Quandary

 Over the last few months, I’ve written a fairly interesting and unique literary work (if I do say so myself). It’s a memoir, covering the period from my very first memory through age 29, when I both met my wife and got my first academic teaching job. Tentative title: “Portrait of an Academic as a Young Man.”

The distinctive thing about is that it consists entirely of vignettes, which average about 500 words each. There are 114 in all, and the total is just under 58,000 words. I aim at a very rounded self-portrayal – as the cliche goes, warts and all. It focuses broadly on my emotional, social, romantic and intellectual development, culminating in my finding myself, and coming to understand why the path I ultimately chose was right for me. Each vignette places the reader in the room with me, and they generally end with a twist or payoff that brings out the essence of each of the rendered experiences.

The initial feedback that I’ve gotten from readers is extremely positive. E.g., I have been told that reading it is like having potato chips or chocolate chip cookies on the table – it’s always easy to read just one more vignette, and then the one after that.

Naturally, I would like to publish it. But my initial efforts have been frustrating. The university presses that I’ve contacted, where they have some idea of who I am, all said that it’s not within their scope. And here are a couple of responses from agents to whom I sent it unsolicitedly:

“There is much to enjoy here …. But regardless of my personal feelings, I’m afraid this strikes me as a challenging project for which to find a publisher, your interesting insights notwithstanding. Afraid I’m going to pass here.”

And: “You have an interesting idea for a book and there’s a lot to like about your approach. But, in the end, I’m afraid I [won't be able to interest a publisher.]“

I totally understand. These folks are trying to make a living by successfully placing books that will make money. And I suppose it’s naive of me to think that literary merit and high readability wouldn’t count for more. But still, it’s disappointing re. the current state of the publishing world (not to mention, for the book’s prospects).

Fingers crossed, as there are still other agents and book publishers to whom I’ve sent it. But I’m not enormously optimistic. My fallback plan is to self-publish it on Amazon Kindle, a free service that would offer it electronically (at a price of my choosing) andl as a print-on-demand physical book.

I’d love to hear from anyone who is interested in the manuscript or has any thoughts to offer about the project.