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The next evening, we went out for sushi and talked for hours. It was a mortifying few steps when, during an intermission, I went to introduce myself to her properly. Later, during the reading, I realized that the woman looked familiar because I had stalked her on Facebook. When she said hi, I said hi kind of dismissively, and returned to my photo shoot because priorities. I am awkward and don't engage with strangers well. On the periphery, I noticed this woman but I didn't know who she was. I was, as one does, taking pictures of these lovely friends licking Bigfoot's nipples. Two friends and I were at 826Boston, where I would be reading that evening. I humiliated myself because that's how I roll.
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She and her amazing partner came up just to meet me. Just after she bought the book, I was in Boston for a conference. This next part may sound like a love letter but it is also the truth.Īt Grove, my editor Amy Hundley championed my novel from the first day.
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The first and only dream dashed was the one where I could quit my job to write full time. There were lots of arcane words and numbers and basically, I understood I would receive a rather modest sum of money in exchange for the publication of my books.
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I know how to read but I didn't understand much of what I saw in those papers. When I eventually looked over each contract, I offered up thanks and praise for my agent.
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I did not know publishing moves glacially. I'm also a writer of color and I was told my prospects as one were especially grim because publishers don't know how to market us and readers don't want to read our stories. I had no idea what to expect when working with bigger publishers though I heard the horror stories so I suppose I expected very little - no money for publicity, editors who don't edit, good books languishing without the publisher support they so very much need and deserve. People ask how I've gotten here and I hardly know what to say. It was surreal to get everything I wanted in one bright flash. My new agent was very confident and before long she sold my novel and an essay collection, Bad Feminist, to two different publishers. Other agents began soliciting me and though it was scary, and loyalty is important, I made a switch. Then, my essays started getting some notice. It's kind of absurd but she took me on and once I wrote my novel, she tried to sell it for nearly a year. After a great deal of research and fretting, I queried one agent, in truth, the only agent I have ever queried.
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I put together a short story collection, Strange Gods, which still hasn't sold lest you think it's all fun and games, and wrote a proposal for my novel. I wanted a billboard in Times Square, wherein I wear a billowing vest while my book's title hovers nearby. Ayiti has remained in print for three years. My mother's wonderful photography graces the cover. It was published by a micropress, Artistically Declined Press, run by a great guy with a lot of heart and passion for good books, but no money to speak of. I assembled some of my writing about the Haitian diaspora experience and that became my first book, Ayiti. Slowly but surely, I got myself together. I was simply enamored with the idea of having a book with my name on it. There was one small problem: I had not written a book nor had I queried an agent. These days, she enjoys saying, "I was right all along." She is quite smug about it and I have to allow her this because, well, she was right all along.īefore I sold any books, I often found myself wishing I had an agent or a book deal. She had a gut feeling that the book would find a home, the right home. She believed in my book when I nearly lost my faith. My best friend talked me off the ledge time and again, sometimes gently, sometimes fiercely. The manuscript had been making the rounds for some time and the feedback was mostly positive but not positive enough in that frustrating way that makes you think, If you think so highly of the writing, why don't you just buy the damn book? Publishing is confusing. I will admit, and I am not proud of this, I almost gave up - not on writing, but on the idea that I would find a publisher for my debut novel, An Untamed State.