Several times I’ve asked myself ‘how is it so easy to write, but so difficult to get published?’
To give everyone a bit of background information, I wrote a series of book during the past thirty-plus years which has resulted in 9 novels. Having completed them, edited them, reviewed them repeatedly, I finally feel comfortable in trying to get them publish. By that I mean that if they were published I wouldn't be embarrassed. The problem, or rather the wall, I ran into was I’m not a promoter. I don’t push, smooze, or ingratiate myself like a used-car salesman. Along the same lines, I didn’t know how to write a query letter or to summarize my book. Unfortunately, this was only the beginnings to my problem.
Now I have spent several excruciating days putting together a package for this series of 9 books, not to mention the days researching everything I could, but I found that no one wanted to see a series of 9 books from an unpublished author. So much for getting lucky right off the bat. What I began to understand, however, was that a single book would be easier to pitch, so that is what I endeavored to do.
It took me a year to write my first Jeremiah Stone novel (Jeremiah) while working my real full-time job. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to spend a lot of my time on the road, which meant time to write. Near the end of writing Jeremiah, however, I found an agency willing to look at my work. As soon as I completed it, I sent it out to be critiqued and the feedback was good. I have since edited it myself, had it professionally edited, and read by several close friend (who have both loved it and offered suggestions). I’ve made several changes, clarified the storyline, and its a better book for it. The one thing that caught my attention was that the person who did the critique said she’d love to see the story continue.
To let everyone know, I did leave the story open for a second book and she cemented the belief that I should indeed spend the time to write it. Not long after that I endeavored to write a second and a third book making this a true series. The good thing is the first book stands on its own and, according to the few who have read this book. They also believe Jeremiah is an easy read and moves really well. The story line of the next two book occur fifteen years later and I believe them to be more intense and slightly darker in nature. With the series mostly complete, I started writing a pre-cursor book to the trilogy, which I have now been completed, telling the story of how Jeremiah Stone stumbled into the mob.
With this first series being published, I hope you spend the time to enjoy what I've written and provide feedback on it. And as I've said, its easy to write, harder to get published. Hopefully, this is only the beginning.
With this first series being published, I hope you spend the time to enjoy what I've written and provide feedback on it. And as I've said, its easy to write, harder to get published. Hopefully, this is only the beginning.
