Graphics Update

The other day, we met with the graphic artist at my house.  The meeting went well… I think. 

We’re all on the same page, again… I think. 

When it became clear that my words weren’t doing the job in explaining my vision for the cover, I attempted to sketch out what I was seeing in my mind’s eye.   

The penciled sketch was able to give a tangible image to the message we wanted, and Katherine shared this rough sketch with the graphic artist.  

To his credit, he didn’t laugh or scoff at it.   He actually said it was quite helpful, and what we wanted was “doable.”   

The graphic artist even asked if he could take a copy of the sketch with him. 

Without missing a beat, Katherine asked for a copy (signed and dated) for herself, so she could put it up at her home…

I’m now imagining my sketch tacked on her refrigerator — where, of course, all great artwork is displayed. 

It’ll sit amidst a number of colorful Picasso-like pictures her 7-year-old son has done for her — and with them sitting side-by-side, it’ll be hard to tell who drew which…

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One Step Closer

We did it!  We’re one step closer to being published!

We’ve finally agreed that the manuscript is finished — that means no more additions, no more revisions, no more edits, no more proofing, no more changes… well, not until the manuscript comes back from the graphic artist, that is. 

This next stage begins with sending the manuscript to the graphic artist, who will work on the interior layout and the cover art for the book.  Once he thinks he’s done, then the three of us will have to work together to come to an agreement on the final look of the book.

Hopefully, this stage won’t take as long as the last one; but no matter how long it takes, we’re definitely one step closer.


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But Where’s My Piece of Cake?!

Yes, I enjoyed the women’s retreat.  I really did, but do you remember that little carrot — no, that piece of chocolate cake — that Katherine dangled in front of me to get me there?

We were supposed to have time together to work on our book.  We were supposed to finish the new section that Katherine wanted added.  This weekend was supposed to move us leaps and bounds ahead on this project.

Well, as you may have guessed, that didn’t quite happen. 

So, everything is postponed for a bit longer…

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You’ve Heard it All Before…

Here’s a quick update on our publishing pursuits:  I’m back to waiting… waiting… waiting.

 

Yes, there was a lot of activity over the push to get the book published in time for Katherine’s debut with her other partner’s plan for regular workshops and presentations. 

We even met with another friend of Katherine’s — a graphic designer and illustrator.  We intended to hire him to create our book cover for us, but after our meeting, he not only wanted to do the book cover, but he wanted to do the interior design as well. 

Part of me was excited, while the other part was… disappointed.  I’ve been working sooooo hard on the interior look of the book.  I had put so much of myself into the page layouts and such… and now none of that will matter.  All my hard work will be discarded…all for naught. 

It's not that I don't trust him with the project.  I absolutely DO trust him to make the book the best that it can be.

It's just that... now my writing project is in the hands of others.  The graphic designer is going to take over the look of the book, and I'm still waiting for Katherine to finish reading through the final draft…

So, there’s nothing more that I can do but wait… wait… wait...

I REALLY HATE WAITING!!!

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Darn it! I Can’t Focus!

I’m trying to go through Dare to Be Contagious! yet another time, to catch more typos and grammatical errors.  I’m trying to clarify things here and there, while inserting artistic nuances I know no one (but me) will see…

Like I said, I’m trying to do all this, but I’m not being very successful at it.

My mind is too distracted with the news Katherine brought me the other night.  

As I understand it, she has connected with a couple of new friends, who are wanting to start up regular workshops and presentations.  They are successful in their business.  They simply want to expand their reach and want Katherine to be a part of their ensemble.  They want to start locally but plan to go national within the year. 

They already have an audience base; they have the venue and  a meeting/presentation hall.  They have an ambitious seminar schedule with various professional groups.  They are familiar with the business-side of things.  They will handle all the tedious stuff Katherine doesn’t want to deal with… and they want her to join them!  They have the financial backing for all of this.  They just want HER!

She’s excited because they are offering her everything she wants to do and nothing she doesn’t want to do.  FABULOUS!!!

Oh… and did I mention that they asked her if she had some written material that they could push through these workshops… and that they were overjoyed to learn about our book that happens to fit right into their theme — the human connection and connecting with each other?

And did I mention that Katherine mentioned her co-author, and their reply was something like:  Bring her in.  The more the merrier!

Now, all we need to do is get the %#$@* book finished, printed, produced, and on hand for these workshops that will probably start in a couple of months.

