140 characters or less

Yesterday, I participated in SFFPit on Twitter. This is one of several pitch sessions scheduled annually, in which authors get several hours in which to pitch their books in a 140 character summary. I pitched three of my manuscripts (the first book of three different threads --- I have written 5 total). One of them, surprisingly Gaia's Hands, got a nibble from a small press.

I sent in my query (cover letter, contact label, marketing plan*, synopsis) and this means I have three queries out. Then I researched the press, and what I read made me nervous.

First, most queries don't include a marketing plan. Traditionally, most authors do not want to market themselves, perhaps because we expect the publisher to promote us. This publisher will not like my marketing plan, because it will at best be me assisting a publisher who will market me.

Second, most of the books they have published have been works of a woman whose name looks very similar to the name of the head of the company, so it appears to have grown out of an individual's self-publishing.

Third, and I made this clear in my marketing plan, I have limited time to market myself. I have a day job 9 months out of the year, teaching classes in human services and psychology. It's hard enough to find writing time, and I only do so because I can't stand being passive in my off-time and the voices demand that they be let loose on paper. (Ok, the only voices I hear are those of my characters, and I don't hear-hear them. Don't panic.).

Fourth, like many self-publishing outfits, their book covers are of a bare-bones variety familiar to readers of self-published fiction: black with a simple picture. (No, this is not a hill I would die on; it's just that I have pictures in my head of what I'd like, and a niece I'd love to commission to do the work).

I will hear them out if they eventually want to take me on. I will run any contract past a lawyer if I get a bite (or at least run it past my friend who has retired from law, and I will pay him fairly even if that means taking his whole family to Pizza Ranch).

I feel sad, though, because this is the first nibble I've ever gotten on a pitch. Writers face an industry where it's easier for the big publishers to pick new books that look like previous books that have sold well. I know it's tough out there -- a Facebook friend of mine, who has had several novels published, is now out of that contract. Luckily, she has enough fans and a good enough reputation that her fans will follow her to self-publishing.

Ah well, maybe one of the other two will bite.