Stepping into the forest of my mind

Stepping into the forest of my mind
Just as every journey begins with a first step, every story begins with the first word.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Insecure Writers Want to Know: Have any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a surprising way?

Wouldn’t that be nice to have readers reach out to me personally about my stories. You are a very lucky author indeed to have readers actually respond to your writing, besides just leaving reviews. This is what I hope for once I publish books or story collections.   

http://victoriamarielees.blogspot.com

At this time, I’ve published essays in a few anthologies and published young adult adventure stories in magazines. I’m assuming some of the stories connected to readers because Cricket Magazine has put out a few e-book and audio book collections with several of my stories in them. I do not receive any royalties on those collections, however, as Cricket pays first rights and may use the material again with no further payment.

But.

I get my publishing rights back. I’ve checked on that already. I may use my stories again to sell them myself after a certain period of time. Now…I just need time and experts to show me how to put together an e-book or two or maybe package a few stories, both previously published and not, for a collection of YA stories to sell online.

Which pushes me to get my website together. Victoriamarielees.com through hover. I still need to do this. I will tell you all when it is live. 

My college memoir is about 55,000 words now.

Do you know of any small presses who publish memoirs? They don’t require agents, correct? I may be trying small presses to publish my college memoir.

Does anyone have experience with P.O.D., print on demand, publishers? Could you share some insight with me?

Please feel free to offer any insight on this.

It will be interesting to see how you’ve tackled this month’s question. It’s wonderful having a topic to share our thoughts on each month. I am extremely thankful for all of you for being my sounding board and advisors in this writing and publishing journey. 

Thanks for visiting! And be sure to stop by Adventures in Writing again. 

This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I’d like to thank our co-hosts for May: Erika Beebe, Pat Garcia, Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine! Please visit them if you can. 

Our group posts on the first Wednesday of every month. To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.   


26 comments:

  1. That's awesome that your articles in Cricket were published in other books by them. I think whether or not you'll need an agent for your memoir will depend on the submission guidelines of the publishers you're considering. It's probably a good idea to make a list of publishers and see how many you can submit to without an agent. If most require an agent, you may be better off searching for an agent first.

    Looking forward to seeing your new website.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Natalie. They are greatly appreciated. And thanks for your solid advice. I truly need to seek publisher sites and see where to go from there.

      It's always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing. Thanks so much for your note. Enjoy your week!

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  2. Hi,
    You've got a lot planned for the future. Take a step at a time.
    JQ Rose has just brought out her Memoir and it is fantastic. Try to connect with her. Maybe, she can give you some advice.
    All the best.

    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

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    1. Positive advice here, Pat. I will surely connect with JQ Rose. Thank you so much for offering your advice here at Adventures in Writing. Thanks so much for your note. Enjoy your week!

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  3. I would treat a review as a response. I too have a lack of personal email messages but I'm thankful for a thoughtful review. Sounds like you've got exciting plans for your stories once you get the rights back, and you can market them as "previously published in... etc." Good luck.

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    1. Thank you so much for sharing your good advice here at Adventures in Writing, Nick. Yes, I would say a thoughtful review qualifies as a response to my writing. I've got lots of plans. Here's hoping some of them come true!

      Thank you so much for your comment here at Adventures in Writing. Enjoy your week!

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  4. Great you get your rights back. My publisher doesn't do memoirs but the senior editor formats books freelance.

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    1. Thank you so much for this tip, Alex! If you'd like, please email me the senior editor's name and contact info so I may consider him or her. Truly appreciate this.

      It's always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing. Thanks so much for your note. Enjoy your week!

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  5. Have you tried querying Vine Leaves Press? I'd do a search online, then check to make certain their credentials are honourable. Good luck, Victoria.

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    1. I've heard of Vine Leaves Press, Joylene. I thought they were poetry. I'll check them out. Thank you so much for sharing this insight here at Adventures in Writing.

      Thanks so much for your comment. Enjoy your week!