So, yeah… I’m really excited — in both a good and bad way.  I have to get the book as perfect as we can and get it self-published and printed in a short period of time.

I’ve never self-published before, so all of this is new, and I don’t have the luxury of screwing things up and starting over.  I need to figure out the interior design, get help with the book cover design, deal with the uploading specifications, setting up the account, ordering and reviewing proofs… and the list goes on…

It feels like I’ve just jumped feet first into an ice-cold pool of water. 

Yes, Father Time has pulled a fast one on me.  All that whining about waiting… waiting…  waiting… has come back to bite me in the butt…

Waiting for someone else is no longer the issue…

The problem now is… I can’t focus on the job at hand and everything I need to get done, because I’m too excited about what the future holds for us…

And what a FABULOUS problem to have!!!

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Trying to Regain Some Sense of Control

Katherine and I have decided not to wait on this publisher, or any other publisher.

We’re going to keep moving forward.  We’ve been making revisions to the book, testing different formats for the interior design, talking about who we want to help us with the cover, etc.

If the publisher does get back with us and wants to work with us, that’s fine… but we’re not holding our breath, nor putting all our eggs in that basket.

We can self-publish a book very economically  through CreateSpace, so we figure… What do we have to lose?

Yes, I’m aware of all the complaints, scams, and horror stories about self-publishers.  My head is spinning from them. 

Yes, we’re definitely taking a gamble — no matter which path we take — but, like any smart gambler, if we limit the amount of money we’re willing to lose, we’ll limit our losses.

And I figure that this is all part of the adventure.  The more we learn about the publishing process, the better off we’ll be… whether we go through a traditional publisher or self-publish.

Just When I Started to Have Some Sense of Control…

Really!!  Come on!  You’ve got to be kidding me!!!  

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been making myself crazy by researching self-publishing companies and comparing rotten apples to green oranges…

It was just two days ago, when I figured out which self-publishing path I felt most comfortable with.  All of them had their advantages and disadvantages, but the one I picked gave us more control and more royalties, with less expense on our part.  Yes, it meant more work on my end, but I was OK with that.

So, now I’ve been in the experimenting mode — formatting the book on my own, researching how to create ebooks, book covers, etc.  The more I do, the less it will cost to produce the book and more we can spend on promotion and marketing… at least that’s the plan.

I’m feeling better about things because I feel that we are moving again… moving down the path of being published.  I’m no longer in a holding pattern.  I’m no longer waiting… waiting… waiting…

I feel more in control of things!  Yea!!!!

And tonight — as I’m researching and learning all about copyright registration and Library of Congress cataloging — up pops an email from the California independent publisher — the publisher that asked us to revamped the book to fit their marketing niche. 

And we did just that.  We revamped the whole book for them.  I resubmitted it to them months ago, with several follow-up emails to make sure they received the new rewrites.  When I didn’t hear back from them, I simply assumed they weren’t interested in the rewrite, and I simply moved on.

Turns out, the person I was working with at that publishing house recently left that publisher, and a new person has taken her place.  This woman hasn’t had a chance to look at our material yet, but wanted to assure me that they did receive it.

Great!  Now what do we do?

Do we put our self-publishing plans on hold, until this “real” publisher gets back to us? 

Everything that I’ve been researching, experimenting, and teaching myself would be… well, taken care of by the publisher.  The book would become their property and our royalties would be less, but…

A “real” publisher can get us into bookstores and libraries and open doors to promotional events that would be closed to self-publishers.  Our book would be more eligible to be cataloged in the Library of Congress, which makes us easier to find.  [I learned that on-demand and self-published works are out of the scope for the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program for the Library of Congress.]

We also wouldn’t carry the “stigma” of the “vanity press” label that self-publishers have to deal with…

All this only happens if a publisher takes us on —and this new acquisitions editor still hasn’t looked at our new book proposal and revamped book.  She may pass on it as well.

So, what does all this mean?  It means I’m back waiting… waiting… waiting…

Waiting for her to either work with us or send us another “encouraging letter of hope.”

And all this happens just as I start to have some sense of control…

Really!!  Come on!  You’ve got to be kidding me!!! 

Wait

Well, I’m back to playing the waiting game — waiting for feedback from those who agreed to review the children’s book, endlessly waiting for a publisher  to come through for us, and waiting for Katherine to have time to meet with me regarding our next move.

