Let’s jump right in with the good news. My second book will be published later this year by Booktrope, a small company partially based here in Seattle.
And I couldn’t be happier.
You see, it was only a few months ago that I went through a period of doubt while finishing the manuscript. I had those thoughts all writers have, “Is this book any good? Am I? Who the hell will want to publish this shit?”
So I almost scrapped the whole thing, almost chucked the manuscript into the proverbial trash can, but that would have meant having to answer the question, “How’s the book coming?” with the honest answer of failure and the awkward silence that would follow it. Or I’d have to bear the well-intentioned encouragement, “Don’t worry. You’ll do better next time. Another beer?”
I couldn’t do it.
What I did instead was crack open another Blue Moon and write even more. I worked harder than ever to finish it. I hung in there through doubts and fears and somehow got it done. I was able to mentally type, “The End,” and having done that, I contacted a few people to see about submitting it somewhere. One of those people was Seattle Wrote’s Norelle Done–a writer who had some kind things to say about Horse Bite. She was excited and her enthusiasm gave me some hope, so when she put me in touch with Booktrope, I said, “Fuck it. Let’s see what happens.” I sent them the book, and then there were a few emails and a phone call with their marketing director. At the end of February, there was a meeting at the AWP conference after which I felt almost hopeful, started to feel like this thing might actually happen. I went home and promptly sent them an updated manuscript. And then I waited.
And waited.
And while waiting, I wrote with a new sense of urgency. I tweaked the manuscript. I labored over word choice and comma choice and song choice as it’s a book about music. In mid-March, I set the book aside and got started on a collection of short stories. I knew I’d need to pause the writing at some point and focus on the business of getting the book published, but every time I went down to my writing/music room, I wrote. The words and stories were there. I had to get them down, and anyway, Booktrope had it; the manuscript was out there, a test run of sorts. I wanted to see where it would land. Near the end of March, I started to forget about the book. My focus shifted because I was already on the next page in the next story.
And then one Sunday afternoon in mid-April, I was wrapped in one of the short stories. I was typing away, sipping coffee, thinking about condoms and Christmas and the Smashing Pumpkins “Drown” and how it fits within a Christmas story. I pulled the song up on YouTube, played it through. When it was done, I hit replay thinking to pick up my guitar and play along, but I checked my email first. And there it was, finally, a response from Booktrope. I opened it and read the following:
“Thanks for submitting your manuscript, The Music Book. We are happy to inform you that Booktrope would like to move forward with publishing your book.”
I relished in those words while the song played through one more time. I turned up that glorious feedback at the end and let it carry me away with the words: Booktrope would like to move forward with publishing your book.
So here we are, done deal, contract signed last week. More details about the book will come soon. There will be blurbs and a few sample passages, links to some of the music it contains, but for now, I’m focused on one thing, editing. The short stories are on hold, but not the writing. “If you’re going to try…” Indeed. The doubts have gone, and I have my first meeting later today with my Booktrope editor. I’ll have a printed copy of the manuscript with me, some pens, the laptop, a pint of Blue Moon. We’ll get cranking on this thing. The words will flow. They will solidify. And thanks to the folks at Booktrope, they will be published. Then it will be back to the short stories and some poems I have in mind, maybe even the next novel, number three.
“It’s the only good fight there is.”