Samantha Hoffman’s Journey From Self Publishing to St. Martin’s Press

Interviewed by Christine Rice

CR: Tell me about What More Could You Wish For’s journey from a self-published book to St. Martin’s Press. For some reason, I have an image of you selling books on Michigan Avenue… Is that accurate?!

SH: Hmmm…maybe you were one of the women I approached? Yes, I did do that, but I wasn’t selling them, I was giving them away.

The story: After stuffing a folder full of rejection letters from lots of agents I decided to self-publish my book, then titled Mr. Right-Enough. The thing about self publishing is it’s all on you to get your book noticed and in the hands of readers. Not an easy task. I promoted it on Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads, I had a book launch party, I connected with book review websites. I took copies with me when I traveled, and gave them to flight attendants. And I stood out on Michigan Avenue looking for women who reminded me of the main character in the book, and gave away copies, asking them to pass it along to their friends and maybe write a review on Amazon.

I also sent a copy to anyone I could think of who might help spread the word. I used to work for John Cusack years ago, so I sent him a copy. I’m sure he never read it. I had a client who was one of Oprah’s producers, so I sent her a copy (she never read it either, but she told me it was on her list). I also had a friend who worked at St. Martin’s Press, so I sent her a copy, and lo and behold! She read it. Fortunately, for me, she loved it (it’s so awkward when your friends don’t like your work) and sent it on to the president and publisher of St. Martin’s Press, who also loved it. Long, thrilling story short, next thing I knew I had a book deal.

CR: That’s one of the best publishing stories I’ve ever heard.  What was the most surprising thing you learned about self-publishing?

SH: I was surprised by what a pain in the ass it was. If you’re going to do it right it takes a ton of time and patience. You have to do it all; have it edited, have it proofread, have it copy-edited, design a cover, pick the font, format the book…and the list goes on. And if you don’t do all that stuff, you’ll end up in the camp with the people who self-publish their first draft, use images off the Internet for their covers…and give self-publishing a bad name.

Once all the good stuff was accomplished, I was surprised at the pride I felt when I held that printed book in my hands.

CR: What surprised you about publishing with St. Martin’s?

SH: That I was still responsible for most of the promotion of the book, now called What More Could You Wish For. I didn’t expect a big book tour – I knew they saved those funds for well-known authors who already have an audience – but I did think they would provide more marketing help. What they did was send out advance reading copies to various media outlets and publications for review prior to publication, but little else.

I did an extensive book tour in the Chicago area for a year following publication, but had to arrange all of those gigs on my own. It was fun and rewarding, but very time-consuming.

The best thing about being published by St. Martin’s Press? My editor, Brenda Copeland. With her guidance, the book became a stronger and better story. Did we see eye to eye on everything? No. But I’d say 92%. We cannot edit our own work – that’s the bottom line. And having an editor you trust is the biggest gift and the biggest benefit of all.

CR: I found it interesting that you found a publisher for a ‘coming-of-middle-age’ story.  Was that an obstacle — in publisher’s/agent’s eyes — at first?

SH: I think it’s a growing genre. The baby boomer generation is an enormous demographic. So, while I got many rejections from many different agents, not one of them had a problem with the fact that the main character is 50.

CR: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

SH: I would have gotten an agent first time around and she/he would have sold the book for six figures after it went to auction because publishers were fighting over it, and then it would have been on the New York Times® Bestseller List for three years, and people would recognize me everywhere I go, and beg for a sequel…

Well, we can dream, can’t we?

Actually, I would do it exactly the same way because look how it turned out…perfectly!

CR: You have another book in the chute… How will that publishing experience be different?

SH: St. Martin’s Press has first option on my second book, so that will make it a totally different experience. With any luck, they’ll want to publish it. But you never know in this business. If they pass, however, I now have an agent, so we’ll have the opportunity to sell it to someone else.

Whatever the experience will be, I’m sure it will be exciting.

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Samantha Hoffman is a runner, a reader, film and theater buff, tech geek, social media queen, personal assistant, chef, wine enthusiast, volunteer, lover of life, and…oh yes, an award-winning writer.

Her stories have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Dieter’s Soul, The Corner Magazine in London and numerous other print and online publications. She also writes a popular blog about life in Chicago at www.samanthahoffman.com.

What More Could You Wish For is her first novel.