I have to admit, I am not a patient person.  I have this insatiable need to constantly be doing something to keep this dream going.  We call it “throwing spaghetti against the wall” — just hoping something sticks for us.

And yes, I know that things will happen… all in due time.  It’s just that… well, I am not a patient person.




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Shifting Gears

Since it seems that we’re changing direction with the relationship book, Katherine and I have to really sit down and think things through and make some decisions. 

This means I can’t go any further on this project until Katherine and I can meet.

So, to keep myself busy, I’ve turned my attention back to the children’s book. 

I’m pretty sure that we’ll run into the same hurdles with the publishers of children’s books as we have with the adult-nonfiction publishers — which is that we don’t have a following, a built-in audience, or formal and time-tested sales platform that would guarantee book sales for the publisher.

We could self-publish the children’s book, but we’ll need help with the funding of it.  Because of the discussion aid that goes along with the story, we’re talking about a two-book package, with illustrations for each chapter.  All of that takes more money than we have.

With that in mind, I’m brainstorming as to how I can generate some support for the book.  I’ve started sending out requests for help to various groups… hoping that someone would step in for us. 

I’ve sent letters to homeschool publishers, organizations, and associations. 

I’ve reached out to the National Homeschool Association, various parent/teacher associations, the Florida Department of Education, and the Florida School Board Association.

I’ve targeted Target® as well.  Their community outreach programs focus on reading and educational programs for children.  That gave me the idea to write to the president of Target® to see if he had some leads or contacts that would help us get published. 

I’ve even written to Mrs. Laura Bush to see if she would help us out.

We’ll see if any of this bears fruit.  In the meantime, I’ll keep brainstorming…

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Giving It Another Try…and Another… and Another

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Well, since we’re revamping the relationship book again, Katherine wants to try reaching out to literary agents (again) to see if they can knock on the mega-publishers’ doors for us.

Early responses back from those inquiries are not helpful.  Many won't take new authors, only established authors recommended by other established authors.  Others only accept "full-length" books.

I asked the agent exactly what her definition of "full-length" books was...  since, in my mind, a book is as long as it needs to be to get your story told — no longer or shorter than that.   If it's shorter than that, then  it's not complete; if it's longer than that, then you're wasting your readers' valuable time with redundancy and unwanted rhetoric.

So, I’m back on the computer doing what I hate, Hate, HATE doing!!

And what’s my reward for doing it?  I’m positioned and posed for more and more “encouraging letters of hope” to fill my inbox.

Yeah, I hate, Hate, HATE this part!

But, I keep telling myself that at least this exercise — no matter what the outcome — will, ultimately, lead us in the right direction. 

[P.S. The literary agent did explain that there is a higher price break for books of 55,000 words or more, and she is only interested in pursuing higher page-count books.]

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This Waiting is Driving Everyone Crazy!

Yeah.  Patience is not one of my virtues.  I need to be constantly moving forward on things.  Standing still and waiting for something to happen is not in my nature.

And this shortcoming of mine is driving everyone else around me crazy. 

Why?  Because I keep emailing, contacting, talking, searching, writing, and researching.  I keep jumping from one project to another, like a juggler.  I’m constantly doing something to keep this project moving and that project progressing and this other project going…

In my efforts to keep everything moving, I’ve expanded my circle of influence to include a number of other people, who find themselves in desperate need of a reprieve from my persistence.

Not to totally alienate myself from these new contacts, I’m trying to be patient.

I am managing to refrain myself from actually emailing anyone today, even though I’m continually checking my email account every hour for news from the publisher who is showing some interest in our Friendship book, for news from the therapists who have agreed to give us feedback on our teen book, or for news from parents who have offered to have their kids read and give us feedback on our children’s book.

It seems harder, today, to be content with sitting and waiting, because last week was so full of activity.  

I couldn't believe it!  Suddenly, everything started moving in different directions... as if each project had a life of its own.  This is great news and exactly what we are hoping for; but when it happens all at once... well, it makes it more difficult to juggle everything.

 What happened last week?

• The publisher, who asked for sample chapters, has written back and asked for the rest of the Friendship book.
• The therapist who was impressed with an audio clip — enough to say she’ll buy several copies of the book if it was anything like the clip — emailed back, wanting to meet with us once she reads the book.  She’s also asking questions about how we’re promoting ourselves and the book, and is indicating her desire to keep in contact with us through this process. 
• Friends of friends who are teachers and have published their own children’s books have come forward with suggestions and ideas as to how to get our children’s book viewed by educational publishers, which would open the doors to schools and homeschoolers.   This has prompted me to create a discussion aid for teachers and parents.  This will help with the interactive discussion that the book thrives on.
• The audio clip, “Self Defense Against Fear” is getting regular hits on the YouTube site. 
• People keep returning to this blog to follow our progress —and thank you very much, for doing that! 

