Behind the Scenes: Part 1 - THE OFFER

If you’ve checked out my website, you’ve probably seen the exciting news about my debut novel coming from Entangled in February 2016. This is a huge milestone for me and it came after a lot of hard work, doubts, frustration and perseverance.

I’ve been writing seriously for eight years and during that time, I’ve studied my craft and the industry, but as much as I’ve read posts, taken courses and followed editors and agents, the publishing process was still a bit of a mystery.

So for anyone out there wondering what exactly happens behind the scenes, I thought I’d share my experiences as they happen, starting with THE OFFER:

In September 2014, I pitched my MS during a #Pitmad event and received a fave from Karen Grove at Entangled, along with faves from a couple of other small publishers. I’d already decided that I wanted to go the traditional agent/publisher route, but Entangled was different. I’d obviously heard of them and I liked what I knew. So, I immediately sent off the first three chapters to Karen.

Then I waited. I’d already received copious (really, I mean copious) requests and rejections for this story, so when three months went by, I figured Karen had also passed.

Then an unexpected thing happened. I received an e-mail from her in mid-December asking to review the full. Turns out that she thought she’d already requested the full, and when she didn’t receive anything, decided to follow-up. I thank my lucky stars for that!

In the meantime, I pitched a different MS to Carrie Pestritto from Prospect Agency during a YARWA pitch party. She gave me my first revise and resubmit. Based on her positive feedback, I also sent her the MS that Karen was reviewing, and she gave me another revise and resubmit. During this time, she was incredibly responsive –answering my questions and giving me feedback. Wow…I was really impressed.

In February 2015, I received the e-mail I’d been dreaming about. Entangled “enjoyed my submission and wanted to discuss possible publication.” But it wasn’t a done deal. I needed to agree with Karen’s envisioned edits (of course, since they made total sense to me) and she needed to take the project to the acquisitions board for final approval. Eeeck.

More nail biting ensued, but I tried to stay focused on my overall career goals. I immediately contacted Carrie to let her know the status. Fortunately, both Carrie and Karen were on the same page regarding the revisions required. On March 11th, I received the official offer from Karen and immediately signed with Carrie as well.

Since that time, I’ve gone through a mixed bag of emotions – excitement but also a good amount of fear and anxiety. For eight years, I’d been steadily working towards a single goal – becoming a published author. Once I reached that milestone, I suddenly needed to readjust my goals and visions. Combined with the uncertainty of what would be expected of me and how a real audience would receive my story, it’s been nerve-wracking. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Next week, I’ll blog about the next step – WAITING FOR THE DREADED EDITORIAL LETTER.