Lisa Gus, owner and publisher of
Curiosity Quills, is with us today. She has some thoughts on the process of getting published. Take it away, Lisa.
Curiosity
Quills was launched in mid-2011 as a way of showcasing the work of my
husband and writing partner, Eugene Teplitsky, and myself. We wanted to
wow the world, the internet... and, at the very least, a reader here and
there.
We certainly hope we did just that - except through the
writing of others, of those authors who have trusted us to act as their
publisher and help them accomplish what we have only dreamed of. Which
is to say, putting out a finished, edited, polished work for the masses
to love, hate, recommend, or boo at will.
Because as for us, personally - we are yet to feel that we are ready.
And
for those who are ready? Those who are sending their work to us and
other publishers and agents (or readers - if opting for the
self-published route)? Kudos to you!
You have done the brunt of
the work. You are finished. You have let it stew. You have edited it.
You have shown it to your beta readers and your crit group. You have
edited it some more. And now, you're prepared to let it take flight.
You
HAVE done all that stuff, right? If you didn't... I can guarantee you,
your MS might stand out, just not for the reasons you want it to.
If,
however, all those pre-flight steps are complete, if the manuscript is
clean, cohesive, doesn't overuse purple prose and is not so spare that
it's one big dialogue, then you really have done all that you can, and
the next is up to the individual tastes and finickiness of your intended
audience.
Some, after all, may want more romance, some - more action, and yet others are looking for multicultural fare.
But
what is important is to properly categorize it so that whether you are
self-publishing it or sending it to the industry professional, the work
will get to the people most likely to appreciate it. Do not send a spy
thriller to a publisher specializing in Inspirational fiction, and do
not pick Erotica as one of your Amazon genres just because 50 Shades of
Gray has blown some publishing conventions to smithereens.
Simple enough?
Then
let's move on to the blurb and / or query letter. Tell your reader what
it is they will find in the story - but do not give them a Cliff's
Notes version right off the bat. If you do, what is left to lure them
into reading your masterpiece? Show us just enough of what to expect
from the work and from you, as the writer, and leave us breathless and
checking our kindles and mailboxes for more.
And if all of that
is in the bag - then just stop worrying. If you are passionate, and if
you have followed the literary conventions well (or have found ways to
creatively circumvent them), someone - or ideally, quite a few someones
out there - will read the full, love it, and become your fan and
cheerleader for life. After all, isn't that what you are doing this for
in the first place?
PS. And now, I will try to find a moment to
get back to my writing. I, too, want someone out there to see in our
work exactly what we intended it to be all those years ago. And if that
means quitting obsessing over every little detail and letting it speak
for itself.... Then just very possibly, this may be the very thing a
manuscript might need.
