The First Two Hundred [updated: Make that NINE hundred seventy five see post 24]

CJSimone

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Update: My 2017 publisher wanted to discard the first five years (34,000 words) of my story arc, and after unsuccessful attempts to negotiate, I asked for my rights back. I have my THIRD contract on the damn book and just sent back the last-chance author's revisions. Book should come out some time this spring although it isn't officially scheduled yet.



My final stats were


1453 useless queries to literary agents






117 queries to small presses resulting in


1 signed contract 2016 (Ellora's Cave, went out of business)


1 signed contract 2017 (NineStar Press, irreconcilable diffs, asked for my rights back)


1 signed contract 2019 (Sunstone Press)


Congrats on finding a publisher (again) and hope this time everything works out for you! :)
 

I.M.Lost

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I've been (silently) following this thread for ages, as I relate to you in the sense that I have one story to tell. Your experience is such a good reminder that it really only does take one yes. I'll keep this in the back of my mind when I'll inevitably starting sobbing after 50 rejections. Congratulations - your tenacity is astounding and you've earned this.
 

AHunter3

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I'm finally in print

Purchase links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble*, Kobo, Apple, and Sunstone Press's own site are directly below the cover art.

I have a fairly formidable publicity budget but for presumably obvious reasons I'm less likely to be making personal appearances at LGBT centers, women's studies classes, and community libraries than I'd figured on.

The first tier of people that I've gotten to write reviews have been college newspaper folks. They don't carry much clout outside of their own campus but campus people are my target audience — faculty and students alike — and as a former college newspaper editor myself I figured I could sell the prospect of writing a review of my book to them more easily than to mainstream press.

Snippets from their reviews, with links to the full pieces, also on the above-linked page.


* I've heard that Amazon — which runs its own delivery service — has suspended all but "essential" deliveries. B & N uses regular mainstream existing shippers, which makes it more likely that a paperback copy can be obtained from B & N.
 
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Jason

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The main project is a memoir and I think memoirs take longer to sell to an agent.

I could care less if I ever get anything else published...

Hadn't seen this thread until the update below, but on reading it under the "new posts" section of the forum, I saw your second post here where you said "I could care less"...it doesn't matter because you re published now, but that phrase is written wrong. Many people fail to realize that it should be:

I couldn't care less...

If you could care less, then there is a point of care less than what you have for other work.

I'm finally in print

Purchase links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble*, Kobo, Apple, and Sunstone Press's own site are directly below the cover art.

I have a fairly formidable publicity budget but for presumably obvious reasons I'm less likely to be making personal appearances at LGBT centers, women's studies classes, and community libraries than I'd figured on.

The first tier of people that I've gotten to write reviews have been college newspaper folks. They don't carry much clout outside of their own campus but campus people are my target audience — faculty and students alike — and as a former college newspaper editor myself I figured I could sell the prospect of writing a review of my book to them more easily than to mainstream press.

Snippets from their reviews, with links to the full pieces, also on the above-linked page.


* I've heard that Amazon — which runs its own delivery service — has suspended all but "essential" deliveries. B & N uses regular mainstream existing shippers, which makes it more likely that a paperback copy can be obtained from B & N.

That said, congrats on getting published! :)