My Personal Path To Publication - Jean Joachim
My guest today, romance writer Jean Joachim, didn't start out as a fiction writer...in fact, she had seven published non-fiction books to her credit long before she entertained the thought of entering the fiction arena about two years ago. Lucky for us, she made the change. A fellow author with me at Astraea Press, she has been delighting reviewers and readers alike with her special brand of heart-tugging romance that has been called vivid, real and enchanting. She has two romance novels available now, Sunny Days, Moonlit, Nights, and Now and Forever, A Love Story, and her next offering with Astraea Press, April's Kiss in the Moonlight, will be available in October. Please now enjoy the roundabout journey Jean has made into romance publishing.
1. How long have you beenwriting?I have been writingfor about 20 years, professionally. But I started with non-fiction, writingarticles about parenting that were published in parenting newspapers. I've onlybeen writing romantic fiction for about 18 months.As a child I wrotestories and plays and acted them out with my family and friends as long as Ican remember.
2. Are you published andif so, how long have you been a published author? If not, what's yourplan?Yes,I'm fortunate to say, I am published. I've been a published author since myfirst non-fiction book came out in 2003. It's called "Beyond the Bake Sale, theUltimate School Fund-Raising Book" and is still available today. I had six morenon-fiction books published after that. Myfirst work of fiction, released by a publisher, came out in February, 2011. Thetitle is "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights," published by Astraea Press.
3. Which route did youchoose for becoming published, the traditional route, with an agent, the"indie" route, going directly to the publishers yourself, or deciding toself-publish?Actually,I've done all three. Two of my non-fiction books were through an agent. Iself-published my first work of fiction in 2010. For my next book I approachedan indie publisher, Astraea Press, and got a contract. Then I had a differentbook picked up by another indie, Secret Cravings Publishing. Is this confusing?Sometimes it is for me, too.
4. How long did it takeyou to write your first novel?It seems like solong ago, it's hard to remember, perhaps about two months. I hadn't yet learnedto adapt my non-fiction writing skills to fiction and wrote the first book asalmost a stream of consciousness. Then I had the gigantic job of going back andputting things in some kind of logical order. That seemed to take as long as thewriting! Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.
5. How long did it takeyou to publish it?Sincethe first book was self-published, it came out about two months after it wasfinished as it took me quite a while to find the perfect picture for the cover.Thefirst book through a publisher didn't take nearly so long. I submitted amanuscript Astraea liked but needed some changes to meet their guidelines. Ifelt the changes wouldn't work with that story so I submitted a different storythat met their guidelines and had a contract right away. That was in Januaryand the book was published on February 8.
6. How many times did itget rejected before it got published?"SunnyDays" was never rejected. However, "Now and Forever, a Love Story" the book Iself-published was rejected by 15 agents and two or three publishers before Igave up on that route. Fortunately, Secret Cravings asked me if they couldre-publish it. With their fine editing, the book came out as a re-release lastmonth and is a far superior book now.
7. Describe your worstrejection letter.Isuppose the worst rejection I got was one that came six months after Isubmitted; simply for the fact it was so delayed. Most agents and publishershave some stock reply they send you to save face. I guess the answer is that noone said anything terrible, but rejection is rejection. Even a nice let-down isstill "no".
8. Describe the best newsyou ever got in your writing life and how it felt.Ihave been very lucky to have had much good news in my writing life. After thefirst article I wrote was rejected, I've sold everything else I've everwritten. Highlights would include: having an "auction" with five publishers biddingfor my fund-raising book, the almost immediate acceptance of "Sunny Days", thealmost immediate acceptance of "Now and Forever 2, the Book of Danny" –anything but a cookie-cutter romance -- by Secret Cravings Publishing and theirwish to re-publish the first book in the Now and Forever series.
9. What's the worst pieceof advice you ever got?"Don'tbe a writer, it's too hard." This came from my father.
10. Now, tell us the best."Write,write, and write some more. You're a terrific writer." From my best friend, DianaFinegold, a gifted writer herself.
11. What's the one thingyou would want an aspiring writer to take away from your personal path topublication?Mymotto, which has stood me in good stead for everything in my life, "Never giveup." If you want something pull out all the stops, work harder than you everthought you could, learn everything you can and keep working toward your goal. Aftermy rejections, I decided I needed to become a good fiction writer and I startedto work. I wrote seven days a week often seven or more hours a day. My familysupported me by taking care of themselves, freeing me to write. I readeverything I could get my hands on about writing and in my genre, contemporaryromance. After eight months of total dedication, I received the contracts Iwanted and my career was launched. However, I am still striving to become thebest fiction writer I can. LOL!
12. Where can we readyour blog? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Yourwebsite? http://www.nowandforeverbooks.com/ http://twitter.com/#!/JeanJoachim
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1197435371
Blurb for "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnectwith? Caroline Davis White wasn'tlooking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing herphilandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing herlife. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than lifeand even more handsome.
