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Getting published is no easy task. People talk about publishers and agents being the gatekeepers - but I've found this to be only partially true. You are the gatekeeper to your own writing. Know who you are pitching to. Know if they print Middle Grade (8 to 12 years) or Young Adult (12 to 18 years) or just Adult (18+ years). I hear complaints now and again from authors about publishers pushing them to add in smut or language, so the book sells better. But that's not everyone. My publisher, Elk Lake Publishing, Inc., has a motto "Publishing the Positive." They gather stories that I enjoy reading and I know won't drop me in the middle of something X-rated - no matter the intended age. They care about the stories, the details, their writers - they care are it all. That's why I pitched to them more than once and with different stories. (Nope, Sonji wasn't the first one I knocked on their door with.) And I've been so thankful on more than one occasion that they told me, "Yes," and that we see eye-to-eye. Please, don't throw your manuscript - your work of blood, sweat, tears, and ink - at every door you can until something sticks. Pray and research who would be the best fit for you and your work, so you aren't fretting down the line about having to add something that isn't right to the story placed on your heart. Know your publisher.
*Sidenote: If you order 10 or more books direct from Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. (yes, they need to be Elk Lake books) you'll get a discount on the price. They have so many great reads for Middle Grade on up to Adult. I'm not joking! You can check out their website (https://elklakepublishing.com) here. One of the better places to find their books on the site is under the Authors tab. (And, no, they know nothing about my shoutout to them, and I earn nothing for doing it.)
Hope you enjoyed this month's Writing Tip!