Toward the end of last week, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the attention.  So, I had to take a step back, to try to get my thoughts organized and my hands around the separate projects that were going in various directions…

I’m a visual person, so I had to set everything down in front of me, so I could see the whole picture.  To do that, I got a huge piece of paper (around 16” x 21”) and created three columns (i.e., one for each project).   In the separate columns, I wrote where we were on each project, as well as my concerns and pending issues. 

With this new person, possibly, coming into the mix — the excited therapist — I also wanted to protect my self-interest in all of this.  To do that, I needed to be able to actually identify, clarify, and communicate what my goals are. 

Why am I doing all of this?  I’m sure more things will come to me, but this is a start:

• To have the freedom to stretch my creativity and have the ability to write on subjects that most interest me
• To be able to get our messages out in a positive and supportive manner that can help others
• To make a difference — to be an intricate and important part of this “movement” and enjoy this journey that we’re on
• Not to be harmed (financially, emotionally, physically, reputation-wise, etc.) by this endeavor
• To be able to make enough money from this to support me during my retirement years… until death does me in

Now… all that’s left to do is wait… and wait… and wait…

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Trying to Keep the Fires Burning…

I’m stuck doing the yucky, boring stuff, again—the stuff I hate doing.

I’ve become hoarse from working on the audio clips — doing and redoing them — and now, I’m sick of hearing my own voice talking at me.

I’m happy to say that there’s an impressive number of clips up — in my humble opinion — from both books, “Silhouette of a Friendship… From the Inside Out” and “Ready or Not — Life’s Coming at Ya”.

The two “Self Defense Against Fear” audio clips are getting the most attention, thus far.  I’m hoping people will stumble over the four “Bullying” clips, as well.

I still have more to do, but I’m burned out on recording, at the moment.  Like I said, I’m sick of hearing my own voice talking at me.

Katherine and I went over the third book in our series of children’s books. 

I’m not happy with it — not at all.  It flows well, moves the story along, and has lots of lessons in it (just like the other two books do), but there’s just not enough adventure in it to keep the reader wanting  to read more…

The most intense piece of the book — the piece I had hoped would bring the book to life — has been moved to the second book.  It fits well in the second, but renders the third book…. well, blah.

I’m putting that third book aside for a while… while I wait for my villains of conflict to come knocking on my imagination’s door.  Besides, there’s no pressure to finish the third book, until the first book is picked up by a publisher. 

In the meantime, I’m going back and searching for more publishers for Silhouette of a Friendship…  I’m sending out queries to the smaller “eclectic” publishers — the ones who aren’t mainstreamed.   Maybe we’ll have better luck with them.

After I've work down that list, I can jump over and start going down the list of children's book publishers.  I haven't made a dent on that list yet.

I’m  also continuing to reach out to local therapists to see if anyone has the time to give us feedback on the teen book.  Thus far, those responding back love the concept, but don’t have the time to review the material. 

I’ll just keep looking and asking…

So, yeah…  I’ve drained the creative parts of my brain and am now stuck doing the yucky, boring stuff, again — the stuff I hate doing.

Bummer!

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Sign of the Times?

I was reading a post from one of the various writers’ groups I’ve joined.

One fellow aspiring author tells us he has a literary agent.  This literary agent has written her first book and has decided to self-publish it.  Our fellow aspiring author adds no more details, other than his bewilderment.  This is understandable, since he has pinned all his hopes on this literary agent getting him signed with an established publisher.   

I find his news both ironic and telling…

Telling us what?  I’m not sure… 

I don't know if it's telling us how tough the publishing market is… or telling us how difficult it is for new authors to be picked up by publishers… or telling us how beneficial [or NOT] a literary agent is for first-time authors… 

Whichever it is, it's pretty depressing to think that your literary agent — who you’ve pinned your hopes on — can't get her own book picked up by an established publisher... using her contacts, influence, and skills.

Yes, of course there can be a number of reasons for the agent to choose to self-publish instead of marketing her book to a publishing firm. 

