Today I’d like to welcome Karina Fabian, author of several ebooks across different genres. I’ve interviewed her here before and today she’s joining us with a guest post to discuss the submission process and celebrate her latest novel, Live and Let Fly, to be released on April 20th. I hope you enjoy.
I’d like to thank Dianna for hosting me on the Live and Let Fly book tour. I’m especially excited about this one because it was a long time coming, and when she asked me to write about the submission process, I’m not sure she knew what she was getting into!
Live and Let Fly features a snarky dragon detective, Vern, and his partner, the magic-slinging nun, Sister Grace. I’ve told many of their adventures in short stories and novels, but this is their biggest case to date, as they will have to travel far from where they have friends or magic to help them in order to stop a Norse demigod from starting Armageddon in our world.
I started writing DragonEye stories when I wanted to be in an anthology, Firestorm of Dragons. I created Vern for the anthology and adored him and the noir style of his voice. So I started looking for other stories for him. The premise is that he solves problems where magic is slipping into our world or technology into Faerie for nefarious purposes. I selected an Irish myth about pixies turning into bugs to fight a war. The idea sounds stupid in English, so I found someone to translate it into Gaelic. She just happened to run a magazine and asked me to write a serial story for it. I wrote the short story, “Amateurs” and for her a serial called “World Gathering.”
I took “Amateurs” to the MuseOnline writers’ conference. (It’s free, and worth years of writing courses!) A new publisher was offering to critique works, and she enjoyed “Amateurs” and Vern so much, she asked if I had a novel. I didn’t, but I did have this serial story I could expand.
A year later, Magic, Mensa and Mayhem came out, got great reviews and won the INDIE Award for best Fantasy. I suggested I write another and she agreed. Sadly, her life situation changed as Live and Let Fly was getting ready to come out, and she returned it to me. However, if it had not been for Dindy Robinson and Swimming Kangaroo, there would have been no Vern novels. I treasure our time together.
So, I started sending it around, the standard way: find the publisher; read the guidelines; submit; wait. Find another publisher, repeat process. I did this for a few years, while I continued to write DragonEye stories and started a newsletter, A Dragon’s Eye View. However, I didn’t get many bites.
In the meantime, Lea Schizas, who founded the MuseOnline conference, and I became good friends, and she started her own publishing company, MuseItUp. She is a big “Vern fan,” and told me that when I was ready, she’d be glad to consider my books. In April of last year, I decided I was more interested in getting Live and Let Fly published and moving on to other DragonEye books than I was in seeking that gold ring of a Big Six publishing contract or agent. I was also impressed with how MuseItUp has grown and all the work they are doing to cultivate faithful readers. I felt Vern and Sister Grace would find a good publishing home there, so I sent her the manuscript.
So this book did not take a traditional publishing route, but there are lessons to be learned.
1. Network. If I hadn’t met and befriended these lovely ladies at writers’ conferences, this book might not have even been written.
2. Write the freebie now and again. I didn’t get paid for the serial story “World Gathering” (which is now on my blog, btw, http://dragoneyepi.net). I did it for fun. However, it led to a book contract and some faithful fans.
3. Take chances, but know when to go the sure route. I still have a dream of being published with Tor or Baen or one of the other “big six” publishers. However, I appreciate the support MuseItUp is giving me for the DragonEye series, and I’ve learned a lot from working with its editors. I’m proud of the book, excited to see it in print, and know it will bring more fans for future books.
No one has the same submission process. It takes work and imagination—and perseverance. Good luck to all of you in the middle of the process.
Karina Fabian is a multi-published author with several ebooks in different genres available to the world. You can read my interview with her here or check out her website here. To purchase a copy of Live and Let Fly, click here.
Thanks for hosting me today!