Grandpa's Music -- a lesson in developing the editor/writer relationship

and a VERY SHORT list of publishers accepting unsolicited mss. #2 in the series of My Books

Every piece of communication builds your connections with the publishing world.

This past week, I reached out to a library employee who, several years ago, contacted me for a reading. With a new book out, I hoped to reconnect, and inquired about the possibility of a repeat. I was also seeking funding from The Writers’ Union of Canada, which—along with Canada Council for the Arts—offers an opportunity to apply for such. But you need to have a reading-event booked in order to apply. There’s a deadline of course, and I could only hope that the librarian remembered me as the reader who was prepared, showed up a bit early, was helpful, read well (and not too long!), answered questions, conversed with library patrons following the reading… all those bits and pieces that should make a rainy winter afternoon spent cozily in a library feel to be well-spent.

The decision wasn’t hers alone; she had to contact the “Friends of the Library” group, and I had to acknowledge that back-and-forth, her time spent. Suffice to say, she remembered me, and we have a date. I can now apply for funding.

We’re in a time when “ghosting”—leaving calls and messages unanswered—is no longer seen as inappropriate or even rude; now it’s considered expedient. Apparently there’s always something else to do, and maybe some assumption that one should know how to read being ghosted: “don’t bother again” it says. Or “I’m busy.” And it’s good to be busy. Oops—I first typed that as “god to be busy.” That too.

Altogether, this make me more conscious of offering even a quick response to let someone know “I got the message.”

So this story hearkens to a time when people communicated back and forth; later in the post I’ll speak to how this might still—yet—be useful.