Ashlee Willis
asked
Juliet Marillier:
You have been one of my favorite authors for years ... your writing is so beautiful it's hard to imagine a book by you not being snatched up quickly. All the same, I'm curious to know how long it took you to find an agent/publisher for your first book? Did you get many rejections before you landed a contract?
Juliet Marillier
Hi Ashlee,
My first series was picked up from the slush pile (unsolicited manuscripts) at Pan Macmillan and I got my first contract from that, without an agent. I did sign on with an agent for later books. The ms for Daughter of the Forest was rejected by two other publishers before being accepted by Pan, but the situation was unusual - I submitted to the first one only to get some feedback on my ms, something that particular publisher was offering at the time. I had a romance manuscript turned down a few years prior to that - I got praise for my writing but I hadn't quite nailed the romance brief. Time it takes to get an agent/publisher varies widely. My advice is to concentrate on writing the very best book you can and polishing it before thinking about submitting it.
My first series was picked up from the slush pile (unsolicited manuscripts) at Pan Macmillan and I got my first contract from that, without an agent. I did sign on with an agent for later books. The ms for Daughter of the Forest was rejected by two other publishers before being accepted by Pan, but the situation was unusual - I submitted to the first one only to get some feedback on my ms, something that particular publisher was offering at the time. I had a romance manuscript turned down a few years prior to that - I got praise for my writing but I hadn't quite nailed the romance brief. Time it takes to get an agent/publisher varies widely. My advice is to concentrate on writing the very best book you can and polishing it before thinking about submitting it.
More Answered Questions
Siona Robertson
asked
Juliet Marillier:
Hi Juliet, I've always been a huge fan of your work, I think this has something to do with my Scottish/Celtic heritage. I know you write mostly from the point of view of humans living alongside and wandering into the other-world. I wonder, would you consider writing a fantasy novel in the reverse? This was just a thought that occurred to me recently, I thought that if anyone could do it, it would be you! :)
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