What Wouuld I Tell an Unpublished Author?

By Rebecca Lee Smith (Guest Blogger)

To never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up.

I know it’s cliché. And I know hearing that (again) makes writers who are on the long, lonely road to publication, and want to place their book with a traditional publisher, feel like throwing something against the wall. Or at me.

But it’s true.

A Shadow on the Ground is the second book I’ve published, but the sixth book I’ve written. Book Number Five (the first book I sold) was rejected over forty times before someone wanted it. Book Number Four received ninety-six rejections in the span of one year. Some of these rejections were from publishers, but the majority were from agents who clearly thought the work I produced was unsalable. I had several requests for full manuscripts, synopses, partials, bios, and more chapters. If they asked to see it, I sent it out. Over and over again.

We’ve all read articles about surviving the query process, and taken to heart the platitudes that are supposed to keep us going. Throw the query net wide and deep. Be patient. Don’t get discouraged. Believe in yourself. Cream rises to the top. But what if it doesn’t? I asked myself. What if I’m sending out manuscripts five years from now, and the rejection numbers stay the same? What if cream doesn’t rise to the top? And then a voice deep inside my soul whispered, But what if it does?

The query process can be heartbreaking. Especially those close, close calls. I’ve been writing for over twenty years with lots of stops and starts when life got in the way. Throughout the process, I’ve experienced incredible highs and lows. I’ve won and placed in numerous contests. I’ve had goodhearted agents and publishers write gems of encouragement across the bottom of their rejection letters. But I’ve also had agents ask for the full manuscript, keep it for three months, then reject me with a form letter. Or, in one case, never respond at all. One publisher asked for revisions, then held on to the revised version for thirteen months and rejected me with a form letter. (Gotta love those form letters!) I’ve had an agent call me on the phone to tell me she loved my book and would really like to represent me (my heart stopped), if only she had room for another author in her stable. Well, the list goes on.

I remember reading an interview with a well-known multi-published author who was bemoaning the fact that she had sent her first manuscript to five different agents before she secured representation. Five agents. Wow, I thought. How in the world did she ever cope with that kind of rejection? Sarcasm aside, it all boils down to this: Everyone has their own path to follow. Some are rocky, some are smooth, and some wind their way through the forest and back out again. But if you give up and sit by the side of the road because it’s just too damned hard to keep going, you will never reach your goal.

There were times when I pulled back and regrouped. Times when I faced the cold, hard truth that the manuscript I had been rewriting for over a year would never work and find the courage to move on to something new. I’ve screamed and cried and threatened to toss my computer out the window. But I never gave up. I kept going and going and going, just like that old Energizer Bunny. And a few days ago, I stood and wept as I held a copy of my second book, A Shadow on the Ground, in my hands. It still feels that good.

So, whoever you are, and whatever you write, just keep flinging those finished manuscripts out into the world, and sooner or later, one will land on the desk of someone who “gets” you and loves your work. But until that happens, you have to keep trying. Because there’s no way you can win the lottery if you don’t get in the car, drive to the store, and buy the damned ticket. Or five.

*****

So let me tell you a bit about A Shadow on the Ground. After you read my excerpt, use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter my blog tour giveaway. You might win a $50 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

Blurb

Morgan Maguire is afraid to believe in second chances. The family orchard is failing, her twin brother is being framed for murder, and the sharks are circling. The tough exterior she's spent years hiding behind is beginning to crumble, just as the man who shattered her heart is back in her life. Gage Kirkland is as compelling and magnetic as ever, and he's offering the kind of help she may not be able to refuse. But can she trust him?

To finance his troubled son's therapy, Gage, a former investigator, takes one last job--recovering a stolen Civil War artifact. Unfortunately, it's in the possession of the woman he left behind, the woman who's haunted his dreams ever since. The electricity between them still crackles, but unless he helps exonerate her brother and finds a way to confess his true reason for returning, how will he ever recover Morgan's heart?

Excerpt

Gage grinned, making Morgan’s heart beat in slow, rolling thuds. “I'm going to make some calls about finding Sean representation. If he goes up against a murder charge, he'll need the best lawyer we can find.”

“We?”

“We.”

He held her gaze while a current of electricity sliced a path through the center of her abdomen.

“I didn't want to leave you alone last night,” he said.

“I was fine.”

“Well, I wasn't.”

“Oh, come on. A big, tough, adrenaline junkie PI like you?”

“Not so tough when the bullets are flying.”

Memories of the night before slammed into her brain—the sound of gunshots cracking the air, Gage pushing her off the flagstone walk, lying stone still beside him in the wet grass with a broken rhododendron stob biting into her neck. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel his breath crashing across her shoulder, the pulse at the base of his throat flicking against her cheek. How long had it been since she’d touched a man? Or been wrapped like his most cherished possession in the strong, shielding warmth of his arms? Had she ever felt so safe? Would she ever feel that safe again?

Maybe she should hold on to the memory. Bury it deep. Then, when she needed comfort, she could take it out and replay it over and over in her head to drive the unbearable loneliness away. Until something that felt like contentment trickled through her bloodstream, like a double shot of apple brandy on a cold, wintry night.

A shadow fell over the table.

She lifted her eyes and gasped softly. The last thing she expected to see were the pale, twisted, angry eyes of Lawrence Finch.

About Rebecca

Rebecca lives with her husband in the beautiful, misty mountains of East Tennessee, where the people are charming, soulful, and just a little bit crazy. She's been everything from a tax collector to a stay-at-home mom to a house painter to a professional actress and director. When she's not churning out sensual romantic mysteries with snappy dialogue and happy endings, she likes to travel, go to the Outer Banks for her ocean fix, watch old movies, hang out at the local pub, and make her day complete by correctly answering the Final Jeopardy! question.

www.rebeccaleesmith.com.

Twitter - @rbeccaleesmith

Amazon Author Page – http://amzn.to/1aEqJo4

Ebook - http://amzn.to/1chj56X

Print – http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Ground-Rebecca-Lee-Smith/dp/1612179819/

Use the widget below to enter my drawing! And I hope you'll visit the other stops on my tour, too. You can find the schedule here:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/11/virtual-book-tour-shadow-on-ground-by.html

The more often you enter, the higher your chances of winning.

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