When Plans Don't Go Your Way - Day 164

When you’re an aspiring author preparing you manuscript, going through the query trenches, and researching the industry, you hear all the time that even published authors get rejected. Once you get that contract, it doesn’t mean your woes are over. You hear these things, but the stories about these instances are few and far between, so they’re a little hard to believe. When you so desperately want to be noticed and seen, you don’t want to hear that it’s just the start of the journey.

I started this year hopeful. I had goals and plans and ideas of how I was going to make them happen. I learned what a kanban board was and set up my notecards and sticky notes for my writing, marketing, and social media goals for each quarter. This was the year I was finally going to get my author career figured out! I was even going to start blogging again!

Well… you know what they say when you tell God your plans…

2023 has not gone as I planned, and I’m seeing more and more of what people were talking about when they said the struggles don’t end when you get a publishing contract.

That’s not to say everything is awful and I’m getting rejected left and right. I have an amazing and supportive publisher and editor. My local library this year has been my biggest cheerleader. Other authors I’ve met and gotten to know have been the most fun and supportive people. I went to Washington DC for AwesomeCon and had an “awesome” time. My list of events to attend keeps growing. My third book was released. There’s been a lot of good.

But, there are more days than I’d like to admit that haven’t been quite as exciting. Days I doubt myself and wonder if I’m doing anything right. More often than not, I spend my writing time staring at the computer screen or my notebooks instead of putting words on the page and can’t figure out why I can’t get my ideas and stories together.

The last couple of weeks I’ve dropped a short story project, asked for an extension for my book deadline, and have had to rethink my latest pitch to my editor because I’ve been slow on getting it to her and other people have too similar of ideas.

None of these things are the end of the world and happen all of the time to writers. I never intended that to be me though. I always wanted to be the person who turned in her work on time and had multiple projects going and ready for something new at any time.

It’s been a reminder that I’m only human and can only do so much. 2023 hasn’t been kind to me or my family, and it’s natural that my mind and body is saying “hey, you can’t do everything.”

At first, there were a lot of emotions and tears. I beat myself up for taking so long and dragging my feet. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t “Just get it together.” Then, once it was done, it was like I could breathe again. Would it have been great if I didn’t need extensions and I’d gotten my new book pitch in sooner and I could have done that fun short story project?

Defintiely.

It’s not worth my mental health though. Because if I push myself too hard and force it out of me, the writing and the stories will suffer. I will suffer along with it.

So, this is my reminder to you. If you’re an aspiring author still waiting to have your first book published, be patient. It will come and know that those of us who are published are having the same doubts and insecurities you do. And if you’re early in your carereer like me, be patient with yourself too. We’re all on different paths and journeys and need to do what works best for us, our writing, and our lives.

We got this, and sometimes there will be stumbling blocks. Sometimes there will be days (or months in my case) where the words just don’t come. And that’s okay.

Making Connections - Day 47 on Day 71

There are two stereotypes of authors I see floating around on the internet.

1) We love to write, but hate marketing and are terrible at it.

2) We’re introverts and the idea of having to leave our little cozy hobbit writing hole is terrifying.

I can admit I relate to both of these, and the first more than the second. I’m that weird author who is both an introvert and an extrovert. When I’ve taken the Meyers-Briggs personality test, I’ve always been borderline introvert and extrovert but falling more on the extroverted side of the spectrum. The introverted writer side of me loves nothing more than a quiet day at home where I can cozy up at my desk or in a comfy chair to slip away into fantastical worlds I’ve created in my head and read books by some of my favorite authors. (I also have a new puppy at home, so the excuse to stay into cuddle with him is always welcome.) Then… the extrovert in me comes out. If I’m home on my own for too long without human interaction, I get antsy and lose my motivation. One of my favorite things in the world is when my social life and my write life collide.

Sometimes, social media can help fill that void. The Internet has a lot of pitfalls, but it’s also an awesome opportunity to connect with both other authors and readers. I’ve made some amazing friends over the years from all of my different Internet adventures. Some that I’ve known now since I graduated college and still text with on a near daily basis.

Talking about my day to day life is my favorite part of social media. It’s just people being people. But when I have to use it to market my books? ::shudder:: Some days I’m not too bad, and even get excited to share my upcoming releases and come up with fun videos to share about my characters and world. Or I’ve done a few live chats and interviews and readings lately, which have been such an awesome opportunity to connect with people I never would have before.

