How do you fit the zany recollections of a family of twelve into a few pages? You don’t! Furthermore, that isn’t the only problem. How do you keep the page count down so the publisher won’t charge an arm, a leg, a back, and a torso to your reader? And how do you keep the font at a size that eyes older than a few decades can decipher?
A few months ago, agents reviewed the story and said, “It’s well written and engages the reader all the way to the end. However, first-time authors can only be sold in small packages. Cut some chapters, remove some stories, and we’ll consider selling your book to the traditional publishers.”
So I asked myself and a few involved protagonists, “Which sister do I leave out, or which year of my childhood do I cut?”
When the answer came back, “None, of course,” I realized I would need to head for a self-publishing option which would allow me to choose the edits, tighten the pages, and even squeeze the margins. Expect to discover a set of paperback pages chock-full of stories to entertain and photos to illustrate. Equally stuffed hard-cover copies and e-reader versions are also available.
Of course I will wait for the authorized version! But not without impatience–especially when I have heard excerpts read to me at family gatherings and of course remember hearing versions of these stories growing up as one of the nieces of the author!