Monday, May 30, 2011

Getting Published - Embrace Author Cody Young Tells Her Story


Hi everyone. Getting published wasn't easy. Here's what worked for me:

Wanted to write a book.
Wrote a non-fiction book.
On the third submission, I got picked up by a university press – hurray!
The university press got ‘restructured’ - didn’t want my book anymore.
Sigh.
Wrote a novel for a competition.
Got bad scores.
Wrote another novel.
Self-published it, against all the advice. Was told I might as well have flushed it down the toilet. (The person who said that has since seen the chain of bookstores he worked for go into receivership).
Started another novel.
Pitched it to an agent, and she liked it – hurray!
A year later. The agent is still thinking about it.
Decided there had to be a better way to use my talent.
(Yes, I still believed I had some).
Started submitting to slush piles.
Started to get some ‘encouraging’ rejections. Who want's one of those?
Felt increasingly impatient about the long wait times with big publishing houses.
House burnt down (mine, not the publishing house – though I was tempted).
Moved to a rental property while house was being rebuilt.
Wrote a lot, to take my mind off it.
Submitted a novella to Embrace Books, UK.
Got a letter saying it was probably too short.
Submitted a story to ‘So You Think You Can Write’ at Harlequin.
They liked it and asked for more. 
Wrote like the wind for six weeks.
Many months later, they are still thinking about it.
Meanwhile ...
Was accepted by Embrace Books and signed a contract – hurray!
Jane Holland at Embrace Books became ‘my editor’. I love that phrase.
Did revisions on the novella to make it longer (and better).
‘Scandal at the Farmhouse’ became one of the launch titles for Embrace Books! Success!
Started writing another book …

For more true confessions about becoming an author, come visit me at http://www.codyyoungblog.blogspot.com/


7 comments:

  1. Wow, sounds like you went through a lot during your journey to publication! Good for you for beleiving in your talent and not letting doubters or hard circumstances get you down. I'm sure Scandal at the Farmhouse and your other self-published title are just the beginning of the stories you'll finish. :)

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  2. Thanks Ranae! I'm writing every day, and I'm trying to finish all the novels I start writing, although it has to be said that my ideas file grows much more rapidly than my 'completed works' pile.

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  3. And we love having you as an Embrace author, Cody! Thanks for sharing your story.

    Jane x

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  4. I think that's normal, Cody. ;) I finish alot of my work, but sometimes I start something and just lose steam. I find that those ideas sometimes need to be put on the backburner for a while, and I go back to them with renewed ideas and enthusiasm later.

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  5. Thank you for sharing Cody. It' nice to know how other authors reach their goal. All the best,
    suzanne :)

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  6. Thank you for sharing your story, Cody. The rest of us can carry on hoping. :)

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  7. I agree with Kiru. Well done on finally 'getting there' :)

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