Two memories, and choosing the one that matters

Two memories popped up on my FB feed today – one from my teaching life, and one from my writing life.

The first is from my last (very tough) year of teaching at Conestoga College. I remember it so well - the student walking up to me, grinning, holding out this large tea, and the rest of the class laughing and breaking into applause. Just a little moment of kindness and fun.

 It was a tough time back then – unexpected financial pressures, unhappy people in the family, gruelling work schedule at a job I didn’t really love anymore, and a lot of difficult juggling. I was a drudge. Depressed. Struggling. Trying to be everything to everyone when all I really wanted to be was a published author. And that dream was slipping further and further away.

The other memory that popped up was my first book signing, two years ago, after presenting at the CANSCAIP Packaging Your Imagination conference. I was living my dream: having a published book, and presenting at a conference which I had attended for years as an unpublished nobody.

Two memories. 

Okay, despite literary awards being awarded, and books being named to lists, and writers/creators turning up on Zoom at the speed of light, let's face it: for most of us, this pandemic is wreaking havoc on the writing life. My own writing life is a shambles: a book that disappeared into the abyss last winter, another project relegated to numerous slush piles, and a work-in-progress that I fear will never get into print. It was all looking so hopeful, but now, who knows?

But when I saw these two memories on my Facebook feed this morning, I felt a little nudge (or perhaps something stronger) and a voice inside telling me to get over myself. Get on with it. Look at the big picture and be grateful.

Because, as I sit here in this crazy year that is 2020, it's that moment of kindness in the classroom nine years ago that resonates with me the most.

 

Do you have a publishing dream? Here's how mine went... (yes, it has a happy ending)

When I was preparing for the Breaking In Panel at CANSCAIP’s annual Packaging Your Imagination conference, I knew there was no way I’d be able to share my entire how-I-became-a-published-author story. 

Because, you know, it’s a long story.

So, I’m writing this a few days before the conference takes place. Here’s a look at what I hope turns up during the panel discussion but might not: the stuff that I’d really like to share with you writers out there who are trying to get through the door to publication.

I had a dream.

Yes, I was that kid who read voraciously. Yes, I was that kid who wrote all the time. Yes, Language Arts and English teachers loved me. Yes, I studied English Literature at university. Yes, I have a BA and an MA. But the most important thing about my youthful literary education is that my dream was always to be a published author, to see my book on the shelf of a bookstore. I bet this is a dream I share with all of you.

That folder in the front? PYI 1998. Yup. I've been
coming to this conference for 20 years, and this year,
I'm finally a presenter. What a thrill!

First submission

In 1983, I was out of grad school, in my first job, and knew it was time to get serious about completing and querying some of my writing projects (poetry, a contemporary novel, a children’s middle-grade novel).

The kids’ book, about a girl who wanted to play goal for her brother’s hockey team, was complete and, I felt, polished. So I researched publishers accepting manuscripts and sent it off.

A month later I got a reply: “We really like this story and are considering it for publication. We would like to have more readers on our editorial board look at it and we’ll be in touch.”

Wow! I thought. That was easy!

Two-and-a-half years later (after much back-and-forth to see if they were still interested; they were) the story was turned down.

In those two-and-a-half years, a young girl named Justine Blainey took the Toronto Minor Hockey Association to the Ontario Supreme Court to win the legal right for girls to play on boys’ hockey teams. She won. She took her case to the Supreme Court of Canada and won there, too. So now it was the law that girls could play on boys’ hockey teams.

In other words, my story was no longer timely, and it was rejected for publication.

What did I take from this experience?

1. Publishers are slow.

2. Timing is everything. And sometimes it’s out of your control. (Justine Blainey hadn’t hit the news when I wrote and submitted my story).

3. I must be doing something right, because they liked it and considered it for publication. So I should keep doing what I’m doing.

And that’s what I did.

It’s a long journey.

I kept writing my stories and sending them off.

To address the issue of slow publishers, I made sure I had lots of projects on the go, lots of queries out at different publishers, so I wasn’t sitting there waiting for one publisher, one project. I still got lots of rejections, but I felt productive and in charge of the querying process – which was nice, because so much of it is out of your control.

