I
wrote my first novel, Summer of Deception,
after attending a writers' conference. Once I started submitting it to
publishers and agents, it was rejected 26 times. But I kept revising and
rewriting. Meantime, my husband and I were called into full-time ministry, and the
manuscript went into my attic for the next 20 years. End of story. Right?
Nope.
Summer of Deception, an inspirational
romantic suspense, was contracted and published in 2017, thirty years after that first draft. It has spent time on Amazon’s
100 Best Sellers’ List for Women’s Religious Fiction. A prequel, In a Pirate’s Debt, the story of the
pirate ancestor of the hero in Summer,
soon followed. November 12, Marisol, a
heroine who would not give up, was released.
My Five Steps to a Book Contract
Step 1 – Keep God’s Confidence in Yourself
and Never Give Up
Many
may reject your manuscript, but someone will love it, if you don’t give up.
Step 2 – Hone Your Craft (Planning Your
Novel blog series http://bit.ly/2HbB5qM)
Carve
out praying time, writing time, sharpening craft time, and reading time in your genre.
Step 3 – Find Writing Workshops and Critique
Groups
How about
your local American Christian Fiction Writers’ Chapter?
Step 4 – Help Other Writers
This
is a spiritual principle. You will reap help you need when you sow into others.
Step 5 – Learn how to Submit to Editors
and Agents
Follow their submission guidelines.
Can you add to my list? What helped you not give up?
Never give up that dream. via @ElvaCobbMartin #SeriouslyWrite #amwriting
~~~~~~
Elva
Cobb Martin, a mother and grandmother,
lives in South Carolina with her husband and a senior mini-dachshund named
Lucy, and a sea green bird named Atticus. She is the upcoming president of her
state chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers, a retired teacher,
minister, and now calls herself a full-time writer. Better make that rewriter.
A life-long student of history, her favorite city, Charleston, inspires her
stories of romance and adventure. She desires to share exciting love stories of
courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring
hope and encouragement. 