The Wind Waker
Jul. 25th, 2021 06:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI think I've also been approaching my Wind Waker project in the wrong way. This is tricky, because academic publishers require you to submit a complete manuscript that's already ready for print and peer review along with a lengthy prospectus, while nonacademic publishers prefer a short pitch and sample chapter.
I've been thinking about pitching the project to Boss Fight Books, but this is also tricky, mainly because they have a very specific style. If I were to write the project for Boss Fight Books but then couldn't get the editors to read or respond to the pitch, then I will have an unpublishable manuscript that I'd have to start over from scratch if I wanted to publish it elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it's worth trying to at least pitch the project to them without writing the entire thing in advance.
Most of the books in the Boss Fight series are about 30k words long. I should therefore think of the project as a connected series of seven or eight 3,500-word essays. If I can come up with an outline and short list of annotated works cited, I can work from there to come up with a focal point for the pitch and a sample chapter.
If that doesn't work, I can pitch the sample chapter to somewhere like Gamasutra and start getting in touch with editors at academic presses to see how they would approach the project.
I guess I've always thought of myself as fandom trash who doesn't have anything interesting or important to say, but maybe it's time to start taking myself seriously. I think I probably panicked while racing against the tenure clock; but, now that I don't have to worry about that anymore, it's worth sitting down and taking the time to plan this project properly.
I've been thinking about pitching the project to Boss Fight Books, but this is also tricky, mainly because they have a very specific style. If I were to write the project for Boss Fight Books but then couldn't get the editors to read or respond to the pitch, then I will have an unpublishable manuscript that I'd have to start over from scratch if I wanted to publish it elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it's worth trying to at least pitch the project to them without writing the entire thing in advance.
Most of the books in the Boss Fight series are about 30k words long. I should therefore think of the project as a connected series of seven or eight 3,500-word essays. If I can come up with an outline and short list of annotated works cited, I can work from there to come up with a focal point for the pitch and a sample chapter.
If that doesn't work, I can pitch the sample chapter to somewhere like Gamasutra and start getting in touch with editors at academic presses to see how they would approach the project.
I guess I've always thought of myself as fandom trash who doesn't have anything interesting or important to say, but maybe it's time to start taking myself seriously. I think I probably panicked while racing against the tenure clock; but, now that I don't have to worry about that anymore, it's worth sitting down and taking the time to plan this project properly.
