Eeep! So much radio silence over here!
Remember when I thought I had the scourge? Well, friends, that was but a precursor for what came next. Last week I lost 6 pounds from a horrible stomach virus. 6 pounds! The upside here is that a shirt I'm making that was a smidge small is now going to fit ;)
I figured since I haven't been sewing I'd show you a part of what I have been finishing around here...
So, a few months ago I wrote a book proposal. I've wrestled over the last
couple weeks about whether to share that information here for a few reasons:
-the book world is so secretive
-I didn't know what my plan was
-I didn't want to announce my failure to the world
I've decided to post about if for a few more reasons:
-I'm sure there are other people who want more information about writing a
book
-I thiiiink I know my plan now
-I've decided that this whole experience is not a failure :)
Anyways, back to the book proposal. Back in April I put together 43 pages of
a proposal. Yep, 43 pages. That thing was hefty. It included my run-down of why
my book was unique, my perspective as a quilter, and what the book was all
about. I also included a table of contents
[this is useful because it showed
exactly how I wanted to lay out my book as part of the way I was structuring the
presentation of my concept], an introduction, the instructions for a sample
project, the mock-ups of all my projects (15 total), and a portfolio of my
work.
Now, what happened after I emailed all that in? I don't want to say which
publishing company I sent it to, because I don't want to affect anyone's opinion
of them in particular, I just wanted to comment on the experience as a whole. So
I sent it in and they confirmed that they received it and then I waited. Aaaand
I waited. I'm not a patient person, so this part was killer!
The person I was in contact with was very friendly and helpful. I really,
really appreciated that. I could email and ask for the status and she would get
back with me in a couple days. I was always torn between feeling like I was
being annoying, and wanted to make sure that nothing was falling through the
cracks. I always argued with myself for several days before I would finally give
in and email her, ha.
So in July I heard back that my proposal had passed the first editorial
review board. I was kind of shocked. I was elated. I had to bring myself back
down to earth real quick. The review board asked for some additional projects
that showed my concept for their review at the second board. They just wanted
pictures, not projects mailed in, which made it easier. But I sewed like a
madwoman for a few nights after work!
At this point I was interested in knowing exactly what happened in the
proposal process, so I asked my contact, and she sent a pretty helpful
answer:
"Should your proposal pass, I'll contact you to let you know and to
arrange a phone call where we will go over our publishing process and our
deadlines. I'll then work with you to set your deadlines and make sure we have a
final table of contents (we can get requests for changes or suggestions during
any point in the process.) Next, my Publisher will offer you a contract.
Only after all of that would you need to send in a sample project, so
you should be okay for now. Usually the deadlines are: contract, table of
contents, sample project, first draft, projects for photography, everything else
(author bio, etc). Those steps can sometimes be compressed or combined if there
is a significant reason to move very quickly, but for most books you have time
to complete each of those steps."
Does anyone else think it's crazy that no actual projects are needed in
their hands until after a contract is signed?!
My book proposal made it to the final editorial review board. I honestly
was freaking out at this point. It's hard to not get your hopes built up at
something that you've been so emotionally invested in. I felt like my designs
were a part of me at this point, an extension of the kind of taste level, sewing
point of view that I have.
I am not writing a book with this particular publisher. I had a phone call
with my contact and she was very helpful in explaining why. At the final
editorial review board, they decided that while they loved my designs and felt
that they were absolutely fresh and unique and had not been seen before, they
felt the subject matter needed to be authored by someone who is known nationally
for teaching sewing, ie, someone who teaches at conferences and
conventions.
I'm not ashamed to say that I cried after I got off the phone. I was sad
and then I was angry. I want to make it known that I thought this publishing
company is absolutely fair in wanting a nationally-known name. It certainly
makes sense from a business perspective. It's just hard to reconcile with the
books I do see popping up from bloggers and such. Not that I'm knocking any of
them at all. That's amazing for them. It's just incongruous with what I heard.
And this might just be a requirement for my subject matter, or for that
publishing company. My contact did say that she would be happy to be a resource
for me going forward, because she thought that I had a great proposal, and that
they would be happy to review it again after I had some teaching
experience.
What am I going to do now? I really did feel like a failure for about a
week. It took several talks with my boyfriend and friends to see that taking a
chance and putting together a proposal at all is what made this a success.
Making it to the final editorial review board is also a success. Feeling so
strongly about my concept and my designs that I am excited to tell people about
it is a success. I did not know what to do with the proposal though. Send it to
another publishing company? Produce and sell the patterns myself? Submit the
designs individually to magazines? Where did I want to take this?
And so, you can see my quilt up there at the top of the post. One of the
designs from my book. All pieced. No glue or pins or anything to sew those full
circles. My plan? I will submit to another publisher, and I will make it known
that I've tried to be transparent on my blog, because there's so many unknowns
in the sewing book world. A little knowledge is a good thing, and if the fact
that I wrote about my experience means that I won't have a shot at a book, then
so be it.
I hope that this was interesting and insightful to anyone else who has
wondered what happens behind the scenes when a blogger goes "oh and I wrote a
book," and I hope that all of us continue pushing ourself and our goals, in
spite of, and because of, roadblocks. It may look like a failure in the heat of
the moment, but maybe it's just preparing us for something that is a better
fit.
Happy Friday everyone :)
