Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
I think it’s time for some real-life examples of positively rejected manuscripts…that were published.
My client, Sarah Sundin, spent seven years pitching and perfecting her WWII historical romance. She received many positive rejections. Publishers and agents wrote back to her and told her that her writing was good but historicals weren’t selling.
Sarah didn’t give up. She kept revising her manuscript and had hope. Finally, in 2008, she attended the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and met an editor from Revell. The editor and Sarah connected, and the editor requested Sarah’s book.
Revell loved Sarah’s writing and story and offered her a contract for three books! A Distant Melody released in March. The second book in the series, A Memory Between Us, releases this September.
The timing was perfect because there weren’t many historicals left on the bookshelves. It was also perfect timing for Sarah. She admits that until 2008 she wasn’t in the right place in her life to publish a book. With young children and a job, the demands of edits, marketing, etc. could have overwhelmed her. For those of you who haven’t yet experienced all that goes into getting the book out after the contract, take note that it’s a lot of work!
Another good publication story is Madeleine L’Engle’s for A Wrinkle in Time. You can read it in her own words here.
And one more to check out. Wendy Lawton’s client, Jill Eileen Smith, worked hard toward publication for twenty years! Check out this interview where Jill shares a bit of her story.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these stories And published authors, please feel free to post your story!
Wow! Those stories were really inspiring! I was able to get my first book contract mostly from contacts made at various writers conferences. I was also a member of a few critique groups, which helped me to grow as a writer. It took me five and a half years to land my first book contract, but I was able to devote a lot of time to learning. I had no husband or children at the time, and my day job wasn’t very demanding, which worked in my favor.
When my agent first shopped ROOMS in the fall of ’06 most people said, “The guy can write, but the story is kind of out there, and he’s an unknown.”
But I believed in the novel and believed the time would come.
ROOMS just released, my Amazon numbers are very healthy, and it’s selling out (at least in stores in Washington). I’m getting a ton of five-star Amazon reviews that are been incredibly encouraging. (Yes, even some from people I don’t know! :))
So if you’re pre-published, hang in!
Jim
So, Rachel…are you my agent or my publicist? 🙂 I got teary-eyed when I saw this post. I hope my example – and Madeleine and Jill’s and Cecelia’s and Jim’s will be encouraging to others. If God tells you to write, then write! And while you wait, keep praying, keep writing (not just rewriting the same book over & over), and keep submitting. God’s timing is always perfect.
🙂 I’m just proud of you, Sarah! Can’t help it. Thanks for being such an encouragement to others.
Jim,
I just finished reading ROOMS. I’m reviewing it for FictionAddict.com. Great book. Glad to hear it is doing so well.
Timing is definitely true. It was nice to hear Sarah say that looking back, the timing would not have been right with young children.
I know what that’s like. I finished my manuscript over two years ago but distinctly heard God say no to publishing. At the time, I had 18mos old twins and a toddler at home with a preschooler just starting school. I fought God on the matter, but of course, he won out and I waited. And I’m so glad I did. But it wasn’t easy 😛
It’s funny, I was just thinking about Sarah’s publication story earlier when reading these blog posts. She’s been a real inspiration to me. At Mt. Hermon this year, I remember listening to the editors panel say repeatedly that they didn’t want fantasy and that everyone who is writing fantasy should consider another genre. I write historicals — but I was looking around at all the downcast faces of the fantasy writers and kept thinking about Sarah’s experiences. Sure, publishers might not want your genre NOW, but in a few years that could be what everyone is buying. I think we need to write what God is calling us to write and focus our time on learning our craft and making our writing shine.
Thanks for the great post!