A Ponderously Self-Important Type, I'm Afraid. Checking In

[Allan Hunter]

I suspect that I'm a cliché. Fervent person with a Cause writes a book to explain stuff to the world. Takes Cause, along with self and resultant book, Very Seriously. The specifics here are THE STORY OF Q: A GENDERQUEER TALE, a coming-out and coming-of-age story about being a gender invert, feminine male, sissy boy, male girl, etc, of the specific subtype of "attracted to female folks and not particulary interested in modifying his morphology or presenting as female". That latter bit is what makes it an unusual tale (and a message somewhat different than the sociopolitical gender material that's out there already). i.e., being genderqueer without also being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or even intersex. Someone's gotta justify expanding the acronym, right?

I'm somewhere between 1200 and 1300 queries in (to literary agents) and more optimistically querying small publishers of the sort that dont' require lit agents (consideraby fewer sent so far). Stubbornly still trying to get the damn book Published For Real as opposed to self-published, in the perhaps deluded hope that women's studies and gender studies professors might someday assign it and LGBTQ centers keep a copy on their shelves, etc.

Heard about this place as a side-effect of Redhammer opening for popup submissions. Hoping to enjoy it better than Absolute Write Water Cooler, which has a culture that I wasn't particularly fond of (and vice versa).

 

[Barbara]

Welcome to the colony, Allan.

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[AgentPete]

Welcome, Allan! 1200 queries!!! Let’s see if we can improve your success rate.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Rich.]

Hi Allan, welcome to the Colony! That's quite a project you've got there -- fascinating. Do think about putting something through the Writing Groups once you get access. Some fresh eyes on your work may be just what you need.

 

[Allan Hunter]

I also have a blog. I was advised to maintain one as a means of attracting a reading audience. I've mostly managed to post to it ~ once per week. I post links to the new entries all over Facebook whenever I blog. I mirror the blog on multiple platforms, so I'm now extant on LiveJournal (don't laugh), WordPress, DreamWidth, and Blogger.

And yet I seem to have an average readership of less than 100 eyeballs per post, with "likes" on the Facebook links but rarely any comments in the blogs.

Dear god I hate the self promo stuff. I'd rather clean the toilets in Grand Central Station with my tongue. Dearly wish there were a reputable trustworthy service to whom I'd pay a flat rate fee and they'd herd together an audience for me and make me controversial or otherwise topical & discussed, even if that flat rate fee were out of my budget and I could merely dream of it.

( ahunter3 = LiveJournal
genderkitten = WordPress
Blogger = Blogger
ahunter3 | Recent Entries = DreamWidth )

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello

Sounds to me like an eternal human condition/human interest story, not actually all that rare, so therefore relatable for many, but yes...I can see how it might fall down certain currently tyrannical identity politics cracks which should have no place in publishing. I suppose it's got to be all about the story in the end, rather than any 'issue.' The story must be its own message.

I'm remembering a novel called The Millstone by Margaret Drabble. This might seem diametrically opposed to your own story, but the core may be relatable. A very clever girl really really likes this fellow called George, but he is so effeminate, she assumes he is not sexually interested in woman. Then, one night (was he only doing it out of politeness, because of course, he didn't fancy women, did he) they have sex, her first time ever, and she becomes pregnant, but cannot bring herself to impose on him, by telling him the baby is his. Because he is gay, she still assumes, so won't want her or the baby, and wouldn't anyway, even if he was not gay.

Two very gentle, highly socially conscientious people.

 

[Lex Black]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Allan Hunter]

Yeah, I think in the long run it totally has to make it as an entertaining story, and not because of its social relevance. And I do think it's got a story arc, real characters with interactions and conversations and the prospect for the reader identifying and caring simply because it's a good story, well-told. (It's gotten better over time with tertiary and quaternary rewrites etc).

Two publishers said "yes" to it, so although those arrangements fell through, I have reason to hope I'll find a third. And hope it will be the proverbial charm.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Two buying signals is a pretty good indicator there will be a third. Best of luck with it @Allan Hunter.

Add ( I just visited your blog)

Are you familiar with a book by Jackie Kay? 'Trumpet.'

