(Originally posted on LiveJournal)
I spent about four years working on a book about mythic motifs for writers – screenwriters mostly, but all writers eventually. And after I finished it, I began the process of trying to find an agent and/or publisher for it. Now, that’s not an easy task when you’ve got a 40 hour a week job in the entertainment business. You do come home from work a bit brain-fried.
The manuscript for The Scribbler’s Guide to the Land of Myth (with a more pragmantic subtitle of “Mythic Motifs for Storytellers”) has actually received consideration at three publishers. But….. there were always “buts”. “But” the senior editor didn’t think the title worked. “But” it’s a rather long manuscript and a 400 page book from a “no name” might be a difficult sell. “But” it could work if it were three volumes and not one.
BUT…..
First off, the material was designed to be ONE volume. One reference book on the shelf. All in one place. ONE. VOLUME. Oh, yeah, I could divide it into three volumes. A good friend was urging me to go that route, since it would be “more money”. But… I’m not actually doing this particular work to make mega-bucks. It’s the ONE reference book I wanted.
Yes, it’s a longish book, but I’ve made it as readable as possible. And the three people who have read it all the way through are enthusiastic about it. As it is.
As for the title… well, yes. It’s offbeat. It’s intended to be so. To be “not so intimidating”, given it’s big and comprehensive. That first senior editor, when he was critiquing the title, commented (paraphrasing here) that he didn’t think the word “scribbler” was going to mean anything to the public, in this day and age of computers. On the other hand, so far, I have not have ONE writer who did not get the whimsy of using the term “scribbler”. It’s always been greeting with a smile. Which was the whole point.
So…. after the various frustrations of the book not getting anywhere nearer to being in print and in front of the target audience, I’ve decided to go the route of print-on-demand. There are such better conditions for this route these days, what with Amazon, and many of the POD publishers having means of delivering to bookstores as well as the individual purchaser. I’ll certainly have to do A LOT of the legwork myself in marketing and promoting the book. But more and more that’s becoming the case, even when a book comes from an established publishing house. So… I’m actually getting jazzed by this prospect.
I’m preparing the manuscript for print layout. (Eeek. Converting a 162,299 word manuscript into a document that has the layout, with headers and fonts and breaks that I want… a lot of work. But after only about 3 days working on it, I’ve gotten about a quarter of it done.) Once the layout is done, I have to send it to a friend who is going to build the index for me (it NEEDS an index). I’m expecting to receive the cover art in another couple of weeks, and that will have to be prepared for the cover. All these little nit-picking things.
But… I’m hoping that in about another four months, The Scribbler’s Guide to Myth (the short title for it) will be ready to be taken in hand by everyone who wanted to know how a mythic motif worked in some piece of writing.
And of course, I’ll have to set up a website for it… and get my own website updated… and send out postcards announcing……..
Yeah. A lot of work ahead of me. But, strangely, I’m looking forward to it.
Comments
lisa_marli – Feb. 25th, 2008
Remember, Minor plug in myth_soc, preferably with a link to the website with all the details. This is a Research book, not an original fantasy so we can give it more plug without pushing our 501(c)3.
And don’t forget to get the information to Ginger at Mythprint.
I know how much Ellie hated doing links to others when she was in charge of the website, but I’m beginning to wonder if we should have links to important Research Books that relate to fantasy and the Inklings. Since they can some times be hard to find save for Amazon and the like.
scribblerworks – Feb. 25th, 2008
Oh, I’m not overlooking that, and will certainly do some announcing to both the LJ and Yahoo lists. When it’s closer to ready.
I have three immediate circles in which to start spreading word-of-mouth: an entertainment fellowship (mostly screenwriters), a couple of comic book messageboards, and then of course the MythSoc.
This is me just dipping the first toe in the water. Because, you know, having made a public statement, now I can be nudged by folks asking “What about the book? When?” Heh.
sartorias – Feb. 25th, 2008
Good luck!
scribblerworks – Feb. 25th, 2008
Thanks! I’m hoping I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. But, I’m optimistic.
