From Start to Signing

Me? An author with a book deal? Who would have thought? This moment is one I dreamed about for a long time, but to actually be here feels surreal. When I was just starting out I would have loved to read about someone’s journey from coming up with a book idea to getting signed. So, I will be sharing my inspiration, my process, and my timeframe. Before we dive in, I want to start with a disclaimer: Everyone’s journey is different and I know mine is rare. I want to share my experience so that maybe writers out there can see sometimes everything does work out and it doesn’t have to take years and years to accomplish your dreams. But most importantly, don’t give up. If you dream of writing and publishing a book, stay consistent and stick to it. Sometimes it does take years and years and it’s so worth it!

How is this different?

You might know this isn’t my first rodeo with publishing. I have self-published five of my own children’s books and have even started The Publishing Room to help others self-publish. I have always had a lot of success with self-publishing and I felt accomplished with doing so, but traditional publishing just feels like something different and magical. I’m not saying I am going to be famous or be on the New York Times Bestseller List, but the fact that a publisher picked me out of thousands (43,000 to be specific), to pay for edits and cover design, and put their name on my book feels like a whole other playing field. I still truly believe in self-publishing, but I knew that I wanted something different for this book.

Where it all started

In the midst of a pandemic - August 2020 to be exact - I had the inspiration for A Girl Called Ruthless. That might sound unoriginal and that’s because it is. So many people started or finished writing their book during the pandemic and the submissions to agents and publishers recently have been unreal.

I thought of the book idea while in the car in a matter of about 20 minutes. When I say the book idea, I mean the whole book. I quickly wrote it down in my phone notes and when I look back at it now I realize it hasn’t changed much. I know this sort of inspiration is hard to replicate and even with the book I am writing now, it feels weird that it isn’t happening the same way. I am so thankful that Ruthless spoke to me and gave me the full story when she did because I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to finish if I didn’t know where it was going.

When I started writing the book, I intended it to be for adults. I was inspired by movies like Jojo Rabbit with a child main character but for an adult audience. I wrote a book that I wanted to read.

As I started to get further along in my process and learned more about the industry, I discovered that it’s almost impossible to sell a book for adults if the main character is a child, there are exceptions but for the most part, it’s highly unlikely.

I went back to the drawing board. I decided if I just changed a few things, Ruthless could be a middle-grade novel. I was a little scared about this and still am, as there are some dark unexpected topics in this book. But then I think about Lemony Snickets, Harry Potter, Coraline, and Bridge to Terabithia, I realize kids like dark. Although this book is for middle-grade, I firmly believe it will hold the attention of ages far beyond that. I like to think of it as one of a kind. I know that sounds arrogant but it’s truly a unique and quirky book.

Writing process

I’m still not sure if my writing process is one that should be replicated, but it worked for me. I had been writing for a while and was in the world of writing and publishing, but I had never attempted writing a novel. I didn’t plan anything out. I didn’t create a fancy plot chart. I didn’t write and then refuse to move on until things were perfect. I knew I could fix mistakes later. I knew that if I pondered on the small details I would never get the book done. Every day I set a goal for myself to write 1,000 words whether I was inspired or not. Most of the time I stuck with it but sometimes I didn’t and that was okay.

It took me about 4 months to finish my first draft and that was the hardest part. From there I printed out a copy of the book at my local Staples. I did this because I felt like it would be a different experience to read the book in a physical format. I hoped it would give me a new set of eyes.

After I read through the physical copy and noted all the corrections and changes I wanted to make, I had to retype everything I wrote into my word document. This second draft only took me about a month.

If you follow any sane and professional writing advice, they will tell you to step away from your first draft for about a month. This is because it’s hard to tell what works or doesn’t work when you are so immersed in the story for so long. They say if you wait for longer, you will see it with a new set of eyes. I was not, and will not ever be a sane person. I think the most I could wait was a week. A pathetic, anxiety-filled week.

Now for readers

Ahh! Having other people actually, read my work? Terrifying. Once I finished the second draft it was time for beta readers. Beta readers are the first group of people to read your manuscript and tell you what they think. They tell you if the story works or if there are any plot holes that you’re missing.

I sent out an email to my email list and was shocked when I found that many people wanted to beta read. That time of waiting for my reviews to roll in was the most excruciating period. I kept thinking about all of the weird things that I wrote and felt like this was all a big mistake. In about a week, I got my first response. It was all great news and she loved the story. The second review came in and she said that she loved it so much she read it THREE TIMES! I think I cried. These two reviews keep me afloat even when I was met with rejection and thought that I should just give up.