She may rather publish her book herself instead of giving 90 percent of the proceeds away to a publisher.  She may feel that she can do a better job and have more control over her book if she did it herself.  She may have the desire and the cash flow to start her own independent publishing firm.  What better way to test the waters than with her own book, before drawing on her established client base of unpublished authors?  Then again, she may have written a book that is not in the genre her publisher friends are interested in…

Logically, there are a host of reasons the literary agent has decided to go the self-publishing route herself, while promising her clients that she has the influence, connection, and skill to get publishers interested in their manuscripts—for a piece of their profits.

After all of that reasoning, it’s still funny to me that a literary agent has opted to self-publish her own book…

And I can also understand how our fellow aspiring author finds it more disturbing… than funny.


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Keep Chasing That Dream...

As you can guess…

One of the toughest things to do is picking the right publishers to pitch your FABULOUS manuscript…

There are some publishers who want the luxury of three-to-six months to make their decision, without you asking any other publishers to look at your work.  These publishers want exclusive rights to say yes or no… without any pressure from other proposals.

Thinking that we would have publishers fighting over our materials, we made the conscious decision to put these “exclusive” publisher requests at the end of our lists.

Well, we’re at the end of our list for Silhouette of a Friendship…From the Inside Out.  It’s time to contact the “exclusive” publishers… one by one… with 3-6 months breaks between them…

BUT!!!!

My favorite publisher — the one I REALLY want to take us on!!... the one that would be PERFECT for us!!! — is on this exclusive list. 

We tried earlier… asking, begging, pleading… if they would bend the “exclusive submission” rule, but… well, you can guess their response… or rather… their non-response.

Anyway… that was then, and now is now. 

I feel that we’ve waited an appropriate time of mourning for the other publishers and are ready to pursue this new suitor!

I’m heading off to the post office now.  Wish us luck!



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Publish America

I ran into a Christian publisher on the Internet and thought it wouldn’t hurt to pitch our material to them.

As I was doing so, I had this really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me… but I didn’t listen to it.

The website for Publish America looked official with lots of happy testimonials from their authors… and they made it super easy to submit your pitch.  They stated that they “adhere to the traditional publishing concept”. 

The website said that they would get back to you in 24 hours; and for an impatient person like me, 24 hours sounded like a reasonable time to wait for an answer.

But, as I was doing all of this, I had this really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me… but I didn’t listen to it.

I prepared the submission and hit the submit button.

It wasn’t until the next morning that I started listening to the really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me.

So, I googled Publish America and the word SCAM came up in the headline search.

Oops!

In reading the material on the Internet, I can’t say that Publish America is scamming their authors, but neither are they helping their authors.  The term scam deals with deceit, fraud, swindling, trickery, etc.

I can’t say this publisher is scamming their authors… although they are not providing the services that are expected from a truly “traditional” publisher — which is what is causing the complaints.

They seem to be a hybrid mix between self-publishing and traditional publishing.  The authors don’t have to pay to get their books published, but nor does the publisher help promote, distribute, or market the books either.  Past clients have complained that this publisher jacks up the cover price past a reasonable selling point and doesn’t pay royalties as promised.  The publisher will accept any manuscript submitted, will do minimum editing, if any, and will push out a product that some bookstores refuse to place on their shelves.

As I’m reading all of this — instead of hitting myself on the head for not listening to the really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me — I tell myself that when they come back and say they’d love to publish our book, I’ll end it there.

To be fair, this publisher has a right to make a profit and be in business.  They may be a good fit for some authors, but I’d rather pass at this time.

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Time To Change My Password

You know my propensity for picking passwords to positively propel our publishing pursuits…

Well, for the last couple of months, I had the name of the most promising publisher as my password — the publisher who actually read the sample chapters, asked for the rest of the book, and then asked us to complete a new author media questionnaire…

With fingers crossed, eyes closed, and hopes uplifted, I’ve been holding my breath for their decision.

It came yesterday.  The UK publisher had another friendship book coming out later this year, and didn’t want to have our book compete with their current client who was already signed with them. 

Even though I was hoping… really hoping… but … it’s OK…. 

If I was the publisher and had a friendship book already in the mix… in the UK…. why would I go out on a limb for two new/unknown authors from the US?  They made the easier decision.  It may not have been the best one for them or us, but it was the easier of the two… and I understand it…

In the back of my mind, I really think that the children’s book is what’s going to get us “discovered” – and once we are, then these other books will be in more demand….

