One in 6,000

Good morning,

Thank you for visiting My News. As you know, my latest book, No Parents Allowed came out last week. What you don’t know is it was the second book I wrote. When I first wrote it, the concept was great, but I had too many characters. It got rejected about five times. I couldn’t accept rejection at that time since I was new to creative writing and unaware that Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie had been rejected 473 times before being published and turned into a movie. I didn’t know Jack Canfeld’s Chicken Soup for the Soul had been rejected 144 times, or that Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance was rejected 121 times. Publishers even rejected Stephen King’s Carrie  30 times, but I didn’t know.

I put No Parents Allowed aside and starting to revise my book of poetry, Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within. 

I’ve been lucky enough to find a publisher, Taylor and Seale Publishing, and Dr. Mary Custureri has published three of my books. While I was revising another book, mental health issues came to the forefront on the news. I realized the time was right for No Parents Allowed because it deals with mental health issues teens and some adults deal with on a daily basis.

I went back to the manuscript for No Parents Allowed and cut. I did what Stephen King calls “killing your babies.” I eliminated characters, cut words, and changed outdated material. When the revision was completed, I sent it to an editor to be edited, and pitched it to my publisher. She loved the concept. Hope you will too.

Writing can be a lonely job. I get up in the dark when ideas poke me awake and won’t let me go back to sleep. It’s frustrating when publishers or agents reject my work, but there’s a possibility of finding help.

It is a literary agent’s job to find publishers for the writers they represent. They negotiate contracts and open the door to publishing houses that won’t accept submissions from authors who don’t have agents. Daily I wish people a Happy Birthday and recommend they check something off their bucket lists this year. My birthday is in sixteen days. On the top of my bucket list is find an agent. One in 6,000 authors is lucky enough to acquire an agent. I’ve decide this is the year to get an agent. Can I beat the odds? 

What about you? What tops your bucket list? Is it something you can do without getting rejected? Hope so. Have a lucky day.