Tag: publisher

En-Title-ment Issues

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Here’s a word of advice for you aspiring authors. Do not get attached to your title. Because there is a decent chance you won’t get to keep it. What I mean is, you are working hard on your manuscript and it grows on you. Either like a fungus or a baby. Depends on how well its going at the time.  So you give it a name or a title in your head and you fall in love. Then you submit it to agents or publishers and someone picks it up. Then their marketing team gets a hold of it. That’s when you and your beloved title might break up.

 
It is the marketing team’s job to make your book the most attractive package it can. That means a stellar title and cover. But hey, I thought my title was pretty catchy. Maybe to me it was, but the team seemed to differ. Right here is where you can be in trouble. If you are very attached to your newborn book, it can be hard to accept any other name than the one you’ve blessed it with.
This is my current dilemna. I had named my manuscript the Philosophy of Finishing. Cedar Fort said, “Ehh” to that name. They batted around a few options for the next two weeks, but nothing else sounded good to me. Then they picked a title and subtitle that I was not fond of.  I was wondering “Oh no, did my book die? Will anyone want to pick it up.” I argued back and they put it to a vote on FaceBook.  We have yet to see the results.
fingers-c...At this point I think I need to trust in the experts. Its true that no one will love and know your book like you do. But your marketing team should hopeful have years of experience knowing exactly how to reach your audience and bookstore buyers. I’m hoping mine does at least. So at this point I’m going to let go and let the experts. I will post soon with the results of the survey. Cross your fingers that it’s something good.
But in the meantime, for your work in progress, realize that it’s the publisher that sets the title not you. And it’s in their best interest to makeup a good one. After all they are investing in you and your book. They need it to sell too. 🙂

Cedar Fort Says YES!! to the Philosophy of Finishing

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I have been checking my email every five minutes waiting to hear from an insurance broker to get health insurance now that we are unemployed. I saw an email that I didn’t know. I opened it assuming it was yet another agent rejection. I hadn’t been expecting a letter from the publishers because their sites all state it takes 4 months to hear back.

I opened the email with the care of a bomb squad officer, finger poised on the delete button. The word Congratulations jumped out at me. What the…

Cedar Fort Inc. wants to publish my book. There was only one thing to do at a time like this… cry.

I started crying and held my phone out to my mother in the chair next to me. She let out a whoop of excitement. I was still crying by the time Jarom got there 15 minutes later. His face clearly said “Now what?” After I stammered out that he was married to a soon to be published author, he squeezed my guts tighter than any corset ever could.

Four months ago today, I decided to write a book. It seems like the journey has been a rollercoaster that went on forever, but in reality I think that it’s been really fast.  Talking to some new author friends of mine, I understand it can take up to a year or more before your writing sees the light of day.

I am so lucky. I couldn’t have done it without lots and lots of help. My husband is my rock and my earplugs that help me tune out the world. When everyone else was telling me how unlikely it was that I would get published, Jarom stood by me and kept the voices at bay.

I also know that I probably had some divine intervention. Or at the very least a guardian angel sitting on the acquisition editor’s shoulder.

A year and a half ago I was contemplating whether or not someone could die from self loathing. And if so, was that considered suicide? I stopped trying to do anything because in my heart I felt I wasn’t good enough. If I wasn’t as good as so and so, well then I was a failure. Better to just give up.

Today I am going to be a published author. The change didn’t come from losing weight, though it is nice not to be fat anymore. It came from learning the simple truth that I needed to stop quitting on everything in my life…including myself. Becoming a finisher has changed my life or maybe gave me a better one. That’s why I wrote this book.  Not because I wanted to be rich and famous. (Because I have no delusions about that, especially after I realized only major authors get advances. The rest of us get royalties, so I would need to sell a bagillion books to make any money)

I really believe in the Koolaid I’m drinking. I want to help others overcome the failures of their past and realize that to be successful, you only have to finish what you start. With each new accomplishment the past starts to fade away and you realize, “Yes I can!” Because you have proof piling up with each new thing you finish that you can show that little negative voice in the back of your head. I don’t have to be the better than everyone else to be successful in life. That’s where the Philosophy of Finishing came from, when I realized that not everyone can win the race, but everyone can finish it.

So long post I know. But I just had to share my “testimony” so to speak. I know there is lots of hard work ahead. I’m supposed to come up with my own marketing plan to sell this book. ugh. Unfamiliar territory again. But with the help of new friends and lots of Google searches, I’ll figure it out. Here’s to the continuing Journey.