Yes......my contract from Kensington arrived yesterday......all 17 pages of it.

I may have misunderstood my editor, but I thought she said it would be about four weeks until it arrived.  So needless to say, it was a very welcome surprise. 

And I've been very busy working on my current manuscript, novel #2. 

I wanted to address a few comments that had been left here the other day........the first one was about me sharing my work to the public and the commenter mentioned a contest I had entered where I shared my first chapter.  Yes....very true.  But sharing the chapter for a contest is a little different than putting excerpts on your blog or website.  And don't forget.....when that chapter was entered into the contest, I did not have a signed contract with my publisher.

The other item I wanted to address here was in reference to a comment about agents........First let me say, that I feel very strongly that when it comes to the profession of writing, we're all very individual.  (In such a multitude of ways, that would take a separate blog entry)  But I'm referring to the fact that some authors have agents and some don't.  Like most things in life, I feel "whatever works for you." 

But the commenter stated "Agents are also good because they handle movie rights, foreign rights, audio rights, those kinds of things that they know in and out and are confusing to just the average person.  They have lawyers in house.........."

This is all very true.  However, I wanted to clarify that all of the above is possible with a publisher without an agent.  Those words are all in my contract, about world rights, movies, etc. should this occur.  And publishing houses also have attorney's in house to handle the legality of such things.

Some of you that visit here are new writers, and I didn't want to have you confused based on the comment.  But of course, no matter if you have an agent or you don't.......the bottom line is (as with any legal document) you, as the one signing it, have the obligation to read it well and understand what you're signing.

Well, I'm taking a break tomorrow......you may recall that the Cedar Key Red Hatters are going to Orlando to see Menopause, the Musical.  Tomorrow's the day and I'm really looking forward to it.

Join me here next time and I'll tell you how it went............

No, I'm afraid my feet still haven't touched ground since I received that very important phone call on Tuesday.  I have a feeling I'll probably be hovering on Cloud Nine for the next year. And once my book is released.....I still won't feel that ground beneath my feet.

I want to thank all of you for leaving so many nice good wishes in my comment section, for the emails you've sent and the phone calls.  I deeply appreciate it and it makes my success that much sweeter. 

I did celebrate a bit, but by Thursday it was back to work for me.  What you see above is the completed manuscript of Seeking Seeking, sitting proudly on my desk in my writers studio.  I've made the additions that my editor had suggested and "my baby" is now on its way back to New York City.  My editor also asked for a Reading Group set of questions that will be in the back of the book.  I worked on that Friday and got fifteen questions put together.  The last item was getting the manuscript on a CD.  I'm not that tech savvy, but with the help of my daughter I managed to accomplish that request.

I wanted to let you know that not only do I appreciate the comments and emails, I do read every single one of them.  Some of you had questions pertaining to both the process of getting a book published and about the story, so I'm going to answer some of those today.

First off, I wanted to give you a little background on Kensington, my publisher.  They're located on Third Avenue in New York City and you can visit their website at http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

They are the last remaining independent US publisher of hardcover, trade and mass market paperback books.  They've been in business for thirty-four years and release books under the imprints of Kensington (which will be my imprint) Zebra, Pinnacle and Brava.  Kensington releases close to 600 new books per year and they have a backlist of more than 3000 titles.  Competitive marketing strategies are Kensington's hallmark.

With that said....on to the first question.  Somebody commented on the fact that I managed to sell my manuscript myself, without an agent.  Yes, that's true.  It was mentioned in the comment that "several major publishers specifically say (in Writer's Market, etc.) that they don't accept non-agented submissions.  If that applies, how did you get around this stricture?"

Since Kensington did accept un-agented submissions, there was no "stricture."  For any writers out there, always, always read either Writer's Market or the publishers website to see what their guidelines are in relation to submissions.  And the commenter was correct.  Very few large houses accept un-agented submissions anymore.  To do so would be a total waste of time both for the writer and the publisher.  Guidelines are there to be followed. 

I don't have a definitive answer as to why it has become more difficult to submit to a large house without an agent.  But here's my theory on it............I can recall about thirty years ago when almost all the large NY houses accepted un-agented submissions.  Over that time, many publishers have merged and merged again becoming extremely large.  I have also seen a dramatic increase in the amount of people wanting to be authors.  Factor all of this in and you can only imagine the volume of submissions that arrives each day.  I feel many of the publishers wanted to have a "filtering out" factor.  A way to weed out the material for what they were looking for and what was excellent writing.  An agent does this for them.  An agent, more or less, acts as that "middle man."

Concerning my own experience......I had attended the huge Romance Writers of America Conference in Dallas last July.  It was extremely beneficial.  I was able to attend panels with editors from the various publishing companies telling us exactly what they were looking for.  Letting us know if they accepted un-agented submissions and how to go about doing a query to them.  I had attended the panel with Kensington, where Audrey LaFehr (my editor) presided.  I listened, I took notes, and I came home and printed out the first three chapters (which she said is what they accepted) of my manuscript and I sent it out.  But.......I had a bit of an "in" because I had attended the conference, so therefore on my manuscript box I was able to print "RWA Conference Related Material."  Did it get my manuscript to the readers desk faster?  I really don't know, but maybe.

On to the next step.....that was when Audrey's Editorial Assistant, Amanda Rouse, read my work first.  So you could say she's really that "middle person" much like an agent.  If Amanda feels the work is worthy, is something they're looking for and something that will sell.....she then passes it on to Audrey.  Actually, Amanda was my first contact from the company on Dec. 11 via email.  She was as enthused about my story as I was.

So for me, this is how my experience has gone and I hope that answers the question about having an agent or not having one.  One other note on this subject......I did have somebody ask "you're getting a a lawyer, right?"  No, I'm not.  There's no need to.  First of all, I have a degree as a Legal Secretary from college.  I've taken numerous Business Law courses, etc.  But secondly, I feel quite capable of looking over the contract and then signing it.  And based on all that Audrey told me about it, I understand it and I'm pleased with it.

Another question had to do with possibly changing the title of my work.  My editor didn't say that we were, she just suggested another title, which I also liked and felt it might even work better based on the second book.  But, she did go on to say, "once it gets to that department, they may not want to change it at all."  So we'll wait and see on that.  From a marketing standpoint, of course you want a title that forces a reader to pick up the book.  Therefore, you want the title that you think will best accomplish this.  I would like a title that I can somehow incorporate into the title of my second book.....in other words, something that connects to the first book.  So I'll keep you posted on this.

Another question asked if I'd be posting a few excerpts of the story.  No, I won't and here's why.  While I know that writer groups work well for many writers, I've always chosen not to be involved in one.  Getting my work critiqued by professionals at conferences is a different story.  But I've always been extremely protective of my work.  And now that my manuscript has been sold, I'll be protecting it even more.  However, in a future blog entry, I will share with you a blurb on what the story is about.  Similar to what you'd read on the book jacket.  But I'm afraid everyone will have to wait until Spring 2009 to read the story.

And now......I'm back to working on the second book.  If you have any other questions pertaining to my writing or my work, please feel free to leave them in a comment or email me.

See you here next time.............