Which Side Are You?

One door and only one
and yet its sides are two.
I'm on the inside
On which side are you?

This is an old Sunday school song whose theology is pretty vague for 8-year-olds, but I bring it up because I am realizing (again) how much of writing and publishing has to do with getting inside the magic door.

On the Outside, you're a Struggling Author with a growing collection of rejection slips. You attend writers' conferences with a hungry look on your face and take lots of notes. You make sure you chat with Real Authors at the book tables. They are polite but they don't Notice you. The same with the Editors and Agents and Publisher People, who are on a first-name basis with the lucky people who are In--"Oh, Fran, make sure you send me the first chapter of The Hidden Heart; I think I might have a place for it."

And then, without quite knowing how, you're Inside, where a vast spiderweb of connections links you to editors, publishers, other authors, newspaper people, radio hosts, and on and on. Someone recommends you to someone else, a door opens, which leads to another and yet another. You have a new idea, and you know who to call to make it happen. Someone else has an idea and calls you with a new opportunity.

So the other day I got the bright idea that it would be really fun to do a mother-daughter book event with Emily when she's home in August. I called the local Barnes and Noble and asked for Andrew, the amazing coordinator who arranged my three B&N appearances. I was referred to Andrea, the new coordinator, who was delighted with my idea. "Oh! More than a signing--we'll have you both talk!" I mentioned a possibility for media exposure. "Wonderful!"

That was when it struck me that I was finally In.

Ten years ago, struggling to break into any market beyond CLP's Companions, I could never have called up a Barnes and Noble person and been taken seriously. Never. Or known local newspaper or radio people to recommend.

It's nice to be Inside; it's frustrating to be Outside. I hope I can open the magic door for lots of other writers who need to be discovered.

Quote of the Day:
Emily: But what am I supposed to talk about??!! I never talk in front of people or go to your talks or anything!!
Me: Emily, just get up and talk.