Behind the Publishing Scenes of City in the Sky: From Inspiration to Editing to Publishing.

The Inspiration

Imagination is magic; A limitless playground where I decide the reality, anything is possible and no one can tell me no.

In 2020 I embarked on a creative journey to transform one of my imaginations into something tangible.

I love stories that show Black women winning, even if it's in an unconventional way. I particularly love Isa Rae's Insecure, Regina King's portrayal in The Watchmen and anything involving the Marvel Universe.

I grew up in a time of transformation as it relates to how Black people, especially Black women were represented in the media.

Representation is powerful.

I wanted to write about an imperfect Black woman, someone more quirky and weird than what we usually see or read.

I wanted her to go on a journey of discovering/remembering the depth of her tremendous power and also finding her own joy and peace.

The Initial Draft

Finishing my first draft was a feeling of accomplishment like no other.

I lost count of how many revisions, edits and re-writes I completed.

As Octavia Butler said "You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it."

I'm positive this applied to my initial and later versions, and maybe future versions as I keep writing and learning.

The process of creating was like playing in a sandbox. My reward was in creating a version that said what I wanted it to say. I made MYSELF proud.

I had “the audacity" to put myself out there;

One of my stories, out of my head, onto the page for everyone to see.

Thank you Cerece Murphy for the inspirational nugget, "the audacity", that has kept me going through this journey.

The Editing Process

Once I had a complete initial draft, I submitted it for developmental editing.

Developmental Editing

What I thought was a finished version turned into a new first draft after my developmental edit. There was so much I had put into the world of Saleria and all of it's characters that didn't make it into the final copy.

After my hard edit based on the feedback from the developmental editor, I continued to learn. I attended conferences/talks where I continued to gain invaluable feedback, mentorship and friendship.

As my writing partner calls it, sometimes the feedback was verbal "violence" said with love. I took the feedback as a chance to further hone my story to what I knew it should be.

The Publishing Process

With a final manuscript I was totally happy with, I was able to submit to several agents and small presses.

The rejection was immediate and voluminous.

SO MANY REJECTIONS!!!

I was rejected from every agent, at least 50 if not more.

I knew this was not unique to me, but it did burn. I continued to weigh options about what my next steps would be.

In early June I got the news that a small press read my story and loved it.

I re-read the email so many times in disbelief. Not only did they accept it, but they loved it and they wanted to publish it.

The feeling of validation and visibility is hard to put into words.

Small Press Publication

Editing

I recently made it through the first round with the editor from my small press.

I had my non negotiables in my own head, but was totally open to any feedback to set my book up for success.

The second round of edits is upcoming, then cover design, distribution, marketing and promotion.

I am taking all of this as it goes. I am keeping and open mind and I am making sure my answer, even if its scary, is yes...

I want to see where this journey goes. Ill keep you posted.