This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Author Alice Peterson tells Novelicious about the moment she got her first book deal! Continue reading to find out what Alice had to say. Oh, I can remember it vividly. It was back in 2004. I’d had one non-fiction book published by Macmillan at this stage, my own personal story, called A Will to Win, which had been a fairly bumpy road, and was certainly no guarantee to getting my novel published. As any writer will tell you, once you get a book deal, it doesn’t mean you will be published forever more. I’d written a romantic comedy called, Look the World in the Eye, which had been rejected by numerous publishers. However, my agent at the time, Clare Alexander, encouraged me not to give up and suggested I revise the script and submit it again. So I did… and the agonising waiting began once more. I was beginning to clock a pattern: if I received an email it was bad news. Over the next month rejection after rejection landed in my inbox, Clare saying how terribly sorry she was to let me know… It was painful, a kick in the teeth, a punch in the stomach. But then something different happened. It was a sunny Tuesday morning. I was at work, a part time job in an organic baby mattress company (don’t laugh!) when I saw Clare’s name light up my mobile screen. Immediately I answered, heart in my mouth. She told me that the commissioning editor at Transworld had loved the script. ‘But hang on,’ she warned me, ‘it’s not a definite yes.’ The editor had to take the script into a sales meeting to convince the rest of the company. Clare told me Transworld would come to a decision by the end of the week. For the next few days I barely slept, ate, could think of little else. Come Friday morning I went home for the weekend, with still no news to report to my equally nail-biting parents. By late Friday afternoon I was convinced I’d receive an email from Clare saying how terribly sorry she was… To distract myself, I went for a swim up the road in our neighbour’s pool. It was 5.20 pm. Out of desperation I kept my mobile by the side of the pool, and each time I reached the shallow end I’d stare at it, willing Clare to call with good news. Just as I was about to do another length it started to vibrate. Clare’s name lit up the screen. I felt sick, I could barely say hello, almost dropping the mobile into the water. ‘Where are you?’ she asked. ‘Swimming,’ I said. ‘I’m in a pool.’ ‘Well I suggest you get out… before you drown.’ ‘Have I got a deal?’ I burst out. ‘Alice, you’re a novelist,’ she said, laughter and excitement in her voice, before being subjected to whoops of joy and splashing. I’d done it. Actually it wasn’t just about me. We’d done it, and it felt amazing. Alice Peterson’s novel By My Side is out now. You can also find her website here.