This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
I’m sure the day any author gets their first book deal is a day they will never forget. I can still remember mine as clearly as if it had happened yesterday although it was ten years ago. I had been trying to become published for five years, which felt like a lifetime and along the way I had received so many rejections I’m sure I could have papered the downstairs loo with them! Along with the rejections came heartbreak and tears and many times I felt like giving up. But writing is in my blood so usually after a rant and a weep I would study the critique that had come with the rejection and try to learn from it. Publishers know exactly what they are looking for, so it’s very important to take heed of what they say if you want to succeed.
Eventually an agent accepted me onto his client list; a major step forward for any unpublished author, and from that moment on I became even more determined to succeed. I had written two and a half books by then and he was keen to get the two that were finished out to publishers.
I began to imagine the magical day I would get the long awaited phone call saying that I had been offered a contract; I would be sitting at my computer writing looking very professional, but when it finally came I was polishing brasses and was home alone! My hands were black and I groaned as I lifted the phone thinking I would have to clean it. At last I heard the words I had waited for, ‘You’ve been offered a two book deal!’ More tears but this time happy ones. I remember dancing my dogs around the kitchen, there was no one else to share my news with! Hubby was out, my children were all at work and my friends were on holiday!
That weekend we had a party to celebrate and soon after I was invited to London to meet and have lunch with my new editor and publicist! Another red letter day for me.That was just the beginning. I am now working on my twenty- sixth novel and still loving every second of it! The moral of the story – some things are worth waiting for – never give up!
Rosie's latest book, The Soldier's Daughter, is out now and her next book, The Mill Girl, is out in November.