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she couldescape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. Butshe was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorcein Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking thetradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Wheredid he fit into her life?
For her fan's pleasure, Jean has made the prequel, "Moonlight and Roses" available as a FREE novella onSmashwords! Watch for the release of the And don't forget to tell Jean how much you enjoyed reading about her journey...as with all the authors in this series, she loves to connect with new fans and friends!
1. How long have you beenwriting?I have been writingfor about 20 years, professionally. But I started with non-fiction, writingarticles about parenting that were published in parenting newspapers. I've onlybeen writing romantic fiction for about 18 months.As a child I wrotestories and plays and acted them out with my family and friends as long as Ican remember.
2. Are you published andif so, how long have you been a published author? If not, what's yourplan?Yes,I'm fortunate to say, I am published. I've been a published author since myfirst non-fiction book came out in 2003. It's called "Beyond the Bake Sale, theUltimate School Fund-Raising Book" and is still available today. I had six morenon-fiction books published after that. Myfirst work of fiction, released by a publisher, came out in February, 2011. Thetitle is "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights," published by Astraea Press.
3. Which route did youchoose for becoming published, the traditional route, with an agent, the"indie" route, going directly to the publishers yourself, or deciding toself-publish?Actually,I've done all three. Two of my non-fiction books were through an agent. Iself-published my first work of fiction in 2010. For my next book I approachedan indie publisher, Astraea Press, and got a contract. Then I had a differentbook picked up by another indie, Secret Cravings Publishing. Is this confusing?Sometimes it is for me, too.
4. How long did it takeyou to write your first novel?It seems like solong ago, it's hard to remember, perhaps about two months. I hadn't yet learnedto adapt my non-fiction writing skills to fiction and wrote the first book asalmost a stream of consciousness. Then I had the gigantic job of going back andputting things in some kind of logical order. That seemed to take as long as thewriting! Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.
5. How long did it takeyou to publish it?Sincethe first book was self-published, it came out about two months after it wasfinished as it took me quite a while to find the perfect picture for the cover.Thefirst book through a publisher didn't take nearly so long. I submitted amanuscript Astraea liked but needed some changes to meet their guidelines. Ifelt the changes wouldn't work with that story so I submitted a different storythat met their guidelines and had a contract right away. That was in Januaryand the book was published on February 8.
6. How many times did itget rejected before it got published?"SunnyDays" was never rejected. However, "Now and Forever, a Love Story" the book Iself-published was rejected by 15 agents and two or three publishers before Igave up on that route. Fortunately, Secret Cravings asked me if they couldre-publish it. With their fine editing, the book came out as a re-release lastmonth and is a far superior book now.
7. Describe your worstrejection letter.Isuppose the worst rejection I got was one that came six months after Isubmitted; simply for the fact it was so delayed. Most agents and publishershave some stock reply they send you to save face. I guess the answer is that noone said anything terrible, but rejection is rejection. Even a nice let-down isstill "no".
8. Describe the best newsyou ever got in your writing life and how it felt.Ihave been very lucky to have had much good news in my writing life. After thefirst article I wrote was rejected, I've sold everything else I've everwritten. Highlights would include: having an "auction" with five publishers biddingfor my fund-raising book, the almost immediate acceptance of "Sunny Days", thealmost immediate acceptance of "Now and Forever 2, the Book of Danny" –anything but a cookie-cutter romance -- by Secret Cravings Publishing and theirwish to re-publish the first book in the Now and Forever series.
9. What's the worst pieceof advice you ever got?"Don'tbe a writer, it's too hard." This came from my father.
10. Now, tell us the best."Write,write, and write some more. You're a terrific writer." From my best friend, DianaFinegold, a gifted writer herself.
11. What's the one thingyou would want an aspiring writer to take away from your personal path topublication?Mymotto, which has stood me in good stead for everything in my life, "Never giveup." If you want something pull out all the stops, work harder than you everthought you could, learn everything you can and keep working toward your goal. Aftermy rejections, I decided I needed to become a good fiction writer and I startedto work. I wrote seven days a week often seven or more hours a day. My familysupported me by taking care of themselves, freeing me to write. I readeverything I could get my hands on about writing and in my genre, contemporaryromance. After eight months of total dedication, I received the contracts Iwanted and my career was launched. However, I am still striving to become thebest fiction writer I can. LOL!
12. Where can we readyour blog? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Yourwebsite? http://www.nowandforeverbooks.com/ http://twitter.com/#!/JeanJoachim
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1197435371
Blurb for "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnectwith? Caroline Davis White wasn'tlooking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing herphilandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing herlife. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than lifeand even more handsome. A well-known artist, Sunny thought she couldescape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. Butshe was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorcein Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking thetradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Wheredid he fit into her life?
For her fan's pleasure, Jean has made the prequel, "Moonlight and Roses" available as a FREE novella onSmashwords! Watch for the release of the And don't forget to tell Jean how much you enjoyed reading about her journey...as with all the authors in this series, she loves to connect with new fans and friends!
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