Ginger, I want to thank you for the opportunity to come on your blog and speak about my journey to publication and how it felt to get a contract with Muse It Up.
My road to publication has been long and full of torturous twists and turns. I started writing almost twenty years ago and my first attempts to land an agent were amateurish. Back in those bad old days there were scam artists preying on wannabe authors and the internet wasn’t yet up and running. You had to find addresses to the agents the old fashioned way, through books in the library or yellow pages or from other authors. Snail mail was the only way to contact agents or publishers. Word processors were, by today’s standards, little more than typewriters with some memory.
I received some encouraging words on my first writing attempts from some reputable agents but none would actually represent me. Scam artists came out of the woodwork with all sorts of promises about how they could get it published and it would only cost me half a gazillion dollars. I can say I never fell for any of those. That isn’t to say that some of the smarter scam artists didn’t tempt me, but I managed to stay away from them. I did, however, sign with a couple agents over the years who, although not scam artists asking for money, were not successful at actually selling a book to a publisher very often.
Through it all I kept writing, and writing, and writing. And always trying to find an agent and at times going directly to publishers. Always got words of praise for my writing but never got a major agent to represent me or a publisher to contract my book.
Then I did. Three years ago I landed a contract with a start up publisher and things were looking up. However, just a few months before publication the publisher had to go out of business.
Back on the street again. Through all these years I have also been busy with a career and raising a family. Just trying to stay ahead of the game. I wrote another book and went back to trying to find an agent or a publisher again. This time I must admit my efforts were a bit desultory.
Then I noticed something come along from one of the other writers that had been involved with the publisher that went out of business. News of another publisher just starting up. I recognized the name and decided to send an email to congratulate Lea and wish her well. I also threatened to send in a query. She wrote back inviting me to submit. I did and the acceptance came back very quickly. I must admit that the feeling is indescribable. Here I am now with five books under contract. Lea is a remarkable person and publisher.
The publishing world is much different now than it was when I first starting writing and seeking publication. Now the future is in e-books and I am pleased to be a part of it.
For more information on books by Frank Scully, check out his Muse Author's Page.
Coming in January 2011
Coming in June 2011, with more to follow.
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