Publishing Monday: Getting to yes, part two

The first part of this Publishing Monday post generated some great comments. It seems we all have our publishing sagas, some which made us feel more vulnerable than we would like. (Such appears to be the nature of the author’s path, alas!) This comment especially touched me:

For writing that you have poured your heart and sweat into, and believed in 100%, how did you get past the rejections and not let it undermine your belief in your creativity? How do you push past the doubts and remain optimistic that you will find someone who does appreciate what you have to offer?”

Let me parse this. First off, there have been no projects that I believed in 100% — maybe 99%. I’m too aware that every book I create can be improved, or has some chink in its armor. I always wish I could do a better job as an artist and author or designer. Other times, these vulnerabilities are beyond my control. Even when you get a “yes” from a publisher, things can go wrong. I once had a book published the week of 9/11 — and promptly go out of print. (Clearly it wasn’t the right time for gifty illustrated books.) Another instance: A publisher fired their entire sales staff just as my publication was about to go on the market. Publishing imprints go in and out of fashion, as do entire market segments. It’s never personal, though it affects us personally.

That written, there have been projects that I loved beyond 100% (if such a thing is possible), and had dashed hopes. Sometimes these hopes may have been commercial — hey, I’m still waiting for my New York Times Bestseller. Other times my frustrated aspirations have been artistic. There’s always a certain amount of heartbreak when a book goes to press, wishing that I could have done more, been better. But that’s just the nature of the beast.

As for the doubts that arise from rejections, you try to make them work for you. Believe it or not, rejections and doubts can be our friends, if we treat them kindly; they can coexist with optimism. The trick is not to be deterred from moving forward. Since no piece of work is ever 100% for me, my willingness to continually evaluate my work helps me remain optimistic. I’m not one to sit around and wait to be discovered, if you know what I mean.

To illustrate this, let me give you a story of one publishing “yes.” My novel, The Lover’s Path, was the product of a decade’s labor. Toward the end of this period, I began to work with a literary agent, who patiently guided me through structuring and refining my book. It was an exhaustive process, with more manuscript revisions than I can recall.

You can imagine how happy I was when my agent finally declared the book ready for submission. She sent it out to about a dozen publishers. Within a week, she called to say that my book would be going to committee at several of them. (At most houses, going to committee means that a book is being bumped up the chain on the acquisitions process.) Hopefully one of them would come through with an offer. I was elated and ready to pop out the champagne.

But an offer didn’t arrive. We did another round of submissions. Again, more interest — then more rejection letters. (I’ll go into the reasons for rejection in next week’s post.) I was heartbroken, dejected and beyond, after so much hard work.

Believe me, I considered giving up, even changing careers. But I didn’t. Instead, I called my agent. “I think it’s clear that my book is not as compelling as we hoped,” I said. “I’d rather pull it off the market to rework it, and try again later.”

It took me about a year, but I did revamp my book, taking into consideration all those rejections and the doubts they expressed. This time, The Lover’s Path sold to Harry N. Abrams Books for a nice advance. It was a happy ending to a decade-long saga.

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Next week, I’ll give you another publishing “yes” story, but one with an easier and happier trajectory. And to show you that not every book I work on ends with acceptance, I’ll even throw in a tale of unrequited woe. Yup, I’ve got unsold manuscripts rotting away in deep storage, though I often end up dusting them off and reworking them into new life at a later date.

I had intended to tie up everything neatly today about getting to yes. But I can see that there’s still at least another week’s worth of material! Again, if you have any questions or comments, I’ll do my best to address them in my next Publishing Monday.

Another announcement: This spring, we’re going to be offering workshops at my studio-gallery on publishing and putting together book proposals for picture, gift, and art publications. Spaces will be extremely limited. I’ll be unveiling our offerings later this week. In the meantime if you’re interested in learning more, please send an e-mail to kris [at] kriswaldherr dot com.

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