Congrats on the book! Great title by the way. I relate to much of this. I lived in NYC during Covid and you’re dead right: it was brutal. I lived in a rough part of upper East Harlem which I wrote a fictional memoir about; I’ve been posting that on my Substack, Sincere American Writing. I’ve written 12 books, all still unpublished. One got dozens of agent reads but identity politics came into play...this was 2017. It’s always a challenge. I worked for a literary agent for a while and I’m a book editor and have a lot of short fiction and nonfiction published. But the gatekeepers for books are tough. It’s much less about talent, I think, and more about matching ideologies and perspectives. That said there are so many gorgeous books traditionally published. And self-published too!
Anyway. Your journey is not uncommon! A good friend of mine just published her first book; it took her 17 years and three agents. Yeah. I could go on 🙄
I’ll follow yr substack. Because I worked in corporate music I know Corp publishing is the same. Not my cup of tea unless they want to come to me w a $10mil advance.... why don’t you indie publish your books? Trad publishing is dead - long live the independents!!!
Thanks so much! It was a rollercoaster - I highly highly highly recommend you join the Alliance for Independent Authors (ALLi). If you're publishing on Ingram Spark, ALLi has a free discount which will cover the annual cost. (it's like $139 a year). Their FB group is THE most helpful resource I found in six or so months of learning to indie publish.
That totally makes sense! Best of luck with publishing and getting your book out. I'm in the thick of it right now and it's exciting - and a lot of work! But I love it.
Haha.- I'm not quite as emphatic as you because I feel for all the behind-the-scenes people who've worked in trad publishing who are losing their jobs. But the industry itself? I agree - good riddance....
Congrats on the book! Great title by the way. I relate to much of this. I lived in NYC during Covid and you’re dead right: it was brutal. I lived in a rough part of upper East Harlem which I wrote a fictional memoir about; I’ve been posting that on my Substack, Sincere American Writing. I’ve written 12 books, all still unpublished. One got dozens of agent reads but identity politics came into play...this was 2017. It’s always a challenge. I worked for a literary agent for a while and I’m a book editor and have a lot of short fiction and nonfiction published. But the gatekeepers for books are tough. It’s much less about talent, I think, and more about matching ideologies and perspectives. That said there are so many gorgeous books traditionally published. And self-published too!
Anyway. Your journey is not uncommon! A good friend of mine just published her first book; it took her 17 years and three agents. Yeah. I could go on 🙄
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
I’ll follow yr substack. Because I worked in corporate music I know Corp publishing is the same. Not my cup of tea unless they want to come to me w a $10mil advance.... why don’t you indie publish your books? Trad publishing is dead - long live the independents!!!
Yes!!!
As someone who is trying to self-publish her first book in her 40s, I find this honesty refreshing and inspiring.
Thanks so much! It was a rollercoaster - I highly highly highly recommend you join the Alliance for Independent Authors (ALLi). If you're publishing on Ingram Spark, ALLi has a free discount which will cover the annual cost. (it's like $139 a year). Their FB group is THE most helpful resource I found in six or so months of learning to indie publish.
Since this is my first attempt and I have no money, I'm going to start with Amazon :-) But I will definitely look into the organization!
That totally makes sense! Best of luck with publishing and getting your book out. I'm in the thick of it right now and it's exciting - and a lot of work! But I love it.
Thank you for taking us in and showing us around. Your honesty is refreshing
Thanks so much, Noemie - I try my best to be honest and upfront about this whole process.
Amen my friend amen 🙏
Haha.- I'm not quite as emphatic as you because I feel for all the behind-the-scenes people who've worked in trad publishing who are losing their jobs. But the industry itself? I agree - good riddance....