Other days…. it’s more of a chore than anything. I know there are a lot of authors who can relate.

But that’s when in person events come into play, and those, I love.

Over the past year I’ve been able to do a handful of local events, my most recent being the Oak Lawn Public Library Fan Fest at the start of May. I did this event last year too, and it was one of my first ever. Along with me last year were a couple of other local authors who had never done an event before either.

This year we all came back, and I have to say, it was so fun to see how much we’d grown since then. The way we can draw people to our tables, the number of books we have on display, the set ups, we’d all grown and learned over the past year.

I was a little nervous going into this one. It was the first I’d done since my dad passed, and only the second event I’d done so far through the year. It sort of snuck up on me and I wasn’t sure if I was ready. But once I got started, I remembered how much fun these things were. Being able to talk with readers, getting to know the other vendors around me, and this year it exploded with local authors! I was able to meet with a few I’d only seen online, and others I just met that day. Some readers who stopped by my table were even returning people who’d read my first book and were ready to start books 2 & 3, and one who’d met me last year but had no interest and now turned around and purchased all three!

I’ll be 100% transparent, sometimes having a table isn’t super profitable. Depending on what sort of crowd they draw, it may or may not be the audience you’re looking for. But even then, it’s worth it. Being able to connect with people face to face and not just comments and likes on posts is one of the things that makes my heart soar and gives me that motivation to keep going.

It was a day where I was able to remind myself that “oh yeah, I’m an author.” This isn’t just a thing I do as a hobby or alone at my desk. I can connect with other humans with writing and stories and a shared love of fantasy. That’s the beautiful thing about any art form, it brings people together. For me, that’s one of the best things about the creative life, connecting with other people.

Getting into Good Habits - Day Seven

Like with most things I write, the moment I hit “publish” on my last blog post, I had that immediate feeling of panic and regret. It happens each time I send a draft of a book to my editor. I want to crawl into my laptop and the depths of the Internet to grab whatever it is that I sent and say “I take it all back! Never mind!”

“Should I have said that?”

“Did I really write that sentence?”

“Should I be doing this at all?”

“I don’t have time to do this.”

“Did I really just announce to the Internet I’m in therapy?” (To be fair… it’s 2023. If you aren’t in therapy now, or never have been, you probably should be.)

“Girl, do you even know how to blog anymore?”

Alas, it’s out in the world and I guess there’s no going back now. Part of me wondered if I should even bother writing a second post since I already am not writing every single day. But, I want to get back into good habits. Habits of things that make me happy, even if it takes me awhile to get myself to do them.

It’s amazing how sometimes things you genuinely love, can be the hardest to be motivated for. The last several months I’ve been neglecting so many things that I love and are good for me. Doing yoga regularly, cleaning and organizing my spaces, and of course… writing. For awhile I had the excuse of The Forest’s Keeper coming up. That won’t work anymore.

Today, I decided I needed to get myself up and back into it. I set my alarm and got up, did yoga, cleared off my desk, and tried to write. It was only about 100 words. But they were 100 words I didn’t have before and my goal was to get back into that good habit more than a word count goal. The word count goals will come of course. Sometimes though it’s just about putting my butt back in that chair and opening up Scrivener to my work in progress.

I guess that means, I should blog too. So here I am, writing a post. It’s a short one, but it’s here. And you know, it feels good. Yoga this morning felt good as did getting those 100 words in and writing a blog. Sometimes, all you need is that little reminder of “Oh yeah… I actually like doing this” to get you back up and going.

There’s this myth about writing and creativity that you have to wait for your muse to arrive or for inspiration to hit. Then all of the sudden, the words (or whatever art you’re creating) will magically flow out of you in a flood. Maybe sometimes it’s that way. I’ve had those times when I can’t stop writing because the ideas have to escape my brain or else I’ll explode.

You know when I get the most writing, and best writing done though?

