A little lesson in the adventures of publishing

So I sent off my stuff to David!  Stuff meaning my pitch and my manuscript.  I imagine it will be several days before I hear back from him but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I just really hope that he sees the same potential in my book that he saw when we first talked during our consult.  So when I first started learning about getting a book published, I had no idea what the steps were and I especially didn't know what the lingo was.  So... I'm going to give a little lesson on getting your book published.  I'd like to credit this information to Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry and their book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.

 

Vocab you need to know:

 

Pitch: A pitch is essentially your promise of what your book is going to deliver.  It is the answer you give when someone asks you what your book is about.  It delivers the essentials of your book, leaving the person you are pitching to wanting more.  A perfect pitch will leave a person saying something along the lines of "I can't wait to read that book" or "Wow, that sounds amazing".  There are two types of pitches:  The first is called an elevator pitch, and is essentially a pitch that can be given in a sentence or two (hence the name: It can easily be delivered on an elevator ride).  The second, and probably more common, is the long-form pitch.  Long form meaning a pitch that can be delivered in under a minute.  No exception to the rule.  Excellent examples of long form pitches are the back covers of books.  These are long-form pitches.   

 

Literary Agent: A literary agent is a person who manages the business affairs of an author.  They DO not publish books.  They have a variety of jobs that can include but are not limited to finding an editor for you, helping you to get a publisher, proofreading and editing your work, doign PR stuff, help build your career, etc.

 

Query Letter: A query letter is the letter you send out to literary agents to pitch your book and to try and get them to represent you.  The query letter is one page and includes three paragraphs (the connection, the pitch, and your bio).

 

Steps of getting a literary agent for fiction books:

 

1. Read, read, read.

2. Write the book.

3. Make sure it's the best you can possibly make it.

4. Write your biography.

5.  Write your pitch.

6. Write your query letter.

7. Research the literary agents who represent books within your fiction genre.

8. Send out query letters to the literary agents.

9. Keep your fingers crossed!!!   

 

*The steps for getting a non-fiction book published are a bit (actually a lot) different, so I'm not going into that!

One Phone Call Closer

I suppose a bit more information is due!  So here it is:

About 3 years ago, I started writing about thoughts that had been swirling around in my head for a long time.  I didn't originally set out to write a book, but as it turns out, I did.  It took me a year, lots of long hours drinking cappuccinos at Latteland and munching on carrot spice muffins, juggling grad school and work, and lots of amazing encouragement from Andrew and my mom.  After I finished it, I put it in a binder, let a few special people read it, and put it on our bookshelf.  Life went on.  I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't have a desire to try and get the novel published.  I did.  I wrote a pitch, a query letter, a bio.  I read books on how to get an agent, I researched the publishing industry.  I even sent a few queries out to agents.  The timing wasn't right though because only a few months after I finished the book, I found out that I was pregnant with Miss Gabriella Grace!  There was just too much going on in my life to really pursue anything with the novel.  In the back of my head though, I was silently hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that some day I would get the opportunity.

Fast forward to February 28th.  David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, authors of The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published, brought their book tour to Kansas City and did Pitchapalooza.  It was like an American Idol for aspiring authors.  My mom and I went (it was amazing!) and kept our fingers crossed the entire time that I would get chosen to pitch my book.  I didn't, but since I had bought a copy of their book, I received a coveted 20 minute consult with David Henry Sterry to be set up at a future date.

Today was that future date.  3:30 pm Eastern Standard Time to be exact.  I got the privilege to pitch my book to David and let me tell you, it really was quite the experience.  He is an amazing author, and a very funny man to boot.  He let me pick his brain, ask a ton of questions, and most importantly, he gave me the feedback that I have been needing to turn my pitch from "really good" to excellent.  I felt so inspired by our conversation and it seemed like David really understood my novel and why I am the person to have written this book.  It just solidified in my mind that this book could make it.  I knew we were getting close to our 20 minute limit and we were starting to wrap up the conversation.  To make a long story short, I expected David to say something along the lines of goodbye and good luck, and then hang up the phone.  Instead, he has offered me the opportunity to send him my new pitch with the changes he suggested, my query letter, and my manuscript.  He said that he knows people (agents and publishers) who would be interested in my novel.  In exchange for some intern work, he and Arielle are going to review/edit my novel, provide feedback, and try to assist me in getting my novel published!  So, like I said, an opportunity of a lifetime.  Hence the title of my blog entry: one phone call closer.

I thought that today would be the perfect day to start this blog because the entire purpose of the blog is to follow my journey of getting my book published.  I had no idea that this is the type of entry I would be posting!!!! I am praying and keeping my fingers crossed that this opportunity works out with David and Arielle.  He sounded very encouraged but made no promises, so I hope that he likes my material.  I won't be sending it for a few days since I have to rewrite some of my pitch.  I will definitely post when I send off my stuff.  I will also soon be posting a few blurbs about the book itself.  Aren't you the least bit curious now? :)

A Sweet Beginning

So I've been keeping a little secret...

The secret:  I wrote a novel.
The even bigger secret:  I am going to get it published.