Monday, January 23, 2012

The Publishing Gamble

Well, I have just submitted Phantom Express to Chronicle Books in the hope that they will see what so many people have in my little book.   It's always such an exciting prospect sending to a publisher or an agent, but there's also so much nerves at stake.  I think the best I can liken it to is playing poker.  I know, I know, publishing and gambling are nothing alike, but they share many things in common. 

Like gambling, publishing takes a lot of luck and a lot of nerve.  You have to know how to play your cards right, to read the table.  The publisher is the house, they hold all the stakes and the house nearly always wins when it comes to accepting your bet.  As a writer its so easy to try to steel your nerves and then have them utterly crushed when you get a rejection letter.  A rejection letter is as much a blow as losing a big hand.  You can be so sure of winning, only to have just a slightly lower hand.

In my case, I hope that I'm holding a flush when it comes to Chronicle. I hope they'll see my gambler's mentality in approaching an independent publisher for my unique work.  I think they'll look at my hand, see what I have and see how they can benefit by it.  After all, in gambling and writing, the house always wants you to come back and spend more.

No comments:

Post a Comment