The Contract!!!

​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.