Circle of Fire Virtual Tour Day Two – How I Got Here
As we kick off Day Two of the Circle of Fire Virtual Tour, I want to offer a big thanks to everyone who made release day so special yesterday. I had a great time talking to all of you on Facebook and Twitter and had a wonderful time as a guest on YALitChat last night.It was really heartwarming to hear how much Prophecy has come to mean to all of you and how much you will all miss it.
Don't forget that you can enter to win a FREE hardcover of my next book, A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS, by sending emailing a copy of your receipt to prophecypress@aol.com with "TEMPTATION Contest" in the Subject line. Receipt must be dated no later than August 9th (preorders count, too!). Please include your mailing address if you'd like to receive a signed Limited Edition bookplate for your copy of Circle of Fire.
When I'm on tour, one of the questions I'm asked most frequently is, "Was it hard to get published?" or some variation thereof. So for Day Two of the Circle of Fire Virtual Tour, I'm going to give you all the gory details about how I came to sell Prophecy, including my misses with agents and editors along the way. Those of you who follow me regularly know that I don't talk about writing a lot on my blog, but I'm making an exception over the next two weeks since I'm so often asked about it on tour.
I started writing with the intent to get published back in late 2004. I'd tried writing books before, but I'd never finished anything. I'd hit a certain point and either become bored or stuck or both and quit. This time, I promised myself that I'd finish something, NO MATTER WHAT. Despite the fact that I had no formal training or formal education in writing, I really believed I could do it. But I knew there was no way I'd ever REALLY know if I didn't actually finish a whole book.
My first book was YA sci-fi (I can't say more because I'm currently using the concept for another project). It was the book I'd always wanted to write and a story I'd always wanted to tell. Even then, I wrote fast, finishing the first draft in about three months (something that's become kind of standard for me). I was anxious to begin querying agents and did a quick round of revisions before I started sending out letters.
While I sent out queries on Book 1, I started book 2, a contemporary fiction novel a la The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. During this time, I wrote 6-8 hours every day. I wrote from 9am to 1pm while my kids were in school and again from 11pm to about 3am while the rest of the house slept. I really looked forward to my writing time, even though I had to wake up bleary-eyed at 6am every morning to get the kids to school and start the routine all over again. But I didn't care, because finishing that first book had been an epiphany. I was in a kind of first love euphoria with writing. I was never as happy or as fulfilled as I was while I was writing (which spoke to the state of my marriage at the time, but that's another story). We were in pretty severe financial straits at this point, and I spent almost every waking hour worrying myself sick about losing our house. Writing was the only thing that really gave me an escape, and became determined to get published so that I could be paid to do it more and more and more. It wasn't about prestige. It was just that if I didn't get paid to write, I'd have to get another "real" job", which I wouldn't have minded except for the fact that it would mean less writing time.
The response to my queries on Book 1 can best be described as, "Meh." A few notes on the queries saying they liked the writing, but not for them, a few requests for partials, and a whole lot of form rejections into which I tried to read everything from my publishing future to the date of the coming apocalypse. You know the drill. I think I'd gathered more than 55 rejections on Book 1 by the time I finished Book 2. By then, I was really, really in love with Book 2. In fact, I had a feeling it was special, and I began querying it right away, again after a quick round of revisions.
Turns out I was right. The difference in response to the queries on Book 2 over Book 1 was dramatic. Within hours, I had requests for partials, within a day or two requests for fulls, some of them from top tier agents and one from my #1 pick, Steven Malk at Writers House. After a few days of back and forth I'd narrowed it to two agents, Steven, who wanted extensive revisions and another agent who didn't. Anxious to get my work out into the world, I went with the other agent.
We did a quick round of revisions, and my new agent started sending the manuscript out to editors. While we waited, I wrote a sequel and then wrote and finished a chick-lit type fantasy. This would become a habit of mine (and still is); to have a "just in case" book. I was always writing (and still am). I never wanted to be caught without a book to query or sell should my current project fail. I liked having something else on the sidelines, just in case.
By now about six months had passed (see? I was still writing drafts about every three months) with Book 2 out on submission. I'd received lots of compliments about the writing and one very close almost-sell, but ultimately, it hadn't sold. While my agent went out to a few more houses, I started on my fifth book, a Gothic fantasy I called INDIGO SKY. Three months later, it was done, and I had the same feeling I'd had with Book 2. I just felt like it was special.
I made the difficult and terrifying decision to cancel my contract and go back out looking for another agent. I knew I had the instinct and raw talent for writing, but with no formal training, I decided I needed more editing pre-submission than my current agent routinely offered. So I canceled my contract and started the search all over. Again, I had responses almost immediately, and again, one of them was from Steven Malk at Writers House, still my first choice. He basically said the same thing he'd said with Book 2; INDIGO SKY had tons of potential but it needed tons of work. He was willing to put in the time if I was and see where it lead.
