It is 8:09am and I finally stood after the second snooze on my alarm. In my inbox, there is a note from Terry, he sent the final cover art for my anthology of short stories. I’m so glad I connected with everyone at Sage publishing. It was a long road from my desk to the bookshelf of my favorite independent bookstore, which will carry my book upon release. Karla worked hard during the entire sales season to make sure my work found the proper shelves to be offered to readers, from the sales conference where she was told everything about my book, to the notes I shared directly to her before she went on her sales tour, she made sure my voice was heard. I do not know if my work would have been picked up by the big 5 of publishing. I'm grateful for small presses and new technological advancements like print on demand. In what has become a frantic search for the next tent pole release to be turned into a movie franchise before publication, they make it possible to have my voice and that of many others available to readers.
I always knew I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to have my work published and available to be read by others. I never knew the road to publication included so many moving parts. Every time I walked into the bookstore, I assumed the titles I purchased were magically crafted and sent to the store to wait for me. It takes an entire army to get a book from an idea and/or manuscript into a physical or even digital copy available for purchase. I could have gone the self-publishing route, which is in it of itself an entirely different ecosystem on which to operate, but I am happy with my decision to have the team at Sage bringing my work into fruition, and for the education I received about the role of each individual department into the publication of someone’s voice.
From the editors to the marketing department, to the design team, and to Karla who picked my work to pitch to the right venues at the right time. My gratitude is embedded in every word written which I hope will bring new inspiration to someone like me, who also believes books magically appear on the bookshelves of their favorite store.
Until next time.
About the author:
Luis is an avid dreamer whose favorite pastime is to create thoughtful vignettes grounded in the mundane. He is also a hopeless romantic looking for his chance to write his own fairytale and publish it as an autobiography. He resides in Orlando, FL. He travels across the globe in his mind daily.
*This is a fiction exercise designed to illustrate the concepts learned over the week in a professional writing program. It focuses on what small presses, journals, university presses, and alternative means of publication mean for writers and how they can leverage them for their best chance of publication and circulation of their work.