My Personal Path To Publication - A Jacob Sweeny
We are filing today's blog under the heading Better Late Than Never! This is only due in part to the the fact that AJ Sweeny, the author of the wildly successful self-published and amazingly reviewed and received A Pulse of Heroes is INCREDIBLY BUSY with a capital "B"! She is writing, editing, and marketing her little behind off! And if you are reading those reviews for her book, it's a good thing, because her fans are literally screaming for the sequel to Pulse. When I reminded her that it was her day on the blog today, she graciously got busy on the post and I am happy to say, I have it! I'm lucky to have gotten her, too, because she has been hard at work on said sequel, which she is releasing at the end of this month! Her story is amazing and her book is that times one hundred, so hunker down and get ready! I am pleased to be able to introduce to you, A Jacob Sweeny, if you don't already know her.
1. How long have you beenwriting? Since I could hold a pen, and before that I told stories to everyone.Use to make them up in my mind.2. Are you published andif so, how long have you been a published author? If not, what's yourplan?I am published through Thalamus press, which is a company that me and afew local artists/literary types started. My plan is to get enough momentum andgood reviews so a larger publishing company can pick me up.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?I chose to do the publishing myself because I understand how manymanuscripts agents get and the number is staggering. Also with the publishingindustry changing so quickly, they are very careful about choosing new authors,and would rather go with established ones that can bring in the money becausethey already have a devoted audience. Myother problem is that my novels are very long, much longer than publishers arewilling to take a chance on. The longer the manuscript, the more money it coststo print. So between these two obstacles the chance of getting chosen foranything was so slim, that I decided that readers' reviews are better to seewhere I stand before I even present my writing to anyone. If readers like mywork it will show; so far the reception for Pulse Of Heroes has beenhumbling and beyond amazing! The other consideration for me was the thought ofpassing time. Why should I wait for someone to even look at my manuscript whileothers can enjoy it? I can die tomorrow and then what? When writing Pulse OfHeroes I did so out of personal reasons, rather than becoming the next'big' author. I really had NO expectations. 4. How long did it takeyou to write your first novel?It took me a little over a year to actually write the manuscript, butthe research that is presented in there has taken me many years to learn. Sotechnically I will say one year for writing and six for research.5. How long did it takeyou to publish it?With Create Space it took me a month 6. How many times did it get rejected before it got published?
I only sent it to two places. The first response was actually very positive in my opinion, as it seemedthat it wasn't an automatic response. They actually wrote about my style andtold me that I definitely had talent; they just weren't taking on any newauthors. The other response was a general "Thanks, but your work does not matchwhat we are looking for." This was funny because they were actually looking foeexactly the kind of story I wrote and it said so on their site. So I knew thatno one really spent time reading what I wrote at all, and that is the way withmost manuscripts.7. Describe your worstrejection letter.Didn't have real bad ones- see above.8. Describe the best newsyou ever got in your writing life and how it felt.Well I had a few. My first teenage readers who are total Twihard fanstold me that my book was even better than Twilight! They said that they weremadly infatuated with my lead male character (Elliot De-Costa) and startedhounding me for the second installment. Then when other readers who I don't know personally kept pretty muchrepeating these types of statements I knew that I did something right. One ofmy favorite first reviews came from a mom who loves! Twilight and even namedher baby Bella. After she read my book she actually wrote, "This book blewTwilight away." For me these statements meant that my novel is commerciallyviable! Now let me be clear that in no way was I competing with the Twilightbooks, in fact I have never read them and only saw the first movie on DVD whileI was very sick with high fever; meaning I hardly even remember, it besides thinkingthat (don't hate me) that the screenplay didn't add up to all the hype I washearing. The love story was great but it left much to be desired. (again, mypersonal opinion)9. What's the worst pieceof advice you ever got?Don't publish it and wait for an agent to contact me…10. Now, tell us the best.You should put it out there. E-publishing and other new formats arebecoming legitimate and are succeeding. May I add that this advice camepersonally from the first author (Kemble Scott) who published his work onScribd.com and it ended up being a huge success.11. What's the one thing you would want anaspiring writer to take away from your personal path to publication?Keep writing and put your work out there. There is no better way tojudge if you are going to make it than presenting it to an audience you do notknow personally. And if it seems that you are not getting the responses youwant, don't have a huge ego and listen to what people have to say.12. Where can we read your blog? Buy yourbooks? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Yourwebsite?www.pulseofheroes.comhttp://www.faceb...
