Writing is Murder

If you’re an author, what are the odds you’ll get published?

No need for hyperbole; I’m sure we can work this out—scientifically. Let’s say one in a thousand people ever start to write a book. Half of those finish the book, and half of half of those actually submit the book to a publisher.

According to Google, only 272,000 new titles are published every year. Alright, so we have 272,000 divided by a complex algebraic equation of the world’s population and budding writers, and we find that of everyone who writes and finishes and submits a book, the odds of getting published are (don’t help me with this I can do it—carry the one, divide by three, square root of pi, add seven, cube it, decimal point zero, zero, zero) infinitesimal.

So congratulations to Des Zamorano, director of the Community Literacy Center at Occidental College, where she is an adjunct assistant professor of education, for her recently published e-book, Human Cargo. And let’s not forget to extend best wishes to Human Cargo’s protagonist, private detective Inez Leon. As I understand from Zamorano, you don’t want to mess with Inez.

I asked Zamorano to say a few words about her detective fiction and the mystery of getting published.

Tell us about Inez. Is she a good detective?

Yes—she has a very high success rate when it comes to solving cases. But I like to think that Inez is kind of humorous, in that she’s sometimes out of her league.

She’s sophisticated in the objective world and she’s sophisticated in terms of crime and what motivates people. But she’s unsophisticated in her own emotional life. And she trips up on her own emotions and she’s not aware of it.

What’s her background?

Inez is a Latina detective, but she comes from an unusual Hispanic family, in that they’re very disconnected from the rest of their extended family. And she was raised Protestant. So she’s an outsider even within her own community.

How much of this character is you?

Actually, I think everybody feels like an outsider, and detectives, sleuths, are the literary equivalent of outsiders. They’re the stranger; they enter a new world and we learn about this world as they learn about it, and through their lens. I wanted to distill in her enough things that would set her outside as much as possible.

What was your road to publication?

This is my fourth novel, but the first to be published.  The previous books were all part of a learning curve.

I tried shopping Human Cargo around to different small presses and this is what I heard: Too Mexican or Not Mexican enough. With conflicting notes like that, I came to understand it was their issue, not mine. I was willing to change certain things about the book, but I’d never make Inez blond or mainstream.

But, what finally happened: A friend of a friend was starting a publishing company, so I sent the book to them, and they wanted it.

Why did you decide to write a detective story?

I looked around at a lot of great American fiction and authors, and many were writing crime fiction.  Because, you know, throw a dead body into some literary work of art, and it’s fun. You can take the story anywhere. You can even give it great social consciousness.

Detective fiction is, after all, about morality. It has to give you the satisfaction that, no matter how awful things have been, you’ll arrive at some sort of justice. That’s why it’s called fiction—how often do you see justice served in real life?

A word about e-books, from a reader’s perspective: Admittedly, I’m late to the electronic book party. But I have ordered a Kindle, and we’ll see how it goes.

Not that you have to have an e-reader to access Zamorano’s book. Increasingly, e-books are available not only for reading devices such as Kindle but for download as well.

E-books are definitely here to stay—they have now surpassed both hard cover and paperbacks in sales, and they give authors like Zamorano a new way to reach readers—a faster track than traditional publishing may afford.

Of course, their popularity might also have something to do with instant gratification. To get instantly gratified, here are three links to Human Cargo: Zamorano’s website, the link for Kindle readers to buy or sample the book, and some other download formats.