My Personal Path To Publication - Sang Kromah
My guest today is Sang Kromah, the author of the soon-to-be released Concealed series, through The Little Things Publishing, LLC. I met Sang when I guested on her blog to promote my book, Spellbound. As I always do when meeting new authors, I data-mined her. Her profile photos are beautiful, so I was not surprised to learn that she freelances as a model and was most recently featured in Essence Magazine's 40th Anniversary issue. She had something else calling to her, however, and had since she was a child. She was a writer. She had a familiar sounding experience with breaking into the industry, up to a point. What is important to note about her journey to publication is that she "found" her publisher through Twitter! She was on the social media platform one night and discovered an open call for submissions from a new House. She sent in what would be the first book in the Concealed series and was shortly thereafter contact by the CEO himself! The lesson here is there are MANY ways to make social media work for you. Don't discount any of them. I'm sure the CEO of TLT Publishing is quite pleased she didn't. Read further to see the rest of Sang's journey to publication.
1. How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was in thefirst grade, but I have been making up stories since my little brother wasworn. Therefore, I'd have to say, this all began when I was three years old!
2. Are you published and if so, how long haveyou been a published author? If not, what's your plan
I will be a published author on October 10th,2011, which is when my debut YA fiction novel, Concealed comes out.
3. Which route did you choose for becomingpublished, the traditional route, with an agent, the "indie" route, goingdirectly to the publishers yourself, or deciding to self-publish?
I started out trying the traditional route by trying to getan agent, and I became antsy, because it seemed to be taking too long. So onenight at about 2 am, I was on Twitter and there was a young publishing companyasking for submissions. I sent in my manuscript andby the next day, the CEO had emailed me. And the rest is pretty much history. :-)
4. Why did you choose that particular route?
Like I said, I was growing so impatient,and I'm just so patient about my story and couldn't wait for the rest of theworld to fall in love with it as well.
5. How long did it take you to write yourfirst novel?
It took about three months to write my first novel, because Iwas in grad school at the time, so my thesis and my manuscript were bothcompeting for my attention. But the background story and the world I created inthe novel is based on a story I created for my little brother as a kid.
6. How long did it take you to publish it?
Let's see…I completed the novel May of2010 and I acquired a publisher the last week of August 2010, and Concealedwill be published on October 10th 2011.
7. How many times did it get rejected beforeit got published?
I was rejected by thirteen literary agentsand one publisher.
8. Tell us about worst rejection letter.
I was told that there was no market forthe subject matter of my book and that if I ever have any other ideas toresubmit.
9. What was the best news you ever got inyour writing life and how did it make you feel?
The best news that I ever received in mywriting life was when I was told that Concealed is the best book they've readsince Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and The Mezzanine by NicholsonBaker
10. What's the worst piece of advice you ever got?
The worst piece of advice I've ever gottenwas from a literary agent that told me to write about something else.
11. Now, tell us the best!
My parents have always told me to takeevery rejection as a new challenge and that's what I've done every day of mylife.
12. What's the one thing you would want an aspiring writer totake away from your personal path to publication?
Don't let anyone ever tell you you're notgood enough. All it takes is one yes to prove the naysayers wrong.
13. Where can we read your blog? Buy your books? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Your website?
Sang's Blog- http://sangkromah.com/author-blog
TLT Bookstore- http://bookstore.tltpublishing.com/products-page/fantasy/concealed-concealed-series/ Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/SangWrites
Sang's Website- http://sangkromah.com
Sang's Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sang-Kromah/148725321832405
Concealed on Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10815209-concealed
ConcealedBlurbWhen sixteen year-old Bijou Fitzroy and her nomadic grandmotherleave New York City to live in a home in the sleepy town of Sykesville,Maryland, Bijou thinks she will finally be able to live a normal life and belike everyone else. This move will be permanent, and Bijou cannot be anymorethrilled. After years of being shut away by her grandmother, Bijou will finallybe able to interact with peers, make friends, go to school, and live like anormal teenager.Moving around and being homeschooled definitely made it difficultto make friends, but there are other reasons for Bijou's solitude. With eyesthat constantly change from gray to green to a honey-coated shade of brown andan ability to feel exactly what other people are feeling, the concept ofobtaining closeness is more of a fable than a reality. Although her eyes arebeautiful, their constant shift in color instills a sense of fear within otherpeople and causes them to look away. Bijou's premonitions, blackouts, andsemi-prophetic dreams of a faceless boy don't help her social musings either.Regardless, she decides to attend the local high school.Bijou is immediately introduced to Sebastian Sinjin, a quirky andunusually beautiful boy who doesn't seem to belong in a high school in smalltown Maryland. Sebastian is also special. Instead of looking away from Bijou,he makes direct eye contact with her. And when he shakes Bijou's hand somethingdark and familiar begins to awaken within her as an electric shock surgesthrough her body. Bijou soon finds herself deeply attracted to Sebastian, whoremains aloof and often acts like Bijou doesn't exist.Despite the pains of having her first real crush, Bijou makesfriends quickly and excels in all of her classes…well, all except for Mythologywith Mr. Jennings. Mr. Jennings' class starts off great with endlessdiscussions of djinn and how they conceal themselves from the human eye, butthings soon take a turn for the worse when the stories of the mythicalcreatures begin to take shape in Bijou's life.
