TODAY'S THE DAY
MAKE ME A MIXTAPE is out today and also here's a story about checking my email on a sidewalk at midnight.
My book comes out today. It’s out there right now, on the shelves at bookstores, in the mail to people who pre-ordered (thank you) getting cataloged at libraries, downloaded to e-readers and audiobook apps… it’s now a part of the world.
I still had to get up at six AM to walk the dog because the dog does not care about my literary success. She wants to go to the park and smell the smells that were left there overnight and maybe run around with the goofy collie sisters who are sometimes also there early in the morning.
After that I had to drink a large cup of tea, because my caffeiene addicted brain also doesn’t care about my book, but after that I sat down and had a moment of appreciation for this stage of this weird writing life.
In the wee hours of the morning on November 17th, 2021, I was standing on the sidewalk pictured above, making my way home from a comedy show at the Dominion Tavern. I was waiting for a group of loud drunk dudes to pass me by, so to kill a few moments I took out my phone and checked my email.
I’d been at the comedy show with a bunch of friends, and towards the end of the night had fallen into discussion with my friend Luke, who asked how my quest for a literary agent was going. At that point I’d received 45 rejections from agents and a small handful of requests from people who wanted to read the full manuscript. Most of those had also resulted in rejection.
I told Luke I was thinking maybe this book I’d written wasn’t going to be the one to get me through that next step towards publication. I complained about all the rejection and how much it sucked.
“I don’t really know a lot about the literary world,” he said, gently trolling me in a friendly way, “But doesn’t a lot of rejection just kind of go with the territory?”
“Okay sure,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But what if you asked out 45 women in a row and every single one of them said no.”
“I think that’s actually happened to me.”
We both laughed and I agreed that maybe it wasn’t quite time to give up. (For what it’s worth, he didn’t give up either and is now dating a great lady).
So after that conversation, I stood on the aforementioned sidewalk, waiting for the drunk guys to pass me by. In my email inbox was a message from agent Sam Haywood, saying she’d read my book and loved it and wanted to talk. And now she’s my agent.
That book, the one Sam read in 2021, didn’t get published. Publishers wrote us very pleasant and complimentary rejection letters, but no one wanted the book. I get why now. The book had a lot of good qualities, but it was messy and the stakes weren’t as defined as they needed to be, and a lot of it was really just me fangirling over Joni Mitchell for pages on end. So we moved on to the second book I was writing and that’s the book that became Make Me a Mixtape. And it’s out today. And I hope you all love it.
You can get the book anywhere that sells books online or in real-life bookstores. I will always recommend supporting your local independent bookstore, so here are some links to a few of those amazing places:
Spaniel’s Tale Books also in Ottawa!
Take Cover Books in Peterborough!
Also, the Penguin Random House publisher page for the book has a function where you can enter your location and it will show you the indie bookstores that are close by.
If you’ve bought the book, no matter from where or in what form, I am so grateful to you. Today is an exciting day, and thanks for being around while it happens.
Thanks for reading! Back to sentimental musings and book/music recommendations next month.
J.W.
Instagram : @JenniferWhitefordWrites
Oh, happy day!! I have a copy on order from a small store in my neighbourhood and they warned me it might be a couple days late, but I am so looking forward to holdng this book in my hands!
Congrats on the new book! Can't wait to read it. Cheers!