I guess it's fitting that the original published version of Unconditional took six weeks to write and the re-write for what is now the final pre-mass market version of it took just as long. I wrote the first sentences of what I assumed would be a short story back in September of 2007 and sent the print ready file off to the internet publishers at lulu.com in the beginning of November 2007. At the time I was happy with it, how it had developed from a short story into a mini novel in such a short time. I was content with the writing in it, the characters, the story line, and the ending. I was ready to share it with Jack and knew I needed to get it in his hands before he left for his annual trip south so off to printing it went.
After receiving Jack's copy bound in pocket paperback format I flipped through it and read a few chapters here and there. I knew it could use a little 'tweaking' and there was room for improvement in the story line but I felt it was probably good enough for now. I delivered it to him the Saturday after Thanksgiving knowing he would read it immediately and hoping he would be inspired to tell me his honest thoughts about it when he was finished.
I had stumbled upon a literary agency seeking up and coming writing talent a week prior to delivering Jack's copy and figured I would submit it just to see what they had to say. I reworked a few chapters, improved upon the writing a bit, and sent it off to be evaluated. I was shocked to hear back from them within a few days telling me it had great potential and requesting that I submit it for a formal critique. I always thought I could have been a writer and now I was finally getting validation that I did in fact have the talent somewhere deep inside.
With the December holiday fast approaching I didn't spend much time writing at all, other than e-mail, and Unconditional sat on my thumb drive waiting its final read through before sending it to the critique editor until early January. Again in less than a week I heard back from the editor that it was near perfect and they wanted to get it into the marketing departments hands right away to find a publisher for it. By then I had already begun the re-write process and requested that they allow me to finish before moving forward with marketing. That was six weeks ago today exactly!
Today I made the final adjustments, grammar checks, spelling changes, and visual 'tweaks'. Today I saved the final pre-mass market version of Unconditional, attached it to an e-mail, and sent it off to the editor for her final approval before it moves to marketing. Her approval is simply a formality, a last chance effort to catch major spelling or grammar mistakes, and is virtually guaranteed. By this time next week it will be in the hands of the marketing department who will shop it around to their wide array of publishers. With any luck I'll have multiple offers to purchase and publish it to choose from. Realistically I expect it to sit on the shelf for a little while before the right publisher eventually comes along.
I've heard that January through March is the best time to attract publishers. I've heard it can be an instant match that becomes a lucrative publishing deal. But, I've also heard that it may take months or even years to find the right deal and I'm aware that it may never happen. It would be nice if it stuck to my existing 6 week timeline. six weeks to write, six weeks to re-write and edit, six weeks to land that great deal. That would be nice! For now I wait to see what happens and take a little break before returning to the other 'writing project' I started in December and put in the archives by the end of 2007.
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