AboutPulse Of HeroesPulse ofHeroes is aYA novel that weaves together elements of paranormal romance, suspense, myth, history, and at its core,a heroine's journey and transformation. I sought to craft a true and sensitivecoming-of-age narrative of a quirky teenage girl becoming a confident youngwoman, and at the same time I wanted to take her and the reader on a grippingadventure filled with geographical, historical and supernatural elements, whilebeing swept under the crushing intensity of first love.
Michelle used to feel like she was behind in everything,especially school and relationships. Her great aunt from the old country saysshe is like a bland meal, "no salt or pepper". But in junior year,everything changes. Her father takes a position on the Town Council, a popularboy in school becomes interested in her, and most importantly, the HekademosLearning Center, a private school for 'troubled' students, moves into her quietneighborhood amidst the protests of the entire town. After seeing the School Regent out with a group of youngguys just before Christmas, Michelle is convinced that there is something oddabout them. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she embarks upon a missionto figure out what is really going on. After an embarrassing fall over theschool wall, Michelle meets Elliot and her ordinary 'bland' life changes itscourse forever. Elliot is no ordinary human. In fact, noone at the Hekademos Learning Center is. Beautiful and fierce, they havesurvived throughout the millennia by weaving in and out of human events.Through them, Michelle learns that history and myths from around the world aredotted with references to their kind. Michelle falls madly in love with theever-striking and mysterious Elliot. Although Elliot carries numerous painfulmemories from his many pasts, he disregards his own better judgment and theadvice of his friends, and finds himself falling for Michelle's offbeatpersonality. Their feelings grow in intensity, but when History catches up withthem, the difference between their life paths threatens to destroy any futurethat they might have had together. Michelle learnsthat there are infinite shades of gray between black and white, and has to dealwith the bundle of contradictory emotions called love. After some unexpectedtwists during a family trip to Europe, she has to trust her intuition in orderto face the danger and uncertainty of being drawn into Elliot's wondrous world.Ultimately, it is up to Michelle to make the split-second, life-alteringdecision that will either tear them apart forever or give them another chance.
Here's what AJ would like you to know about her: FirstI want to proudly announce that the second installment in The Pulse Series, OfBlood And Pulse is almost complete and set to be released for sale onOct. 31st. 2011
I have been writing and storytelling ever since I was able tohold a pen. When I spent time working as a teacher with children of varyingages I was fascinated by the awesome power of words to excite and inspire theyoung mind. The art of Storytelling is what makes a good teacher great.
My degree in History with an emphasis on Ancient Near East, and my personalinterest in world myths, combined with my fieldwork in archaeology haveinspired my research and development of many elements in the story.
I also remember what it was like to be a girl myself and have often wanted toshare my own thoughts, fears and dreams during that age with others. I readmany books during my teenage years and some of them were essential in helpingme make it through that time, and helping me become the satisfied person that Iam today. I want to be able to return that favor to all the readers out there.
She'd also love you to see some reviews for A Pulse of Heroes:Sample Reviews:I lovethis book! Move over Edward and Bella, a new power couple has hit the scene!Michelle and Elliot from Pulse of Heroes by A. Jacob Sweeny will give StephanieMeyer's characters a run for their money! I have read so many books, and ittakes a lot to knock my socks off but A. Jacob Sweeny did just that! With heroriginal storyline and unforgettable characters she has an award winning seriesin the making.
-Dawn Hagan, Ilove Books Blog-Page-
Sometimes I will come across a novel which I classify as a rare jewel:a book that captivates me from beginning to end… an amazing story that it isimpossible for it to not capture my heart and Pulse Of Heroes is a rare jewel.There are only two other series' that I consider rare jewels: the Twilightseries, and Vampire Academy... I was wondering when the next book would comealong that would really pull me in, make me feel emotionally attached to thecharacters, make me care about them in such a way that I would think about themweeks, months after I had finished reading the story and Pulse of Heroes didjust that.
