The exciting news is …

I am horrified — I am not ready. I feel like I am giving up a child for adoption.

Wow – what a lot of reading and research this week; all focused on one publishing company: Greystone Publishers in Vancouver. I began with Greystone for a few reasons: they publish one of my favorite writers: Wade Davis; I love the way he writes portraits of peoples and places and the stories both tell. Greystone also recently published a book by an acquaintance of mine from the past: Mark Leiren-Young: The Killer Whale Who Changed the World, it is a wonderful read. And, while studying Greystone’s website, I found a new writer, Candace Savage, whose memoir I read yesterday. A Geography of Blood is a captivating memoir laced with lyrical knowledge of the land she travels – that is indeed a bit like my writing style. And, finally Greystone is a good fit because they support unique Canadian voices writing literary non-fiction; that’s me.

The exciting news is that Greystone is accepting unsolicited submissions. The horrifying news is that Greystone is accepting submissions – I could send them a submission. I am not ready.  I still need to do more hunting to see if I can find an agent that works with Greystone. This is a one shot-deal. I am thinking about hiring a professional, published writer, to read my manuscript. They cost about $40 an hour, I am worried about the length of my manuscript – it is short: 4500 words; a crisp 45000 words, it moves along at a fast pace, which I like.

Doubts and more doubts.

Following the advice from my research, and the instructions from Greystone, I have created a package for submission that is tailored specifically for Greystone. I had to change the name of the manuscript, well – I didn’t have to, but I change it all the time, so. Next Post: my submission to Greystone – maybe.

The Hunt Begins

The Hunt Begins:

“When writers ask, can you find me a literary agent?” they don’t realize it’s kind of like asking me “Can you find me the right spouse?” Janet Friedman

Janet Friedman makes me think we need a kind of match.com for authors and agents.

I read a good book, a little dated, but still — How to Find (and Keep) a Literary Agent  lays out a clear and sensible path for looking for a literary agent, and the e-book includes a free upload of How to Write a Query Letter.  I’ve been online for several hours reading Blogs and Websites for writers, agents and publishers, made a long ‘cut and paste’ list of Agents and Agencies in Canada, to begin.

This is the first step:

• Find a friend who has a friend who is either an agent or a published author who 1) will read my manuscript and a) love It and b) knows, or has a friend who knows, an agent or published author who is a ‘good fit’ for the manuscript, and c) recommend that person to read the Synopsis
• Research agents and create profiles that include:
  • The books they have helped to publish
  • Read reviews and find the books that are similar to THE CENTRE OF THE COMPASS
  • Read the most recently published of those books before contacting those agents

My Strategy:

• Blog once a week and work hard at gathering followers who might find me followers who might be a friend of a friend who knows  …..
• Read ….

Next Blog, I want to write about the genre of ‘Fictional Memoir’ – what does it even mean?