The road to publication is perilous. I have two
published books under my belt, GRANNY
CAN’T REMEMBER ME, a lighthearted children’s picture book about Alzheimer’s
disease, and THE FOG LADIES, a cozy murder mystery set in an elegant apartment
building in San Francisco where old ladies start to die. The first is self-published, the second published with a
traditional press, albeit small. Each book suffered from being too specialized,
with theoretically too small a readership. With the big houses, if a book does
not fit a make-it-big formula, it seems it simply does not fit.
I
have been interested in writing for a long time, long enough to remember many
different publishing houses at writers’ conferences instead of just a few, long
enough to remember when vampires were big, then “edgy,” then the unreliable
narrator. My books were none of these things. I pitched, I queried, I revised,
but I could not revise the type of book.
With
my picture book, GRANNY CAN’T REMEMBER ME, after being told over and over that
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia were too small a niche for a traditional
press, I published it myself. That brings a tremendous number of decisions and
setbacks, but also incredible satisfaction and control. The book was exactly
what I wanted. However, marketing is difficult, and even harder for an Indie
author, with stricter rules for bookstores, libraries and even the writers’
societies. I allowed a full 40% discount through Ingram, as well as full
returns, but Indie books still suffer from their lack of label.
The
market for cozy murder mysteries is also not enormous, and it is very hard to
be published by the few big presses. I was happy to find my small press, The
Wild Rose Press, which is perfect for my cozy. Having made every decision with
my self-published book, I had to give up some control, though the publisher was
wonderfully responsive to changes and suggestions. A traditional publisher also
comes with a community of advisors and authors to help me through marketing,
though this is still the hardest part of being an author, as our hearts are in
the writing.
These
days, authors often cannot choose their method of publishing. We write, we
pitch, we query, we hope, we see what happens. My children’s book about
dementia and my cozy murder mystery were not glamorous, high profile, obvious
instant best sellers, but they were the stories I wanted to write, so I wrote
them and they made me happy. I hope they bring the same joy to readers.
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The Fog Ladies is a cozy murder mystery set in an elegant apartment building in San Francisco where old ladies start to die. Mrs. Bridge falls off a stool cleaning bugs out of her kitchen light. Mrs. Talwin slips on bubbles in the bath and drowns. The Pacific Heights building is turning over tenants faster than the fog rolls in a cool San Francisco evening.
Young, overworked, overtired, overstressed medical intern Sarah James has no time for sleuthing. Her elderly neighbors, the Fog Ladies, have nothing but time. Sarah assumes the deaths are the natural consequence of growing old. The Fog Ladies assume murder.
Sarah resists the Fog Ladies’ perseverations. But when one of them falls down the stairs and tells Sarah she was pushed, even Sarah believes evil lurks in their building. Can they find the killer before they fall victim themselves?
About the Author
Susan McCormick writes cozy murder mysteries. She is also the author of Granny Can’t Remember Me, a lighthearted picture book about Alzheimer’s disease. She is a doctor who lives in Seattle. She graduated from Smith College and George Washington University School of Medicine, with additional medical training in Washington, DC and San Francisco, where she lived in an elegant apartment building much like the one in the book. She served nine years in the military before settling in the Pacific Northwest. She is married and has two boys, plus a giant Newfoundland dog.
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