Minnesota Nice

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About a week ago, I attended a presentation on publishing at a local independent bookseller, Reading Frenzy in Zimmerman, Minnesota.  As part of their week-long book festival, they invited Seal Dwyer, editor at North Star Press, a regional publisher of Minnesota fiction, Minnesota history, and other Minnesota non-fiction, to speak about the business of getting a book published.

There are many routes to publication, and I guess I could say that I've always been a traditional publishing gal.  I've been on this agent-query rollercoaster for a couple of years now.  I've come close a couple of times with CLOUD 9 but close doesn't cut it in this biz, right? 

Over the last few months, while I've been trying to complete that first draft of WAITING FOR THE SUN, I've played around with CLOUD 9 a bit, too.  Revised.  Queried.   I was in the throes of another major revision when I set it aside to focus once again on WFTS - an agent who read a previous version of C9 said she connected with my writing and wanted to see WFTS when it was finished.

Too bad I haven't quite finished it.

So.  I feel a bit stuck.  C9 is torn apart, but nothing that a couple of buckle-down all-day writing sessions couldn't fix.  WFTS isn't complete, and it's damn hard to write, but the story is begging to be told.

CLOUD 9 might not be the book that's going to get me the agent.  It's not the breakout novel.  WFTS might be.

Do I put CLOUD 9 in "the drawer" or do I go regional?

C9 is set in a fictional town in the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota.   Minnesota, you might recall, is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  More like 11,842.  Minnesotans LOVE their lakes.  They love their cabins.  They love "up north."

explore brainerd lakes

Minnesota readers of YA lit just might love CLOUD 9.

Say I went the regional press route.  Minnesota author, Minnesota setting.  I imagine that C9 would sell well in resort gift shops and bookstores "up north."  I'd get to visit tiny libraries all over small-town Minnesota, and I'd for sure get my fill of resort towns (which I love).

It sounds rather inviting and idyllic.

Then what?   What happens next?  If C9 is published regionally, do I continue my quest for an agent and publication for WFTS?  Does having a regionally published novel help or hinder? 

I'm not sure if going with a regional publisher is the right thing for me to do.  I hope to be ready by the end of the summer with both C9 and WFTS - to query agents with WFTS and possibly send C9 to a regional press.

What do you think?  Would you consider a regional press?  Have you published with one? 

I'd love to hear your story.  Please include a link if you've written about your experience.