To address that lack of control – and the “timing is everything” issue – I made sure I was aware of publishers’ submission guidelines. I did lots of research, made phone calls and sent letters (yes, some of this was pre-email). I knew who was accepting YA fantasy and who wasn’t; who wanted middle-grade or early chapter books; whose submission period was January to June. And I followed those guidelines to the letter. I perfected my cover letter. I kept a log of my queries and submissions.

A few pages from my submission log. A lot of rejection there. Also a
lot of blank spaces where publishers never got back to me.
It's hard, just saying.

And I got lots of rejections. Lots.

Sometimes I got close: “These first three chapters are interesting and we would like to see the entire manuscript.”

Sometimes I got so close it was crushing: “We feel your manuscript has potential for publication, but I’m sorry, we just accepted another story about a girl and a dog.” Or, “This is a strong novel, but we are moving towards more urban settings in our YA fiction.”

Or my personal favourite: “This novel deserves to be published, just not by us right now.”

I have a folder full of rejections. An email archive, too. It’s pretty sad.

I was sad. Discouraged. But dammit – I had this dream…

Yeah. Okay. Thanks.

Not all bad – building on the successes

There were some successes in among all that rejection.

An educational publisher, Nelson Canada, accepted a couple of my manuscripts and turned them into novels for a school novel study program (CANSCAIP’s Sylvia McNicoll had some novels in this program, too).

I turned to freelancing and had reviews, articles and stories for kids published in magazines and newspapers. I did a lot of corporate writing and built up my editing skills. I became a college teacher and taught writing skills and business communications for 15 years at three difference colleges.

I did some self-publishing – one of the Nelson novels (when it went out of print, because teachers were still asking for it), a sequel, and a sports novel for a niche market.

I thought of myself as a writer – but, there was still this dream. A real book on a shelf in a bookstore…

What’s the point?

But the dream wasn’t coming true. I wrote the stories that just kept welling up out of me. Publishers kept saying “This is good, but…” “We really like this, but…” “This is a well-written novel, but…”

I mean, really, what’s the point any more? And add to that other things like job stresses, raising a family, Life.

I nearly gave up, so many times.

And then…

Fast forward to the spring of 2017. I’m querying a YA novel about a girl, a musical prodigy, named Imogen St. Pierre. It took me three years to write. I don’t have high hopes for it because, well, why would I? Rejections have already started to arrive.

But I love this story, this character. Writing her was the most satisfying, exciting, positive creative writing experience I’ve ever had. So even if Weird Girl (the working title) never sees the light of day, I consider it a win. Possibly the best writing I’ve ever done.

And then one day I get an email from Peter Carver at Red Deer Press: “I will be recommending to my publisher that we include it in our list as soon as possible. Thank you, again, for thinking of Red Deer for this remarkable story.”

Skating Over Thin Ice was published in June 2018.

Do the math. Yup. It took me 35 years – 1983 to 2018 – to “break in” and see my book on a shelf in a bookstore.

So if you learn anything from my story, let it be this:

Rejection is part of the process. Accept, learn from it, and move on.

Publishing is a business, and there’s only so much you can control.

Write the best story, your story, and keep working on your writing.

And most important of all, do not give up. Believe in yourself and your dream, and keep trying.

(I really, really hope it doesn’t take you 35 years, though…)

My rejections. Some of them, anyway...

Because if I had given up, my dream would never have come true: seeing my book on a shelf in a bookstore.

The Bookshelf, Guelph

Resources, suggestions, tips for breaking in:

1. Being a writer is a professional undertaking. So be a professional. Join a professional writing organization (such as CANSCAIP, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Professional Writers Association of Canada…). Attend professional development sessions and conferences such as Packaging Your Imagination. Libraries and community groups, literary festivals all offer workshops. Be informed.

2. Enter contests. An internet search will bring you tons of suggestions – literary festivals, the CBC Literary Prizes, libraries, organizations. (And here’s a great story from author Lisa Dalrymple about how contests helped her break into publication). 