When I’ve been doing it on a regular basis and have a goal. The NaNoWriMo months. The times I’m on a deadline. The moments where I have a routine established and I’m regularly (not necessarily daily) sitting at my laptop and putting words on the page, even if it’s only a few. Its like when I do yoga. When I only practice it every few weeks or months, each session is tough and harder to do. Then, when I get back into the routine, my body remembers and each time it gets better and is more fulfilling. Writing is the exact same way. It can be tough to do and the first few sessions are a little painful. But the more often I sit there with my laptop, the more the words flow. The muscles in my creative brain turn on again and in time, the words come. My hope is that will happen with this blog too.

The Night's Chosen Cover Reveal

It’s finally here! The moment we all have been waiting for!

MY BOOK COVER REVEAL!

For a few months now I’ve had the final cover sitting in my files begging to be let out and it’s been so hard not to share it with the whole world. Seriously, each time I look at it my mind is completely blown. I’m obsessed with how the cover turned out and I hope you all love it too.

The stars! The castle! THE DRESS. Isn’t it all so beautiful and magical and dramatic? It captures the spirit of The Night’s Chosen so perfectly.

Being able to talk with my publisher and editor about the cover design has been one of the most fun parts of the process so far. It makes it all feel so much more real.

Most Common Pitfalls for Newer Writers with Janet Walden-West

It is my pleasure to host Janet Walden-West today! She’s another author with my publishing house, City Owl Press, and writes Contemporary, Paranormal, and Urban Fantasy. She’s a Pitch Wars alum and Pitch Wars mentor and is here to share with you some of the insights she’s learned from the query and submission process for new authors.

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It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of a completed manuscript must be in want of an agent and/or book deal.

When the world is turned upside down, books and other forms of creative expression are especially important. It’s perfectly understandable if a writer’s reaction to the stress that is 2020 if stepping back from writing. However, it’s equally okay to dive even deeper into words as a form of self-care and therapy. 

Keeping an eye on industry statistics shows that with people in self-quarantine, or venturing out far less and with fewer events available, book sales have picked up in some genres and formats. Readers are reading, agents are signing, and publishers are acquiring.

So for those of you wondering if it’s possible to query now, go for it.  But learn from our, and other new writers’, mistakes.

In the past 13~ months, I’ve participated in a large mentoring program, as well as tried to pay it forward with manuscript reads, and critiques of query packets for multiple projects and relief auctions.

After going through well over two-hundred packets, I saw a number of issues and common problems that might result in an agent/editor rejection.

The very first is jumping into querying too soon. FOMO is a thing—I get it. Patience isn’t my friend either. However, agents and publishers will still be there, in some form, in a month, six months, a year. 

My best advice is finding critique partners, and not just asking them to read for you, but swap manuscripts. From my group’s experiences, it can be much easier to spot problems with plots, character arcs, and pacing in someone else’s manuscript. Personally, my writing leveled up as much from identifying things done right and things gone wrong, and having that light bulb moment of identifying the same flaws in my story, as it did from actual reader critiques. 

Along the same lines—unneeded prologues and slow first chapters. It’s difficult to overstate how important first pages are. Those few paragraphs are often all an agent reads before hitting send on a form rejection.

From my reads, in most cases the first pages were well written. But they did nothing to draw a reader in either because there was nothing but backstory going on, or the opposite and they started mid-fight. In the first instance, if there’s no anticipation, no tasty question of what happens next, readers will close the book. In the second, jumping into a life-or-death situation without giving readers an emotional attachment to or reason to empathize with a character can have the same result.

Aside from the manuscript, the next most common pitfalls involved the query. 

Queries are no one’s favorite thing. They are tricky, frustratingly short, and utilize a different skill set than that of writing the story itself.

The biggest stumbling block I saw was confusing the query and synopsis. The query is the stage on which to showcase and tantalize, dropping juuust enough information to get the reader wanting to know how the central conflict plays out. Make sure to highlight the thing(s) that makes your story unique, or subverts the expected trope. 

Save the point-by-point plot wrap-up for the equally dreaded synopsis. It’s incredibly difficult to get both voice and plot arc into a synopsis, especially the standard short synopsis. Best practice is to prioritize plot over pretty.

The final reason I identified was simply writers not understanding the genre they thought they were writing. Make yourself aware of expectations in your genre–happy ever afters/happy for now in romances, centering the heroine(s) journey in women’s fiction, resolving the main mystery in mysteries. As a loose rule of thumb, if you can’t find similar books to compare to yours in your genre, think about taking a beat and researching where your manuscript meets or fails to meet genre standards.

