more animals

It’s a bad thing when an author runs out of author copies…especially when she really needed one.  Or two.  It’s even worse when it’s in the middle of a bunch of slush and goop (not quite snow, not as pretty) falling from the sky.

And during the middle of the Christmas shopping season?

Sigh.  Although seriously, a trip to the bookstore is always good, right?  Hit three of them, found the books I needed at the first one, but since I was in the area, figured I might as well sign stock.

One of the cashiers at the first Borders I stopped at mention he did some writing himself.

Then he asks… THE QUESTION.  The question…the one that no author can answer the same way, I don’t think.

So how hard was it to get published?

I went thru my little spiel, I kind of slipped in through a back door…got into EC right before it took off in a big way, I was in the right time, the right place, doing the right thing…

Then I shrugged and told him really, it seems like most published author stories have that in common.  Having the right story, getting it in front of the right editor, at the right time.  Things that were selling three years ago aren’t selling now (or as much) but things that weren’t selling three years ago are selling.  So much depends on timing, so much depends on the story…and so much depends on the editor who sees your story.

I had a number of editors pass on one particular book that was very important to my career and if there wasn’t one editor who looked at it and saw something she liked, I don’t know if I would been doing what I’m doing right now.

Lots of luck.  Lots of timing.  Lots of persistence.  Because unless you’re really lucky and you’ve got lots and lots of good karma-type energy piled up, just waiting for you, I don’t know how likely it is that the very first story will sell to the very first editor.  Yeah, I think it’s happened, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t happen very often.  So persistence comes in handy.

Because if you’ve got a good story, then you have to keep getting out to people.  That’s the only way it’s going to get in front of the right people.