Don't Give Up

DON'T GIVE UP! by Lois Winston                                                                                

Lois Winston

I want to thank Nancy for inviting me to stop by her blog during my month-long blog tour to celebrate the release of my new mystery. Like Nancy, I'm published in both romance and mystery. ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, which was just released, is the first book in my new Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series from Midnight Ink. Since Nancy discusses the world of publishing on her blog, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about this particular book's up-and-down journey to publication.

Somewhere back in 2003 my agent heard that an editor was looking for crafting mysteries. Well, she thought, who better to write a crafting mystery than a writer who's also a designer in the crafts industry (that would be yours truly.) The conversation went something like this:

Agent: Lois, Editor A wants a crafting mystery. You should write one.

Me: Okay.

Thus was born the idea for ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN: Anastasia Pollack is the crafts editor for a women's magazine. One night she goes back to the office to finish up some work after everyone else has left for the day and finds the fashion editor's body hot glued to her office chair. Anastasia's glue gun is the murder weapon, making Anastasia the prime suspect.

I fleshed out the plot and added a host of crazy characters (a communist mother-in-law, a Russian princess mother, and Anastasia's dead husband's loan shark) and neurotic pets (Ralph the Shakespeare quoting parrot, Catherine the Great Persian Cat, and Mephisto the Devil Dog.) I finished the book a few months later and sent it off to my agent.

Agent: I think you're funnier than Author X!

Me (blushing): Aw shucks!                                                                      

Agent sends manuscript off to Editor A.

Editor A: I think the author is funnier than Author X!

Sounds like a sale in the making, right? Think again. Before Editor A can convince her editorial board to buy the book, she accepts a job with another publishing house where she's not buying crafting mysteries. No one else at Editor A's previous publishing house thinks I'm as funny as Author X.

I enter St. Martin's Malice Domestic contest and become a finalist. Strange contest. No list of finalists is ever announced. I have no idea how many other manuscripts mine is competing against for the Golden Ticket of a book contract. I know it's at least one other, though, because he wins. I don't.

Agent continues to send manuscript out to Editors B, C, D, E, and F. None of them think I'm as funny as Author X. Meanwhile, I sell two other books, a humorous women's fiction that the publisher markets as a romance and a romantic suspense.

Agent sends crafting mystery manuscript to Editor G. Editor G thinks I'm as funny as Author X! Wants to buy book! Publishing company is sold. New company decides not to publish crafting mysteries. Contract never arrives.

Meanwhile Publisher H decides to stop publishing amateur sleuth mysteries, and Publisher I cuts back drastically on their amateur sleuth line.

Agent sends manuscript to Editors J, K, and L. None of them think I'm as funny as Author X.

Agent sends manuscript to Editor M. Editor M loves book and offers 3-book deal!

The road to publication for ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN took 6 years from the day my agent suggested I write a crafting mystery until the day we received an offer for the series. Moral of the story? Don't give up!

You can read more about me at my website, http://www.loiswinston.com. In addition, Anastasia and her fellow editors blog at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm doing a blog tour this month to celebrate the release of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. You can find the schedule at my website and Anastasia's blog. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs over the course of the month will be entered into a drawing to receive one of 5 copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. (If your email isn't included in your comment, email me privately at lois@loiswinston.com to let me know you've entered.) In addition, I'm also giving away an assortment of crafts books on selectedblogs during the tour, so look for those as well.                                                      

And never forget the moral of my tale: Don't give up!