I have waited a long time for my book “Loon Point” to sell.
To be honest, it wasn’t that long ago. Five months have passed and that seems like a long time. But in the publishing world, that’s just the blink of an eye.
I talk to my old friend Andrew all the time about how to sell this book. Andrew told me that if he ever sold a book, he would drive around New York City in a red convertible with a long white silk scarf.
“New York doesn’t have a good climate for convertibles,” I noted. “And the subway is much faster.”
“I don’t care. I would do that.”
“Besides, I’ve never seen you wear a headscarf.”
Andrew insisted he wear one, so I bought him a scarf for his birthday. It wasn’t white and it wasn’t silk. It was a soft wool scarf and much more practical. I’ve never seen him wear that one either.
But last week I got some good news. Loon Point has finally found a publisher. It’s a nice, big publisher with plenty of resources, and I’m very happy. The whole thing is exciting, and the only thing that’s a little daunting is that the process will take a year and a half.
“2026?” said my husband Peter. I could see that he was disappointed.
“Yep. Eighteen months. I think that’s pretty normal.”
Since I only spent 50 days writing the book, it feels slow. But I know that good things are worth waiting for, and this process of finding an agent and then having my agent find a publisher has taught me a lot.
There were times when I thought nothing was going to happen at all. I thought this book was going nowhere, never going to get into readers’ hands. Sometimes I even thought the whole idea of becoming a first-time novelist at my age was a bit silly. I should have given myself at least another decade to get going.
But these moods didn’t last long, because even when no one seemed to be the least bit interested in my book, I was still having fun.
I wrote that column every week. I wrote more stories. And I watched my old brain learn new skills. I could look at something I’d written even six months earlier and see that I was better than before. That was a joyful thing.
My new editor just sent me a long questionnaire to fill out. They want to know what the cover should look like, if there will be questions for readers at the end, and what accent the person reading the audiobook should have. And I realized that if I did this in my twenties or thirties, I would be a wreck. I would be less patient and much more afraid of messing something up.
As it is, I’m excited to learn how the whole thing works. I want to see how the sausage is made. I want to see how these editors and designers and directors and marketers do what they do so well. I want to work with a whole bunch of people who know a lot more than I do, and I want to keep learning. My plan is to have a good time – and keep writing every day.
My agent told me I should get the final contract next week. I told Andrew we should celebrate. I might even wear a headscarf.
