Publishing Requires Patience by Cheryl C. Malandrinos

I was askedto draft a guest post about what I learned from publishing a book. There areseveral things I could have mentioned, but the one that stuck out the most tome was patience.

I’ve neverhad any patience: not as kid and not as an adult. I was that annoying brat whotugged on her mother’s sleeve screeching, “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom!” over and againuntil my mother stopped her phone conversation and answered my question. Ifinish people’s sentences; I speak around 1,000 words a minute; and if there isa more efficient way to do something, you should know I’ll find it.

When itcame to publishing my book, however, I couldn’t do anything but wait and let itall happen. I submitted my book to the publisher and then waited. After acouple of months, I sent an email to confirm receipt, but I certainly didn’twant to seem ungracious to the people who would be deciding if they wanted towork with me.

Thepublisher confirmed receipt and gave me a time frame when they would get backin touch. A few weeks later, a request came for suggested changes. I edited themanuscript and then sent it back. And I waited...impatiently.

When Ireceived a contact for LittleShepherd from Guardian Angel Publishing, I had a silly notion thatthings would move quickly from there. Not! There were contract signings,completing of book information forms, consideration of potential illustrators,and other details.

Then morewaiting.

When I sawthe cover art for the first time, I thought, surely we are close now.Well…closer than we were months ago when I signed the contract, but a good dealof time would pass before I saw the interior illustrations, made final edits, andcopies of the book arrived on my doorstep.

Was thewaiting worth it? Oh, yes! The reason I fell in love with Guardian Angel booksis that they are so well done. I’ve never read a book of theirs I didn’t enjoy,and that first GAP book I read several years ago has stood up to numerousreadings from both my girls.

My patiencepaid off, even if inside I was screaming a tiny bit for things to move faster.Now, if someone could teach me how not to rush my kids out the door every morning,that would be real progress.

Bio: CherylMalandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. A founding member of Musing Our Children, Ms.Malandrinos is also Editor in Chief of the group’s quarterly newsletter, Pages & Pens.   

Cheryl is aTour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book,a book reviewer, and blogger. Little Shepherd is her first children’s book. Ms.Malandrinos lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and two youngdaughters. She also has a son who is married.

You canvisit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.comor the Little Shepherd blog at http://littleshepherdchildrensbook.blogspot.com/. 

In addition, you can listen to BlogTalk Radio’s Robin Falls Kids show: Stories for Children  with hosts VS Grenier, D.M. Cunningham and Tiffany Strelitz Haber who chatted with CherylMalandrions about her book, writing, the publishing industry, and herexperiences with virtual tours on January 3rd. You can tune in atthe RRRadio’s site at  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2011/01/03/rfk-stories-for-children.

To learn more about Cheryl Malandrions visit http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/CherylMalandrinos.aspx

Cheryl Malandrinos's next stop is January 7th at The Writing Mama blog where she will share a guest post on the world's next superhero!

http://thewritingmama.blogspot.com