Over the last six months I’ve learned many things about the business of writing and publishing. The biggest lesson is that my first novel is not high concept. This term refers to books with a “what if” premise that are easy to sell mass market because of an easy-to-grasp concept. Think summer blockbuster movies. More explosions, less subtlety. Ironically, many Newbury Award winners are not high concept either, so I feel okay about the company I find myself in.
My novel is well-written, with specificity of place and characters who grow and change in interesting ways. The stakes and pacing are akin to Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables. It’s exactly the way I meant for it to be.
I’ve been waking up early for the last three years to make sure my children know the stories of my Grandma’s people. My novel is a way to honor all of the pioneers and homesteaders who worked, lived, and loved their way through the Dust Bowl.
I’ve heard that agents and publishers want high concept books and that historical fiction is hard to sell. That may be so, but I’ve written a good story and I want to see it in a format that would rival any traditionally published book. From what I can tell, it will take about $1000 of editing, cover design, and formatting to get my novel indie-publish ready.
My plan is to sell enough copies of my short story collection to cover the cost of getting The Gambler’s Daughter ready for print. If you teach social studies or history, have an interest in the Dust Bowl, or want to support an indie-author, please click here to buy a copy of Becoming Maxine. http://www.blurb.com/b/8958152-becoming-maxine