I’ve been sitting on some news for a while. In early September, I came to an important decision: I was done trying to find an agent/publisher. I was at the point where I just couldn’t do it anymore, which was mostly because my sister had asked me to work on a picture book with her, and we had begun the rounds of querying agents. As each new rejection rolled in, I found that I just couldn’t stomach it like I once could.
It can take a lot out of you emotionally. If you’ve done your research, then you feel invested in each query, and I think I had reached the point where I was just done. I began to make plans for my next step, knowing I was committing to too much and worrying that I’d bitten off more than I could handle. I was going to start my own small press and just publish my work through that medium. I hired an illustrator for the picture book and for some concept art related to a collection of short stories that I wrote in 2022. I shared the news with everyone I knew as this was my way of committing to the decision.
And then on October 18th, after I’d spent the entire day telling even more people about my new endeavor, I received an email from Running Wild/Rize Press, a small press located in Los Angeles.
With that offer of publication, my world changed again. After the Autumn People is a novel that I began writing in 2016 and revised several times as a result of agent feedback. As much as the querying process can be grueling, I was able to get this book to where it needed to be because of agent feedback and encouragement. I’ve been told I’ll begin working with my editor in the new year, and I’m excited to hear what he has to say.
Book Description
After the Autumn People: A woman facing terminal brain cancer pens explosive “last letters” to the people in her life, including her childhood friend whose own world is upturned; after finding out the diagnosis is a fraud, she has to confront the fallout and the truth of her traumatic past.
To be published by Running Wild Press in 2026.
Image: "Autumn Symphony" by Jaykhuang is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Congradulations Suki. Keep posting on developments.