Tuesday I submitted the manuscript for In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People via e-mail to the publisher. Now it’s a waiting game. The editor had sent the sample chapters to “readers,” not saying how many or who they were. I assume he read the synopsis, and had favorable reports from his readers.

Since his response at the OWFI writers conference had been a little tepid, I really wasn’t expecting this. But of course I’m thrilled that an editor asked for the full manuscript after assessing a few chapters. That says I’m doing something right with the book.

I now have a couple of things to do with FTSP, or rather with this situation. One is to spend a little more time with the manuscript. After my last read-through I typed those edits, then started over again, intending to re-read just the first three chapters. I found just a few too many things in there I wanted to change, so I think I’ll try to find the time to re-read the entire manuscript and see what else needs to be done. By that time I’ll be so sick of reading it I won’t care how good or bad it is; I’ll just want the thing published.

The other thing I need to do is check out the publishing company. It is Old American Publishing, based in Tahlequah Oklahoma, about 70 miles from here. It’s supposed to be a picturesque town, but we’ve never taken that drive. I made a post about them to the Bewares forum of Absolute Write. The consensus seems to be they are a small press, or perhaps better termed a micro-press, but legitimate, not a scam company. Their web site doesn’t give a lot of information, and only lists a few titles published. I assume they have more, but are just showing the most recent ones.

So now I wait. And work on other projects. And consider what I’ll do if OAP comes back with an offer to publish FTSP. Will I accept it? I have been reconciled to self-publishing it, even somewhat excited about it. Will a micro-press be able to do anything more for me marketing the book than I’ll be able to do for myself? And what will it cost in terms of delay in publishing and smaller royalties? And how long shall I wait for an answer? The publisher didn’t give me any kind of timeframe in which he’d make his decision, just “I will get back to you as soon as I can.”

But that’s borrowing trouble from tomorrow, or next week. This week I’ve been able to edit six chapters in The Candy Store Generation and prepare the student section of the home schooling edition of Documenting America. I’ll continue with those toward my publication schedule, and let FTSP worry about itself for a few weeks.