For Canadian linguist Sylvain Neuvel, the path to publication began in 2013 with a toy robot—one he was building for his young son. But the curious boy’s imagination wasn’t satisfied with the promise of the robot itself; he wanted the toy’s entire backstory—its origins, its capabilities.
Sylvain had no answers.
After binge-watching a 1970s Japanese anime series that followed a giant robot tasked with saving Earth, the inspiration for not only his son’s toy but also the story that would become his apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Sleeping Giants was sparked. A year of intense writing and research passed, and Sylvain’s first manuscript was complete. But like so many novels by unknown writers, it couldn’t find a home with a publishing house.
Sylvain gave himself a submission deadline: if he couldn’t sell the book by then, he would self-publish it. In preparation for taking that step, he made copies of his manuscript and sent them out in the hope of generating positive reviews he could use for promotion. He sent one to the Kirkus Indie program—which provides unbiased professional reviews for independent authors—and within a month, his sci-fi odyssey became the stuff of author fantasy.