I also decided that I wanted to pay for a professional beta reader and have the first three chapters of my book professionally edited. I knew that these three chapters were the most important part of the book when it came to finding an agent or publisher. I reached out to The Write Stage for this and I can’t speak on how much they helped me. I don’t think I would be where I am now as quickly as I got here without their help.

After I got the reviews and critiques from my beta readers and my editor, I used their feedback to complete my third and fourth drafts.

I had the unique experience of getting to read my book to my 4th-grade class to see what they thought. At first, I was worried that they were a little young for some of the content but as I read on, they clung to the story from the edge of their seats. Not only did I discover that they were capable of understanding the story and dealing with some of the darker themes, but they begged for more. This is when I realized that kids want more mature books and I knew my kids couldn’t be the only ones.

Conferences, Pitch Wars, Oh My!

I started querying and pitching to agents in the beginning of February 2021. I participated in a Twitter pitch event called #PitMad, and boy what a wild way to start. This is an event where you write an attention-grabbing pitch for your book in 280 characters or less. Agents and publishers use the hashtag to find tweets that interest them. If they like your tweet, you go to their Twitter and see their instructions for sending them a sample of your work. The secret is to get as many retweets as possible so that your tweet is more likely to be seen. During my first pitch even, I got 4 likes from agents and publishers. This is a good number since during that pitch event there were over 500,000 tweets.
These Twitter pitch events can be overwhelming as everything is moving fast and there are so many other authors participating, but they were my favorite thing to do.
I participated in 4 different pitch events: Two different #PitMads (for all genre of books), #WMPith (this was for children’s literature), and #PitDark (books with darker topics). I was a little hesitant to participate in #PitDark because I felt my book didn’t really fit that category since it’s mostly lighthearted and filled with silly antics. I decided to participate once I got a rejection from an agent that said the ending of my story felt too dark. I’m so glad I participated because this is where my publisher found me.
After my first Twitter event, I attended a virtual writing conference. Writing conferences have panels and seminars that teach writers about different aspects of writing and publishing. They also have opportunities to meet with agents to pitch your book. The main reason I signed up for this conference was to pitch to agents. I felt that if I could meet an agent face to face, I would have a better chance at grabbing their attention. I met with three different agents and all of them requested to read the full book after hearing my pitch.
Initially, I felt that the conference was worth the cost. I thought one of these agents was going to say yes and it would be worth the almost $300 I paid to attend. The panels had useful information, but I already knew a lot of what was talked about. Ultimately looking back, after I got a rejection from all three agents, and I don’t even think any of them read much of my book, if I could go back I would not have done the conference. I think conferences are great for people wanting to learn more about craft and publishing, but if you’re doing it solely to talk to agents like I did, you have better luck with free events and cold querying.

I also found out about a free virtual face-to-face pitch event from Twitter. I was able to meet with an agent on Zoom and tell her about my book. This lead to her requesting to read part of the book and then requesting to read the full book. She was the agent that passed because the ending was too dark, but I was so thankful that she read my full book and gave me great feedback.
If you can’t tell by now, I would recommend getting involved with Twitter if you’re a writer.

My total stats

I queried a total of 33 agents and publishers from February 2021 to June 2021. About half of the agents and publishers came from an interest in pitch events while the other half came from cold queries. Cold queries are when you send a query (sample and blurb about your book) to agents without them requesting you to do so.

From those 33 queries, I had 8 requests to read my full manuscript (this means they liked my sample and wanted to read more), 20 passes, and the rest I never heard back from. Out of the 8 full requests, I received one offer and that was with Darkstroke.

Now what?

The great thing about working with a small publisher is that everything moves fast. In about a week or two I will be working with my editor and my cover designer. The publisher estimates that my book will be published before the end of this year. In the meantime, I will be doing my best to get the news out about my book and absorb all the best practices I can. I plan to update you throughout my journey and share whatever secrets I can.

One thing I don’t want to take for granted is how immensely lucky I am. I worked really hard writing and editing this book and I worked my butt off trying to get it picked up. But I know people who have worked just as hard and had to wait a lot more time. I know I am a good writer but I also know a lot of people who are probably better than I am that had to wait years and years. Sure there are tricks but at the end of the day, the only thing you can do is stick with it and hope for the best.

Right now, I am trying my best to be thankful for where I am. I know that this is just the first step to a lifelong journey, but I am really trying to appreciate where I am. I did it. I got picked up by a publisher.