Today I am thrilled to announce the release of my novel The House on Linden Way! I’ve been talking about this book for so long I almost can’t believe it’s finally time to share it with you.
Unless you’re brand new to this blog, you already know the history—Linden Way started five years ago as a short story, grew into a much longer one, but was never quite long enough for traditional publishing. I tried stretching it to reach the industry standard length for adult fiction (60k words minimum), but it always felt wrong, like I was trying to force the story to be something it was not.
I pushed it to 50k words and started querying anyway, and I actually had a pretty good response. Of the 58 agents I sent it to, five requested the full manuscript, and three of them kept Linden Way under consideration for over a year. Several others sent personalized rejections with encouraging notes. Yet this all happened over the span of two and half years, and at some point I had to re-evaluate my goals for this particular project.
Did I want to keep pursuing a publishing path that had so few options for novellas? Because after all that time, I still knew one thing for sure—I did not want to turn Linden Way into something that it wasn’t.
I also started re-evaluating my overall goals as a writer. What were my reasons for seeking a traditional book deal in the first place? Did I care about advances, bookstore placement, and status? I realized I did not, that mostly I just wanted to write the best story I could, put it out in the world, and move on to the next one.
Once I knew what I wanted and felt certain Linden Way did not have a place in traditional publishing, I pulled the manuscript from consideration, stripped it back down to its original 46k-word length (man, that felt good), and took the leap into self-publishing. As of today you can purchase it in ebook or print or read it on Kindle Unlimited.
To help celebrate the release, I’ve teamed up with the fabulous Women on Writing, who hosted my blog tour for The Fourth Wall in 2014. The tour for my new otherworldly ghost story launches in September—just in time for spooky season. I am so excited! I’ll be offering tips on how to get unstuck when writing a novel, talking more about my process writing The House on Linden Way, sharing my experiences with both traditional and indie publishing, and much more!
And speaking of Women on Writing, I’m over there today with a little writing advice about how to keep things simple so you don’t get lost in the details.
Enjoy, and as always, thanks for your support!
The House on Linden Way is available in print and ebook here.
Congratulations!!!!! I can’t wait to read the final final final incarnation of this book!
I think you’ve read this book as many times as I have over the years! It wouldn’t have been this final (final final) version without you. 🙂