I don't know what to do with this thing. Here are some specific problems:
1. It is only twelve pages long, BUT it is not a short story, rather, it is a collection of twelve brief passages. BUT it is not a poetry collection, it is prose.
2. The shortness of it can be ameliorated somewhat by the fact that really, in my head, the thing has illustrations (and others who have read it have suggested this ought to be the case as well). So passage on the left, illustration stretching from that page onto the facing page--we're up to 24 pages or so. BUT how does one get something illustrated?
3. It is on religious or spiritual themes BUT it is not setting forth doctrines or pop-sentiments or anything digestible like that. What it is, is, a playful (sometimes subversive) re-telling of some bits of the New Testament, but with a tone and contextual apparatus more reminiscent of stuff from the Zen literature. Specifically, it imitates the format and tone of the tales from the Gateless Gate, including Mumon's "commentary" as well as the tales themselves. It's important to note here that it's not a straightforwardly Christian work. I don't think traditional Christian publishing houses would be particularly interested in it.
4. I don't know the first thing about the publishing world, much less about what to do with this particular thing I've written. Who would publish a thing like this? Do I need to get it illustrated before submitting it? Should I be self-publishing it? But if so how the heck do I get it to an audience? Etc etc.
Thanks for any advice you can offer...
1. It is only twelve pages long, BUT it is not a short story, rather, it is a collection of twelve brief passages. BUT it is not a poetry collection, it is prose.
2. The shortness of it can be ameliorated somewhat by the fact that really, in my head, the thing has illustrations (and others who have read it have suggested this ought to be the case as well). So passage on the left, illustration stretching from that page onto the facing page--we're up to 24 pages or so. BUT how does one get something illustrated?
3. It is on religious or spiritual themes BUT it is not setting forth doctrines or pop-sentiments or anything digestible like that. What it is, is, a playful (sometimes subversive) re-telling of some bits of the New Testament, but with a tone and contextual apparatus more reminiscent of stuff from the Zen literature. Specifically, it imitates the format and tone of the tales from the Gateless Gate, including Mumon's "commentary" as well as the tales themselves. It's important to note here that it's not a straightforwardly Christian work. I don't think traditional Christian publishing houses would be particularly interested in it.
4. I don't know the first thing about the publishing world, much less about what to do with this particular thing I've written. Who would publish a thing like this? Do I need to get it illustrated before submitting it? Should I be self-publishing it? But if so how the heck do I get it to an audience? Etc etc.
Thanks for any advice you can offer...
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