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
Caterina Fosser
asked
Juliet Marillier:
Hi Juliet! First of all wanted to congratulate you for the great job you did with the saga of Sevenwaters, the way in which both Sorcha as Liadan (because I haven't read the Child of the Prophecy) detail every part, is incredible. They are two of the best books I read so far, I am amazed with this books! (and I love them). I send you a big hug from Argentina :) -13 years old ?
Neon
asked
Juliet Marillier:
Hi Juliet! I first wanted to say that the Sevenwaters series are a collection of books I hold very dearly to me since I was a teen, they accompanied me throughout the years, and I fell in love with them head first! With that in mind, I was wondering, will Johnny and Gareth ever get a book? I was really interested in them! Though I know the magic of Sevenwaters is its female driven leads, so maybe a spin off?
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