Latino Sci-Fi
1-day Conference!
University of
Calif.-Riverside
Wed. April 30, 2014
To my knowledge, this is the first event dedicated to Latino
Sci-Fi Lit. I'm excited by the possibilities. Given some of the presenting
authors, I would guess that other Latino Spec Lit might also be discussed.
Please help spread the word to those interested in Latino
SciFi. If you are in the L.A. area and can attend, come and add your input, por
favor. You can check the presenters' websites for their works.
The event will be free and open to the public. More info on
LaBloga as it becomes available and at UC-Riverside's calendar.
by Guillermo Luna
[What follows is a response to Rudy Ch. Garcia’s blog post, A Latino’s Chance in Hell of getting published? La Bloga understands that every author's career is unique. Some
La Bloga's authors have agents or are seeking one. This guest post describes Luna's
experience with the companies mentioned and the decisions he made about lit
agents.]
I found Rudy Garcia’s post interesting because I was able to
get my book published in December of 2013 and it was the first book I had ever
written. In retrospect, it wasn’t nearly as hard as it should have been. The
way I went about getting published was like this: first, I tried to figure out
what would be commercial. I was reading Dracula
by Bram Stoker at the time so I figured maybe I should write a book about a
monster. You can’t go wrong with monsters, right? I also had no desire to write
literary fiction since “pretty” sentences aren’t my game. I’m too manly for
pretty sentences. Snork!
My writing began in 2008 but the biggest surprise about the
whole writing process occurred in 2010 when I bought the 2010 Writers Market book and subsequently discovered that nobody
wanted to read my book. The nobodies I’m referring to in that sentence are
agents.
In 2010 my book, The Odd Fellows, wasn’t ready to be read by anyone but like all
first time writers I was eager to get it published and fantasized that my book
would sell millions of copies. Wisely, I wasn’t completely delusional and
continued to rewrite my book for another 2 years even as I sent it out. I
created an excel spreadsheet in order to keep track of where my book went and
how the individuals who received it responded. I would suggest all writers do
this.
Agents and publishers usually wanted between 5 pages and the
entire book submitted to them for review. That’s what I sent to a total of 26
agents and publishers. (I submitted my book to Arte Publico Press twice because
I was sure they would publish it. I was wrong. Foundry Literary+Media responded
twice even though I only submitted once. They wanted to drive home that “no,” I
guess.) I did receive a yes from Txxx publishing (even though they hadn’t read
my entire book) but they required that I pay a fee to have my book publish. I
don’t remember how much it was but it was somewhere around $2,100.00. I said,
“No, thank you” but I did, crazily, consider it.
I also received a yes from Axxxxxxx Bay (even though they
didn’t read my entire book either) but that publisher wanted to know how many
Facebook friends I had and wanted me to acknowledge everyone I knew in the
book’s acknowledgements because, “each and every one of those people will buy a
copy of your book.” Also, he didn’t want to edit my book. He wanted me to find
someone to edit my book (and pay for this service). I figured if I was going to
pay to have my book edited I should self-publish and take all the profits. The final strike against this publisher was when I
looked at the mug shots of the writers on the publisher’s website. All had
long, unhappy faces. I’m way too happening
to be part of a group like that!
Ten months later I signed a contract with Bold Strokes
Books. I was certainly apprehensive about signing the contract (because I had
never been in this situation before) and it took me almost a month to sign but
it was a very smart move on my part. At every step along the way Bold Strokes
Books allowed me to have the final say. The book that I wrote and that Bold
Strokes Books published, The Odd Fellows,
is the book I wanted “out there.”
The Odd
Fellows is the book that was in my head. I’m very fortunate that I
found a publisher for my book and what helped me get there was a book called, Ditch the Agent by Jack King. If I
hadn’t stumbled upon his website I might still be unpublished. It never really
occurred to me that publishers might look at a manuscript without an agent yet some publishers are willing to do just
that. Jack King’s website pointed that out to me. I stumbled upon Jack
King’s website sometime in September of 2011 because from that point on I no longer
contacted agents. Instead, I contacted publishers. Between September 2011 and
June 2012 I contacted six publishers, two said yes and I signed with one of
them, Bold Strokes Books.
Advice I would give new writers would be:
1) Continue to rewrite your book even as you send it out. It
can always be better.
2) Make an excel spreadsheet of who you send it to and their
response. This alleviates confusion.
3) Don’t waste time trying to get an agent. Go directly to
publishers.
I honestly feel God was looking out for me the day I
stumbled onto Jack King’s website. I don’t know if Heaven is a place on earth
but it felt like I was in heaven when I held my book in my hands for the very
first time.
Es todo, hoy,
RudyG