I hope my quick and dirty notes are helpful on the journey to publication.

Stay safe, y’all.

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Janet Walden-West lives in the southeast with a pack of show dogs, a couple of kids, and a husband who didn’t read the fine print. A member of the East Tennessee Creative Writers Alliance, she is also a founding member of The Million Words craft blog. She pens diverse Urban Fantasy and inclusive Contemporary and Paranormal Romance.

A 2X PitchWars alum, 2019 Pitch Wars Mentor, and Golden Heart® finalist, her debut multicultural Contemporary Romance, SALT+STILETTOS, released in April 2020 from City Owl Press. She is represented by Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.Find her at:

Website: https://janetwaldenwest.weebly.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janetwaldenwestauthor/​Twitter: @JanetWaldenWest

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janetwaldenwest/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Janet-Walden-West/e/B07DD9FNQ5/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/janet-walden-west

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18062729.Janet_Walden_West

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I’m over on her blog today too, talking about what I’ve learned as a debut author. Check it out!

A Peek at My Desk

The writer’s desk. It’s where all the magic happens. Worlds are built and characters are created and hearts are broken only to be put back together again. Depending on the book and writer those hearts will be broken again after their put back together!

At least in theory that’s what the writers desk is like.

I’ve found that where I end up working varies from project to project. But it’ll also vary depending on what’s going on, what season it is, what my day job schedule is like that week, etc. For example, it’s a beautiful June day and my niece is here playing outside in the blow up pool we got her. There is no way I’m sitting inside and locking myself up at my desk to get work done. So, I found a shady spot to sit with my laptop to watch her as she plays and I can write my blog as well.

A lot of times if I’m feeling lazy I sit in bed and write!

Or I’ll bring my laptop out to the living room and sit in the recliner to get work done as well.

Then, of course, there’s the classic of going out to a coffee shop and hunkering down there for awhile to write. Although with the whole pandemic thing going on… that’s not a great or even available option right now.

But, I do have a desk and workspace set up which I like to use often. Especially if I need to sit down and do some serious writing and hard work without distractions!

I live with my family and the only space I have in the house which is 100% mine is my bedroom. It’s a large bedroom, so I’m not complaining at all! It’s a great set up and I’m really happy with it.

Because this is the one space I have to get things done, I consider my desk an overall “workspace” instead of just for writing. It’s where I work on my Powersheets and do my weekly/daily planning. It’s where I worked on a puzzle in the first weeks of quarantine. This is where I make scrapbooks. I do my nails at my desk or sometimes even fold laundry! With this in mind, my goal is to keep my desk simple and clean. That way, I have plenty of space to do whatever it is I need to do.

You’ll see it’s a super simple desk. When I was shopping around for one, I was tempted to get one of those more antique-types with cute drawers and everything. But when I took a look at my habits, I knew that them more drawer and nooks and crannies the desk had, I was just going to fill those up with junk. Something sleek and simple would motivate me more to keep things clean and organized.

At least that’s the theory. I will admit, a lot of times I end up throwing laundry and random mail on top of my desk. But, I do clean it off more often than I did when I had a desk with a bunch of drawers and such on it. So, progress!

This winter I added the rolling cart you see on the side - and I love it for organization! The top shelf I have my desk supply organizer where I keep pens, pencils, bookmarks, stationary, and important paperwork which needs my more immediate attention. Then behind the organizer I keep my laptop and Powersheets.

The middle shelf has my daily planner along with all of my supplies and stickers I need for that.

The bottom shelf with a lid on top is where I keep all of my other paperwork which doesn’t need my immediate attention, but good to hold onto. Ex. documents such as my book contract.

Beneath my desk I have a file container for - you guessed it - other important paperwork. I know, I know. I need to scan a lot of these things and keep them digitally so I can declutter and save space. To be perfectly frank, I’ve been lazy. But I also have some papers which I don’t want digitally like old sheet music. It also makes for a great footrest!

The white basket has other supplies such as chargers, cords, my phone tripod, external hard drive, stationary sets which don’t fit on my rolling cart’s top shelf, and planners from previous years.

