From the Far Ends of the Earth, A Long Journey for My Novel
“It’s not my job to understand agents or the marketplace. My job is to write.” So wrote author Kevin Maloney recently when reflecting on his journey as a writer. I agree, but I’d go even further. These days you don’t even need an agent or publisher to get your book in the hands of readers.
My First Novel, From the Far Ends of the Earth
I began writing From the Far Ends of the Earth nearly a decade ago. In 2018 I sent the following query letter to a top agent at Writers House.
From the Far Ends of the Earth is a 100,000 word literary novel with strong upmarket and book club potential. It tells the story of three family members left behind when the mother at the center of their lives mysteriously disappears. How they cope with her disappearance, learn to reconnect with each other, and forge new relationships in her absence create the heart of this novel.
One day Fran heads toward the grocery store and keeps on going till she reaches the tip of South America. Meanwhile she leaves behind an empty hole in the lives of her family: Kay, a cranky grad student studying archaeology who adores her mother but distrusts men in general, her father and brother in particular; Cal, a heroin addict living in his parents’ home when his mother disappears, left with a father he fears and no other means of support; and Walter, a dedicated husband but distant father whose random bursts of temper have always set the family on edge.
Adding to the mystery of the mother’s disappearance are the “gifts” she sends her family: The breathlessly elated messages she leaves on her daughter’s answering machine, but never when she is there to pick up. The strangely distorted photographs she mails her son, who studies them like hieroglyphs he must decipher to save her, and save himself. The credit card bills she leaves for her husband to pay, allowing him to continue caring for her as he always has, while he uses them to track her journey across the continent with push-pins on a map.
Except for the beginning and ending when we hear the mother’s voice, the story is told from the perspectives of the three family members left behind. The mother remains an absent presence that permeates the novel without inhabiting it. She is seen only through the filters of her family’s memories and perceptions of her.
Ultimately the novel is about the journeys of self-discovery each protagonist takes to piece back together their fragmented lives and make themselves, and their family, whole again.
My First Agent
I was ecstatic when the first agent I queried called to say how much she loved the novel, how it was “about everything that matters” and reminded her of Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow. Since I was leaving in a few days for a 5-week tour of Europe, we made arrangements should the novel go to auction as she expected.
Unfortunately that didn’t happen. While the novel received a lot of luscious head-swooning praise from Big 5 acquisition editors, after three rounds of submissions, no contact was forthcoming. The agent consoled me by saying it’s not uncommon for one’s first novel to be published after the second. So we put that novel aside and I began working on a new one.
My Second Novel, This Sea Within
I finished This Sea Within in 2023, having gone through several rounds of beta readers, a developmental edit, and a line edit. It was quite a departure from my first literary novel. It was more commercial—a love story wrapped in a revolution set in Central America in the 1970s. My agent said the novel was “lovely,” but she didn’t believe she was the right one to represent it, so we parted ways.
I began sending This Sea Within to other agents . . . and then pulled it.
I didn’t want to go through the long process of finding another agent, and then finding a publisher, and then waiting for the novel to get published the traditional way, which is always a gamble. The whole process could take years, if it happened at all.
I didn’t want to wait that long, nor did I want to have to self-publish my novels all on my own.
Going Hybrid
After lots a research, I decided to go hybrid and sent my first novel, From the Far Ends of the Earth, to She Writes Press, which has a stellar reputation, produces beautiful award-winning books, and has a rigorous acquisition process.
I was delighted when my novel was accepted for publication . . . but then declined their offer. Their publication date wasn’t until the summer of 2026. I didn’t want to wait that long!
Also, I realized that while I could afford to publish my first novel this way, my second novel, This Sea Within, which I expected to be the first book in a three-book series, was also ready to publish. Then there was the short story collection I wanted to publish, as well as a series for middle-graders based on my children’s experiences sailing around the world for six years. I’d already written the first book.
I couldn’t afford to go hybrid on all these books. What I needed was my own publishing imprint.
Sea Stone Press
So that’s what I did. I founded Sea Stone Press with the help of another small hybrid. I’m learning the ropes of self-publishing by working with professionals on the cover design, copyediting, proofing, and interior design. I’m also working on a marketing strategy. It’s a lot of work, and not all of it is fun. (I’d rather be writing!) But I feel good about the decision to go Indie. From the Far Ends of the Earth will be published sometime this spring.
Now my job—my business—is not only writing but publishing what I write. Whether or not I’m successful in these endeavors, however, is NOT my business.
Maloney wrote about this at the end of his essay:
There’s a passage in the Bhagavad-Gita that I think every writer could benefit from reading. Probably, we should all print it out and put it on our desks:
Your work is your responsibility, not its result.
Never let the fruits of your actions be your motive.
Nor give in to inaction.
Set firmly in yourself, do your work, not attached to anything.
Remain even-minded in success, and in failure.
Even-mindedness is true yoga.
–Bhagavad Gita, 2.47-49
This is advice I take to heart. My only motive for writing and publishing is to get my writing into the hands of readers, no matter how few or many.
If you are a writer or have dreams of writing or are involved in some other creative endeavor, I’d love to hear about your journey.
Many congrats on working with Sea Stone Press, Deborah. I am excited for you to get your book/s printed and I look forward to reading them!
I think the hurdles of publishing a book are potentially similar to trying to show one's art. Finding a gallery space willing to take you on and give you an exhibition is the first hurdle of what feels like getting into an exclusive invite-only party. Galleries obviously work with the intention and mindset of selling. If they see work they don't feel they can market to their audience, then the door is often closed.
I've had two novels published so far, in both cases by really small presses. Working with them was great (for the most part) and I have lots of respect for the people who work at them, but they have no marketing muscle. I have to take care of that on my own.
At the same time, I'm not sure I'd want to be published by a Big 5 imprint. They tend to devote all their resources to promoting a handful of "star" authors. They also might edit your book into something you barely recognize, and (as per your experience) make you wait forever to actually get published.
I've read horror stories about presses both big and small. Maybe self-publishing really is the best way to ensure that your work gets out there in the way you want it to be. But self-marketing is an awfully big job in its own right.