When I completed my first novel, Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors, I obviously hoped it would be published by a traditional publisher. I finished it in the early 2000s, and it was met with the typical rejection I seem to get:
“I liked this, but it’s a bit too quirky and I don’t know how I’d market it.”
Still, when I had dreams of Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors on bookshelves, I had an even bigger dream: that people would take the book with them on road trips and take photos holding it in front of all kinds of road side attractions. A stranger holding something I wrote in front of the Grand Canyon, Cadillac Ranch, or a giant ball of twine would have made me just as happy as having the book published; in some ways, maybe even a little more.
Technology is a Wonderful Thing
By releasing Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors as an ebook, obviously that dream of people holding my physical book while on vacation won’t happen. But there are benefits to ebooks that go beyond picking something up off the shelf in a bookstore.
A good friend vacations in Alaska every year; he and his family are up there right now.
On the day I released Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors as an ebook, I received a text message from my friend, letting me know that he bought it.
In the middle of nowhere.
In his words:
“No running water, no toilets, but 3G (upgrade from Edge last year…).”
There’s also a photo:
So maybe it’s not a physical book that is being dragged all over the country–and the mighty Isuzu Rodeo isn’t an actual station wagon–but somebody who’s spending two weeks in a camp in Alaska with no running water or toilets was able to tap some buttons on his iPad and buy my book!
Ain’t technology grand?
That’s very cool — what fun! I hope you do get more photos like this 😀
I knew HCWWPD made it to Alaska but must have overlooked this photo, which I think is great! 🙂
“I liked this, but it’s a bit too quirky and I don’t know how I’d market it.”
I think I know what kind of rejection letters I’ll get now. lol
I already had my “official” road trip this summer, but I’m going to a wedding next month, and I’ll see about getting a photo like your buddy Wideman (except with me with your ebook on my iPad in Vermont in the photo). 🙂
CMS,
I can see agents being nervous about marketing some things, but Hell Comes with Wood Paneled doors is easy. It’s a humorous coming-of-age story about a family traveling cross country in a possessed station wagon. It’s like National Lampoon’s Vacation meets Stephen King’s Christine crossed with the TV show, The Wonder Years.
I think my stuff will always teeter into Quirkyville. I know some would say, “Don’t be quirky,” but ya gotta write what you love. I happen to love quirky, and I know a lot of other people who do, too.
I don’t think I’ll get a summer road trip in. It will have to wait until autumn. But…I would not object to a photo from Vermont. (I bet it’s not 103 degrees in Vermont right now…sounds like a good place to be in August.)
“It’s a humorous coming-of-age story about a family traveling cross country in a possessed station wagon. It’s like National Lampoon’s Vacation meets Stephen King’s Christine crossed with the TV show, The Wonder Years.”
Wow, that sounds great! Is that what you pitched to the agents? Sure it’s quirky, but you mentioned 3 very relatable pop culture icons. I thought agents would love that.
And one more thing about “quirky”- “House of Leaves.” International bestseller. Or maybe HOL is beyond “quirky.” lol