Discovering the Words for My Dreams

by Julie Larose
(Prescott, Ontario, Canada)

Being a published author has always been a dream of mine. Little did I know that my nighttime dreams would lead me to that place!

Writing and drawing have been my biggest passions since I was very young. I wrote and illustrated my first tiny book around the age of five years old. Over the years, I wrote many short stories for school or my own pleasure. Some ended up in student literary collections, but when I left university, my writing slowed to a trickle as work and family took up all my time.

After second daughter's birth, I felt compelled to write again. I would have intense dreams about plots and scenarios, and these would follow and haunt me until I wrote them down. I began some novels and wrote short stories this way. I was in no hurry to finish them; I knew I would write more later in life. However, one story kept growing. Every time my mind was idle, whether house painting, gardening, or just dreaming, new scenes developed in my head. I wrote most of my book out longhand in scraps of time I found while caring for my kids. After hundreds of pages, I typed it all out and began editing it into a coherent story.

I very much enjoyed rereading what I had written and allowed my husband and some friends to see it. "You have to publish this," they insisted. I was taken aback at first. I had written all this for my own enjoyment. Would others truly appreciate it as well?

I searched the Internet to find out how to have a book published. I ran across a few online publishers, including PublishAmerica, but was very wary. I refused to pay a vanity press, and thought if I sent in my story by email, someone might steal it. Big publishing houses all said the same thing on their websites - they would only accept manuscripts submitted through literary agents. Therefore, I queried agents throughout Canada.

Meanwhile, I polished my manuscript. I sent it to several friends and qualified acquaintances and asked them to be brutally honest in their reviews. The manuscript went through many revisions and even some plot changes though this interactive process. Meanwhile, I waited for the literary agents to respond. When I finally did receive a few replies, they said the same thing: "We are not accepting any new clients at this time."

I was a bit stumped as to what to do. I couldn't afford to pay a vanity press to print my book, nor did I want to. My book was timely to current events of the day, so I did not want to sit on it for ten years until an agent came available. Then, I came across an interview in my regional newspaper with a local author who had used PublishAmerica. He was well pleased with the results. I decided to take another look at their site.

Perusing the information a little more, I decided PA would be a good choice for a first novel. I emailed my manuscript and they replied a few weeks later, accepting it and offering me a contract. I scoured the contract carefully along with some friends, making sure all was legitimate. They offered three choices for editing: one was no further editing, to print as is, the next was for the author to have more time to edit it personally or professionally, and the third was to have their team of editors look over the book. I chose the third.

While, in my opinion, my book was a finished product that had seen many revisions, I was hoping for some professional back-and-forth with their editor to discuss storyline. Instead, they provided grammatical editing. My biggest disappointment was that the title I had chose long ago for my story could not be used because it was too close to an existing title. The support staff and I brainstormed over many emails to find an appropriate new title.

Around this time, I joined the PublishAmerica message board, finding authors at all stages of their journey to publication, from pre-submission to those who had published several books by many different publishers. They helped me understand more about the details of the publishing process and gave innumerable tips for marketing. I had hoped that the publishers would provide more publicity, but realized a lot would be up to me.

Soon, my manuscript would be heading into the cover design phase. While many authors assured me that the cover department was excellent at capturing the mood of the book, I had a look in mind. I drew up an idea and submitted it to the cover department, hoping they would find a similar concept for my cover. To my surprise, they suggested my original artwork be used on the cover.

Other authors strongly urged me to develop a website. I knew how much my husband and I enjoyed visiting JK Rowling's website over and over, and I hoped for a similar hook on my own site. I decided to showcase a different character from the book each month, drawing up a picture and writing a little blurb of background info. I hoped it would keep people interested in returning to my site. So far, it has worked! While I started building my site on Freewebs, a free site, I decided to go ahead and buy a domain name for $20 a year, to add to the professional image. I also decided to print up some bookmarks about my book and website.

I found the prospect of marketing myself and my book quite daunting, since I am a generally shy person. However, PublishAmerica got the ball rolling. They requested the addresses of local newspapers, and sent out press releases. The local paper received the info and called me for an interview. Bolstered by this, I approached the local bookstore and asked to do a signing. The bookstore owner agreed to have a signing on my release date and I went to my interview with this information in hand. The bookstore pre-ordered 30 copies of my book for the signing and to keep in stock.

Soon after the interview appeared, I was asked to do a reading at a library gala. At the reading, I advertised the bookstore release party. The gala was also televised on our local cable channel. The morning of my book signing there was a terrible snowstorm, and only a few people showed up, though several called to give their regrets. However, the bookstore later sold out of my book.

I saw that many authors travelled long distances to sell their books and hold book signings, and realised this would be impossible for me. I had just given birth to my third child and had neither the money nor time to travel. Therefore, I decided to promote via the Internet.

Every time I visit another author's website, I sign their guestbook with a link to my website. I sent in a book to a website called "TeensReadToo.com," who provided a free, honest book review and links to my book. I have talked about my book on various message boards. I promote my book on MySpace, Facebook, Author's Den, and other free book promotion sites.

I have also found a lot of free publicity by cultivating relationships. A newspaper reporter I knew through my volunteering was eager to interview me. This led to his colleague featuring me in a 15-minute interview on the local cable channel, on a segment called "Reader's Corner." An author I met on the message boards interviewed me live as part of a 30 minute radio show. I also took advantage of promotion offered by organizations I was a part of, such as the alumni association newsletter and the "bragging" section of my volunteer organization's publication.

I also began writing more articles for various sources. I started a series of parenting articles for a regional parenting periodical. While I write the articles for free, the "about the author" section always features my website. I've had other articles printed as well, which gets my name out in the public's eye.

Friends and family have been a great source of free publicity. While many bought the book out of curiosity, they often pass it along to friends and their local organizations, which has resulted in more sales.

I must admit, when I first considered publishing my book, I had pie-in-the-sky visions of earning thousands of dollars, movie rights, and recognition. Meeting many other authors has shown that this is not a reality for most writers. Working with PublishAmerica has disillusioned others because these lofty visions have not materialised. However, in hindsight I realize that choosing PublishAmerica was the best route for me at this time of my life. I may not be making much money, but I also did not have to pay anything to have my book in print and widely available online. There was not any plot feedback about my book, but the story I sent in was complete and I am very proud of what I accomplished. Best of all, my story has been enjoyed by hundreds of individuals in several countries.

While PublishAmerica calls itself a traditional publisher and gives a $1 advance to its authors, it truly is more like a free self-publisher, where the onus of editing and marketing is on the author. The learning experience this has provided me has been invaluable. I will probably publish my second novel, a sequel to the first, through PublishAmerica as well. After that, I will likely publish my illustrated children's books through a local self-publisher or vanity press, now that I am more aware of the overall process. In the future, I hope to create enough of a name for myself, through my articles and books, to find an agent and traditional publisher for some of the more ambitious novels I'm working on.

It's a journey, and I have had a lot of good luck, avoided the scams and pitfalls, and cultivated some useful relationships and contacts along the way. And I have enjoyed the journey very much!

Visit Julie Larose Books.