​You just might get it.  Are you familiar with this common idiom?  I spent just a few minutes researching the source of the idiom and at best it is unclear but it certainly is ancient.
Since I started attending Wisconsin Writer Institute conferences in 2000 a dream has been to be traditionally published.  My path to that goal has been, at best, indirect.  In 2013 I landed a standard publishing contract with a micro publisher (10 books or less per year published) in California for Murphy’s Troubles.  After a year I couldn’t get a committed publish date so I cancelled the contract.
I then turned to Create Space and had a very good experience and the cost was reasonable.  I proudly accepted the mantle of independent publishing.  Learning the technical side of publishing was difficult and not something I enjoyed. The desire for traditional publishing lingered.
With my second book I turned to my friend, editor and assisted publishing guru Christine Keleny.  Christine skillfully guided me through the process and Out of Darkness was launched under the name of CKBooks Publishing.  Again, I found the cost reasonable.  The desire for traditional publishing lingered.
After completing the rough draft of the third book in the Ian Murphy series, Dead Reckoning I undertook rigorous editing, used beta readers and had a professional critique of the last chapter by Christine DeSmet.  I decided to turn again to editor Christine Keleny – she was kind.  Based on her edits and suggestions I cut about 6000 words from the original draft. 
At that point I decided to try again to find a traditional publisher.  I covered the details of that journey last week.  Since posting the blog ‘The Contract!!!’  fear lodged deep in my psyche.
Someone was betting on me.  A publisher had faith enough in my writing and marketing prowess to want to sign a publishing contract.  That means I have responsibilities to another person – not just myself.  I will have to perform, I thought.  Independent self-publishing means you only answer to yourself and now I had turned my back on that world.
For a week I was frozen.  Henschel Haus Publishing requires specific formatting guidelines when submitting a manuscript.  I printed the guidelines and began the task of making formatting changes.  I couldn’t do it.  My brain stuck in neutral.  I was terrified that I wouldn’t complete the job correctly and my manuscript would be rejected and the offer of a contract withdrawn.  Panic nestled deep in my chest, my breathing was labored.
I hired Christine Keleny to make the changes needed to complete my submission to Henschel Haus Publishing.  Christine is very adept at all the technical aspects of publishing and I knew she would do it right.  She got the job done in a week.
My fear is all internally generated.  I’ve tried to “think” my way out of it.  Today my anxiety is less than was it yesterday.  On October 31st Kira Henschel and I will meet face to face to sign the contract.  I like the personal one on one approach.  We could have electronically signed the contract and moved on but that would be emotionally void.
So . . . be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.  I have, everything will be fine, in time.           

​When I began the first draft of my third novel I decided I would try to find a small, independent publisher.  I self-published my first novel, Murphy’s Troubles, through Create Space.  I purchased services from an assisted publishing company, CK Books Publishing.  I felt I had to attempt to market my work directly to small publishers.
I used Google to develop a list of publishers that would accept unagented, unsolicited manuscripts.  I was impressed that I ended up with a list of about thirty publishers.
Next I worked on my query letter.  Over the years I’ve sent out more than 250 query letters so I felt confident that I could write a strong letter that would attract publishers.  Different from my first query letters in 2012 I now had a track record of publishing two books, a website, an author facebook page and four years of direct marketing and selling.  I had my good friend Marshall Cook read the draft query letter and as expected he made several excellent suggestions.
I sent out my first shotgun shot of query letters the week of Sept. 25th.  Based on a radio interview of author Eric Schlehlein I sent a letter to his publisher, Deeds Publishing Company in Georgia.  After having coffee with fellow author Nick Chiarkas I sent a letter to his publisher Henschel Haus Publisher.  In a two week span I sent out eight query letters.
The response was – in a word overwhelming.  Of the eight publishers, five requested the full manuscript.  One publisher took a unique approach.  Kira Henschel of Henschel Haus Publishing requested a face to face meeting.  We were both presenting at the annual Wisconsin Writers Association Annual conference the first weekend of October and agreed to find a time to talk.
Of the five requests for the full manuscript I learned I didn’t do a good job of selecting an assisted publishing firm versus a traditional publisher.  I also learned that the model for independent publishers included both traditional publishing and assisted publishing services.
The owner of Deeds Publishing also wanted to have a discussion and we set up a call one Wednesday afternoon.  I learned that he too offered both traditional and assisted publishing services and he explained that he only published a few books traditionally based on the strength of the writing and market appeal of the book. 
Another firm requesting the manuscript turned out to offer only assisted publishing services and I had to respectfully explain that I was on a quest for a traditional publishing contract.  They were gracious and understanding.
Kira Henshcel and I had immediate chemistry.  She asked a lot of questions and encouraged me to submit my full manuscript and complete a marketing survey she uses to determine an author’s willingness to market their work.
On Monday following the conference I sent Kira a copy of the poster for a presentation I would be making at the Sun Prairie Public Library on October 16th and invited her to attend.  She responded the same day and her e-mail said “I am inclined to offer you a traditional publishing contract – would you be interested?  Please send me your mailing address and I will mail a contract this week.”
The week passed and a contract didn’t arrive in the mail.  On Monday, October 16th Kira sent me a draft traditional publishing contract.  She asked me to review it and respond with any questions.
What a whirlwind experience!  It took me several hours before I had the composure to print and read the contract during a perfect Wisconsin autumn morning in the solitude of our sun porch.
Best of all?  My library presentation was titled:  My Life and Welcome to It – A Writer’s Life sponsored by the Friends of the Sun Prairie Public Library to kick off National Friends of the Library week.  I changed my closing remarks to announce accepting a traditional publishing contract from Henschel Haus Publishing.
The contract includes a paragraph on Duty to Publish by March 31, 2018.  It just doesn’t get any better.        

