Likely the question at hand is will it be published traditionally, or not? If not, then it implies “self-publishing.” Since November of 2023, I have been querying agents in London and NYC, with the intention for my manuscript to be taken by one of the larger publishing companies. It is an arduous process and replies (if they come,) can take up to 3 months. Getting accepted by an agent is no given fact, nor simple task. They take no money from the author, but they take a percent from sales. So yes, it’s business and all about money. And of course, it’s also hinges upon a story that the agent trusts is going to attract readers.
The Lion’s Daughter is a bit of Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert,) blended with scenes and sensations of being in the bush from Out of Africa. It’s a memoir with a narrative style giving verbal screenshots from tiny pockets around the world, a mother-daughter tale exploring the perils of life and death, the triumphs of the human spirit, and the power to go after one’s dreams.
My book is completed and has had a thorough comb-through by Anne Stockwell, a developmental editor and book coach who is the former editor in chief of a US newsmagazine. I have also been fortunate to have a group of beta-readers pose questions that helped us polish and clarify the manuscript. Each person’s feedback included to say, in some way, I have managed to write the story of an extraordinary life.
So at the moment, I have no news. I will continues to query agents. I have not sent out any submissions to Swedish agents because they all require the manuscript to be written in Swedish.
P.S. The lion photo is one of mine, taken in the Serengeti just after a night of camping out; a scene I write about in The Lion’s Daughter.