Well here it is, more great news!! I queried my novella 'Of Blood and Blessings' to Changling Press on Oct 9th and *Boom* I got a response the next day! After reading the partial, they requested the full manuscript.
"Hi Shannon,Thank you for your submission to Changeling Press.We enjoyed it and would like to read the whole manuscript.Once we receive it, please give a us a few weeks to get back to you."
WOW and double WOW... I was in total shock at the quick response. After dealing with print queries the internet equivilant left my head spinning. Of course it wasn't spinning so fast as to keep me from sending the full to them within an hour or so, LOL. Then I settled in for the wait... A very short wait of less than 2 days!! I'm not sure my heart even had time to relax before I got a response and a request...
"Dear Shannon: After reviewing your submission, Of Blood and Blessings, Changeling Press would like to extend to you a contract for publication. "
The welcome was wonderful with a ton of info including the process to follow and who to ask what questions. They assigned an editor and explained a little about cover requests, blurbs, bios, billing, editing, promoting... Wow!! They must have realized what a novice I am and thet I would pester them endlessly enless given the info, buffet style!
The contract was attached. It was adapted from the EPIC Standard Market Contract, very specific and signed and in the mail by the next day.
*sigh*
What a wonderful week.
Shannon :)
soon to be e-published author
I found your blog doing a web search for Changling authors. I just submitted to them for the first time, and am now in the "holding my breath" phase. It sounds as if they got back to you very quickly...maybe I'll have the same luck!
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad when amateurs think self-published websites mean they're "published," when in fact, these e-publishers accept every single thing sent to them and take advantage of the hopes of people who haven't taken the time to learn their craft. What do they have to lose, really?
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion: All of this agonizing over page counts ignores the words on those pages. Who cares how MUCH you write if it's boring, detail-light, and the characters are so underdeveloped it's impossible to tell who's who? Some of us work on developing our settings, characters, and plots before writing a single word. That's why we have contracts with major publishing houses ... You might want to take a hint and do the same.
At any rate, good luck with this little thing you have going.
Yet again, I am surprise by the cruelty that people strive to committ in such small doses.
ReplyDeleteI never claimed to be anything more than an amateur writer, a hobby writer. I work full time during the day and write for my own pleasure at night.
I have gone the route of e-publishing and self publishing for my novellas while editing my novels and submitting them to the major publihing houses. I am doing it for experience.
I know that I am still learning. I also know that to gain a level of skill in any craft requires effort and practice. Seeing as I only began writing within the past 2 years, I feel I have made headway toward becoming a good writer.
I don't agonize over word counts, but I do try to write all the time. However, that doesn't mean that I don't put effort into plot setting or characters. I guess that might not be visible through a blog since I post so little of my writing here.
Perhaps even I won't know if it's good enough right up until the day someone else finds value in it.
Although, I could delete the post, I won't. I will leave it up as a reminder of who I am and who I don't ever want to become.
Thank you "a fantasy novelist" for your thoughts and comments. You would be welcome to share your writing experience here anytime, to inspire and encourage, just as my blog was meant to do.
Shannon
E-publishing and self publishing are two different things. "A Fantasy Novelist" is correct in saying that places like Lulu.com will not turn you away for publishing your book. Why? Because they are not a traditional "publisher" in the technical sense.
ReplyDeleteWhile they may publish "anyone's" book, they do not actively distribute your book, they do no marketing for you, there is no advertizing or sending copies of your book out for review. There are no publisher conventions or book signings; essentially, it is a way of self-publishing, because you are solely responsible for the success of your book. And even though the service is "free", Lulu's print-on-demand books will never be offered in bookstores, and you will be out a lot of $$ if you try to buy multiple copies for your own booksignings and such.
Now, being published with a true electronic publisher is completely different. Just as in New York, you must query with a partial manuscript. They offer you a contract. They design your covers. They edit your work. They distribute your book for review sites. They offer the e-books on big name websites such as Fictionwise and Amazon.com.
E-publishers such as Ellora's Cave, Champagne Books, New Age Dimensions, and more are getting into mass market publishing, which means, they are available in bookstores as well as online. Now more than ever, e-publishers are getting more demanding on what they will and will not accept.
While it may be true that some smaller or newer e-publishers do not have such a high standard of quality, it is not the "norm". And an author serious about their craft should be shrewd enough to realize the difference between an electronic publisher who cares about quality and one who does not.
With that said, "A Fantasy Novelist" should realize that more and more print books are moving into the realm of electronic downloads. Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, and other big names in New York fantasy writers have electronic books available for download on Fictionwise.com. I'd be willing to bet, that sooner rather than later, "A Fantasy Novelist"'s books will also be offered in e-format by their "all hallowed" New York Publisher.
~~Becka http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
I notice said "fantasy novelist" didn't have the nerve to put their name up.
ReplyDeleteBig fake is more accurate. NO published mainstream author of any real caliber EVER shoots down an aspiring writer. I ought to know. I've been blessed with the opportunity to have been befriended by a couple and , through them, to be introduced to other writers.
NEVER once have any of these "mainstream" published authors ever been anything other than supportive, their criticisms constructive and their responses encouraging. I think "fantasy novelist" is deluding themselves about their "status" as a writer. No true mainstream author would go to a personal blogsite and launch an unprovoked and unwarranted attack of such venom and mean-spiritedness on a person who is simply, and deservedly, excited and happy to have received an unexpected positive response to a query.
"Fantasy" is brave enough to go shredding up dreams anonymously. Pity "Fantasy" you don't have the courage to post your real name. Course then it may be found out that your no more a mainstream author than you are a novelist.
Awwww... I love that you guys jumped to my defense. :) Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that only time will tell whether I will make it as a writer. But without practice and effort, I know I'll never make it.
So here's to writing until four am... And here's to ranting over edits... and here's to bucking up under the eye of the many critics who are to busy commenting to actually write.
:) S
who is laughing over how my guys offered to take care of the rude one... LOL