The trumpet player, Joss, has the morphology of a woman, presents and behaves as a man, and in soul, spirit, sense of self is a man upon whom Nature has played an unkind trick at birth. Joss lives with a woman, they have a passionate sexual relationship but he is not a lesbian- and nor is she. When Joss dies, the undertaker gets a shock, laying out the body. Joss is famously, publicly male but the undertaker sees a woman's body stripped of all the disguises Joss needed to live his true life. Their grown up adopted son gets a shock too, because he was never told and never guessed that his father dwelled in the body of a woman.

It was based on a true story and was published by Picador.

 

[Amber]

I find your topic interesting and provocative. I'm not actually sure that's in your best interest. Although, anything that brings people out of suffering and broadens our understanding seems like a good idea, especially for kids.

Is your book fiction or non-fiction? A memoir?

 

[Allan Hunter]

I find your topic interesting and provocative. I'm not actually sure that's in your best interest. Although, anything that brings people out of suffering and broadens our understanding seems like a good idea, especially for kids.

Is your book fiction or non-fiction? A memoir?

Although I've tried hawking it as fiction (YA, Gay/Lesbian, and/or "literary" fiction), it's nonfiction, autobiographical, hence a memoir I guess.

My best interest is pretty much defined by getting this book into print (and read by as many people as possible). And yeah, that's why. I swore to myself when I was a kid that if I ever got a handle on why this was all happening when I hadn't done anything horrible to deserve it, I was going to get the world's attention and show it a thing or two. But I assume you mean "in my best interest as far as being able to sell it to a publisher" -- ? Oddly I would have thought controversial and provocative would serve me well. Either way, since the goal is to get this material into print, not to get myself into print as a published author, it kind of is what it is for better or worse.

 

[Amber]

Although I've tried hawking it as fiction (YA, Gay/Lesbian, and/or "literary" fiction), it's nonfiction, autobiographical, hence a memoir I guess.

My best interest is pretty much defined by getting this book into print (and read by as many people as possible). And yeah, that's why. I swore to myself when I was a kid that if I ever got a handle on why this was all happening when I hadn't done anything horrible to deserve it, I was going to get the world's attention and show it a thing or two. But I assume you mean "in my best interest as far as being able to sell it to a publisher" -- ? Oddly I would have thought controversial and provocative would serve me well. Either way, since the goal is to get this material into print, not to get myself into print as a published author, it kind of is what it is for better or worse.

No. What I meant is ... and this might be totally unimportant because ... why do you care why people read your writing? At least, that's one way to look at it.

Anyway.... what I meant is ... do you want people reading your story because it's provocative or do you want them reading it because it's a good story and/or good writing or something they're already interested in... or...

Does it not matter as long as they read it?

...and more than that...

At the end of the day ... if you're interested in a cause .. then what would serve the cause in this instance? Ironically, what would serve your cause would be for your topic to not be provocative or controversial. Which I'm pretty sure is an anecdotal observation. Nevertheless... watch me milk it for all it's worth...

It reminds me of something Kahlil Gibran wrote... it's a quote I come back to over and over again... and I have it in something I've written...

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment.

I am making an analogy between your cause and freedom. I think it can be generalized. The irony is, we only have what we want when it no longer occurs to us to celebrate it's presence or bemoan its absence. Which is to say, in the short run it might serve someone's best interest to write in a cause focused fashion but it's possible to operate on many levels. If your story is a human story and all the other things as well ... if it can be appreciated as a human story (and I don't see why it wouldn't be) ... as well as a story about what it's like to be a male girl person ... then you really have something. I suspect one of the challenges you face is making your issue relevant to the yokels who suddenly become FBI agents when thinking about human sexuality and gender ("just the facts ma'am"). I'm not one of those. I'll always be interested. I always have believed gender and sexuality isn't as binary as anyone would think. But it's not me you'd have to win over. It's people who get all twitchy at the idea of something different you really have to win over. That would serve your cause. Because.... if you can get them, you can get anyone. They might not be the ones who count on a daily basis but sadly they're the ones that will make a difference if your goal is to change people's minds.

Which is mostly just me thinking out loud ...

See. You're provocative.

 

[Marc Joan]

Welcome!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Welcome to the colony!

 

[Magicman]

Welcome. Your novel is a synopsis of my grandson's life to date. Good luck with your submissions.