Having everything so simplistic, it can get cluttered a bit easily. But it does motivate me to organize and clean things out more often than I used to. I love the feeling of having my desk space cleared off and open for me to be able to work on whatever tasks I need to do for the day.

What does your desk and workspace look like? Do you tend to work whenever or where ever? Or do you need to have a specific place to get things done to focus?

June Book Update

It is officially less than four months away from the release of my debut novel, The Night’s Chosen. You can already add it on Goodreads to your “want to read” list!”

Can we all collectively squeal while also freak out? When my book deal announcement was made the release was set to be in 2021. A couple of weeks ago my publisher informed me that in fact my book was going to come out October 6, 2020.

My initial reaction was excitement and joy and just.. .WOW! I’m going to be a published author THIS YEAR! Then, I texted my writer friends with this GIF.

There is SO MUCH TO DO. I have to do all of the rewrites/edits/and revisions still to prep them for the Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) to be distributed. Then even book prep aside, there’s all of the work on the marketing side with cover reveals, blog tours, lining up reviewers, reaching out to local bookstores and libraries…

Okay, now I’m getting overwhelmed again.

My editor isn’t worried at all and says we have plenty of time to get it all done, and we started discussions on how to go about marketing. After those conversations I felt much better. It’s so awesome to have someone who’s so confident in my writing and knows how this business works to help me navigate all of this. Then the other authors with my publisher have also been a huge help and are always willing to offer advice and insight. I’m really lucky to have such an author-focused publisher.

What’s also exciting? They’re working on the cover. Nothing is finished yet so I can’t show you anything. But there will be a big official cover reveal when we get closer to the release date. (As always, newsletter subscribers will get to see it first so be sure to sign up!) From what I’ve seen so far… WOW. It. Is. So. Pretty. You all are going to love it! It’s surreal to see my name and the book title on a book cover. It’s one of those moments where I’m like “wow… this is actually happening.”

As we discussed the cover, we also discussed the name of the book series. Yes, the series, and not just this one book! The Night’s Chosen is the first in my Cursed Queens series. My plan is for there to be four books- but we’ll see how things go. I was so happy when they asked me for the series title because I’ve been thinking about the future books and have some synopsis rough drafts done for them. I cant wait to dig into them more!

A couple of other updates…

I gave my website a facelift and updated it with a Cursed Queens page and the banner on my homepage features my book release date. Feel free to poke around!

I’ve gotten started on a new short story which I’m planning to make as a freebie for my newsletter subscribers and it’s so fun! It has a vampire and a thieving werewolf.

Some goals and things to look out for this month…

I’m currently researching other authors in my genre (fantasy mostly - but more specifically those who’ve written retellings) who may be interested in helping with some promotion. Also just to get inspiration to see how other authors have promoted their books. If you have any favorite fantasy authors whose website and social media you LOVE, please let me know.

I want to put together a “street team” of bloggers, booktubers, bookstagramers, and friends who may be interested in helping out as well with sharing about my book on their platforms. More info will be coming soon, but if you already know you’re interested contact me so I can put you on my list of people to reach out to first!

Sorry this was mostly an “info dump” post but I want to be sure you all are updated on what’s going on! I feel like I’ve been talking about this book for so long yet with no news - when there is actually things happening I want you all to know about it! Everyone has been so supportive and I can’t wait to get my book into your hands. The countdown is on!

Things are going to be happening fast and soon. So be sure to keep an eye on this space as well as my Instagram as news comes. My Facebook and Twitter I’ll be updating as well, but I’m most active on Instagram these days.

How I Got My Book Contract

There are about as many different ways to be published as there are authors in the world. That’s one thing I’ve learned through my several years of writing and querying novels. I’ve listened to podcasts, read blogs, watched videos, and scrolled through social media absorbing everyone’s different stories about how they landed their book deals.

Well, now I can finally add my story to the pile. Which is such a weird sentence to be typing. In a lot of ways, it still doesn’t feel real. I’ve talked about it, tweeted, Facebooked, Instagramed, and shared it on my newsletter. Yet here we are, five months later, and I still haven’t written my contract story on the blog or shared it in full detail anywhere. Maybe I’m waiting for the feeling of the reality to hit. I don’t know why, but here we are. I’m going to be a published author, and this is how it happened.

