2008 in Publishing

[desayunoencama]

2008 felt like a very slow year for me, but it looks like I published six new titles and two foreign edition of already published books. Last year I published 10 books, plus three books were reprinted, plus two foreign or translated editions, so I guess that set the bar pretty high. But the year before (2006) was even slower: only two books published, and three new editions of older titles.

I think part of the sensation is that most of the books I published this year are clustered right at the end of the year, and since one of them (DESAYUNO EN LA CAMA) is of particular personal importance, it sort of eclipsed the others. (Also, some of the kidzbooks appeared with a complete lack of fanfare or promotion, no reviews, etc. which also makes them feel less... "real" in a way, I have the physical copies, but I'm almost disengaged from them, because there wasn't much of a way for me to participate in shepherding them during those first baby steps into the world....)

Books published:

DESAYUNO EN LA CAMA (Desatada/Egales, Spain) Poetry Collection.

BEST GAY POETRY 2008 (A Midsummer Night's Press, USA) Poetry anthology.

MARÍA Y EL MUSEO (Ediciones La Librería, Spain) Picture book.
CUANDO MI HERMANA SE ENFADA (Panamericana, Colombia) Picture book.

IS THAT A BAT? (InnovativeKids, USA) Novelty picture book.
IS A SHARK A FISH? (InnovativeKids, USA) Novelty picture book.

Translations of older books:

SOÑÉ TU BOCA (Egales, Spain) Part 1 of the Spanish reprint of anthology THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF NEW GAY EROTICA.

SOSEDJE IN PRIJATELJI (Lambda Skuc, Slovenia) Slovene reprint of picture book AMIGOS Y VECINOS.

Awards and Other Honors

FIRST PERSON QUEER (with Richard Labonté, Arsenal Pulp Press) Winner Lambda Literary Award (Best Anthology)! Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Awards (Gay/Lesbian Category)!

DESAYUNO EN LA CAMA (Desatada/Egales) Chosen Best Poetry Title of 2008 by Dosmanzanas.com!

I published very little in the way of individual stories or poems, although THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR did publish the second of my poems they'd bought a few years ago (and before they switched over to an all-online format).

A decent year, publishing-wise (despite my out-of-proportion expectations).

Comments

[rosefox]

A decent year, publishing-wise (despite my out-of-proportion expectations).

Pot, kettle... *grin*

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I knew from whereof I spoke when I left you those comments the other day!

[demondoll2001.livejournal.com]

Can I ask you a question about publishing, since you know a lot about it?

I've recently written a Children's book (my first one) and it's going to need an illustrator. Should I find an illustrator myself first or should I approach a publishing company first, and they will do that for me? How do you go about finding illustrators for your books?

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Publishers, especially in the US, prefer to match authors and illustrators themselves. In fact, most will automatically reject anything that comes with an illustrator.

I'd suggest you join www.scbwi.org

They're very helpful with both basic information (your question about illustration, or things like do you have to copyright your ms. before sending it to a publisher) as well as advanced stuff for once you're published (sample contracts for speaking at schools, etc.)

Plus very nice people. Lots of local shop talk groups and peer critique groups and etc.

And lots of the latest publishing information on who is or isn't looking.

Even for unpublished writers, belonging to SCBWI is a help in approaching publishers since it shows you're taking your children's book writing seriously.

[demondoll2001.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for this info. I will join it; it seems really useful. I appreciate the help. :-)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Congrats on what everyone else'd regard as an extraordinarily productive publishing year!