I was at the ALA in Anaheim yesterday (a convention for publishers and librarians) and signed copies of A Year Of Writing Dangerously for my publisher, New World Library. A real perk was being able to hang out with Monique Muhlenkamp (above),my friend and publicist for NWL.

I also was a stand-in for WriteGirl whose latest publication was up for an award from ForeWard Reviews (they do book reviews of independant/small publishers.) Alas, WriteGirl's latest anthology didn't win, but I learned a lot about small publishers. There were awards given out in all catagories – fiction (with sub-catagories), non-fiction – travel, cooking, crafts, business, etc. and books for children. I hadn't heard of 90% of the publishers who won, nor the authors. I'm telling you this because those publishers are out there for you too. If you get rejected by New York publisher expand the field. Do your research and don't give up.