Well….. I am happy to announce that I have signed a contract and The Unraveling (Part of the Sage Seed Chronicles) will be out as an e-book sometime this summer!! YEA!!! (Happy dancing all over the place)
As I have mentioned before, I never intended to go any route other than the traditional one. It was research into the different forms of publishing and the serendipitous discovery of Red Willow Digital Press that has me where I am today.
I had a conversation with Chris O’Byrne (Publisher of Red Willow) at the time of signing the contract. I need to paraphrase a part of the conversation that you may find enlightening, for a couple of reasons: My ability to remember exact wording has never been the way my mind works. It paraphrases into Hollyeze. .. and I was so excited about having my book in digital print… well .. I wasn’t memorizing!
While keeping a facade of being cool and calm I thanked Chris and told him how delighted I was but asked if he could shed some light on something that was puzzling me. The big question: What did he see in my writing that so many agents did not? The answer was sort of a combination of a lot of the things I had found in my research and a little more.
The gist of the answer was this:“Due to the constricted monetary situation the agents work hard to decipher exactly what it is that the publishers want. It is part anecdotal from the publishers, part statistical from what is selling, a little bit crystal ball guess work and fatigue from the phenomenal number of queries they are getting. They pass up a lot of good writing while they are looking for the ‘sure thing’.” It’s a tough job. Think about how many turned down J.K. Rowling or any number of other popular authors. I’ll bet those agents are kicking themselves.
Chris O’Byrne has been an editor and worked in publishing for a number of years. He has read and worked on a lot of books. His experience has taught him to spot really good writing within the first several pages of the read. Red Willow wants to publish quality writing, no matter the genre. That is their reputation and their philosophy. Because of the much lower cost of producing an e-book, they have the freedom to focus on the high caliber of the submission. He wants to be sucked into the work. Chris knows he will get his investment out of what he chooses. Once it is an e-book it has a year to prove itself with the market. Thanks Chris for seeing in my work what I have always believed was there. Here’s hoping mine sprouts wings and soars!
4 Comments
Yeah!!!! Congratulations! I can’t wait to read it. Guess I’ll have to get an IPad so I can read it.
(: Me too! I don’t have one and no one in my family has one. We.. are..behind..the..times! (: I guess we will all move into this century! Oh well. I am so thrilled I don’t mind. I’ll find a way. One step at a time. I like getting to this step.
Congratulations, Holly! 🙂
It’s incredibly true what Chris says, I feel, essentially: traditional publishers (and agents), in this market, can’t afford to take the risks they once could. We can’t afford to let a rejection (or several) get us down, we are fighting a battle uphill from the start. The best we can do is get up and go again. Wonderfully, now, other methods are finally looking to fill this demand for electronic publishing, and give some control back to the most important link in the chain: the writers!
I’ll send an email with some more thoughts, but here’s hoping your book finds its market and, as you say, soars!