The big if

 No, this is not about a plot point. I have been fortunate to land three author collaborators for my new novel, The Chess Master. Which is not out yet because I'm searching for a publisher. The Wild Rose Press does not do coming of age stories like mine.

Why am I fortunate because of the collaborators? Did you self publish and struggle to find an audience? I did? I even struggled with my traditionally published book, Cinnamon & Sugar. Okay so what's the secret?

1. If you have friends that are writers and are more advanced in success with sales than you than ask them if they'd like to collaborate for a percentage. Hint: try ten percent of your gross.

2. Put your ego aside. You have a great story but because of the flood of books people aren't finding you (me).

One collaborator of mine has written more than 50 chess books and is preeminent in his field.

Another, the best man at my wedding, was the former president of the U.S. Chess Federation and has written a few books. he refused the 10%, and suggested a gift if it does well. It will.

Third but not least is a non-fiction author who is also an editor. She has made suggestions as they all will.

You tell me if this is a recipe for success. Time will also tell.

Note: I know it is not easy to land a successful; author on your team but it is worth a try. After all some small percentage for little work helps anyone who is trying to write for pay.

Note: The Chess Master is like The Queen's Gambit, but contemporary and with a heroine from different circumstances.

A possible tagline or blurb: A little girl loses her daddy and is left with the chess he taught her to remember him by.

Rhapsody in Black and White

I sat through my grandson’s participation in a band concert at Buena Vista High School last night and marveled at how the kids did such a great job with Rhapsody in Blue. Could I find an analogy to writing? Maybe.

Rhapsody in Blue evokes strong emotions in me with no guide book or words. I don’t know how it affects you, but its mix of Jazz and Classical illustrates an ode to life in New York City. A never ending, never sleeping, always competing, always yearning story of living in the Big Apple. Of course, this cacophony is subjective.

What about writing? The best writing pulls on your soul, takes you somewhere beyond the black and white. It may be as simple as walking along with Sherlock Holmes as he solves a crime, or as joyous as Hamilton.

Our job as writers is not only to write concretely but to engage the reader emotionally. Anything less is not a rhapsody. It may be a jingle and that’s okay.

So how do I get from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody to writing? Maybe I don’t. The best I can do is say that even though Rhapsody has no words, it is as clear to me as the writing of Hemingway. Anybody care to complete this analogy?

Unique mix of abilities

If you are wondering how to make it big in publishing you may have missed an intricacy that I only recently spotted. Each one of us has a unique set of talents. Ask yourself what do you have in a combination of talents that no one or not many have.

Then write the story.

I’ll offer myself as an example. I’m a United States Chess Master and I also write fiction, mainly romance. But I have written using magical realism, historical, pre-historical.

I often thought I should write a story about chess but I wasn’t focused on what direction the story should take and besides my romances were selling. I pictured a chess master so good in his deductive reasoning that he or she becomes a consultant to the police, but I have yet to write it. Busy.

Then, The Queen’s Gambit, was released by Netflix (it follows Walter Tevis’s book of the same name). This gave me an idea. In The Queen’s Gambit, the story stops before the heroine has a shot at becoming the world champion. What if I could write a contemporary story following a child and his or her damaged family (they lost their father) as he or she develops their chess talent. Then take the story to where he or she actually wins the championship.

This concept has captured the interest of an agent and may also be sellable by The Wild Rose Press under women’s fiction. I haven’t asked them yet. I am sure it will get a publisher so stay tuned.

So, how are you unique and what will you write for us?