Ghost In the Publishing Machine
Some time ago, I was ghosted by one of the biggest publishers in the business.
Or maybe not. What do I know?
I submitted a romantic comedy novel to a publisher that has a name similar to one of Batman's villains. There, that won't give it away.
Some people differ on how author-friendly the publisher is, but ever since I started writing romance, I've wanted to write for them. That would be sometime in the early 90s. Before that I was writing science fiction and action/adventure, which I still am, and there I'm still having the same publishing luck.
But by then I had a track record of published novels. I also had a great story with a good title, "Fire On Mist Creek". Or a good story with a great title. I think it's a great title. Is it? It doesn't matter, because Harl--the publisher usually changes the name before publication, anyway.
(And they'd also change my name to a more feminine one, which I don't have a problem with. Maxine Hunter? No? Okay.)
I sent off a query letter, an outline, and the first few chapters of the story in--wait for it--2018. ("Wait for it" is practically the theme of this story.)
Just two months later, which is five hours in publishing time, an editor wrote back and requested a full manuscript! This is a Big Deal. The average traditional publisher receives so many queries that if they aren't occasionally rejected by the dump truck load, they collapse the building.
Then I heard nothing.
For years.
"And this is when I stopped hearing from them."
I sent a "nudge" a year later, and another one two years after that. Nudges are when desperate writers, who at this point want ANY news, gently ask for such news while groveling as much as possible. After the second nudge, I finally got a reply.
They'd lost my manuscript.
So they asked for it again, in early 2021, and I was happy to oblige. A little over a year later, I sent another nudge. And another. I don't feel like going back to count, but I sent several.
I went back to count: It was four. No one wants to annoy an editor, but I started including other people from that particular line, assistant editors and such. By the time I gave up, I'd shotgunned about six different people in my pleas, which had turned from "Like me!" into "At least put me out of my misery!"
When a writer is waiting to hear back on a book submission, the best thing they can do is work on another book. This I did, but there was a thriller-level twist: As I plotted it out, I realized it could easily fit into the Mist Creek world I'd developed. I a huge fan of series. Serieses. Seriez? Serii? Anyway, my Storm Chaser series is a series. That's why I call it a series. So I wove this one into the Mist Creek community.
Then, the next year, my wintertime depression was hitting me pretty good, so I decided to cheer myself up by writing a Christmas romance. Set in Mist Creek. So I did.
So now, with the first book having not sold, I have a series. Most romance publishers love a good series, but they prefer to approve the books individually.
By then I learned something that Harl--the publisher had done that rendered the entire question a moo point.
Maybe it's moot. Anyway, they had changed the requirements for that particular line. Not only did my manuscript no longer fit the description of what they wanted, but it was now 10,000 words too short. They were now also no longer accepting unagented submissions, which is what mine was.
So, I sent them--all of them--an email withdrawing my manuscript. It had been five years.
Was I ghosted? Was it some horrible mishap in which they changed their email provider and mine all got lost in the shuffle? Was it me being male, instead of female? Did I accidentally send my correspondence to a publisher in another dimension, and we'd gone out of phase?
Beats me, and boy, did I feel beaten. But, giving the benefit of the doubt, my withdrawal email was nice and polite, as I tried to keep all my emails. It pays to be nice, and maybe someday they'll answer it.
Besides ... they have other lines open for submission.
You can read our books, romantic or not, here:
· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"
· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter
· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/
· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/
· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914
· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/
· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter
· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter
· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter
· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914
· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914
· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf
Remember, every time you buy a book from a local author, Big Publishing quakes in its leather-bound boots.