap into my throat! I thought, "Man, he's gonna send a patrole out and search my yard for dead bodies."

Keeping my calm, I emailed him back and explained what it's for, even offered to show him a copy of my signed contract. I didn't hear back from him until the next day. But he answered my questions! The odd thing was...most of my fabrication was correct. Well, many of the answers were, "Depends on the department. It could happen like this, or it could happen like this." Which made my scene plausible.

So I didn't have to change too much, and my first revision is off to the editor! We'll see how it goes from here. We're also in the process of changing the title. Oh, and I heard back from the Springdale police department today. Just emailed my questions off. I wonder if the responses will be different?

One last thing. Thanks to my dear friend M. Gray, I was inspired to enter a Christmas story contest. I can't tell you which entry is mine, but if you'd like to take a peek at the entries, go here. You have to read them all and voting doesn't start till the 16 of August, I think. Check it out. It'll be fun!

Contact with the Police Department

Thank you, Jamie Fields!

Lieutenant Fields from the Fayetteville police department called me back today. She asked me to email her my detective questions, and she'll find the right detective to answer them for me. I'm so excited! Of course, I want to meet with the detective in person, because one answer might lead to another question and so forth, but if I have to conduct it via email, that's better than nothing!

She was very respectful, wanted to know what it was for, and said she'd help out. I was nervous. Had this weird fear (is it weird?) that she'd be rude and like, "We're fighting crime. We don't have time for something like this."

You other authors out there, how have you approached things like this when you need to do research? Have you ever had someone tell you no? Was it discouraging?

Of course there's the chance that I'll never hear from Lt. Fields again. And then I'm back to square one. But that hasn't happened yet. So here I am, sitting by my phone, watching and waiting!

Police station, anyone?

Wow. Last night got super busy for me. I was writing my last new detective scene for the night and needed to know which PDQ (neighborhood police station) would be the one to serve Victoriaville, Quebec, which is where part of my story takes place. My detective was currently in Montreal and needed to make a quick trip to Victoriaville to try and find some missing characters. I was just going to get this tiny piece of information and then finish the scene and go to bed.

I opened a can of worms! First thing I discovered is that Victoriaville is two hours outside of Montreal, and therefore not serviced by the PDQ. Huh. That meant I had to go back and change several scene locations and references to the PDQ. It also meant this wasn't going to be a quick trip, but rather an overnight stay in Victoriaville. I actually got really nervous and started thinking, "Maybe none of this story takes place in Montreal at all!" But then I checked my area codes and calmed down. Yes, Montreal was the right city for my detective to examine first. (Funny how these stories write themselves sometimes.)

Next thing I discovered, as I'm pouring over the Victoriaville city website and exercising the gift of tongues (I don't speak any French), is that Victoriaville is actually so small, it has no police station! Well. So where do the citizens go? A few more google searches showed me all police type thingies in the area. I picked the closest one--nope, that one's emergencies only, not arrests and detentions. Okay, next. Nope, that one's the RCMP--Canadian equivalent to the FBI. See, in this book, the RCMP are the good guys and the police are the bad guys. So we couldn't have it be the RCMP. Next one, and I thought this one would be it. A police station in Drummondville. I thought. It was hard to tell because again the website was entirely in French.

I placed my scene in Drummondville and continued to write when my mind suddenly put the word "Ecole" together with what I'd seen on the website and I realized, "This isn't a police station. It's a police academy." Doh! How embarrasing that would've been! So, next one out. A real police station, I believe. Whew! I got my scene placed in a city, and I got the distances from one city to the next, thanks to google maps.

And it was an hour past when I thought I'd finish for the night.

Anyone want to come with me on a research tour of Victoriaville, Canada?

Now What?

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I finished rewriting Branca, and I absolutely love the changes. Of course, I'm sure the ending is stiff and needs molding, as everything I write does after the first draft. But it's done and I'm putting it aside for now.

Then, I stretched my fingers, wiggled the tips, and got busy on the requested changes for Walk Beside Me. First, I made a calendar of events, attaching a month and date to each action in the book. Next, I made an outline for our detectives: when and what they are going to do on each of these dates. Exciting!

So I'm ready to go. Except--now what? Am I supposed to actually start writing something? Uh-oh. I don't know what to write! I've never been a detective! :::slinking down on the couch::: It looks like I'm going to need to contact the local police department and ask for some help. B/c I really don't know where to go from here.

Oh boy. This is going to be harder than I thought!