Choosing the right photo for the book cover is much harder than I anticipated. This will be people’s first impression of my work. As a debut novel, I feel as if I can’t make any mistakes. This is what will start building my readership. Before, writing was purely a selfish act. Now, as a soon to be published writer, it is no longer about what … Continue reading Book Covers
Ray knew what he was talking about. After only 76 rejections, I got the yes. I signed the publishing agreement on Friday. July 2017, Waldorf Publishing, out of Grapevine Texas, will be publishing my debut novel, Native Moments, a literary surf adventure set in Costa Rica. Should be meeting with a cover designer this week. Will chronicle my progress via this blog. But I … Continue reading I’ve done it!!!
A bit bummed. The working title I’ve had for my work since about 2004 has been Native Moments. In 2013 someone else published a book with that title. My second choice comes from a Bruce Chatwin quote, Gentlemen of the Road. Michael Chabon wrote a book with that title in 2008. I do not have a third choice. Also, I’ve started a Facebook page. … Continue reading Titles and character names are harder to get right than writing the story
I had no idea this was a thing. We all know what traditional publishing is: query an agent, sign with agent, agent sells book to publisher, book gets published. And lose all your rights. We also know it’s not as easy as listing the steps. We all know what self publishing is: upload your manuscript to createspace, design a cover, sell your books. Keep … Continue reading Partnership Publishing?
My last bite from a publisher ended up with a recommendation for a rewrite and then resubmit in a year. Today, another publisher contacted me saying they believe they could sell my products. Asked me when would be a good time talk on the phone. Maybe this one is “the call.” I know it’s going to happen, just don’t know when. Continue reading Another Bite from a Publisher
A couple of posts ago, I said, “Tuesday is the day.” That Tuesday was yesterday. A publisher had contacted me and said he was meeting with his partners to discuss my novel, Native Moments. I didn’t hear from him yesterday and thought, I guess no news is bad news. That’s how it works in publishing. However, this morning, I got a call. The publisher said they … Continue reading Update from the Publisher’s Meeting
Came across the following while looking at a literary agent’s submission guidelines: “We appreciate all queries. But please note that most publishers today are highly selective about what they publish, and often decline to consider works by unknown or uncredentialed writers. We do our best to overcome these strictures for our clients, but they are powerful obstacles.” Basically, if you aren’t a published writer with … Continue reading Moments of Discouragement
I’ve been away for a while. Because, to paraphrase Hemingway, if you talk about it you can lose it. But I’m not superstitious. That’s what I tell myself anyway. But for the past couple of weeks I’ve been talking to a publisher of a small independent press. He is very optimistic about my novel. His editor said he can work with it, which is a … Continue reading Tuesday is the Day
I haven’t written much about my novel except about queries and rejections. It’s a surf/travel adventure. I’m doing something different with this story though. It isn’t Point Break or North Shore. In fact, the only thing similar to those movies is that there is surfing in Native Moments. It seems as surfing stories very rarely get taken serious. I’m hoping to change that. This is the … Continue reading Native Moments, a novel
I return to these three books fairly regularly. It pains me to know these giants of writing are no longer around and we won’t get any more material from them. When I think of the kind of writer I want to be, the stripped down style, the grittiness of the characters, the tackling of hard hitting subjects in such a raw manner, these are … Continue reading Three Greats
Nic Schuck 