Writers dream about becoming authors. Authors dream about grabbing that deal of a lifetime and becoming published by a New York publishing house with advances, book distribution, royalties that would make them jump up and down for joy, and all the glamour and glitz that comes with the territory.
Some authors dream of doing this and others simply do it.
But is it so simple?
I interviewed Catherine Delors, author of the historical fiction, Mistress of the Revolution (Dutton) to find out how she claimed the brass ring to show you it can be done.
Thank you for this interview, Ms. Delors. You have a great historical fiction novel called Mistress of the Revolution. Can we begin by having you tell us why you wrote your book?
Oh, Thank you. The idea of writing Mistress of the Revolution came from a conversation I had with my late father. We were talking about the name of a street in the little mountain town where I had spent my summers as a child. It was named after Pierre-André Coffinhal, Vice President of the Revolutionary Tribunal. I looked up that character, and found someone who seemed perfect for a novel.
How many revisions did you have to write before you felt comfortable in sending it off?
The manuscript went through at least three rounds of revisions before it was sent to publishers.
Do you have an agent or did you query yourself?
I have an agent, Stephanie Cabot of The Gernert Company. Unpublished writers should know that some publishers won’t even look at unagented submissions. There are exceptions for some genres. I believe Penguin welcomes unagented submissions for children’s books.
Did you have previous books which made it easier to secure a New York publisher?
No, not at all. The only things I had written before were a few articles for law journals. Believe me, it didn’t help a bit!
You are published by Dutton, a well known and respected New York publisher. Why do you feel that Dutton chose your book to be in their line-up?
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