OMG. LOL. I was emailed a contract for my novel, Exchanges, by a new publishing firm, WheelMan Press. I'm stunned by this sudden turn of events. I'd only briefly described the book in my query, saying it was a year in the life of the supervisor of a commodities ring, based on my experiences in the business. I was honest about the sales count of my four books, about 630, counting Kindles. To my surprise, I was asked to submit the manuscript, and a few days later learned it had been accepted. I looked over the contract and found nothing unexpected. I will ask my niece Luci to print it out and it will be in the mail by Monday. Then the anxiety will begin, and it won't be about money. Maybe it will be someday, but right now I'm just thrilled to have my work in print. The tension will stem from how the manuscript will be handled, if the profanity and nasty behavior in the narrative will be toned down. It would not be the truest account of life on the trading floor without that harshness. And what about the main character's life away from work, which is about half the story? What about his obsession with the 1988 Mets? What will my ex-co-workers think of their portrayals? It wouldn't be hard to determine who the fictional characters represent. I didn't say anything untruthful, but it is impossible to know how people will react to seeing themselves in print. It's a risk/reward endeavor. I remember a broker I respected, Jack G., telling a young trader who was just starting out to: "Take a shot." One cannot be successful without taking chances. It's true on the financial level, as well as the artistic. The businessman risks losing capital, the writer at the bottom of the literary totem pole risks ridicule and indifference to his work. Even the wildly successful, Madonna, Celine Dion, for example, face rancor from professional and civilian critics. Some hate them merely because they are successful, just as I hate the Yankees. One trait all successful people share is toughness. They refuse to allow naysayers to defeat them. I hope to get there some day.
The floating book shop was rained out today. I spent some time converting manuscripts to google docs, which automatically convert files to Word. I was 50% successful.
Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic’s Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic’s 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic’s 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic’s Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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