The first thing most people ask me when I tell them that I’m an author and have a book to be published is “how long have you been working on it?” Oddly enough, that’s a more complicated answer than you’d think. My original idea for The Night’s Chosen was back when I was fourteen - 20 years ago! - and all through high school and parts of college I tinkered with a novel based on Snow White. I put it down for awhile when I realized that it wasn’t any good. As are most books that we write when we’re fourteen.

Then a few years ago a new Snow White idea hit me and I went back to work. The Night’s Chosen and that book from high school hardly have anything in common other than a couple character names and that there are two princes who are brothers. Literally everything else is different. If you want to know more about how I came to this book and about my previous book I’d queried, you can read this post.

This exact book I’d worked on for about a year and a half to two years starting from my first draft all the way to the final one I submitted to my editor. A year or two before that I’d queried another book which hadn’t gone anywhere.

During my first round of writing The Night’s Chosen (it was called White Rose at the time) I’d gone back and forth on wanting to finish it. Originally my goal was to have it completed in time for PitchWars 2018 - an online contest where you submit your completed manuscript to be chosen by a mentor to guide you through revisions and then have your book be put into a showcase for agents. I had submitted an urban fantasy book the year before and while I didn’t get picked, I’d gotten some good feedback from a mentor or two.

Slowly I worked on my book in hopes that it would be done. The closer the time came for the submission window to open, the less I thought I would be able to complete my book in time. Yet, I plowed on and I even write a “boost my bio” blog post to put the word out there to the mentors and other participants that yes I was going to submit a book!

After PitchWars announced their list of mentors and I combed through who I thought would be good to submit to. I saw a few who I felt like would actually like my urban fantasy book from the year before. According to the rules, you can submit the same book a second year in a row if you weren’t chosen as long as you submit to different mentors. The timeline was short, but I decided to put away my Snow White book and get to work on doing some edits to my urban fantasy to clean it up a bit. At that point I had about a month until submission opened.

I was almost ready to take down my “boost my bio” post when one of the mentors - Paris Wynters - who’d been on my radar, replied to my tweet about the post. All she tweeted was a GIF of Snow White waving.

Oh. My. God. Someone was interested in my book.

I rushed back to her PitchWars profile and yes, she would be an awesome mentor. What had I been thinking switching books at the last minute? Of course my Snow White retelling was the way to go! The only problem? I was about two, maybe, three weeks until the submission deadline. There were no extensions and my book had to be completed.

And I still had thousands of words to go before it was done.

I sent panic messages to my writing group who were also submitting to PitchWars that year and we’d been planning and commiserating with each other all summer in preparation. We all panicked together but came to the conclusion that there was no other option - I had to finish this book.

So, I did. I stayed up late and got up early every single day. I locked myself in my room for hours at a time for those last two weeks of August 2018 and wrote more words all at once than I ever had before. I even talked to my supervisor at work and he gave me the days of the PitchWars submission window off so I could have even more time to get it finished. He was more than supportive and I am forever grateful. With only three hours to spare, I submitted my book and waited. There were a couple of emails back and forth between Paris and I and a couple other mentors, but overall it was a lot of waiting.

Ultimately, I was not picked to join PitchWars that year, but I was informed a few people had been interested in my manuscript and I was someone’s runner up where if their number 1 wasn’t able to be their mentee I was next in line! Paris kept in touch with me and even asked me to help give feedback on her mentee’s book and added me to a writing group she put together on Facebook.

I was bummed, but overall proud of myself. I’d made a deadline and I was able to reach it and make something that caught people’s attention. The book definitely needed work, but there was a lot of good in it.

Once PitchWars was over, Paris offered to read through my book again and give me feedback on it so I could work on revisions. It was the start of a beautiful and amazing friendship and mentor/mentee relationship. Paris may not have chosen me as her “official” PitchWars mentee, but she became my mentor regardless.

For months and months she and I messaged and talked and poured over my book. (I’ve helped her out with some of her stuff too - so don’t feel like this is completely one sided! Even though I feel like she’s helped me way more than I’ve helped her. Something I want to rectify.) It was torn apart and put back together over and over again until I felt like I was ready to start querying it again.

