The Grand Unveiling

I have good news to share. I am going to have a book published! Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area will be released by Utah State University Press in April or May. I am very excited (and also a bit nervous!).

Here's how it all came about.

Seven years ago I started work on a book, a non-fiction book, about the area where I live. I decided to write the book because my husband told me things that I had not read anywhere. When I asked him how he knew that stuff, he said he had just listened to stories or observed things.

Some of the things he said were really cool and I didn't want them to be forgotten, so I started writing them down. Since I'm an ecologist and love exploring the area, I decided that I wanted to write a natural and cultural history of the area. We went on drives every weekend, checking out canyons, hiking up mountains, learning to read geologic maps. I interviewed lots of people, getting their perspectives on the area. I read everything I could find and was lucky to tap into a couple people with extensive libraries.

Two years later, I finished my manuscript. I sent off a query to an academic press and they responded right away that they wanted to see the whole manuscript. So I sent if off and about a month later got a very nice letter back. They liked the book, but said it was unpublishable in its current form--it was too long and detailed. If I would cut about 50% out, they would be happy to take a look at it again. They also said that I should be sure to put a copy of the current form in a library so that it would be available for people who liked the really detailed local history.

Well, I didn't want to cut 50% out, but I could see where I could trim it down. So I edited the whole manuscript. I sent a query to a second academic press, and they soon responded that they wanted to see the whole thing. I sent it to them and then waited and waited. I waited some more, and finally got a one-page form letter rejection. I was not happy!

The silver lining was that I had waited long enough that I could look at the manuscript with fresh eyes, and I reedited the whole thing, cutting more out, tightening up my writing, and updating information. Then I sent a query out to a third press, Utah State University Press, and they wanted to see the manuscript. So I sent it in and heard that they were quite interested. Then I didn't hear anything more for awhile. I had gathered some new information, a friend had helped me with editing, and I again went through the whole manuscript, word by word. I figured I had cut about 40% from the original. I contacted the press to find out what was going on, and they had had a long freeze on new books due to budget cuts. But they were almost done with it and were now interested in my manuscript. I sent them the revised one.

They sent it out to two outside reviewers who made very helpful comments and I reedited the manuscript again. Then the editor took it to the Board of Directors for Utah State University Press. They voted to approve the publication, and I signed a contract. After more edits, copy edits, indexing (and a few more edits), (plus a couple title changes) the manuscript was sent to the printer. (The process I mentioned in this paragraph took about two years.)

Now we're just waiting for it to come back!

What's a little more waiting after two years of writing and five years trying to get it published?

You can see more about the book at its very own page on the Utah State University Press website. It's the first item in their spring/summer 2012 catalog, which is very exciting!

I've made an author website (which feels a little strange to do, to be quite honest). I've always been semi-anonymous on this blog, but now you can find out a little more about me at: http://gretchenbaker.com/. You can also see the Table of Contents of the book. Part One is an overview of the area and the natural and cultural history; Part Two is about Great Basin National Park; Part Three is about all the really cool places around here, from Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge to Gold Hill to Crystal Peak and much more.

The book is available for preorder from USU Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Western National Parks Association outlets at the Great Basin Visitor Center and Lehman Caves Visitor Center will also be carrying the book if you want to wait to see the hard copy.

To any of you who are reading this that I interviewed or who helped me proofread the book, I will be giving you a signed copy. This book really wouldn't have been possible without the help of so many people. I am very grateful for people sharing their stories, photos, editing skills, and supporting me in this grand effort. I hope you will find it worth it.

Thank you!