New writers studiously study how-to articles online, in writer's magazines and in the hundreds of books published on how to write in the belief that there is some secret that all published writers know and if only they could find it, they'd be published too. I'm afraid it's not true. There is no magic wand that can transform you from unpublished to published. The process is the same for everybody, for some it's just longer than others. Even when the dream is realized, it's not the end. You publish one book, one short story or perhaps an article, the next one is not a shoe-in. You might get more consideration for having been published, but you can just as easily be rejected again for your latest work.
It took me 33 years between the first book I wrote at 17 to having my first book published when I was 50. In that time I wrote at least 8 novels that were not published, in some cases probably weren't publishable. But each one was a learning experience I built on until I produced a book that someone wanted. But after that there was more rejection. The second book in the L.A. series was rejected and I ended up taking it elsewhere, to a small, independent publisher, which was a step down from the New York publisher I had started with. I'm still glad to be published by them and have continued with them since then. But I still want to break back into the New York publishing world and I've been pursuing an agent for the last year. So far I have over 250 rejections on two books I've queried. That's 250+ times I've had to read 'Sorry, not for us' since most of the rejections have been form letters. A few have been requests for fulls or partials, most of which also resulted in rejections.
Those statistics would make it easy to give up, right? But I’m stubborn and my persistence paid off. On November 11 I sent my last query to the Literary Group International – since they wanted a 30 day exclusive, I save them till last – and on November 12 I received an email saying the query intrigued them and they wanted to see the full. I sent it the same day and like most of my other queries I forgot about it by burying myself in new writing and editing. That’s what will kill you the fastest in the querying game – if you keep waiting for a response and constantly checking your email or phone to see if it’s on, you’ll drive yourself crazy. It’s better to get busy with something else and try to forget. Which by this time I was pretty good at doing. I was already thinking ahead to the new year when I would start submitting the novel to editors. So when I got the email in December I didn’t know what it was at first. Most of my queries come back as replies, so they have the subject that says; Query: Shadows and Smoke so I know right away it’s a response. This one didn’t. This one came in with the subject line: Fantastic Book. I opened it thinking it was a fan telling me they’d loved a particular book of mine. I get them sometimes. But the minute I opened it and saw the book title I was confused. This was in regard to Shadows and Smoke. I tried to remember the beta readers I had sent it to, but there were only 2 and this didn’t come from either of them, so what was going on?
Then I looked more closely at the sender and at the rest of the email. It was from the President of LGI and he loved the book. He wanted to represent it. I read the whole email and frankly, I was a little dazed. I shut the email down and went back to look over the rest of my emails. Then I went back and read it again. I did this a few times – I actually got up and walked around a bit then came back and read it again. It took probably a good 10 minutes for it to sink in. Even then I felt like I was walking around in a daze.
I was very lucky. The email came in late in the day so I knew the agency would be closed and it was a Friday so they wouldn’t be open until Monday. I spent the entire weekend researching the agency with every resource I could find, including talking to a couple of their client authors, both of who said they were great to work with. So on Monday I sent in my reply and said I’d love to have them represent me. On Tuesday they email the contract to me and I read it through carefully (it was very short and straightforward) and mailed it back.
Now we’re getting into the Christmas season so I don’t expect much. I had a couple of emails from one of the agents who had a couple of questions about the manuscript and we worked on that. I received the signed contract back and now it’s just waiting to see what happens next.
But am I waiting around? No, I’ve already started a new historical novel set in New York in the late 1800s so I’m busy researching and writing and don’t allow myself much time to think about what’s happening now.
My point in all this is, though I have 11 fiction novels published, 2 more at the publisher waiting to be published, and several short stories, I am no more guaranteed the next book I write will be published by anyone. Publishing is a business going through a lot of changes right now, and no one knows where it will be in 5 years, let alone 20.
So why do it despite all the rejections? I do it because I can't NOT write. Whether or not I get published I will always write because the stories are in me and have to be told. With that compulsion I will keep writing no matter if the next book or the one after that is never published or I decide to self publish an ebook, I will write.
As a new writer, only you can decide if this path is for you. No one else can make that decision or stop you from trying. If you want to write, despite the odds, then I say go, write.
My motto is taken right out of Galaxy Quest -- 'Never give up, never surrender'
Blurb for Between Darkness & Light
LAPD homicide detective Russell Hunter. A shadow man, an enigma. He is a man who has purpose but no goal. A figure who walks between the darkness and the light in search of salvation from the terrible mistakes of his past.
Detective Russell Hunter emerges from darkness into fine artist Stephen Fischer's life. He is the darling of the Los Angeles art world, on his way to the big time. Can these two unravel the mystery surrounding the death of two of L.A's art critics before Stephen becomes the next victim. The downtown Los Angeles old financial center is the heart of this thrilling murder mystery and the unwanted love that grows between a cop with a dark secret in his troubled past and an up and coming world class artist.
Hunter is a troubled man, with dark demons eating at him. Stephen is too intensely involved in his life as a rising art star to be interested in a relationship, especially a relationship with a man with a turbulent past he refuses to talk about.
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowAuthorBooks.php?list=_ABKLIST26&author=P.A.!BrownP. A. Brown's Links:
http://www.pabrown.com My novels under P.A. Brown
http://gkparkerhistorynoir.blogspot.com/ My writing under my pen name GK Parker.
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