Article that may inspire and encourage beginning or struggling authors.

NEVER GIVE UP

So you’ve written a novel!Congratulations, now pat yourself on the back and put your manuscript in the bottom drawer in the kitchen along with the garlic crusher and meat mallet, another two items that will never see the light of day. At least that’s what the statistics on the probability of getting published would suggest.
Fortunately Math never was my strong subject, so I ignored the statistics and decided to have my book published. I knew the story was good because I’d read it many times and it still evoked a smile, or brought a tear to my eye. I wrote the book for older children to read, also having in mind that it would be an advantage for adults to enjoy the story as they read to younger children.
However, the most important person to impress is yourself, if you believe in your work, if you enjoy reading your creation, be it a book, short story or poem, then you have cleared the first hurdle.
Getting your work published may turn out to be a sprint, but you have to prepare for a marathon, so I took the baton between my teeth and gave my book an audience... my family.
My first reviews came in, and they were all good (their allowence money was safe). I’d tested the water in the kiddies pool and had survived, now it was time to jump in the shallow end of the big pool.
I took my twenty four thousand words of double spaced manuscript to the local teacher/librarian. Colin had taught my children in primary school, and we had known each other for years, however this did not colour his appraisal. He returned my manuscript laden with red ink and sprinkled with good advice. He also said he would have no hesitation in reading it to his students. Being an experienced storyteller to countless children, Colin’s sincere words of encouragement boosted my confidence. I was ready to dive into the deep end.
I made the corrections and minor structural changes, then printed off six copies and offered them to carefully chosen friends and work colleagues. The feedback was valuable, and minor changes and additions were made to further improve the storyline and characters.
I began to ‘feel’ like a writer, so much so that I joined the New South Wales Writers’ Centre, which turned out to be the best move I ever made.
I purchased “The Writers’ Guide’ by Irina Dunn, and began my quest for publication. With six manuscripts stacked by the phone, I would ring a publisher and seek permission to foist my masterpiece onto them.
I would carefully record all details of the publishers who were willing to read a new authors’ work, then it was off to the post office to send my blood, sweat and tears into unchartered waters.
I negotiated with a printer to produce four books, using a cover that a local artist had created for me. I now had my bulk manuscript in book form, three of which I would send to selected publishers and one I would carry with me at all times for penciling in edits.
Weeks ran into months, then a response from Scholastic. I tore the letter open and there it was, my first rejection. I now considered myself an unpublished author, I was so proud.
With every rejection that followed I would send an updated manuscript to a new prospective publisher, so that I always had six replies to look forward to. Meanwhile my copy of the book was dog-eared and coming down with lead poisoning.
Newswrite would appear in my letterbox every month and I would derive what inspiration I could from it then file it away, having become a wiser unpublished author.
Then THE Newswrite arrived, the one with the flyer advertising the web site www.writersdisplay.com.. Another straw to clutch at.
The site was in it’s infancy and yet had a great many submissions already on display. I could actually read other peoples work, compare mine with other fledgling writers, as well as learn from experienced published authors. For a small fee I posted my five thousand-word excerpt, sending my work into cyberspace.
Two significant things happened on my fifty first birthday, I won ten thousand dollars in lotto and I received an e-mail from a publisher in India, asking to see the rest of my manuscript. The ten thousand dollars has long gone, but thankfully the publisher is still with me.
PPL books are printing ‘S.O.S. from Rhodon Valley’ this week and distributing in India, US, Canada, Nepal and UK.
What would I be doing with my work if not for Writers’ Display? I would still have six copies gracing the slush piles of editors’ desks around the country. Because I liked my work, and for that reason alone I would NEVER give up.