For some, the journey to publication may be smooth. But for
most of us, it can be almost as challenging as trying to win Survivor. One
difference is that we gain strength throughout the day or evening from drinking coffee
and eating chocolate instead of dining on an assortment of creepy, crawling creatures. But as author Jen Turano shares, we learn and grow from
the challenges we encounter along the way.
~ Dawn
Jen
Turano’s Perilous Path to Publication
I wish I could write that my journey to publication was
relatively easy and painless, but alas, I’m afraid that’s not my tale to tell.
Instead, I chose the daunting path, the one filled with rejections, some
scathing at times, too many mistakes made on my end to count, and five
manuscripts that will never see the light of day. I’m hopeful my story will
encourage other writers, and perhaps, help some avoid the disasters that
occurred to me.
It all began when my son was in elementary school. We were
having a difficult time finding books to hold his interest, and so—we decided
to write our own. I sat down and whipped out a middle-grade fantasy novel about
repulsive lizard creatures, and titled it Fanglers.
My son thought it was fabulous, and proceeded to tell his teacher at school,
and word soon got out that I’d written a book. Here’s where lesson number one
comes into play—people who know you are not the best source for honest
opinions. I quickly became convinced I belonged on Oprah’s couch, back in the
day when Oprah still had a couch, and so my journey began. I put together a
query letter, sent it out to all of six agents, and…rejections were swift,
and…brutal. Lesson number two—a writer really should investigate what agents
are actually acquiring before sending a middle-grade book to agents who only
represent non-fiction, and…manuscripts are supposed to be double-spaced. Who knew?
Undaunted by the rejections, I proceeded to write another
middle-grade novel, then moved on to a young adult, and that’s when I learned
another painful lesson. Harry Potter
was huge at that time, as was Twilight,
and I discovered that writing to trend is not recommended. Agents told me their
lists were full, and that I should probably try something else.
Right after I finished the YA, my dad died, and when I got
back to Colorado after closing up his house, I decided to write a novel set in
my old hometown. I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote, and then learned that,
well, 172,000 words for a debut novel will never, ever, ever, be picked up by a
publishing house. That was almost the end of my writing journey, but…one of my
girlfriends came over to commiserate with me, and she suggested I try my hand
at what she called a “Fabio” book.
I’d been reading historical romance forever, and the idea
took hold. I sat down, wrote a story I titled Almost a Lady, and sent it out. Within hours, I had eighteen
requests for partials, but it was a hot mess and rejections quickly followed.
I’d not done any real research, you see, and my historical facts weren’t
exactly accurate, my POV problem had not improved much, and I hadn’t given the
story the time it deserved, but…I realized that historical romance was what I
was meant to write.
I wrote another historical novel, this one actually
researched, and that landed me my agent, Mary Sue Seymour. Bethany House
purchased A
Change of Fortune and my publishing journey continues.
In hindsight, I now view my rejected manuscripts as my
stepping stones. I needed to go through that pain in order to grow, and in
order to produce a book that would be good enough for readers to want to read.
I’ve come to believe that God knew exactly what He was doing when I struggled
for so long, because I’ve learned patience, and through that patience, I’ve
become a better writer.
Wishing everyone all the best,
~ Jen ~
 |
| Click to reach Amazon. |
Jen Turano writes
quirky historical romances for Bethany House. Her debut novel, A Change of Fortune, released to market
November 1, 2012. Her second novel, A
Most Peculiar Circumstance, will release in June, 2013. She lives in
Colorado with her husband, son, and neurotic Cattle Dog.
To learn more about Jen and her work, please visit
Author website: www.jenturano.com
Facebook - Jen Turner Turano: https://www.facebook.com/jen.turano?fref=ts
Facebook - Jen Turano
Author: https://www.facebook.com/jenturanoauthor?ref=ts&fref=ts
