Today, Wendy Knight, author of the upcoming FEUDLINGS, is here talking about how she got published! I hope her story (as well as the others in this series) inspires you :)
Here's Wendy...
So, my debut novel, Feudlings, doesn’t come out til March 19, so I guess technically I’m not published yet. But close enough, right? And I do love my story.
I spent two years writing Feudlings. First I just wanted to see if I could actually finish a novel. Then when I did, my husband talked me into trying to get it published. I didn’t want to – it’s a scary thing! So we made a deal. I would try for a year. If I hadn’t gotten it published before my birthday the next year, I could quit.
So I queried and submitted and stalked Twitter watching for contests for almost an entire year. I had some requests, but nothing major. Stalking Twitter was one of the smartest things I could do. I found out about a website that was hosting a pitch session with several romance publishers. I signed up, scoured them all, and chose three to pitch to. One was Astraea Press.
So I pitched online, and it was way scary, but pitching to Stephanie at Astraea Press was so much fun. I felt like I was talking to a friend. My favorite part – I told her about my story and she said, “Great, when can I get my hands on it?” I immediately loved her.
Two weeks later, and my birthday and self-imposed deadline was only seven days away. My hubs was sick and I was up in the middle of the night playing games on Facebook. Everyone else was asleep. I saw that I had an email, so I checked it and it was from Stephanie. “My editor loved your book and we’d like to offer you a contract.” Hmm, I thought, and went back to the game I was playing on Facebook. About ten minutes later, I realized what I’d just read and fell off my chair. I picked myself up and re-read the email, shaking like a small dog the entire time. And I had NO ONE to tell! Luckily, I have the best writer friends on the planet (all of whom also don’t sleep, apparently) and I wrote them and told them. They were all very excited for me and held my hand while I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do.
First thing – write the other publishers that had my full MS and let them know. So I did. Next step, let Astraea know that I needed some time. I was nervous about that – what if she changed her mind? But she was totally fine and understanding. After that, ask questions. Lots of questions. I’m BIG on questions, so much that I drive everyone nuts with them. But Stephanie was totally patient.
Two days later, I got another contract offered from another press, and two agents asked to see my full. I had waited a YEAR, and suddenly everything was happening at once! So I did TONS of research and praying and asking questions, but all the way through I just felt like Astraea was the right choice. So I signed the contract and threw a party and have loved my decision ever since!
If you would like, you can follow me on Twitter! @wjk8099 And my blog is http://writethroughthenoise.blogspot.com/