Wow! I know I can't wait for 10-10-11, when Concealed, the first book in the Concealed series will be available. I'm hooked! Make sure you make direct contact with Sang as well....she runs an incredibly active blog. If you are an author, she loves to assist new writers in getting their names out there, let her know you would like to do a blog post and she will schedule you and help you get yourself known. If you aren't, check it out anyway, you might find yourself introduced to a brand new author you might not have met otherwise...like me! And don't forget to comment here and let her know how much you enjoyed hearing about her journey!
1. How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was in thefirst grade, but I have been making up stories since my little brother wasworn. Therefore, I'd have to say, this all began when I was three years old!
2. Are you published and if so, how long haveyou been a published author? If not, what's your plan
I will be a published author on October 10th,2011, which is when my debut YA fiction novel, Concealed comes out.
3. Which route did you choose for becomingpublished, the traditional route, with an agent, the "indie" route, goingdirectly to the publishers yourself, or deciding to self-publish?
I started out trying the traditional route by trying to getan agent, and I became antsy, because it seemed to be taking too long. So onenight at about 2 am, I was on Twitter and there was a young publishing companyasking for submissions. I sent in my manuscript andby the next day, the CEO had emailed me. And the rest is pretty much history. :-)
4. Why did you choose that particular route?
Like I said, I was growing so impatient,and I'm just so patient about my story and couldn't wait for the rest of theworld to fall in love with it as well.
5. How long did it take you to write yourfirst novel?
It took about three months to write my first novel, because Iwas in grad school at the time, so my thesis and my manuscript were bothcompeting for my attention. But the background story and the world I created inthe novel is based on a story I created for my little brother as a kid.
6. How long did it take you to publish it?
Let's see…I completed the novel May of2010 and I acquired a publisher the last week of August 2010, and Concealedwill be published on October 10th 2011.
7. How many times did it get rejected beforeit got published?
I was rejected by thirteen literary agentsand one publisher.
8. Tell us about worst rejection letter.
I was told that there was no market forthe subject matter of my book and that if I ever have any other ideas toresubmit.
9. What was the best news you ever got inyour writing life and how did it make you feel?
The best news that I ever received in mywriting life was when I was told that Concealed is the best book they've readsince Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and The Mezzanine by NicholsonBaker
10. What's the worst piece of advice you ever got?
The worst piece of advice I've ever gottenwas from a literary agent that told me to write about something else.
11. Now, tell us the best!
My parents have always told me to takeevery rejection as a new challenge and that's what I've done every day of mylife.
12. What's the one thing you would want an aspiring writer totake away from your personal path to publication?
Don't let anyone ever tell you you're notgood enough. All it takes is one yes to prove the naysayers wrong.
13. Where can we read your blog? Buy your books? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Your website?
Sang's Blog- http://sangkromah.com/author-blog
TLT Bookstore- http://bookstore.tltpublishing.com/products-page/fantasy/concealed-concealed-series/ Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/SangWrites
Sang's Website- http://sangkromah.com
Sang's Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sang-Kromah/148725321832405
Concealed on Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10815209-concealed
ConcealedBlurbWhen sixteen year-old Bijou Fitzroy and her nomadic grandmotherleave New York City to live in a home in the sleepy town of Sykesville,Maryland, Bijou thinks she will finally be able to live a normal life and belike everyone else. This move will be permanent, and Bijou cannot be anymorethrilled. After years of being shut away by her grandmother, Bijou will finallybe able to interact with peers, make friends, go to school, and live like anormal teenager.Moving around and being homeschooled definitely made it difficultto make friends, but there are other reasons for Bijou's solitude. With eyesthat constantly change from gray to green to a honey-coated shade of brown andan ability to feel exactly what other people are feeling, the concept ofobtaining closeness is more of a fable than a reality. Although her eyes arebeautiful, their constant shift in color instills a sense of fear within otherpeople and causes them to look away. Bijou's premonitions, blackouts, andsemi-prophetic dreams of a faceless boy don't help her social musings either.Regardless, she decides to attend the local high school.Bijou is immediately introduced to Sebastian Sinjin, a quirky andunusually beautiful boy who doesn't seem to belong in a high school in smalltown Maryland. Sebastian is also special. Instead of looking away from Bijou,he makes direct eye contact with her. And when he shakes Bijou's hand somethingdark and familiar begins to awaken within her as an electric shock surgesthrough her body. Bijou soon finds herself deeply attracted to Sebastian, whoremains aloof and often acts like Bijou doesn't exist.Despite the pains of having her first real crush, Bijou makesfriends quickly and excels in all of her classes…well, all except for Mythologywith Mr. Jennings. Mr. Jennings' class starts off great with endlessdiscussions of djinn and how they conceal themselves from the human eye, butthings soon take a turn for the worse when the stories of the mythicalcreatures begin to take shape in Bijou's life.Wow! I know I can't wait for 10-10-11, when Concealed, the first book in the Concealed series will be available. I'm hooked! Make sure you make direct contact with Sang as well....she runs an incredibly active blog. If you are an author, she loves to assist new writers in getting their names out there, let her know you would like to do a blog post and she will schedule you and help you get yourself known. If you aren't, check it out anyway, you might find yourself introduced to a brand new author you might not have met otherwise...like me! And don't forget to comment here and let her know how much you enjoyed hearing about her journey!
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