-Alishia,Treasured Tales For young Adults Blog-Page-
Thanks AJ, for being on the blog! Don't forget, Readers, comment here or find AJ on facebook and let her know how much you enjoyed her interview or her book. She'd love to know!
1. How long have you beenwriting? Since I could hold a pen, and before that I told stories to everyone.Use to make them up in my mind.2. Are you published andif so, how long have you been a published author? If not, what's yourplan?I am published through Thalamus press, which is a company that me and afew local artists/literary types started. My plan is to get enough momentum andgood reviews so a larger publishing company can pick me up.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?I chose to do the publishing myself because I understand how manymanuscripts agents get and the number is staggering. Also with the publishingindustry changing so quickly, they are very careful about choosing new authors,and would rather go with established ones that can bring in the money becausethey already have a devoted audience. Myother problem is that my novels are very long, much longer than publishers arewilling to take a chance on. The longer the manuscript, the more money it coststo print. So between these two obstacles the chance of getting chosen foranything was so slim, that I decided that readers' reviews are better to seewhere I stand before I even present my writing to anyone. If readers like mywork it will show; so far the reception for Pulse Of Heroes has beenhumbling and beyond amazing! The other consideration for me was the thought ofpassing time. Why should I wait for someone to even look at my manuscript whileothers can enjoy it? I can die tomorrow and then what? When writing Pulse OfHeroes I did so out of personal reasons, rather than becoming the next'big' author. I really had NO expectations. 4. How long did it takeyou to write your first novel?It took me a little over a year to actually write the manuscript, butthe research that is presented in there has taken me many years to learn. Sotechnically I will say one year for writing and six for research.5. How long did it takeyou to publish it?With Create Space it took me a month 6. How many times did it get rejected before it got published?
I only sent it to two places. The first response was actually very positive in my opinion, as it seemedthat it wasn't an automatic response. They actually wrote about my style andtold me that I definitely had talent; they just weren't taking on any newauthors. The other response was a general "Thanks, but your work does not matchwhat we are looking for." This was funny because they were actually looking foeexactly the kind of story I wrote and it said so on their site. So I knew thatno one really spent time reading what I wrote at all, and that is the way withmost manuscripts.7. Describe your worstrejection letter.Didn't have real bad ones- see above.8. Describe the best newsyou ever got in your writing life and how it felt.Well I had a few. My first teenage readers who are total Twihard fanstold me that my book was even better than Twilight! They said that they weremadly infatuated with my lead male character (Elliot De-Costa) and startedhounding me for the second installment. Then when other readers who I don't know personally kept pretty muchrepeating these types of statements I knew that I did something right. One ofmy favorite first reviews came from a mom who loves! Twilight and even namedher baby Bella. After she read my book she actually wrote, "This book blewTwilight away." For me these statements meant that my novel is commerciallyviable! Now let me be clear that in no way was I competing with the Twilightbooks, in fact I have never read them and only saw the first movie on DVD whileI was very sick with high fever; meaning I hardly even remember, it besides thinkingthat (don't hate me) that the screenplay didn't add up to all the hype I washearing. The love story was great but it left much to be desired. (again, mypersonal opinion)9. What's the worst pieceof advice you ever got?Don't publish it and wait for an agent to contact me…10. Now, tell us the best.You should put it out there. E-publishing and other new formats arebecoming legitimate and are succeeding. May I add that this advice camepersonally from the first author (Kemble Scott) who published his work onScribd.com and it ended up being a huge success.11. What's the one thing you would want anaspiring writer to take away from your personal path to publication?Keep writing and put your work out there. There is no better way tojudge if you are going to make it than presenting it to an audience you do notknow personally. And if it seems that you are not getting the responses youwant, don't have a huge ego and listen to what people have to say.12. Where can we read your blog? Buy yourbooks? Connect with you on facebook? On Twitter? Yourwebsite?www.pulseofheroes.comhttp://www.faceb...
