Hey, y’all, and welcome to installment #2 of The Long and Winding Road (to publication). When I first mentioned doing a series of blog posts geared toward information regarding my long (and continuing) path to publication, I asked the #WriteMentor potential mentees to come up with a few questions they’d like me to answer, fully and truthfully. I have them listed below (paraphrased since I scribbled them down in my notebook as they came in). The only questions missing revolve around the query/querying process, which I’ll be address in the next post…so stay tuned!!
Without any further presentation, let’s just jump right in?
**gives a seductive raised eyebrow and extends hand**
Shall we?
- When you received ZERO love on a manuscript you submitted in a contest, what did you do? Did you commandeer major changes on your manuscript? Consider dumping it altogether? What did you do to make it finally “click”?
A: I submitted Meant To Be Broken (under its former and not-so-hot name) to Pitch Wars in 2016. The submission garnered me ZERO interest…not even a nibble. Not even an email. Not even a “don’t call me, I’ll call you” slight. Nada. It didn’t help that this came hot on the heels of that form rejection on a full I received on my birthday. (You can read more about that here.)
Was I devastated? Absolutely…at least for a little bit. Mostly I was terrified, though, because I KNEW it was only a confirmation of what I’d already figured out. My manuscript as it stood was not good enough. It needed an overhaul. It needed a reboot.
I’m okay enough now to admit that I cried. Hard. Long. Furious against my husband’s shoulder.
Despite the fear, rejection and anxiety, I didn’t want to dump the manuscript. I believed in this story, darn it, and I was going to make it shine! So, I ripped it all apart. The basic plot never changed and many of the action sequences remained but the construction changed. I eased up on my journalistic tendencies and let the characters’ voices shine through instead. When I started making changes, the more eager I was to make even more, and so on and so forth, until I came up with a pretty darn good working draft. In my gut, I KNEW I was on the right path.
- How did you find an agent? How did you know that agent was the right fit?
I didn’t. I found a publisher! LOL
When I started out, I had every intention of looking for an agent. That’s the querying dream, right? But after I fully improved and polished MTBB, I began participating in a few online pitch contests. That’s right, y’all—I’m a PitMad success story. During the March 2017 PitMad, I received requests from several agents and a publisher. I sent in my submissions and waited for a response. Full requests came, and I was elated that one of these might turn out to be THE ONE!
When I received THE EMAIL asking for a call, I was stunned and overjoyed. I was a bit skeptical at first about going straight to a publisher—that’s scary stuff right there! But after I talked with Myra Fiacco from Filles Vertes Publishing on the phone and listened to her feedback on MTBB and why it resonated with her and the plans she had moving forward, the connection was just THERE. I loved everything she had to say. I was thrilled to be able to maintain some say-so in the process and in my cover art among other things. Most importantly, she communicated without fail how she truly understood my vision for the novel and that, in itself, made the choice clear.
When deciding between an agent and a publisher, there’s no right or wrong, better or worse choice (no matter what some might suggest). The BEST choice is what works for you and your manuscript. Could that choice change in the future? It might, then again it might not. The publishing industry offers a variety of options for bringing your manuscript to the public. I suggest always doing a “gut check” and a nice pro/con list to find out what fits best with YOU.
- What did you do to improve your manuscript? Workshop? Beta readers? What about professional advice or conferences?
A: First, I read in my genre…A LOT. I read various authors and studied each. What was their approach? How did they successfully draw me into the narrative? What techniques did they employ? Which ones did they break? How did they bring their characters to life? How did they convey voice and setting? Etc, etc, etc. You get the picture.
After that, I brainstormed specific scenes, making sure each one advanced the plot and characterization, and then I put together a shiny, new draft. I sent that out to a group of trusted critique partners (if you don’t have some, get some! I’ll have more to come on this in a future post) and awaited their feedback, which I poured over, comparing and contrasting with the bunch and implementing the suggestions that resonated with me.
I did attend one conference, the Atlanta Writing Workshop, where I sat in on several seminars about romance writing as well as query workshops. I also paid for two agent pitch sessions, which successfully netted me two requests. If you have the chance to attend a conference or workshop, I highly advise it. Not only did I have the opportunity to learn first-hand from industry professionals (including Chuck Sambuchino), but I also met some wonderful writing friends. Win-win!
- What are your submission stats?
A: My submission stats and success rates can be found in the previous post here.
- Have you ever met in person with your agent/publisher?
A: I guess that depends on your definition of “in person”. I have spoken with my publisher and editorial staff via phone, Skype and Facebook video chat. One perk of today’s technological advancements is that people thousands of miles away can be connected in an instant. While I’m in South Carolina and my publisher is in Idaho, the distance is a non-issue for our business relationship.
- Was there a tipping point in the process? Did you query too soon, too widely? How did you find the strength to regroup and move ahead?
A: I most certainly queried too soon, though not widely. In fact, I was conservative to an extreme, which can be just as bad (You can also read more about that here). While I pretty much explained my tipping point above, the question of where I dug up the strength to continue marching forward hasn’t really been addressed, and unfortunately, I don’t have a magic potion that made it all possible. It’s easy to quit. It’s easy to throw your hands up in the air and walk away.
Lucky for me, I’m one of the most stubborn, headstrong people I know. Sure there are some days I need to step away from my computer, veg out and watch TV or play with the kids, but stepping away from writing permanently? Nope. This all means too much.
When days get hard (and inevitably, they will), I remind myself of the old adage: If it was easy, everyone would do it.
