Perseverance Pays Off

I'm happy to announce I just got a contract for my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel, from The Wild Rose Press.

When I looked over my submission file for this manuscript, I realized I'd been sending it out for five years and getting nothing but rejections.

I actually wrote this story before joining RWA. This was the first novel I'd written entirely on my own. With my YA novel, I was in a writer's workshop with two published authors looking over my shoulder every step of the way. After I joined RWA, I started submitting ER, and was also entering it in RWA chapter contests as well as taking workshops. What I found was that the story and characters had problems. By this time, I'd starting work on another Civil War romance, Katie Rose. I thought maybe I should put Erin's Rebel aside and finish KR, but I couldn't get my mind off how to fix ER.

Since Erin's Rebel is the book of my heart and my biggest wish was for it to be published so everyone would have a chance to read it, I decided, whatever it took, I had to fix it to make it publishable. I went back to plot level, and taking what I'd learned in my workshops, I started from scratch with both character motivation and plot development coming up with a new and better version of the story. I then realized half the manuscript had to go, it no longer fit the new plot. I also had to move chapters around and write a lot of new material. My critique partners, all members of this blog, were a great help in getting my characters and those opening chapters right. After completing the revision, I submitted a partial to one publisher and got a request for the full. But in the end they didn't want it.

After yet another rejection, I decided to submit to The Wild Rose Press because I thought a small e-publisher might be the place for this story. With a lot of the bigger publishers, your story might be great, but if they feel they can't market it, because of the time period or setting, they'll pass on it without giving you a reason.

And The Wild Rose Press wants Civil War. Most publishers seem to shy away from it. The important thing is, this story will finally have the chance to be read by lots of readers and won't languish in my desk drawer. That's all I can ask.

At long last, my story's found a home.

Persistence

I just completed a workshop on persistence. That is, persistence as in regard to writing and getting your work noticed.

I thought I had persistence. After all, I've been writing toward publication for 13 years now. But, so far, I have only a few short stories published in obscure magazines that pay in copies or don't pay at all. I had one article that won first place in a contest, but I was never able to sell it. And another article was published for the whopping sum of $25.00.

I did have my first novel published about 5 years ago, but that hasn't been a windfall, only a few royalty checks trickle in now and then.

But, I'm still writing and intend to write as long as I'm physically able. Unlike some other writers, I've never set an arbitrary time limit on how long I'll stick it out before giving up if I'm not published or making a living at it in say, 5 years, 10 years, etc., because I never plan to quit. It's my life.

So, does that make me persistent? Apparently not enough. I have to start getting my work out there more, with queries, submissions, contest entries. I intend to do that.

Also, I have to start developing more projects. Get those things in the outline stage out of the drawer and start working on them again. And get those things still in 'the idea in my head', or 'one line blurb' stage, into development.

I want to be persistent, because writing and creating fictional characters that readers love is my life.

How about you? Have you set any arbitrary limits on the time you will take to make it as a writer before giving up?

Writing on Vacation

Isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I went away on this mini-vacation to Hilton Head to write, and ended up with a horrible migraine the first day. In my world, this isn't unusual. On vacation? This definitely is. I mean it's vacation! I should have no issues, problems, pain, or worries on vacation.

I did manage to sleep way more than I'm used to last night, and this morning plan on getting a big jump on the actual writing part of this vacation. Of course it probably doesn't hurt that it's more than a tad cloudy and I won't be spending my days on the beach or my one of 3 pools. But I have a great view!

This afternoon I'm off to Savannah for some sightseeing.