A Vietnam War Novel - Part 6

There are several ways to find publishers. You can find publications that list them and there are several different websites that do the same. Some of the websites will tell you if anyone has had problems with a particular publisher. I had been through this process with my first book. I knew not to shotgun it, don't query every publisher out there. Look for a publisher that just might be interested in your book. I saw one in Los Angeles. He was a small publisher but he did publish military novels. I checked out his website and I could submit both the query letter and the manuscript together. But they had to sent snail mail. That's a couple bucks, no big deal. I sent it to him on a Wednesday, priority mail. On Saturday, I get a call from this guy, I wasn't sure who he was, but his message was clear. "You cannot publish this book the way it is written. It's blasphemy." What? I'm flabbergasted, I don't know where this guy is coming from. Publishers don't normally get back with you quickly, sometimes you never hear from them. He had introduced himself in the beginning but I didn't catch any of it. I asked how he knew about my book. He repeated his introduction. Oh, okay, but I could hardly believe that he had time to receive it, much less read any of it. This time I wrote down his name. He was the publisher from the company in Los Angeles. He's a Bulgarian and an author and playwright of some note in Europe with a few releases in the U.S. He's very serious in making it clear to me that no Romanian would ever join the Soviet Army. Under no circumstances. We discuss Romania's part in World War II and I realize this guy is real, he knows what he's talking about. Then this: "If you publish this book the way it is written the Curse of Dracula will come down on you and your family." I was stunned. He wants me to rewrite this book? All I can say is, "I'll think about it." Then he says, "If you change it, I will publish the book." After I hang up, I repeat the conversation to my wife. Her response was, "We have good life, we don't need the Curse of Dracula brought down on us. Change it." My junior medic from Vietnam had read the draft of the novel. I sent him an email telling him about it. He came back with, "Why aren't you rewriting it right now?" After thinking about it for a few days I made my decision. I wasn't so sure about the Curse of Dracula but I understood the Romanian disdain for the Soviet Union. I didn't want every Romanian in the world hating me. Besides, he said he would publish the book. Back to the computer. I still liked the tie-in to the historical Dracula. So, I made the Special Forces Team Sergeant the descendent and the Russian Captain an admirer of Dracula's tactics for terrorizing his enemies. I could make this work.