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  6. Hi Victoria, I dont have any experience to pass on I'm afraid. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed Searching for open trails on Camping with 5 kids. How wonderful to have lakes and mountains on your doorstep, particularly at this time! As much as I envy that, I count myself lucky that I live near the sea. Sarah https://irevive.online/

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    1. Good for you, Sarah! I love the sea as well. And thank you so much for reading my http://campingwithfivekids.blogspot.com post. I truly appreciate it. Really!

      And thank you for your comment here at Adventures in Writing. All best to you!

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  7. Sorry. No experience with memoire publishing, but I'm sure a good old-fashioned Google search will help. Good luck.

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  8. Yes it will, Lee. Thank you so much for sharing in the conversation at Adventures in Writing. I really appreciate it. I love your website, by the way. All best to you!

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  9. Only experience I have is with Amazon I'm afraid, and they walked me through it, also there are a few how to's available if you want to go in that direction.

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  10. Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, TWW! This is wonderful that Amazon walks you through how to publish or list your book online. Yes, I'll need to read through some "how-to's" to figure this all out.

    Thank you so much for your comment here at Adventures in Writing. Enjoy your week!

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  11. I love your idea of publishing all of your short stories again. I don't have any helpful insight for you, but I do know several ladies who did publish their memoirs with local publishing companies and loved it. I wish you much luck :)

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    1. Thank you for sharing this insight here at Adventures in Writing, Erika. I truly appreciate it. Local publishing sounds like a great idea.

      Thanks for your comment at Adventures in Writing. Have a beautiful week!

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  12. Good luck with your collection! Great idea.

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    1. Thanks, Dawn! Here's hoping! It's always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing. Thanks so much for your note. Enjoy your week!

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  13. Hi Victoria - I'd love to know how 'Cricket' came into your life ... seeing as it seems such a British sport. I've just read this book:

    ‘Connie’ – about Sir Learie Constantine – cricketer from the Caribbean, who rose to become a Knight in Britain … fascinating historical overview of governmental systems, racial prejudice etc

    It was fascinating ... taught me so much about cricket in the Caribbean, England, Australia, South Africa ... and then the judicial and administrative aspects of legislation in England.

    But Vine Leaves Press - Jessica ... is definitely an option to ask, as too Diane of Dancing Lemur Press ... keep an eye open ... good luck though ... all the best - Hilary

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    1. Thank you so much for this information, Hilary. This is great! I'll check out Dancing Lemur and Vine Leaves Presses.

      When I said my YA literary stories were published in Cricket Magazine, the magazine is part of the "bug group" of magazines from Carus Publishing: Baby Bug, Lady Bug, Spider, Cricket, etc., all dealing with different age groups. It's a terrific group of magazines!

      Cricket the English sport sounds fascinating as does the book you've just read, Connie. I'll have to check it out. Thanks so much for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing. Enjoy your week!

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  14. Hi Victoria, Congrats on your Cricket publications. That's quite an achievement if it's the children's magazine I'm thinking about. As for memoirs ... I know you can submit to Kensington Publishing without an agent and at least one of their editors has an interest in memoirs, I think. Go to their website and check out all the editors and what they acquire. Read their guidelines carefully. Best to you! Jessica at jessicafergusonwriter.com

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    1. Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Jessica! Thank you so much for stopping by. Yes, Cricket Magazine is part of the bug group magazines from Carus Publishing.

      Thank you so much for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing. I'll be sure to check out Kensington Publishing. Have a beautiful week!

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  15. I never received notes from readers when I just published articles, but I have gotten some nice, positive emails and messages from friends/ acquaintances who read Plunge. It sure puts a smile on an author’s face.

    I just Googled memoir publishers and compiled a list of twenty. I created personalized emails and sent them off to those publishers. No agent required. And, some actually responded, which was minimal when I went through my agent list... Good luck with it, Victoria. I use Amazon and IngramSpark for my POD paperbacks and Amazon and Draft2Digital for my eBooks.

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  16. Good for you receiving personal responses to Plunge, Liesbet. Bravo!

    And thank you so much for sharing your publishing information with Adventures in Writing! Truly appreciate it! I'll check into IngramSpark for POD's and Draft2Digital for ebooks. Amazon. Yep! I knew they'd be a part of anything I did.

    Thanks again for sharing this on Adventures in Writing. Have a beautiful week!

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