Today, I have the pleasure of having Katrina Kittle the Author of Reasons To Be Happy Stopping by and sharing with us her first publishing experience.
Thanks so very much for hosting me, ReaganStar. I really appreciate the opportunity.
There are many, many paths to publication, but I think mine is a bit unusual and kind of a fun story. I've been working on my first novel (Traveling Light) for many years (seven to be exact). I was attended classes and conferences, read every book on writing I could my hands on, applied everything I learned from those classes and books to my manuscript, and had revised the novel repeatedly. I found local writers with whom to share work and get feedback, and I polished the book to the best of my ability. I also read everything I could get my hands on about the how-to-get published process. I had finally (only after feeling my book was finally as ready as I could make it on my own) begun to research and query agents.
It was during the summer I started sending off query letters that I found myself in the unusual position of having an editor interested before I had an agent. That's not how it usually happens, that's for sure!
I was attending the wonderful Antioch WritersWorkshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio here they host at least one guest editor and guest agent each year. I attended the guest editor's session and found her very bubbly and friendly, but because she said her publishing house only accepted manuscripts submitted by an agent, I thought, oh, well.That evening I was selected by my fiction class to read the first chapter of Traveling Light to the rest of the conference. The editor attended that reading.
Oh, did I mention that I was as Work Fellow for this conference? I received free tuition in exchange for a certain number of hours of work for the conference. One of my jobs? Driving guests back and forth to the Dayton Airport. Because I'd been so excited about being chosen to read to the conference that night, I hadn't checked the Work Fellow board and so I got stuck having to drive this editor to the airport the next day. I say stuck because she needed to be picked up at 5:30 AM.
That night, we experienced the common Ohio summer phenomenon of a tornado warning/severe thunderstorm, which knocked out power for most of the town. I woke in my dorm room to my clock flashing 2:00, 12:00, 12:00.I picked up my phone to check the time and it was 5:16! I had no time to shower or dress properly. I did manage to brush my teeth, thank God, and slapped a baseball cap over my bedhead, but I wore the hideous tie-dyed shorts I'd slept in!
I made it on time. The editor was already standing outside in the parking lot of her bed-and-breakfast (only a block away from my dorm). Her first words upon getting in my car were, 的 really liked what you read last night. Is that book finished?”
I said it was, she asked several questions about it, and we talked about my book most of the way to the airport. I thought she was just being polite and making conversation, (since we were at a writing conference it makes sense to ask about someones writing, right?). The drive was very foggy from the storm and sure enough, her flight was delayed. This was pre 9-11, so I could actually have breakfast with her while she waited for her flight (still wearing that awful baseball cap and those tie-dyed shorts!). Before she finally flew away, she gave me her card and invited me to send her the manuscript.
I did, the very next day.
Months later she called to say those magic words she loved it and her publishing house wanted to buy it. Do you have an agent? she asked. When I paused, she said, you shouldn't have trouble finding one now.”
So, there it is. Not the usual path to publication, but a fun story. People like to make a big deal out of that story. It is often called a fairy tale. Lots of people say, wow. You sure were at the right time and the right place.I was with my editor once when someone said that. And she responded, well, Katrina was at the right place at the right time with a finished manuscript.”
I loved her for saying that. Because thats the moral of the story. THATS how you get published. Write a book you believe in. Do not hurry. Make the book the best possible work you can. Do your homework: there are a bazillion and one books out there about how to find an agent, as well as a bazillion and one blogs about how the publishing process works. There is no magic ticket. There is no mystery. It just takes research, preparation and caring about craft. Networking doesnt hurt, eitherputting yourself in the position to meet agents and editors is always helpful. Make connections. But keep in mind, it wouldn't have done me any good to get uninterrupted car time with that editor if I hadn't written a book.
My editors first question was, Is that book finished? She admitted later that had I said no, she probably wouldnt have asked any more about it. So, if you're interested in getting published, write the book! Revise the book. Have a polished, workshopped, interesting book you're passionate about.
Needless to say, I'm incredibly grateful that she was more interested in my book than in my horrible fashion sense that morning!
www.katrinakittle.com
Twitter: @katrinakittle
www.facebook.com/KatrinaKittleFanClub
http://katrinakittle.blogspot.com/ (Reasons to Be Happy Blog, lists a reason to be happy everyday)
There's a hash-tagreasonstobehappy for your tweeting purposes. :-)
