Kate asked Melanie Dickerson:

Hello! I really adore your books, characters, and your writing. They are so fabulous and inspiring! I can't wait to read more! I was wondering what would your advice be to someone who wants to be a Christian author. What trials did you face when you started out as an author ect.? Thank you a ton! :)

Melanie Dickerson Hi, Kate! Thanks so much for your kind words about my books! :-)
My advice to anyone who wants to be a published author is to persevere. There are a lot of trials. There is a steep learning curve when learning to write a novel and to write it well. I studied very hard and wrote four books before my first one, The Healer's Apprentice, was accepted by a publisher. It took three years after I wrote it to find a publisher for it. It was rejected about 32 times. It took me two years to find an agent and another year and a half after that before a publisher accepted it. But I used that time to revise the book, to enter contests and get feedback on the story and my writing, and get critiques from other writers. It was painful to get rejections. It was also difficult to keep working so hard at something that didn't pay anything. I still have trials, but that's life. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, and the biggest successes are the hardest to achieve. So always persevere and keep believing.
P.S. I almost forgot the most important thing!!! And that is to pray. God will take care of the things that are beyond your control, like sales and reviews. :-)

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