 

[Laura Lee]

I suspect that I'm a cliché. Fervent person with a Cause writes a book to explain stuff to the world. Takes Cause, along with self and resultant book, Very Seriously. The specifics here are THE STORY OF Q: A GENDERQUEER TALE, a coming-out and coming-of-age story about being a gender invert, feminine male, sissy boy, male girl, etc, of the specific subtype of "attracted to female folks and not particulary interested in modifying his morphology or presenting as female". That latter bit is what makes it an unusual tale (and a message somewhat different than the sociopolitical gender material that's out there already). i.e., being genderqueer without also being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or even intersex. Someone's gotta justify expanding the acronym, right?

I'm somewhere between 1200 and 1300 queries in (to literary agents) and more optimistically querying small publishers of the sort that dont' require lit agents (consideraby fewer sent so far). Stubbornly still trying to get the damn book Published For Real as opposed to self-published, in the perhaps deluded hope that women's studies and gender studies professors might someday assign it and LGBTQ centers keep a copy on their shelves, etc.

Heard about this place as a side-effect of Redhammer opening for popup submissions. Hoping to enjoy it better than Absolute Write Water Cooler, which has a culture that I wasn't particularly fond of (and vice versa).

Welcome, and good luck with your book. Wow! 1200-1300 queries sure shows tenacity.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I also have a blog. I was advised to maintain one as a means of attracting a reading audience. I've mostly managed to post to it ~ once per week. I post links to the new entries all over Facebook whenever I blog. I mirror the blog on multiple platforms, so I'm now extant on LiveJournal (don't laugh), WordPress, DreamWidth, and Blogger.

And yet I seem to have an average readership of less than 100 eyeballs per post, with "likes" on the Facebook links but rarely any comments in the blogs.

Dear god I hate the self promo stuff. I'd rather clean the toilets in Grand Central Station with my tongue. Dearly wish there were a reputable trustworthy service to whom I'd pay a flat rate fee and they'd herd together an audience for me and make me controversial or otherwise topical & discussed, even if that flat rate fee were out of my budget and I could merely dream of it.

( ahunter3 = LiveJournal
genderkitten = WordPress
Blogger = Blogger
ahunter3 | Recent Entries = DreamWidth )

I know what you mean about dreading self-promotion. I'm in the final stages of writing my fifth novel, the latest story in a detective series, and contemplating a return to selling myself as a writer and my books as a good read. Although I'm a confident writer and speaker, I'd rather be at my keyboard creating fresh stories, than gadding about the social media saying 'Look at me, look at me!'

I've queried traditional publishers and literary agents about 460 times, nowhere near your figure, and overall a dispiriting exercise that did little but build up my bulletproof hide (with me trying to shed creeping cynicism). For many reasons, I'm favouring self-publishing, though could do with more guidance than the million pieces of bloody obvious advice that writing gurus pump out. I think that literary agents need to extend their services into providing expertise to self-publishing authors. I previously posted on Book Doulas, which on the surface look like what I'm talking about, but there are a lot of charlatans around in publishing, so how would one judge how effective they'd be before handing over the money?

 

[Laura Lee]

I also have a blog. I was advised to maintain one as a means of attracting a reading audience. I've mostly managed to post to it ~ once per week. I post links to the new entries all over Facebook whenever I blog. I mirror the blog on multiple platforms, so I'm now extant on LiveJournal (don't laugh), WordPress, DreamWidth, and Blogger.

And yet I seem to have an average readership of less than 100 eyeballs per post, with "likes" on the Facebook links but rarely any comments in the blogs.

Dear god I hate the self promo stuff. I'd rather clean the toilets in Grand Central Station with my tongue. Dearly wish there were a reputable trustworthy service to whom I'd pay a flat rate fee and they'd herd together an audience for me and make me controversial or otherwise topical & discussed, even if that flat rate fee were out of my budget and I could merely dream of it.

( ahunter3 = LiveJournal
genderkitten = WordPress
Blogger = Blogger
ahunter3 | Recent Entries = DreamWidth )

Understood the loathing of self promotion. I have a dear friend who is an EXCELLENT writer, but extremely introverted. It's so hard for her to self promote, but as she is looking for writing jobs? She needs to...but it's so hard. Good luck. Hopefully it is actually better than cleaning toilets!

 

[Geoff]

Welcome to Litopia Allan!

 

[Emily]

Welcome, Allan! I've flirted with the idea of self-publishing also but quickly fell out with the idea because of *hating* the marketing/promoting side of things. Best of luck and here's hoping that the third time is, indeed, the charm.

 

[Patricia D]

Hello Allan, welcome