Read Part 1 here   Read Part 2 here   Read Part 3 here

Publishers and agents who only go after the low-hanging fruit are destroying the business. Gravitas, vision, and smart planning moves projects along to a successful financial arrangement for all parties.

You’re right. There are no guarantees about anything.

But so what? That is a constant that will never change and should not be any part of the process of choosing a project.

My hoops — that is, my pitch approaches — prequalify the level of quality of publisher or agent I want to work with.

Now when I get back a reply and that reply is You didn’t follow my instructions so I didn’t read what you sent because obviously you don’t care about how hard I have to work, I simply don’t care because they have already told me all I need to know about them: That they are limited in their thinking.

I don’t want someone so constrained by their own ego that they cannot see the apple among the leaves. And I don’t want to be treated as if what I’ve brought to the table came about because I sneezed one day and all of a sudden thought I was a writer.

Everybody has to work hard in the publishing business.

Not all publishers and agents handle all my book subject categories. I understand that. And not all have the connections. I get all that. I’ve had replies that say “the project is too big for me” or “I don’t handle that genre.” I’m good with all that.

But, except in very rare instances, a one-off novel does not a career make for anybody.

In any case, I have a vision.

Novel + Music + Audio-visual = Publishing Juggernaut that can feed a lot of people for a long time.

I see Netflix or Amazon movies or series. I see sales of books (in all forms), and albums of music whose lyrics are featured in the book, and movies and TV shows, all tied in together, making readers, listeners, and viewers happy to be entertained with fun, thought-provoking fare.

It’s called Planned Momentum.

Let’s not live accidentally, okay?