🤔 Your Publishing Journey
Now you have completed your manuscript, what is next?
You have finished writing your manuscript. You have worked through the edits and are now ready to release it into the world.
For the last year, you have been at the computer every minute. You have successfully balanced a family and writing. Sleep was the thing you surrendered, but it has all been worth it.
Financially you are struggling. You don’t know where your next meal is coming from. You have done this all as a single parent. You hope you will earn enough for a decent supermarket shop. You don’t dare dream beyond that.
After studying the various publishing options, you decide on a traditional route. You can now write a decent query letter by researching every article you can find on the subject. The printer is smoking hot from all the printing. You submit to 5 publishers. Not too many, not too few.
Then you wait and concentrate on things you have neglected for a year—mainly sleep and regular contact with friends. Still, the ones that are worth it will be about.
One month of mugging the postman for any sign of an acceptance letter. You now have five polite rejection letters. Not to worry, it is your first attempt; next time will be better.Â
You edit and improve the query letter and synopsis. You spend more time researching publishers and send five more letters off.
This time you are sure it will be picked up. Above all, you believe in your story and know it is worth publishing. Another six weeks tick by on the calendar, and you now have ten rejection letters.
You can’t understand; the story is brilliant. So good you have a series of novels planned. Another five letters are sent back. Two weeks later, two more rejection letters. These come together to inflict double pain. Your heart is breaking; still, three more query letters are out.
Thirteen arrives two weeks later, unlucky 13. You open the envelope with dread in your heart.
At last, an acceptance letter. Bloomsbury Publishing has accepted your manuscript. You ring your agent, who is excited for you. He then tells you no one ever made much money from writing children’s books but well done for getting published.Â
This is the story of billionaire JK Rowling, but it could so easily be yours.
If you believe in your story as JK Rowling did, pursue publishing. Never give up. A good story will not die over time; someone will commit. It just takes time.
 I’m not saying we will all be billionaires, but don’t give up on your dreams.
Incidentally, the publishing house that first rejected Harry Potter was also the first to reject Robert Galbraith. They didn’t learn from their mistakes.
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Until next week stay safe
Sam 😊
Quote of the week
It was like another voice speaking to me and the voice said — the difficult thing is going to get published. If it gets published it will be huge. — JK Rowling
Photo of the week
