In a random phone conversation at work yesterday, I was talking to a guest who was re-booking her summer vacation. In the process of that exchange, we began to talk about the book that I have written. It seemed like just a simple trade of information until she called me back half an hour later and said she had some information about publishers.
When one is a fledgling author, the mere mention of any connection to a publisher is exhilarating. As I frantically wrote down the information she was giving me, I could feel my heart beating at an accelerated rate. I was writing with one hand, Googling with the other and trying to retain all of the information from each place.
She had given me the name of a recently published author who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her friend assured her that he was a really nice fellow willing to help out where he could. With my tenacious Google-searching skills, I had tracked down his email in no time and sent him a query. Much to my delight, he answered within a few hours.
Although he may not be the direct link I need to have into the publishing world, as a newly published author he could be a wealth of information for me at this stage of my writing career and he seems to be very engaged in helping others that are going through the phases of being a writer that he has already experienced.
I have since sent my first four chapters to the publishing company that previously took a chance on the Winnipeg writer and will wait with crossed fingers to see if I get a response. If nothing else, I have a published author willing to send me snippets of much-needed advice and that, in itself, is priceless.
polysyllabic profundities 
Excellent news – any contact is a good contact if it moves the process along!
Keep going!
Thanks Sheila. And the good news keeps coming. My second Beta reader is hooked on the book and can’t put it down. 😀
Check out Regina at Mockingbird Lane Press. She published my last book The Short Side of Time. It’s just Regina and her daughter does the covers. Very nice to work with – tell her I sent you…
Thanks so much, Sheila. I really appreciate that!! xx
Hi Sheila. Thank you so much for Regina’s contact information. I emailed her and she has already responded. She is currently looking for submissions so I just sent her my first three chapters. 😀
Good – I hope you can get together with her on your book. She has a very small independent press but fiction is her genre so good luck!
Thank you, again. Fingers crossed. 😀
Hi Sheila. I just wanted to thank you again. I reached out to Regina after hearing nothing back and she told me she didn’t receive my first email. I submitted the first chapters again and she reached out immediately for the full MS! Fingers crossed. 😀
I hope you can work something out with her – boutique publishers have limited resources, but I was very pleased with my book. Good luck!
Thank you.