There was no guarantee. He didn't sign me then and didn't promise to sign me. But I really felt like the universe was trying to tell me something. I really felt like I had something to learn, and I reasoned that worse-case scenario, I would learn a lot and end up with a much better manuscript.
My first editorial letter was 15 pages of big changes. I'm not exaggerating when I say I cried. I just didn't think I could do it. It was so overwhelming. But then I remembered how much I loved writing and how bad I WANTED it. I vowed to give up TV (this was in 2006, and I was hopelessly hooked on LOST and Gray's Anatomy) in order to get two more hours of writing in every night and finish the revisions sooner (I don't watch TV to this day and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made).
I revised for 10 months. Much of that was spent waiting. As a non-client of Steven's, I understood that I was not top priority (and as a client now, I'm grateful that I get that consideration). Sometimes I'd send him my revisions and not hear back for three months. I was very involved with a few online writing forums at this point, and I had to tune out a lot of noise. A lot of people saying I was wasting time and making changes for a guy who might not even represent me when it was all said and done. A lot of people who wanted to spew statistics like the odds against ever selling my book and/or making a living writing. A lot of people who wanted to TALK about writing and being a writer more than they wanted to put in the work and DO it.
I tuned them out. I kept my head down, and I kept writing, working on revisions to INDIGO SKY when I had them and on my next "just in case" bookwhen I didn't.
Finally, after 10 long months, Steven said the manuscript was ready for submission. I almost didn't believe him. Submission and publication had come to seem like an almost unreal possibility. He told me to be patient, that it could take months to hear back from editors, especially since I was a new author. I prepared to wait, happy just to be moving on to the next step.
Turns out, I didn't have to wait long. Two days later on a Wednesday, Steven called to tell me there was so much interest, he was going to set up an auction on Friday. I had no idea what the possibilities were in terms of dollars. I just hoped it it would be enough to write full time.
By Thursday morning, I got a call in which Steven told me, "You might want to sit down for this." Little Brown had offered a pre-empt on the three book series that would become Prophecy of the Sisters. And it was more than enough to allow me to write full time.
I think I was in shock for a few days, at least, though my daughters and I did do the Girly Jump, something we reserve for first kisses and book deals. I's not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life.
When I feel unworthy (as I so often do when anything good happens to me), I try to remind myself of all the hours of lost sleep, the times I didn't hang out and watch TV with my family, the hours of fear and worry and self-doubt, the FIVE finished books it took to get me to Prophecy, the two-and-a-half years I kept my head down, tuned everything else out, and just kept writing.
There are a few take-aways I can give anyone aspiring to publication;
There will always be people who would rather discourage you than encourage you. Cull them from your life as much as possible and keep writing.
Nothing – no book, no degree, no online course – will teach you as much about the craft of writing a novel as writing one from beginning to end.
You may not – and probably won't – sell your first book. Consider it a learning experience. And keep writing.
If you find a knowledgeable person who wants to help you become better, take them up on the offer. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
When you find yourself defensive about criticism or critique, ask yourself; do I want the ego stroke, or do I want to be BETTER?
The internet can be your friend – and your enemy. Tune it out and turn it off regularly to focus on the only thing that's going to get you published; writing.
The minute one project is ready to query, start thinking about the next one. There is no better way to ease the angst of querying than working on a new project. It will help pass the time, give you a back-up project, and most importantly, it will remind you that YOU ARE A WRITER. If you don't get one book published, you can keep writing them until you do.
Talking about writing isn't the same as doing it. Yes, it can help. Yes, you can learn from others. And let's face it, it's FUN to commiserate with other writers. But commiseration won't get you published. Only writing can do that.
I didn't know anyone before I got published. I didn't have friends in high places. Even now, the friendships I form with other writers are based solely on shared interests and values and genuine connection, not on how much they can do for me or how big a name they are or vice-versa. I queried my agent (the best agent in the world, in my opinion) the old-fashioned way, through the slush pile. Ditto submitting to editors.
Debut books are sold every day. If I can do it, so can you.
Tomorrow for Day Three of the Circle of Fire Virtual Tour, I'll be doing a podcast with Kenneth and Rebekah from 11pm-11:30pm EST. This is a revival of our old Burn After Listening show in which we talk about all kind of random things (and laugh hysterically), so please join us! Just click here and turn up your volume. It's just like listening to the radio on your computer. You can submit questions about anything and everything – writing, publication, music, composing, movies, etc. – to any or all of us through the chat function on the show page or in advance by sending them to prophecypress@aol.com with "Podcast" in the Subject line.
We always have a great time on our podcasts! Hope to see you there!
