• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Writing Tips Oasis

  • Guides
  • Publishing
  • Writing & Editing
  • Marketing
  • Contact
  • About
  • Free Novel Writing Course

My Book Deal Moment by Sophie Cousens

By Novelicious

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Sophie CousensI can vividly remember my book deal moment – I was working in a TV production office putting together a new show for BBC3 called Murder in Successville. My team and I were struggling to find the right celebrity guest star for one of the episodes. As we pored over Heat magazine looking for inspiration, my mobile rang – it was the publishing company Corvus saying I had won the Love at First Write competition with my book How To Get Ahead in Television. I was going to be published! In an open plan office, all that my colleagues heard was me squealing with excitement then saying,

“No!! Really? No! You must be joking? Are you serious? Oh my god that’s so exciting!!”

When I came off the phone they waited with bated breath to see which mega star had agreed to guest star on our show. Who could I possibly be so excited about? Beckham? Cruise? Madonna?

“Well?” they asked.

“Oh, no, sorry that was nothing to do with work.” I admitted, “I’ve won a competition and someone’s going to publish my book!”

“Oh,” they sighed in collective disappointment.

“What book?” the Assistant Producer asked.

“Well, I haven’t exactly written it yet…”

Rewind a few years. I was 26 and having always dabbled with writing I realized I finally had an idea for a full-length novel (a Young Adult sci-fi trilogy no less) which just had to be written. I took time off work and set to it, surprising even myself with my rate of productivity. After a few months I had a completed manuscript and duly posted it off to agents and publishers. Fingers-crossed and heart racing, I sat by the inbox waiting for a reply.

The responses dribbled in. A few people saw potential but ultimately no one liked it enough to take me on. The whole experience was a reality check about how hard it would be to get published – it wasn’t purely about having the idea, doing the work and finishing the book, that was just the beginning.

The experience of rejection was so disheartening I gave up writing for a few years, throwing myself into my day job as a TV producer. Then someone told me about the Love at First Write competition Corvus and Lovereading.co.uk were running. All I needed to enter were the first few chapters of a book and a summary of the plot. Working in TV, I had always wanted to write a romantic comedy about the ridiculous things that happen behind the scenes– the diva strops, the alcoholic presenters, the office romances. This competition sounded like the perfect place for such a novel. So I started writing and suddenly I had an idea that just flowed – win or lose, publisher or no publisher, I had to finish this book.

Winning the competition was the kickstart I needed to get writing again. It gave me renewed confidence in my writing and perhaps helped me find the genre best suited to my writing style – romantic comedy. My colleagues might have been disappointed that Beckham wasn’t turning up for our TV show but I was much happier with my book deal moment than a potential Beckham moment… (Well… No, yes, if I had to choose, I’d definitely go book deal…)

How to Get Ahead in Television by Sophie Cousens is out now.

Sign up to our FREE Novice to Novel email course

Join over 3000 writers and receive 1 lesson per week for 52 weeks to help you write your first novel in 1 year!

the big bang theory dvd
    We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.
    Built with ConvertKit

    Filed Under: My Book Deal Moment

    Primary Sidebar

    The following banner contains an affiliate link. If you click it and purchase a book editing service from Ebook Launch, Writing Tips Oasis receive a small % of the sale.

    Footer

    Copyright © 2023 · Writing Tips Oasis -- Terms and Conditions -- Privacy Policy