Last week during a book talk at the Chilmark library, someone asked me how I found a publisher for my novel. It’s a question I often get asked, as finding an agent and publisher can make scoring ferry reservations on the Fourth of July weekend look easy.
Most people who have managed to get a book published will point to some combination of luck, talent, timing, connections, perseverance, and an understanding about how publishing works and how to pitch your book project. Social media followings and probably even AI should also be factored in, these days. But the truth is there is no magic formula, and perhaps no justice. However, the more you know about the book industry, which seems to both be ever-changing and yet never-changing, the better positioned you’ll be to answer the question, How’d you get your book published?
At this summer’s Islanders Write, we will turn our attention toward publishing with the return of the pitch panel, a second panel discussion focused on publishing, and a workshop on planning your book publicity strategy, which doesn’t sound like it’s about publishing, but it helps to have an idea of how you might publicize your book when you’re trying to find a publisher.
First the pitch panel: This is an opportunity for five writers to pitch their book project and get feedback from four publishing professionals — a publisher and editor, a literary agent, an author, and a publishing executive. It is also a terrific opportunity for audience members to listen to the live pitches and the critiques, and gather information which is often universally applicable.
Each writer chosen to pitch will have three minutes to present their pitch, then they will receive feedback and have an opportunity to ask questions about both their pitch and their book project. Islanders Write is delighted to welcome back publishing industry professionals Gretchen Young (Regalo Press), Rosemary Stimola (Stimola Literary Studio), John Hough, Jr. (“The Sweetest Days”), and Torrey Oberfest (Bloomvale) to sit on the pitch panel this year.
If you are interested in pitching your book to the pitch panel, please send a brief synopsis about your book project and a short bio to us through the Islanders Write website, islanderswrite.com, or email it to me directly at kate@mvtimes.com. We accept pitches in all genres, and the five projects chosen for the live pitch at the event tend to be in different genres.The deadline for pitch submissions is Friday, August 9. Writers will be informed if their pitch was selected on Sunday, August 11. If you are selected, you will receive more guidance about shaping your pitch for the event. Please do not submit a pitch if you cannot be at the event that day.
Following the pitch panel, there will be a panel discussion focused on the ins, outs, and current trends in publishing with publisher and editor Dawn Davis (Simon & Schuster), editor and author Emma Brodie (Clarkson Potter), editor and author Marc Favreau (The New Press), and literary agent Adriana Stimola (Stimola Literary Studio).
And since part of getting your book published is having a plan for after its publication, novelist and marketing expert Elisa Speranza will facilitate a workshop on book promotion. This hour-long workshop, called “You Finished Writing Your Book — Now What? Planning and Executing Your Book Publicity Strategy,” will help demystify the world of book publicity, and will provide practical advice for developing your book launch and marketing strategy.
And as for how after 11 children’s books I found a publisher for my first novel for adults — Islanders Write provided me with the luck and connections. Through the years of putting this writers’ festival together, I have gotten to know longtime pitch panel member Gretchen Young, who a few years back kindly offered to read the novel I was writing and give me feedback on it. That’s when the timing part came in. It took me a few more drafts to take her up on her offer, and by the time I asked her if her offer still stood, Young had just left Hachette and formed Regalo Press, and was deciding what books would be on her inaugural list. On a snowy December morning in 2022, she called me with this feedback: “I want to publish this novel.” That is I suppose where the talent and the perseverance paid off. And this May, “Morning Pages” (Regalo Press) was published. So indeed, it can happen. It just takes some luck, talent, timing, connections, perseverance, and an understanding about how publishing works, and how to pitch your book project.
Islanders Write is sponsored by The MV Times, and will be on Monday, August 19, at Featherstone Center for the Arts. Kate Feiffer is the event producer for the event, and the author of the new novel “Morning Pages.”
