Don’t do what I did

I followed a very weird path to publication on this book. If you read my last post, you know that I sort of, accidentally, backed into writing a novel. Within a few weeks of writing, I was hooked. I felt like this character had been sitting inside me, completely hidden, for ages. She simply leapt onto the page.

I got excited and published chapter by (artificially short) chapter on Kindle Vella. I actually made money! Who makes money on their book before they’re even published, I though? This is amazing. At one point I had made more money on the book than a friend had, who had already published theirs. (They outpaced me within a few months and are now selling really well, woo hoo!)

Once I realized I actually had a whole-ass story on my hands, I started researching agents and publishing houses. This is what I do NOT recommend. Either, start writing your book with querying in mind, or wait until your book is completely finished before you even consider querying. (I have no idea is this is good advice. I simply know that the way I did it was backwards, inefficient, and ultimately ineffective.)

I started querying before the book was done. This was dumb. A) I didn’t realize that being on Kindle Vella would so deeply affect my ability to get representation. Had I planned to write a book and seek representation from the beginning, I never would have uploaded chapters to Kindle Vella. (Kindle Vella is gone, but Wattpad and other by-chapter sites still exist.) B) By the time I finished the book, the category the book was in had changed. Which meant 100% of the people I queried early were not relevant by the time the book was done. Now if you know up front exactly how your story ends, this probably won’t be a problem. C) My early queries were TERRIBLE. I did research but didn’t know how to make my letter pop. I recommend getting LOTS of feedback, like through QTCritique. If you have friends in the industry who will review it, even better!

I queried agents and publishers simulataneously. For my next book, I plan to query agents first, then publishers, and really work on making sure my query is well tailored to each audience. I definitely could have done better at that differentiation, especially in my early queries.

I didn’t really have beta readers. I wish I had done this. I did have a few friends who read the book early on, but for fun – there wasn’t a lot of feedback available. An acquaintance, an editor, read the first three chapters, and I got lovely feedback and helpful suggestions from that. I also didn’t have an editor. I do have a background in editing (non-fiction) and line-edited the book several times. If I was starting again, I would build in a budget or some kind of energy-exchange for an editor.

After the book was done, my queries continued to improve. I got a LOT of positive, specific feedback, which genuinely helped propel me forward. But most of the responses were rejections – some immediately due to the fact that Meet Me at the Ruins had “already been published,” even after I pulled it, unfinished, off Kindle Vella. If all of the rejections had been form letters, I probably would have given up. In the end, I received 3 offers for publication – all from publishing houses, so no agents offering representation. There was one offer I seriously considered, but the contract wasn’t clear enough about my royalties or their responsibilities, and they weren’t interested in changing it. One good thing from this long process and reading several contracts was a that I created a list of things to look for in contracts, red flags, etc. It made saying yes, or no, much easier.

While I still had a few queries floating around in the ether, I decided to self-publish. One big reason was that I suddenly had an open schedule for a few months, which was unplanned. It felt a little like the universe making space for me to take time to actually, properly do the thing. I’m sure I’ll always wonder if there was a different path to publication I missed, but I’m excited to be on this one regardless.