I was more hesitant in querying this book than I was with my urban fantasy. Like Alexander Hamilton, I didn’t want to throw away any shots. My book was fine and ready to query, so I can’t tell you why I was so hesitant. Maybe because I was afraid of disappointment? Who knows. But every few weeks I’d send a query letter out to a couple of agents here and there to see who would bite. Periodically I would pause my querying and do more revisions, then send another few out. I didn’t get many replies and slowly got discouraged, but I kept plowing through.

Then, Paris sent me a message saying that she met an editor from City Owl Press at the Romance Writers of America Conference and pitched my book to her. (Which I didn’t ask her to!) Miracle of miracles - she said to send it over! Paris passed her email onto me and while we decided my book still needed a bit more tweaking, once that was done I could send it over. So, once I knew it was ready, I did. She then passed it onto another editor (Tee Tate!) and I sat around and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Publishing is a business of waiting my friends.

It was fall of 2019 at the time, and I’ll be honest, I was a bit down. I’d submitted my book to PitchWars once again, but gotten no bites. Not a single mentor took any interest in my book. Even with my urban fantasy two years before I’d gotten a couple encouraging messages and tweets from mentors! This time, nothing. Eventually, NaNoWriMo (which I’d been participating in for over ten years) had come and gone and I’d hardly written anything for it. I had a couple of new book ideas but nothing really excited me. I worried The Night’s Chosen wasn’t good enough either, and maybe I wouldn’t have any more ideas. (Oh the overdramatic woes of us writers!) I wasn’t really sure what to do next.

Then, December 1st, I woke up and saw I had a new email. It was from City Owl Press, and a contract was attached to the email. They wanted to give me a contract. I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet!

I had an offer for my book from a publisher.

I ran to my mom’s room where she was also propped against the pillows scrolling through her phone. I told her the news and she had the same reaction I did - “Wait… what?” We were both still waking up and coffee hadn’t been made yet. Our brains were still turning on. But eventually it sank in, I had a book deal.

Naturally, my next move was to message Paris with a lot of squeals and excitement along with questions of what to do next. I asked the publisher to give me the industry standard of two weeks to reach out to other agents and editors I’d submitted to so they could pitch me any offers if they wanted as well, and in the meantime I read over my contract over and over and over again asking various questions about what it all meant.

Ultimately, none of the others I’d submitted to wanted to throw their hat in the ring but all wished me the best with my contract. Which was fine! I had someone who wanted my book! All you need is the one. Once the two weeks was up I sent them my signed contract and asked if it was okay for me to share the good news.

They said of course.

Basically… my social media blew up that day. It was great.

And here we are. Even writing this all out it feels like a bit of a dream. Did this really happen? Is my book really going to be published and out there in the world? But it did. It going to happen! It’s not just a dream anymore. The thing is, it’s not even an ending. This is just the start of my publishing journey.

I’ve been able to join our author group with other writers in the publishing house and it’s been so great to get to know them. My editor is going through and making notes on my book as I type this and I’m mentally preparing myself for the first round of revisions with her. Just this week we’ve started discussions about the cover. I have my plans for upcoming books sitting on the back burner that I’ve gone to work on here and there since I signed.

What’s interesting is that all this time I’ve wanted to be a published author - literally my whole life! - and to have that first book was the goal, but instead of seeing it at the end I’m seeing it as the start.

The book contract isn’t the happily ever after at the end. It’s the first chapter.

So, there you have it. The story of how I got my book contract. It was not a one person success at all. I had Paris who worked and helped me so much, my writing group and beta readers who spent hours reading my book and discussing it with me, my supervisors and co-workers who’ve been gracious to let me have time to write when needed, my family and friends who’ve been over the moon excited and supportive of me… and this wouldn’t have happened without any of them.

Now I can’t wait to see where this will go next.

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My Writing Goals For the Year

Writing goals for the year… I’m sure you’re looking at the title of this post and then glancing back at your calendar thinking “But… it’s May. Shouldn’t you have figured out your writing goals by now? That’s a January thing!”

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can set your goals for the year whenever you want! Especially with this whole pandemic going on and people staying at home all of the time, time and days have no meaning anymore. Besides, what better time than now to do some goal resetting, right?

Right.

