The good, the bad and the very ugly...

All right, so here it is: RuneStone is going to be closing. Ugh. Just typing it makes me feel icky. I just found out about it officially last week, though I suspected long before that time. So much so that I’ve already written query letters to other agents/publishers but I haven’t sent them. This is the chance you take with a small press, especially a new small press. It’s a tough business that demands a lot of time and resources, and not all of the companies can make it.

This, of course, means that RuneStone will not be publishing the sequel. Which sucks. Especially because initial feedback from one of my first readers (Stacy G.) is that the story works! It also means that The Silver Spoon could potentially go out of print while I’m trying to find a new home for one or both books.

However, as many people have pointed out (including my husband, my parents, Stacy G., Ed and more), this could also be an opportunity. The Silver Spoon got really good reviews. Several people who are way more accomplished than I am have read the book and said lovely things about it. Both of these things might help convince an agent or a publisher to consider the book. There’s also the possibility of landing an agent or a publisher that will help me reach a larger audience.

So, here we go again. Querying. I was planning to do it this year anyway for a different project, but this is a little trickier. I don’t know, for example, if publishers and agents are mostly against previously published material or not. Obviously, some people (Linnea Sinclair and MaryJanice Davidson, for example) do very well in small press and get picked up by a larger publishing company. But I don’t know what that means for me. I don’t have the name recognition that either of them had as small press authors. Guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

Right now, I’m in the process of revising my query letters, gathering review information, researching agents and collecting author quotes. By the way, if there are any published authors out there reading this who’ve read The Silver Spoon and would be willing to blurb it, PLEASE let me know. Yes, I am shameless, but I could really use the help. : )

Anyway, my goal is to have five letters/emails out by Monday, January 23. I also need to update my Publisher’s Marketplace webpage to let people know that The Silver Spoon is available.

For those who were eagerly awaiting the sequel, I am truly sorry about the delay. I hope, though, that this may mean a general improvement in the availability of my books...eventually. In the meantime, please consider sending me an email with your name and address (either snail or email). I'm going to try to put together a mailing list that I hope will help demonstrate to a publisher/agent that there is interest in the sequel. Obviously, your information won't be sold. It's just to say to the publisher/agent that XXX people are interested in receiving a postcard (or email) about the sequel when it's published.

So, stay tuned...it's going to be an interesting year!