So after the poetry not working out, I went to the short story that I was working on. As I wrote, I continued to learn about the publishing industry. And this time around I did it the correct way. I queried about 20/1 agents and publishers that were looking for new writers. Half said no, and the other half allowed me to submit my synopsis along with either the first 3 chapters or the full manuscript before saying no. At this point, one would give up. I didn’t.
My original title was The Killer Martini. No, it wasn’t a murder mystery. My title didn’t fit the genre, Literary Fiction, Romance, so I read the manuscript again and said oh Dreamtini. Dreamtini became the new title. Now I had to find a publisher, and I know I’d have to pay for publishing. I found three self-publishing houses and then met someone who had experienced all three. His cons outweighed the pros. He ended up giving me the name of a self-publishing house that I could use, and I didn’t have to pay. They even gave me an advance. Are you ready? One whole dollar. Yes, you read that right. I received a dollar for an advance. Before getting my dollar, I went to the website and followed their guideline, submitted my work and patiently waited for their response..A few weeks later, I received my contract and my advance.
My first novel, Dreamtini, was published in June, but the launch date was 7/7/07. And my first in-store book signing was February 7, 2008.
Arnittress Dowdy 