Liza, it still amuses me that you were the one who inspired me to start publishing my work online back when I first followed you on Instagram, and also the one who convinced me to stay away from the traditional route for my own novel. Even so, your commitment to bringing “The Lilac Room” into the world through traditional publishing is deeply inspiring. I admire your grit and your moxy. I am genuinely praying for your success and I hope you receive every bit of the satisfaction you deserve.
I am not avoiding the traditional route out of any disdain for it. My friend Bogdan, who is also here on Substack, told me horror stories about the way publishers wanted to carve up “Traders of Our Time,” which is a brilliant book. Some trading-focused houses simply could not understand what he was actually trying to do. Yet the final book turned out to be something rare and beautifully written, accessible to any intelligent reader.
My own novel may fall into the “vampire” category, yet it is an ambitious literary work. I hope it can stand as the next step in the evolution of the trope since “Dracula.” It is far closer to Borges or Marquez than to Anne Rice, though, in the end, I want it to be something uniquely Baciu.
I made several stabs at writing a novel and failed. Then, one day, I sat down to write a novelette.
It grew.
(And *A Diabolical Bargain* ensued.)
Apologies if you've already answered this question, but:
Have you considered serializing your novel through Substack itself? Is there a reason you're wanting to go the trad pub route?
Liza, it still amuses me that you were the one who inspired me to start publishing my work online back when I first followed you on Instagram, and also the one who convinced me to stay away from the traditional route for my own novel. Even so, your commitment to bringing “The Lilac Room” into the world through traditional publishing is deeply inspiring. I admire your grit and your moxy. I am genuinely praying for your success and I hope you receive every bit of the satisfaction you deserve.
I am not avoiding the traditional route out of any disdain for it. My friend Bogdan, who is also here on Substack, told me horror stories about the way publishers wanted to carve up “Traders of Our Time,” which is a brilliant book. Some trading-focused houses simply could not understand what he was actually trying to do. Yet the final book turned out to be something rare and beautifully written, accessible to any intelligent reader.
My own novel may fall into the “vampire” category, yet it is an ambitious literary work. I hope it can stand as the next step in the evolution of the trope since “Dracula.” It is far closer to Borges or Marquez than to Anne Rice, though, in the end, I want it to be something uniquely Baciu.
Sommerset Maugham said there are three rules for writing a novel, but that unfortunately nobody knows what they are.
Your novel sounds great. I like the reason you chose for naming the protagonist’s love interest “Adam.”