Besides, since I’m new to this whole “my book is actually going to be published” thing and am still figuring out the ropes, I haven’t had much of an idea of the sort of timelines and goals I should be giving myself with my writing. I’m starting to get a little better vision of how things go, which makes me much more comfortable to figure out what I want to do.

Even beyond that, I think having goals is helpful right now. I need things I can obtain and accomplish so when I look back at this time spent I can say “I did that!” I definitely have a lot of relaxing time too, and if you’re in a place where you don’t feel like you can be motivated and do ALL THE THINGS that’s okay too! But, I want to go for it.

Look at me all ready to crush those goals, sitting naturally at my desk for the camera. I even put on lipstick for the first time in about a month. #pandemiclife

Top Priority: Edit The Night’s Chosen and Prep it for Publishing!

This should be a no-brainer. Everything is going to come second to this. I want my debut novel (and any novel I publish for that matter) to be the absolute best it can be. Yes, I want to accomplish other things too, but if they need to be set aside for me to revise and edit The Night’s Chosen, so be it. It’s also the goal I’m most excited and scared for. The pressure is on now!

Next Up: Knock Out the Synopsis’ for The Next Book (or two)

A majority of the time your second book is sold on synopsis. Since The Night’s Chosen in my head is the first in a potential series, I want to have a rough outline and synopsis done for the sequel - maybe even the rest of the series! That way when the time comes, I can have it ready to go to pitch it to my editor instead of rushing to do it at the last minute.

Then: Write a Freebie for my Newsletter Subscribers

Yup! This has been on my list for a looooooong time. I want to be able to give away a downloadable short story or novella for my newsletter subscribers. If you’re already subscribed, I’d send it to you early. Then all new subscribers would get it when they sign up. The problem? I can never decide what I want to write about! All of my ideas end up becoming bigger and would do well as full length books instead of something shorter. But, it will happen. This goal is always in the back of my mind and I want to have it for you all as a thank you for all your support.

After That: Write More Short Stories

This is a skill I’ve wanted to hone for a long time. I started to awhile back with my flash fiction pieces, but then I fell off the wagon. (Probably around the time I stopped blogging in general. ::facepalm:: I want to do this for a few reasons. 1) So I can post more of my fiction writing to this blog and share it with you all! 2) A great way for me to get my writing out there in the world is to submit to magazines and anthologies and for those you need shorter pieces. 3) It’s just a good skill to have in my author tool belt.

And Another Thing: Keep Up With my Blog and Social Media

This blog has been on the back burner for far too long, and I want to keep up with it again. Only one post a week, but keep it active and up to date. I want this site to be the “main hub” for anyone to go to when it comes to my writing and what I’m up to.

AND ANOTHER: Keep Learning About Writing

This is a goal I’m continually doing because I need to keep learning about my craft and honing it so I get better. I want my first book to be amazing, but I don’t want to stop there. I want each book I write to be better and better.

But I’ve noticed how lax I’ve been. For example: I listen to the podcast Writing Excuses every single week and I love it. These writers are so knowledgeable and have such a wealth of wisdom to share! I love soaking it all in, even though the episodes are only 15-20 (sometimes longer) minutes long. The thing is… I never do the homework. Ever. It’s terrible! My editor had me take a class a couple weeks ago and I thought a lot of the concepts I already knew, but when I started to do the exercises and homework I realized that I could know all the information about metaphors and poetic language that I wanted - but if I didn’t actually practice writing them I was never going to get better. So, I want to keep up with taking classes, reading books, and watching videos about writing while actually doing the practice items the instructors give.

Finally: Think of More Novel Ideas!

I have a few of these floating around in my head and my journals have little notes and thoughts jotted down in them. But I’m getting excited to dig deeper into them and see if there’s anything more I can make of them. As much as I love The Night’s Chosen and the world I’ve created with it, I want my author career to go past it whether it’s a stand-alone book or a full series. There are more characters and worlds to create and I want to explore them!

Okay… looking at all of these feels like a lot. But, the idea isn’t to do all of them at once. This is for the whole year. When I get my notes back from my editor, I’m going to only be focusing on that until it’s done. After I turn in that round of revisions, I’ll look back at my list and pick another goal to focus on for a bit.

We’ll see how well I actually do, but for now I’m super motivated and ready to go!

Anyone else have goals they want to accomplish this year?

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