Wow, congrats! Thanks for sharing this journey of yours - I want to know more. As a fellow Muslim memoirist also without an MFA or a platform, how did you ultimately shoo away the doubt? Who will you be publishing your book with? Honestly, I used to want to land a deal with one of the Big 5s, but the more I read about the industry, I'm less focused on that. The editorial support you're receiving is so much more important.
The big 5 have distribution inroads and marketing resources certainly, but I got advice from another agent contact to the ultimately the publisher is just one aspect of the book and distribution is mostly online now and marketing is very social media driven too so it’s less of a correlation. Authors with some of the widest readerships are even self-published. I’m publishing it with Daybreak Press.
Re doubt, I can’t say that I’ve shoo it away. I even hesitated publishing this post sharing about publishing my book lol. But I have learned not to let it inhibit me so much, which is probably a topic to write about here some time!
Congratulations! We need more Muslim women voices in the literary space, and hopefully you’ll be a catalyst for many to come! Maybe you can shed some light on your journey signing with a literary agent? Excited for the book!
Thank you!! I queried small presses that accepted unagented submissions as well as lit agents (I cold emailed ones who were open to queries). I chose agents based on books I felt mine were similar to or genres they represented (creative nonfiction). ChatGPT actually was also helpful in curating a list.
Most didn’t respond, and the agent I ultimately did get was from an author referral (she had connected with me after my ML essay).
Ultimately, I went with the small press offer - and would def encourage looking into presses that take unagented manuscripts. I got similar advice from another agent contact and glad I heeded it!
So excited for you! And I would love to learn more about this process. This post actually resonates with me quite a bit and is actually very relatable at this moment. Because while I've always thought of publishing a book, I never put any serious effort into it. The best story I have is my own, and it seems so personal to share with strangers and somehow even more so with a lot of people that I know personally. I could put a pen name on it, but I want to put my real name on it. However, your post is encouraging because it reminds me that maybe I don't have to think that far ahead. Maybe I just write a manuscript without thinking too deeply about whether it'll amount to anything or be read by anyone else. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to learning more about your book!
Congrats!
This is what you were meant to do, I absolutely love your talent alhuma barik. Cannot wait!! ❤️
Omgaah congratulations Samaiya!!! Soooo excited for you and can’t wait to read the book!!
Thank you, I can’t wait to hear what you think!!
Wow, congrats! Thanks for sharing this journey of yours - I want to know more. As a fellow Muslim memoirist also without an MFA or a platform, how did you ultimately shoo away the doubt? Who will you be publishing your book with? Honestly, I used to want to land a deal with one of the Big 5s, but the more I read about the industry, I'm less focused on that. The editorial support you're receiving is so much more important.
The big 5 have distribution inroads and marketing resources certainly, but I got advice from another agent contact to the ultimately the publisher is just one aspect of the book and distribution is mostly online now and marketing is very social media driven too so it’s less of a correlation. Authors with some of the widest readerships are even self-published. I’m publishing it with Daybreak Press.
Re doubt, I can’t say that I’ve shoo it away. I even hesitated publishing this post sharing about publishing my book lol. But I have learned not to let it inhibit me so much, which is probably a topic to write about here some time!
Congratulations! We need more Muslim women voices in the literary space, and hopefully you’ll be a catalyst for many to come! Maybe you can shed some light on your journey signing with a literary agent? Excited for the book!
Thank you!! I queried small presses that accepted unagented submissions as well as lit agents (I cold emailed ones who were open to queries). I chose agents based on books I felt mine were similar to or genres they represented (creative nonfiction). ChatGPT actually was also helpful in curating a list.
Most didn’t respond, and the agent I ultimately did get was from an author referral (she had connected with me after my ML essay).
Ultimately, I went with the small press offer - and would def encourage looking into presses that take unagented manuscripts. I got similar advice from another agent contact and glad I heeded it!
This is soooo exiting mashAllah!!
Congratulations! You don’t need an MFA to write an amazing book! Looking forward to reading it!
So excited for you! And I would love to learn more about this process. This post actually resonates with me quite a bit and is actually very relatable at this moment. Because while I've always thought of publishing a book, I never put any serious effort into it. The best story I have is my own, and it seems so personal to share with strangers and somehow even more so with a lot of people that I know personally. I could put a pen name on it, but I want to put my real name on it. However, your post is encouraging because it reminds me that maybe I don't have to think that far ahead. Maybe I just write a manuscript without thinking too deeply about whether it'll amount to anything or be read by anyone else. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to learning more about your book!