Update 45 - Traditional Publishing

When I was a high school kid I had a copy of the Writer’s Market. It was kind of the go-to guide in my eyes pre-internet and pre self-publishing rise. It seemed to me that the ultimate validation I could receive as an author would be to be traditionally published. For years I saw traditional publishing as the only way I could acceptably call myself an author.

I bought a new copy of the Writer’s Market from Writer’s Digest. I have only been thinking about traditional publishing for the past couple months, but it seemed like a good place to start. And I was right. The practical advice in the book, including the essays, are incredibly insightful. It provides a chart for industry standard writing and editing rates. Most importantly, the book has hundreds of agents and publishers listed, along with what they’re looking for. Last night I got to flagging every literary agency that might take me on.

It feels validating, to see publication outside of Amazon as an option. I know my work will be of good enough quality, I just need to keep spinning the tale, turning it, hammering it.

It’s almost felt like I’ve completely disregarding traditional publishing, which was what I really wanted growing up. Self-publishing allows for certain advantages, so it’s always an option. For now, I’m 130k words into my draft and starting to work on agent queries.

But I don’t really have anyone to share that with. I’ve flapped my mouth about writing for 20 years and have one self-published, co-authored series of essays to show for it. So I’ve shut up about writing, stopped looking for the validation, and I’m doing it for me. I’ll finish True North and share it. It’s kind of lovely to know there’s so many avenues where I might have a chance.