3. Connect with other writers on social media or in person. There’s probably a critique group on your area – or start one, if that’s your thing (it isn’t mine, but that’s just me). Make writerly friends in person or through social media. Don’t let it be a distraction, but be encouraged by being part of a community of writers. (I don’t know how I would have kept going if not for my writerly friends! You know who you are!)

4. All writing is grist to the mill. Find opportunities to build your writing cred. For example, does your local independent bookstore or library want book reviews for their newsletter or website? Explore freelance opportunities (PWAC is s great place to start for tips). 

4. Write your stories. Not stories to fit some market, or check a box on a publisher’s checklist. Write the stories that are in you. Published or not, you are a writer, and those are the stories that matter.

5. And finally, the most important thing to remember: don’t give up. 

Woozles Books in Halifax, N.S.

Trends in YA Fiction: Changes afoot...?

"What's trending?" someone asked a panel of publishers, agents and editors at the Packaging Your Imagination (PYI) conference this past weekend in Toronto. Sitting at the front of the room were Red Deer publisher and editor, Peter Carver (moderating), editor Christine Harken of Clockwise Press, agent Barbara Berson of Helen Heller Agency, editor Suzanne Sutherland of Harper Collins, and Art Director Michael Solomon of Groundwood Books.

It was my last session of the day - and the fifth, including the morning keynote - in the same room. Lunch was a distant memory, and the drive home down the dark, rainy 401 was looming (after the upcoming final keynote, of course - yes, in the same room).

I admit it: I was fading.

We'd already heard about promoting your published book and how helpful agents can be when negotiating terms for your published book. Which is all great if you have a published book.

(I don't. Well, actually I do. Two of them. But it was so long ago, so I'm classified as "starting out" again. Agents, book promotion? I wish!)

But the question about trends made me sit up, and here's why:

Trends interest me. As a writer, I've done my research, checked out the lists of award-winning YA books and their publishers. I know what teens are reading and buying and taking out from the library and maybe even studying in school. Books like Eleanor and Park, or The Hunger Games, or We Are All Made of Molecules, or anything by John Green.

But, but... that's just not the kind of story I write. I'm constantly asking myself: Should I write for the market, or should I write for myself? My stories are different from those best-sellers. Less edgy and angsty, more - gentle.

So, back to the conference and the panel at the front of the (now very familiar) room:

"What's trending?"

The short answer was "Diversity". Not just cultural, ethnic diversity among authors and the stories they tell, but gender diversity as well. This comes as no surprise, of course, if we're in touch with the world around us. Kids reading about diversity is a good thing, even if the current YA lens is pretty darn dark...

But what did make me sit up even straighter was the comment by editor Suzanne Sutherland of Harper Collins - which drew nods from the others - that (I'm paraphrasing) given the length of time it takes to acquire, produce and release a book into the market, today's trend may not be around in a couple of years. Dinosaurs were mentioned at this point. Also wizards. And, of course, vampires.

The panel's observation gives me hope. Why? Because maybe change is in the air...

Maybe that manuscript I'm sending out to publishers RIGHT NOW is on the crest of a new wave. - a wave of gentler, subtler stories for thoughtful teens. Stories the reader has to work for, but is just as deeply engaging as the dark, edgy books showing up on many of the lists today.

Come on - there have to be readers out there who would prefer a string quartet to a heavy metal rock band. (Yes, my novel is about a musician. And a hockey player.) (Ok, a violent hockey player...)

That's the thing about trends. They do change. And they change because this is what readers want to read. In publisher-speak: this is what sells.

If the recent U.S. election showed us anything (oh, well, it showed us way too much, actually, but that's another story), it confirmed that young people are smart, aware and educating themselves about the world around them. (This wonderful piece by The Globe's Mark Kingwell, a philosophy professor, expresses how wrong it is to underestimate millennials, who were, of course, teenagers just a few years ago.)

As a writer, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we are about to see the next trend in YA fiction creeping its way through the current manuscript submission process and making its presence known to all those acquisitions editors out there: gentler, well-written stories for engaged and thoughtful teens.

And not a dysfunctional family - or vampire - in sight.