Laura Stanfill

Imagine a Door (eBook, ePUB)

A Writer's Guide to Unlocking Your Story, Choosing a Publishing Path, and Honoring the Creative Journey

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Foreword by Beth Kephart, author of Handling the Truth

Imagine a Door intersperses craft insights, case studies, and checklists with personal stories about publishing and the emotional complexities of sending your work into the world. Is a writing routine worthwhile? How do you pinpoint the why behind your storytelling and use it to improve your manuscript? What makes a query letter stand out? What exactly is distribution? Does success mean selling a certain number of books or can we reframe our expectations in a less capitalistic way?

While prioritizing genuine community over platform building, Laura Stanfill, publisher of Forest Avenue Press and author of Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary, explores these questions from both sides of the desk. She peppers her material with original interviews with authors Omar El Akkad, Fonda Lee, Amy Stewart, Wendy Chin-Tanner, Keith Rosson, Rosiee Thor, Kesha Ajose-Fisher, Emme Lund, and agents, editors, and publishers.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Forest Avenue Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. April 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781942436669
• Artikelnr.: 72359046

Autorenporträt

Laura Stanfill is the award-winning publisher of Forest Avenue Press and the author of the historical novel Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary. She's a graduate of Vassar College and the Yale Publishing Course, which she attended thanks to a scholarship from the Independent Book Publishers Association. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she feeds writers healthy snacks out of her backpack and dresses like a children's book character.

Inhaltsangabe

FOREWORD
12 IMAGINE A DOOR
15 ABOUT THIS BOOK
21 BEGIN
25 CHOOSE YOUR WORD
26 When Nonwriters Ask Questions
30 PRACTICE MAKES PROGRESS
33 TIME MANAGEMENT
40 Trick Yourself
43 THE SECRET
46 READ WITH ABANDON
50 CASE STUDY #1: Thrillers and Mysteries
54 PINPOINT YOUR WHY
57 What’s Your Why?
64 THE FIFTY-FIRST PAGE TEST
66 FIRST READER
70 VOICE
75 I’M AGAINST APPROPRIATION
88 CASE STUDY #2: Sensitivity Readers
95 Interrogate Your Idea
97 PROGRESS IS PERSONAL
99 KEEP TRACK
107 CASE STUDY #3: Thank Your Sources
110 NOW . . .
116 COMMUNITY
119 BELONGING
120 THE COMPARISON TRAP
126 THE FAVOR ECONOMY
134 WRITING GROUPS
139 CASE STUDY #4: Finding Your People
142 What to Consider
146 VISIT THE LIBRARY
148 SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE
152 Bookstore Etiquette
158 THE DIY APPROACH
164 CASE STUDY #5: Small Press Champion
166 More Ways to Find Friends
168 BECOMING A PUBLISHER
171 SUCCESS AS AN IMAGE
180 Online Etiquette
186 THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE PAID REVIEW
191 PAYING FOR AWARDS
197 CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY
199 Conference Checklist
200 BY THE NUMBERS
202 CASE STUDY #6: Traveling to Sell
207 HARD TRUTHS
212 FINDING A GOOD BALANCE
216 PUBLISHING PATHS
219 THE DREAM
220 REMEMBER, IT’S ART
236 CASE STUDY #7: I’m Done
239 AGENT OR PUBLISHER?
244 AGENTS
249 BIG FIVE 
257 CASE STUDY #8: A Leg in the Door
264 SMALL PRESS TYPES
276 UNIVERSITY PRESSES
295 HYBRID AND SELF-PUBLISHING
301 Who’s an Expert?
308 DISTRIBUTION
311 FULL SERVICE
321 What to ask a publisher with distribution
327 NO-FRILLS AND FULFILLMENT
329 What to ask a publisher with no-frills distribution or fulfillment
333 PRINT ON DEMAND
334 What to ask a print-on-demand publisher
342 Printing Galleys
343 SELF DISTRIBUTION
345 What to ask a self-distributing publisher
347 CASE STUDY #9: Forest Avenue’s Distribution Journey
348 TELLING PRESSES APART
352 CASE STUDY #11: Making the Ask
356 WHEN PRESSES FOLD
361 DECISION TIME
364 SAYING YES TO THE YES!
367 YOUR PART IN PROMOTION
370 CASE STUDY #10: The Cost of Events
373 RETURNS VERSUS SALES
376 Sales Data without Details
380 QUERYING
383 READY? SET?
384 CASE STUDY #12: To Revise or Not?
391 Querying Too Early graphic
398 HOW DO YOU FIND A MATCH?
400 AIM FOR THE MAYBE
403 TITLES
405 Title Assessment
409 SHALL I COMPARE THEE . . .
411 Make Your List
414 YOUR HOOK
417 APPROPRIATE LENGTH
420 AUDIENCE AND PLATFORM (SIGH)
424 MORE QUERY INSIGHTS
432 WRITE YOUR LETTER
437 A Basic Query Letter
440 RED (LETTER) FLAGS
443 VERBAL PITCHES
451 Conference Etiquette
453 PROPOSALS
456 FIRST PAGES
460 Write Your Yes
466 HOPES IN A PILE
467 JUST BECAUSE YOU FINISHED . . .
472 Allow for Your Worries
476 REJECTION RESILIENCE
478 REACTING TO FEEDBACK
481 WHEN CRAFT GETS IN THE WAY
487 CASE STUDY #13: The Story of the Hundred Promises
489 THE NO-RESPONSE NO
493 CALLING IT
496 ACCEPTED!
500 BEGIN AGAIN
503 Acknowledgments
509 About the Author
512 READERS’ GUIDE
TK INDEX
TK