IMG_2553Road To ‘Forty Years Stoned: a journalist’s romance’ Publication 

 

Forty Years Stoned: a journalist’s romance

This blog will grow as Tom Huth’s platform does. With time and entries, I hope it will offer a roadmap for writers unable to envision their own road to publication.

We met at the 2013 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. He attended my workshops and read from his work-in-progress; actually, over the course of my weeklong workshop, Tom read two chapters from two works-in-progress. I liked the storytelling in both. He’s lyrical and poetic but not at the expense of story; a minimalist style that reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Ray Carver. High compliments to Tom.  We got along, ‘clicked’ some might say, and after the conference, he asked if we could work together.

We began in August, 2013 and have been working together ever since. First, there was the completion of his untitled memoir which he soon titled Forty Years Stoned. I loved it even though I knew it needed a subtitle, that we’d focus on that later. Then the editing. I had some input. He took it well. I had some more. He took that well, too. One of the pleasures of working with a Pro is that as an editor, I didn’t have to modify my vocabulary or couch my words. It’s always about what’s on the page or what’s missing from story.

Tom is old school. He wanted to sell his work to a traditional publishing house. However, due to the subject matter, he did not rule out indie publishing nor did I. That said, my preference was traditional, too.

Why?

His storytelling is worthy.

Tom’a platform was non-existent when we began traveling this road together. For months-frankly, until rather recently – he resisted this whole social media thing, save for Facebook.

I kept my platform nudging constant – put your  journalist cap back on and make some inroads, Tom was my refrain. He needed blurbs, stories about him, about the book as well as a network he could count on once Forty Years Stoned neared publication. He had very little online contacts though his network offline was/is quite substantial.

About seven months ago, we launched his website and during that Tom began in earnest to hunt for agents. I will link to his story about querying 122 literary agents once Tom publishes it.

Talk about a long and winding road…

Last spring, I discovered author Catherine Hiller online soon after her memoir, Just Say Yes: A Marijuana Memoir was published by Heliotrope Books, a small press in lower Manhattan.

“Worth a query, Tom” I said. He thought so, too.

Heliotrope Books will publish Forty Years Stoned: a journalist’s romance April 20, 2016.

They sealed their deal in October, 2015.  Soon after that, Tom found his ‘journalist’ cap and put it back on. He hasn’t stopped expanding his platform since.

PHEW!

Tom will celebrate publication day, 4/20/2016,  in the Rocky Mountains where he and Holly lived full-time until they began dividing their time between Colorado and California.

Here’s draft of the back book jacket that his publisher, Naomi Rosenblatt, is in midst of revising, nuanced work requiring eagle eyes.

Huth_FullCoverComp2

 

Next  Logging the Road to My Client’s Publication Blog:

  • Acquiring known name blurbs by knowing your audience.

Future Logging the Road to My Client’s Publication  Blog:

  • Working with a small press
  • Pitching stories to magazines
  • Finding readers willing to review and post before publication day
  • Pitching to national, regional & community publications’ book reviewers