Claire T. Lawrence – Hannah Karena Jones

3 Awesome Indie Publishers

The reworked query* for Rooted in the Sky is currently sitting in the inboxes of three more lovely small publishers: Red Hen Press, Dzanc Books, and Atticus Books. All three promise to reply within six months. so.much.waiting. In all likelihood, Claire and I won’t know what these publishers think about her book until New Years’!Continue reading “3 Awesome Indie Publishers”

The Indie Path to Publishing

The last time I mentioned Rooted in the Sky and my efforts to get it independently published,* I had submitted it to Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Ashland Creek Press. We’re still waiting to hear back from Ashland, but Claire recently opened her mailbox to find a form rejection letter from Algonquin. I’m notContinue reading “The Indie Path to Publishing”

And the Countdown Begins

With a lovely, impressive, and revised query letter in hand, I officially submitted Rooted in the Sky to two indie publishers this week. Claire’s book is traveling through the US postal service as we speak to Algonquin Books–most famous for publishing Water for Elephants and Big Fish–and Ashland Creek Press, a small independent publisher thatContinue reading “And the Countdown Begins”

How to Write a Query Letter

So, the first order of business to get Claire Lawrence’s awesome book, Rooted in the Sky, published is the query letter. I struggled with this more than most writers do, I think, because I was ghostwriting it. Though I read Claire’s book, I didn’t know the plot and the characters inside out and backwards theContinue reading “How to Write a Query Letter”

Dear Indie Presses: Claire Lawrence’s Book Will Knock Your Socks Off!

Who, you may be asking, is Claire Lawrence? For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her or taking one of her (spoiler alert!) fabulously inspiring creative writing classes, Claire Lawrence is a Creative Writing professor at my alma mater, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (and, I should mention, one of my favoriteContinue reading “Dear Indie Presses: Claire Lawrence’s Book Will Knock Your Socks Off!”