​Before all my international trips I have had great expectations about what I will learn, the sights to view, new people to meet, and the joy of traveling.  London did not disappoint.
I found that I was not well informed about the British culture.  I now have a firsthand appreciation for the damage done in the blitz in World War II and the extraordinary effort the British have made to reclaim their history.  I recall walking into one cathedral that appeared to be built around 1100.   On the walls was a picture of the cathedral after the blitz, it was a pile of rubble.  The building had been carefully reconstructed to its original stone work – it was a miracle.
I visited Churchill’s war rooms to learn how small a space it was and how few people directed the war effort from a bunker near 10 Downing Street.  We have never experienced extended foreign war on our soil and I hope we never do.  We are still suffering from the remnants of the Civil War and the self inflicted damage is truly beyond belief.
Of all my impressions of London I have two words that come to mind.  First, endurance.  London has been inhabited for almost 2000 years continuously.  The human spirit has endured in that place.  The second is the well earned reputation the British have for emotional reticence.  I learned that quality may be the key to their success throughout history.  Keeping the “stiff upper lip”.
Go to London if you ever get the opportunity, you will not be disappointed.  
  

​The first oddity is, of course, that they drive on the wrong side of the road.  The first thing any and all Londoners will tell you is that they drive on the right side of the road and the rest of the world is wrong.  This leads to the second oddity, British arrogance.  The British are uniquely arrogant and seem quite proud of it.  To their credit, the streets all have signs which read LOOK THIS WAY.  Now to my simple American mind, if you need a sign on your streets which reminds you which way to look, that is a backhand admission that you’re backward in comparison with the rest of the world – just saying.
London is famous for its Indian restaurants.  We dined at an Indian restaurant one evening and were delighted there was no steam table.  Three different staff waited on us and we were given an appetizer without paying for it.  It was the best Indian meal I’ve ever eaten and probably ever will.   The oddity is that the British brutally ruled India, yet the Indian people moved to London and make a fine living sharing their culture and cuisine.
We enjoyed a traditional high tea at a French restaurant within a block of our hotel.  Why would a French restaurant serve high tea?  I was too timid to ask at the restaurant.  Of all the English restaurants we visited, and the hotel, not one offered a traditional high tea.  Sometimes, you to rely on the French for culture – even British culture.
There is a room, a very large room at the British Museum devoted to replicas of famous art works, like the David.  The British are so determined to have examples of classic art that if they can’t have the original – they have a fake.  At least our guide was honest enough to point out that all the art in that room was fake.  I find it odd for a world class museum to have a room devoted to fake art.
Speaking of the museum, in their entrance they have one of the heads from Easter Island.  Our guide admitted that the government of Easter Island is demanding that the head be returned since it was taken without their permission.  The museum curator adamantly refuses on the grounds that a million people would view it while at the British museum.  If the head were returned to Easter Island, very few people would see it.  So goes the logic of the British – uniquely self serving.
Finally, there is the relationship between the British and the monarchy.  If you know any British history you know that through time it has been a rocky relationship.  In the 21st century it is an odd anachronism that the British cling to as if their daily existence depended on it.  Our guide exclaimed that they are not “citizens” they are “subjects of the queen.”
The list of oddities could go on and on.  I’m not judging, really I’m not, just pointing out a view of the British from another perspective.