Collaboration On The Road To Publication - Ruth L. Snyder

I'm working on my final assignment for the course "Shape, Write, and Sell Your Novel" with the Long Ridge Writers' Group. The assignment focuses on putting together a traditional query package to send to potential publishers and/or agents. A couple days after I researched possible markets, I received an email from Kathy Macias, an acquaintance through The Christian PEN. She was looking for writers interested in writing a short story of 8-9,000 words as part of a Christmas project. I sent an email back requesting more information. As of July 8th, I'm officially part of the Kathy Macias 12 Days of Christmas Series. My deadline is November 1, 2013 and my story will be released in e-book format on December 1, 2013.

Here's my synopsis of the story I'm writing:
It's Christmas time, but Cecile is surrounded by heat, dust, strangers, and death. If she'd accepted Colin's proposal and stayed in Canada, she would be enjoying a "normal" Christmas. Instead, she's stranded in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, serving as the lone nurse at a mission clinic, faced with medical emergencies she wasn't trained to deal with. Little has changed despite months of hard work. Cecile has never been a quitter, but she's tempted to just pack it in and return home. She wants her life to make a difference. Did she mistake God's calling in her life?

So far, the process has been wonderful. There are twelve authors involved (including Marcia Laycock and me). We have contact with each other through email and questions/comments fly back and forth on a regular basis. Once the publisher, Helping Hands Press, received our contracts, we were invited to choose our cover pictures on shutterstock. We were also introduced to Giovanni Gelati, first through email and then through phone calls. He gave us an overview of the process and a list of things he needs from us as authors so that our stories can be promoted effectively. (He encouraged me to look at this process as a marathon, not a sprint.) The cover for the series will be released shortly and Kathy Macias' story will be released as the first in the series on September 1st. After that, a new story in the series will be released every 15 days. If sales warrant, the stories will also be released in paperback format.

Part of the publishing agreement is that each of us will "have and grow the following social media: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon Author Page, Pinterest, Blog/Website." We also agree to make appearances on The G-ZONE blogtalk radio show on a monthly or bi-monthly basis and provide a guest post or Q &A at least twice a month for use on social networks. We are also strongly encouraged to support each other by writing reviews and posting them on the release date and interacting on the Helping Hands Press Facebook Page. If we have any questions along the way, we are coached and encouraged. Instead of focusing solely on developing our own platform, we are able to help each other and increase the size of our platform reach.

I'm looking forward to what God has for me and the other writers on this collaborative journey!

What has been your experience with publication? Did you feel alone or supported on your journey? I'd love to hear from you.

 Ruth L. Snyder and her husband, Kendall, live in scenic northeastern Alberta with their five young children. Ruth has had several articles published and is working on her first novel.

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