Allyson Johnson

The Publishing Journey: Step 2 – Find a Publisher

The book publishing world has changed a lot since I first imagined publishing a book.

Back in the day, there wree local and regional newspapers that regularly reviewed books by local authors. Almost every downtown had at least one bookstore which featured readings by and interviews with local authors. Non-profit organizations like PTA, AAUW, DAR, and PEO hosted Author’s Lunches as fundraisers, inviting local authors to speak. The Internet, still in its early stages, was begging for content to fill its channels.

New world. Amazon has steam-rollered local bookstores. Online sales channels have sucked advertising revenue from newspapers, which have either folded or are on life support. Non-profit organization struggle to get membrs to attend live meetings post-COVID. And it seems that every Boomer has written a book, flooding literary agents and publishers with as many as one hundred and twenty manuscripts a day. And those publishers are increasingly reluctant to take on any new writer who is not already a well-known name.

So what’s an author to do? An industry has materialized offering aid to authors who lack the time and stamina to go the route of independent publishing. I talked with a friend who had gone the route of “hybrid publishing”, where the publisher takes on the jobs of editing, cover design, print layout, printing, and supplying a distribution channel, and perhaps for additional cash will also help with marketing and publicity. Some of the hybrid presses will accept anyone with cash to pay for service; others are more selective. “The Cadillac of the hybrid presses is She Writes Press,” my friend remarked. “They only accept maybe one in five of the manuscripts they see”. My friend had selected Girl Friday Press as her route to publication, and was happy with her choice, although she said she had to stand firm on the cover art she preferred against her project manager’s recommendation. “After all, I told them,” she said, “you are working for me.”

I checked out some of the hybrid presses my friend had mentioned on the internet. Girl Friday had an extensive questionnaire which included the query “How much are you willing to commit financially to support your book?” At that moment I recoiled, as I had not thought at all of how much I would need to commit up front. I ended up submitting my first pages to Feminist Press, because they are based in New York where my book is set, and, feeling I was taking up a dare, to She Writes Press. She Writes warned that submissions would be evaluated as “red-light – not interested,”, “Yellow-light – interested, but manuscript needs work”, or “green light – looks good, but we may change our minds when we see the full manuscript.

A few weeks later, Submittable, the website which many agents and publishers are currently using to manage submissions,, alerted me to a communication from She Writes Press:

Dear Allyson, Thank you so much for your submission and congratulations on passing through our two-tier submissions process with such flying colors. I’m attaching your assessment for Her Own Way here.I’m excited to be writing to let you know that we would love to offer you a contract to publish with She Writes Press.

OK, I was seduced. The idea that I had been chosen, approved, green-lighted above other competing manuscripts was irresistible. Plus I noted that an old friend of mine had just published a book through She Writes – I would have someone to hold my hand. I signed on. I had a publisher, and pretty soon, after my full manuscript was vetted, a publication date – November 10, 2026. Hang on for a bumpy ride!