I'm in a bit of a void book-wise as well. My attorney, who did a fantastic job going over my contract, is dealing with the publisher directly. I don't particularly want to play phone-tag and I'd like this part to go as fast as possible. I want my story notes!
I spent the last three days re-reading the book and cleaning up things here and there. I shouldn't mention how long it has been since last I read it; suffice it to say it was one graduate degree ago. I was pleased. I was surprised. I have claimed that writing screenplays for a few years made my writing lean; turns out it was plenty lean back then.
So what's the #1 problem I see now? It's more a publishing problem than a book problem, since, heck, I like the book. The book is working. It's a "good yarn" as one of my writer friends would say. The problem is the dreaded genre mix. It's a science fiction mystery. I had no idea until I read the press release about the publishing contract. In my mind it was always pure science fiction. My mother, who reads more mysteries than the folks at the Edgar Awards, spotted it right away. Mystery!
The deuce you say!
Is this why agents in the past have said they didn't know what to do with the book? I don't know. Is crossing genres a good idea? Well, for a first-time novelist, probably not. Is this probably the one chance I had to get this book published? Yep. Am I going to do whatever it takes to get the book ready and launched? You bet. Where will it be shelved? I have no idea.