So, it’s time to change the password again… to something more general…something that I’m really wishing for… something desperate… maybe pleading…maybe determined… or demanding…

Something that portrays my true desire… something like… MAKE IT HAPPEN, NOW!


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Fingers Continued to be Crossed

Well, I dropped Ellen DeGeneres another update on our pursuits of becoming published. 

I told her about the English publisher who sent us a questionnaire to complete AFTER they read our Silhouette of a Friendship…From the Inside Out. 

I see that as a good sign… because why would they want more information about us if they could care less about the book?  No reason that I can think of…

I told her about contacting Teen Line and asking them if they wouldn’t mind giving us feedback on our teen book.  Their answer was very sad to me… not that they don’t have the time… but WHY they don’t have the time. 

Teen suicide is on the rise, and they have been dealing with more serious and frequent suicide attempts and… well, they are afraid that they wouldn’t be able to get to the book any time soon.

They got no argument from me.  I rather they spend their time helping the teens…

On a lighter note, our children’s book is being tested by kids.  Early feedback that’s coming in is that the kids love the book, the story, the characters, the lessons…  All great feedback!

So, we’ve just started sending samples to children’s book publishers, to see what they have to say.  I’m hoping they have a child’s heart… or, at the very least, some type of heart…

We’re keeping our fingers crossed…

Hopefully, Ellen is doing the same for us.

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Keeping Fingers Crossed

Remember the blog about the publisher that asked to see more of Silhouette of a Friendship… From the Inside Out (i.e., an earlier blog entry: It’s in Someone Else’s Hands)?

Well, they wrote back and sent an extensive questionnaire for us to complete. They called it a new author media questionnaire.  They wanted to find out our ability in promoting our book: our contacts, our media affiliation, our publishing history, our connections with the media (TV, radio, special events, speaking engagements, book signings, etc.), our depth in online marketing and distribution, etc.  Basically, they wanted to know what we’re able to do to promote and sell this book of ours… before they go out on a limb for us.


Well, we’ve tried our best to get noticed by publishers and celebrities alike, but it’s darn hard to get anyone interested in a book that hasn’t been published yet.  We tried explaining this phenomenon to publishers, reassuring them that once we’re published, our focus will switch to launching and promoting the published book… with their help, of course.

So, although we are, hopefully— fingers-crossed — one step closer to becoming published, filling out this media questionnaire is pretty overwhelming for first-time authors who have never launched a book before.  Add to that that this publisher is in the UK and we are in the US... and things can’t get any more complicated…well, I hope they can’t.

But we answered the questionnaire the best we could.  I hope it was enough.

Please, keep your fingers crossed for us.



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The Business of Promoting

I’m really not into this promoting stuff!  That’s Katherine’s area.

But people keep telling me that I should do more in promoting this blog… to increase its followers, subscribers, readers… blah, blah, blah…

So… I’ve added the blog to a number of free blogging lists to see if that would increase our reach and make us more visible. 

So far, it’s made us more visible to those who want something from us — other than that…

But to be fair, I should give it some time — at least more time than the 72 hours I’ve given it thus far…

Yeah.  Patience is not one of my strengths.




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Decisions, Decisions!

Well, you already know that it doesn’t take much to get me to switch directions on projects.  All it took this time was one child who doesn’t like to read to become excited about reading our book to get me to change my focus back to that book.

So, I’m re-proofing the book (again and again), trying to get it ready to submit it to publishers.  I sent it out to one of those electronic submission managers, already.  It irritates me when they limit the amount of text and sample files.  How can I adequately describe our work in the 100-character field?!   GRRRRR!

Anyway, it is what it is; and I just have to do the best I can with what it is.

Now, I’m going back and forth with myself, trying to figure out which is the best strategy.  I only have one chance to make a good first impression — and practice makes perfect.

Following those two natural laws, which publishers do I contact first? 

Do I send to the ones I really want to pick us up or do I start with the secondary list — so I can screw up with the secondaries first without hurting my chances with my first picks?  [Practice makes perfect, remember!]

But if I send to the secondaries and they want the book, I’ve lost my chance with the primaries.  I can always say no to the secondaries, but if I pass up the chance with the secondaries and the primaries don’t want us… then where am I?

And I won’t know any of the outcomes of my decisions for 6-to-12 months out into the future!!!

Yeah!  I’m just a mess!

First things first…. I have to finish proofing the book and then I can obsess about whom to send what… later…


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