Todd Macler

I am extremely proud and excited to announce the upcoming release of my first commercial publication, Against Utopia.  

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COVID-19 notwithstanding, the human race has never been better off.  But with so much discontent, anxiety, and depression, we have to ask, "What's wrong with what's right?"  Yet our attempts to solve our social and political problems seem to often yield worse solutions than the original problems.  What might be the best way forward?

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Given the length of the narrative, I'm putting the most current update on top here, and leaving the rest of the struggle to publish below! :)

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Wish me luck, I just submitted a proposal to McFarland & Company, we'll see what they have to say.  Well, Sophia Lyons has let me know they have preliminary interest in working with me to draw out the best in my draft, though there is still plenty of work ahead.  Wish me more luck!  I look forward to working with a skilled and interested team and forging the best product I can.

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I don't have the free cash for partner publishing with Defiance just now, so I continue to pursue more traditional publishing solutions.  After a hiatus owing to other obligations (here's to that proverbial "day job!"), I sent a query to Beacon Press, Skyhorse Publishing, and TCK Publishing; here's hoping for a positive response or at least constructive feedback!  Well, TCK said "no" without any real feedback...

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Skyhorse is looking for authors with active platforms already, as they don't have a lot of marketing horsepower of their own.  Until there are a few more hits on this site, maybe that won't work out, as much as my manuscript seems to fit the profile of some of their published works...  TCK gave a speedy (negative) response on 9 February, but it contained no feedback.

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I have submitted a draft of my manuscript to Yale University Press and I hope Jennifer Banks likes what she sees!  I will update you all as soon as a publication date has been set.

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I haven't heard from Yale in a while (though I did just visit the beautiful campus with my daughter, who is interested in studying there), so I have now submitted a draft to Two Dollar Radio.  Here's looking forward to hearing from Eric and Eliza!  I also submitted to Allen and Unwin; it doesn't appear I have to be Australian to submit a Friday pitch, so let's see what they say...  And then to Chicago Review Press for Jerome Pohlen's kind consideration.

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So I've received my first official refusal from Mr. Pohlen at Chicago Review Press, the first of many refusals I expect, as someone seeking to publish commercially for the first time.  But I appreciate that he took the time to review my submission and provide me with an answer.

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I just sent the manuscript, scrubbed and updated a little once again, to the Ludwig von Mises Institute's Libertarian Papers.  Now they don't do conventional publishing, but I'm happy for their consideration even in their own idiomatic Libertarian way!  Looking forward to hearing from Matthew McCaffrey and Norman Stephan Kinsella soon!

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Well, my friends from Mises were very swift in their refusal, letting me know it was "one of the crankiest things I've ever seen" and that I should keep my day job.  Not to worry, I may be retiring from the foreign service, but I still plan to have a day job until I can get published... 

I just sent off a copy of the manuscript to Defiance Press, here's hoping for some positive feedback from the fearless!

17 April, and just got off the phone with Mark Pruitt and Nick Lee of Defiance Press and Publishing.  They sound interested in the manuscript, but Defiance works in a partner publishing model, so it's time for me to learn more about that!

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