AboutPulse Of HeroesPulse ofHeroes is aYA novel that weaves together elements of paranormal romance, suspense, myth, history, and at its core,a heroine's journey and transformation. I sought to craft a true and sensitivecoming-of-age narrative of a quirky teenage girl becoming a confident youngwoman, and at the same time I wanted to take her and the reader on a grippingadventure filled with geographical, historical and supernatural elements, whilebeing swept under the crushing intensity of first love.Michelle used to feel like she was behind in everything,especially school and relationships. Her great aunt from the old country saysshe is like a bland meal, "no salt or pepper". But in junior year,everything changes. Her father takes a position on the Town Council, a popularboy in school becomes interested in her, and most importantly, the HekademosLearning Center, a private school for 'troubled' students, moves into her quietneighborhood amidst the protests of the entire town. After seeing the School Regent out with a group of youngguys just before Christmas, Michelle is convinced that there is something oddabout them. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she embarks upon a missionto figure out what is really going on. After an embarrassing fall over theschool wall, Michelle meets Elliot and her ordinary 'bland' life changes itscourse forever. Elliot is no ordinary human. In fact, noone at the Hekademos Learning Center is. Beautiful and fierce, they havesurvived throughout the millennia by weaving in and out of human events.Through them, Michelle learns that history and myths from around the world aredotted with references to their kind. Michelle falls madly in love with theever-striking and mysterious Elliot. Although Elliot carries numerous painfulmemories from his many pasts, he disregards his own better judgment and theadvice of his friends, and finds himself falling for Michelle's offbeatpersonality. Their feelings grow in intensity, but when History catches up withthem, the difference between their life paths threatens to destroy any futurethat they might have had together. Michelle learnsthat there are infinite shades of gray between black and white, and has to dealwith the bundle of contradictory emotions called love. After some unexpectedtwists during a family trip to Europe, she has to trust her intuition in orderto face the danger and uncertainty of being drawn into Elliot's wondrous world.Ultimately, it is up to Michelle to make the split-second, life-alteringdecision that will either tear them apart forever or give them another chance.
Here's what AJ would like you to know about her: FirstI want to proudly announce that the second installment in The Pulse Series, OfBlood And Pulse is almost complete and set to be released for sale onOct. 31st. 2011
I have been writing and storytelling ever since I was able tohold a pen. When I spent time working as a teacher with children of varyingages I was fascinated by the awesome power of words to excite and inspire theyoung mind. The art of Storytelling is what makes a good teacher great.
My degree in History with an emphasis on Ancient Near East, and my personalinterest in world myths, combined with my fieldwork in archaeology haveinspired my research and development of many elements in the story.
I also remember what it was like to be a girl myself and have often wanted toshare my own thoughts, fears and dreams during that age with others. I readmany books during my teenage years and some of them were essential in helpingme make it through that time, and helping me become the satisfied person that Iam today. I want to be able to return that favor to all the readers out there.
She'd also love you to see some reviews for A Pulse of Heroes:Sample Reviews:I lovethis book! Move over Edward and Bella, a new power couple has hit the scene!Michelle and Elliot from Pulse of Heroes by A. Jacob Sweeny will give StephanieMeyer's characters a run for their money! I have read so many books, and ittakes a lot to knock my socks off but A. Jacob Sweeny did just that! With heroriginal storyline and unforgettable characters she has an award winning seriesin the making.
-Dawn Hagan, Ilove Books Blog-Page-
Sometimes I will come across a novel which I classify as a rare jewel:a book that captivates me from beginning to end… an amazing story that it isimpossible for it to not capture my heart and Pulse Of Heroes is a rare jewel.There are only two other series' that I consider rare jewels: the Twilightseries, and Vampire Academy... I was wondering when the next book would comealong that would really pull me in, make me feel emotionally attached to thecharacters, make me care about them in such a way that I would think about themweeks, months after I had finished reading the story and Pulse of Heroes didjust that.
-Alishia,Treasured Tales For young Adults Blog-Page-
Thanks AJ, for being on the blog! Don't forget, Readers, comment here or find AJ on facebook and let her know how much you enjoyed her interview or her book. She'd love to know!
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