The Roads to Publication, Part I

The road to publication with a golden, big-time trade publishing company glistening in the sun can seem steep and daunting at times. It can also be rough and full of ruts, potholes, hairpin turns, and dead ends. Perseverance is crucial. A writer needs to be committed to consistently trying to better her story-telling skills and her writing. While traveling this road, some people hone their skills and build their confidence by writing for other markets. They take side trips down other roads toward other publishing options.

The educational market is one such other road or option. During my time as a textbook editor, I wrote and published books for the school market. For each book, I was paid a one-time fee. No, Grab That Crab! and Run, Sid, Run! would never be reviewed by Publisher’s Weekly. Nor would Three Pigs and a Wolf or Make Room for a Makeover, but I had fun writing these books. Plus, kids read them in schools and may still be reading them. Writing these books helped me to develop important skills and learn more about the publishing process. And writing these books gave me some publishing credits to share with agents and editors.

Of course, while writing for the school market, I kept working on my own novel, which came to be Dog Gone. I never stopped puttering along the road to the big, beautiful, trade publishing house. I simply veered off to publish elsewhere. This, for me, made traveling the main road a little less intimidating and frustrating.

Have you published or considered publishing in more than one market? Have you written or considered writing an article for a magazine or newspaper? Perhaps something for the school market?

Next week I will introduce you to author Linda Benson. Linda has published two wonderful novels, Finding Chance and The Horse Jar, with Mondo Publishing, an educational publisher. The week after that, I will introduce you to someone special who has published in the magazine markets. So, stay tuned for more on the many roads to publication.